Totally at wits end with spraying

[ladybird69]

I don't know what else to do! He's totally ruining my house. I've just bought new bed (saved up for ages and spent a lot£) just put all new bedding on ready for tonight. First thing he does is come in and spray it. So now beddings in wash and I'm scrubbing the divan base as its gone right thru. I'm gonna end up with my furniture covered in plastic :-(
If I catch him I shout and spray with water but I don't always see him. I've tried plug-in diffusers too.
I've got 2 other cats but they're old ladies so they're fine. He's about 6 and we've lived here for 18 mths so not new house. He's clean for other things and has a cat flap that only he uses. I've posted on here before as once he sprayed me!!!!! But I could cry about my brand new bed, it's gonna stink and be stained and less than 24 hrs old. Any idvice please. Otherwise it's a cork jobby

I remember him spraying you.

Remind us of your set up re trays, vet tests etc?.

Hi Fluffy I've got 2 litter trays one each for the old ladies as they don't go out. He's totally toilet trained and has his own 'spot' in the garden. I haven't taken him to vet just spoken to one who said feliway!!!! My mum saw an item on tv saying it's because kittens are being spayed too young! He is fit and well. Incredibly loving and affectionate a real dream kitty apart from his spraying problem.

Sounds like you need to get his urine tested then. Buy some cheapy litter trays, an extra 2 shouldn't be too expensive.

What litter do you use? Mine won't use silica crystals.

He's not weeing Fluffy he's spray marking. Ie new bed he 'marked' it. It's behaviour rather than physical if you see what I mean.

I could guess from my own experience that he doesn't like your other cats - some cats are singleton in temperament. How does he seem to get on with them?

(Your bed shouldn't actually stink too much by the way: cat pee is fairly anodyne stuff when they're neutered.)

Hmmm they seem to get on fine. Tbh the ladies just do Bookend impressions he doesn't have anything to do with them. He has the run of the place and a cat flap. The life of Riley.

Sometimes they don't need actual confrontation I'm afraid - just another cat's presence is enough to piss them off and get a protest/marking spray going. ('I've done all my best things and the blighter has still not gone - Yah-Boo-Sucks-and-Sprrrraaaayyyyy!')

Remind me - how often is he spraying?

Well it's been once today. It's prob 4/5 per week that I actually catch him. He prob does more tho Cozie.

We have had a similar problem with our cat, she pees on the sofa when she is upset. Mostly we try to minimise her stress but our vet also recommended bitter apple spray, which seems to help www.amazon.co.uk/Grannicks-118AT-Bitter-Apple-Spray/dp/B0002DHPRQ

I never found Feliway that effective but all cats are different so worth a try. As a last resort, would your pet insurance cover an animal behaviourist??

Wow that's a lot of spraying. I really think a urine test is needed.

It's under £10 at my vet.

I mean just to be thorough he should have it done.

First of all it's moor rant to recognise that spraying is an anxiety response. Shouting/punishing will only increase his anxiety and make it worse, so whilst I understand that you're frustrated, you need to try and understand his behaviour.

Cats maintain their territories by facial marking (which is why they rub their cheeks on things) if the environment changes (due to new furniture, redecoration, visitors or the presence of other cats) then this facial marking isn't enough to maintain a normal scent profile and the cat will become anxious and resort to spraying. It's pretty classic to spray in new furniture as it doesn't smell right. Feliway works to boost the levels of facial appeasing pheromone in the house and make things smell 'right' to cats so it can be helpful but essentially cats that spray are stressed.

Cats are selectively social and if your boy does not interact with the girls I'd worry that's because there is bullying or competition for resources occurring that you aren't noticing - cat conflict can be very subtle and he'll be doing his utmost to avoid confrontation. You need to make sure he has plenty of resources sleeping and hiding spaces as well as litter trays.

Feliway should be constantly in place in a multi cat household and new items should be sprayed with it to normalise their scent profile.
If he does spray then clean with biological washing powder and water as this breaks the urine odour down.

You also need to work on interacting positively with him to boost his confidence and reduce his anxiety. Punishing him will only make the problem worse

This link has some useful info
www.icatcare.org:8080/advice/problem-behaviour/soiling-indoors

And this link has useful info I what cats need to reduce anxiety
m.jfm.sagepub.com/content/15/3/219.full.pdf

To protect yiu matress there exists soft water proof matress pads useful for the time being. Many wise suggestions from others, I add acat behaviorist could help too.

How's it going Ladybird?

Have you tried Clomicalm? It's prescription anti-anxiety medication and worked for our cat after all else failed.

Oh wow lots of advice. Thank you. I don't punish him, only shout no to stop him when I see him doing it. The only problem I can think of is the age difference as the old ladies aren't playful but he has friends outside that he plays with. I will pop him to the vets and see about the medication too as a lady in the pet store said she had the same prob with one of hers. Thanks all and I'll keep you up to date.