How long after neutering...

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We have just adopted an 8 year old male, he was neutered 3 weeks ago. How long does it take for his hormones to settle? He's been spraying round the house the past two days, though this could be as we have 2 other cats here...both of whom were neutered at a kitten age. As he's older, will it take a little longer for his hormones to settle down?

That's a difficult one. The hormones should be settled in about two weeks - that is the spray should no longer smell of tom cat. However the behaviour can become a bit ingrained (particularly after 8 years) and can take quite a while to unlearn.

It should start to get better slowly, but if he feels stressed he might regress. You could try Feliway to promote a calmer environment.

If it carries on I would speak to a vet. There is a drug called Ovarid, which seems to stop all learned spraying and aggressive behaviour in male cats (it's a steriod/female hormone). However vets are reluctant to prescribe it for behavioural reasons so your vet might not agree to it.

Thank you!
Feliway purchased this morning so hopefully that will start working quite quickly.
He's never lived in a house before so everything is very new to him...hopefully the Feliway will help him settle.

Saying that, he's literally just tried to spray right next to the Feliway diffuser...

Lots of TLC and games for him as well. Just moving into a new house and with two strange, already bonded, cats to contend with will make him very unsettled and wanting to show off his dominance. You need to up his confidence levels a tad.

How are the other cats reacting to him? Are they all using the same litter trays yet?

I have two litter trays, one for my old (13yr boy) as he doesn't go out. The Bengal boy refuses to use a litter tray so goes out. The new boy is used to a litter tray and has been using it well...he digs to Australia in it!

The new one is getting used to having lots of space now so it will take him a while to adjust to being a 'pet'...he is so friendly and loves a good cuddle which is excellent.

Ah - one of your boys is a Bengal? You're brave taking on an extra cat.

LOL...the new one is a very vocal Burmese, it's like a chorus of cats in the morning!
The Bengal has a few issues so he's not firing on all cylinders anymore...bad car accident (before we got him) left him very injured so he's more like a grumpy old man who just sits there moaning!

Lordy - a Bengal with issues and a recently neutered Burmese Tom. I'd run for the hills myself!

Believe me, I will be running shortly!
The 13 year old is sitting on a shelf surveying the chaos! He's steering well clear of cats, spray, floor cleaner, and attacked Christmas tree!

Trouble is that your new boy doesn't necessarily know that the Bengal has issues. If he's getting an 'I'm going to come over there and chop you up in very small pieces' from him, it could take him a short while to realize that it's mainly bluster.

How long has he actually been in your house?

He's been here a week, though only in the last few days has he been allowed in the rest of the house...he then got to explore the house whilst the others were in different rooms....so still very early days.

Yes - early days. Burmese are pretty territorial (as are Bengals) so I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I'm hoping that the fact that he's coming in to an established cat household may help.