How do I stop my cat spraying?

[Franksinatra]

We have a male cat, rom a rescue. Had him about 2years, but in the past 6-8 months he has begun spraying.
We have tried spot on remedies, pheromone sprays and plug ins, but he continues to do it.
It seems to be more out of habit than stress. Recently he wakes me at 4am about once a week by spraying my headboard as I sleep.
It is the most disgusting thing to have this happen by my head!

The only solution to this is to shut him in a different part of the house at night, but that won't stop the spraying, he will probably just do it in there instead.

Any suggestions gratefully received. The vet just keeps selling me more pheromone based things which don't deter him at all, in fact, he has even sprayed in the plug in ones.t
Thanks

My cat hates pheromones too.

Has the vet checked his urine for infection?

Its normally territorial. Is he indoor or outdoor? Any other cats in the neighbourhood thay might be causing issues?

I assume it's neutered? Because if not, why not?

It'll not just be spraying in your house, he'll be doing it all over his territory.

Yes he is neutered. He prefers being indoors, but has a cat flap so can come and go as he pleases.

No advice but You have my sympathy. My Tom is neutered and has been doing it since he was a kitten.

We have tried feliway etc but nothing works.

It is the cats outside that are causing him stress ☹️

I wonder if another cat is encroaching on his territory and unsettling him? I think I'd try keeping him in for a few days and even covering the cat flap in case you've got an intruder coming in.

Locking the cat flap overnight might be a good idea if he stresses at being in all the time. Placing litter trays where he sprays helps, obviously not on the bed though, and make sure you clean with an enzymatic cleaner. There was an episode of "my cat from hell" that dealt with a serial sprayer that had some good tips if you can find it!

Thanks fenneltea I'll look for that.
He has a cat flap that is opened by his microchip, so no other cat can get in.
DS has asd so can be very loud. This could be stressing the cat. However, he didn't spray at those times, but usually at 4am!
Does anyone have any ideas how to.stop this?

Another cat coming in the garden or near the house would be enough to do it, if you know anyone with a wildlife camera you could borrow it can be enlightening to see what visitors you get overnight!

Male cats spray, whether neutered or not. My experience (with my DM's many cats), is that indoor spraying is a horrible, but very common trait and once entrenched it's really hard to stop. All my DM's cats, bar one, have been male and all have sprayed to some degree. Now, granted, she has often had more than one at a time (the main issue IMO), but even lone ones have sprayed. Vets flog all those pheromone things, but they aren't very effective. They might settle down a cat who's just moved in, but for spraying for other reasons they don't work. The spraying at 4am is bizarre and disgusting. I'd contact an animal behaviourist.

My current three male cats don't spray, and neither have any of my previous male cats. The only one of mine
who is prone to spraying is actually a female ....

Is he an only cat op ?
My cat and my mums cat had a bad habit of spraying in kitchen sockets , not nice as it tended to run down into the toaster .
Mums cat managed to short out socket due to wee getting in .
We both found once they were an only cat then they stopped this bad behaviour.
Ours also sprayed anything new 🙄

I thought we had turned a corner. We have begun to restrict his access to just two rooms at night so I am getting much more sleep. But yesterday he sprayed the fireplace in the living room. He was just sitting happily on the sofa with us, then got up and did it. Nothing seemed to set it off, he just did it. He is the only cat in the house.

I've got 3, & the one who thinks he's the boss will spray at times. He sprayed the wall next to my bed twice. A few days ago he was on the table in front of me & squatted down to wee on the newspaper! We've had him 11 years & he's never done that before.

His favourite place is behind the tv. I've had to put a plastic screen behind the tv to protect it from the spray!

I"ve got no answers, sorry, but would love to know how to stop it!

www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/stop-your-cat-spraying-and-soiling-house

As indoor spraying indicates that the cat feels threatened by something, any use of aggression by the owner telling the cat off only serves to make the problem worse. Owners must instead try to ascertain what the threat is and then take steps to alleviate it. Common causes include new cats in the home or neighbourhood, a new baby or person, building works, redecoration or a change of routine.

Help you cat feel secure during spraying

Even when the cause of spraying is not obvious there are ways in which you can make your cat feel more secure. For example, limiting the area the cat is allowed to patrol to one or two rooms, may help improve feelings of security and reduce the desire to mark.

Cat spraying in new or redecorated home

A nervous cat or one kept entirely indoors may be threatened by changes to the home environment. Smells brought in on feet may be enough to trigger a feeling of insecurity and the need to spray. Redecorating or replacing furniture effectively removes all your cat’s subtle scent markings that have been carefully placed by rubbing and scratching. These will now be replaced by the strong smell of new carpets, paints or furniture. To reduce their impact, keep the cat away from the altered room until the smells are not quite so strong and have mingled with the other familiar scents in the house.

You can help speed this process by spreading some of your cat’s own scent yourself. Take a soft cotton cloth and rub it gently around the cat’s face (where some of the glands which produce the cat’s individual scents are located) to collect scent. Dab the furniture or walls of the room where the problem is occurring with the cloth and repeat this daily. A cat may be less likely to spray if aware that scent is there already. Vet’s can also supply a product which acts in the same way. It contains facial pheromones – the scents produced by the glands on your cat’s face.

You have my sympathy 😀.
One of mine does this, he is very sensitive to change, and other cats near our garden.
We give him colostrum powder 1/4 teesp. Morning and evening, and Bachs rescue remedy 4 drops once or twice a day. This calms him, when nothing out of the ordinary happens. If your cat has favorite spots clean them thoroughly but not with anything smelling of chlorine or household ammonia - it attracts. Instead spray these places with lavender essential oil. It's stress 🙄. Best of luck 😀.

Thanks everyone

Gosh. Apologies for invading your thread, but does anyone know how to stop this outside? We have no animals at all, but all our local cats use our garden as territory to fight in/over and as s result our front garden stinks like a cat sanctuary. Is there something you can use outdoors to deter them?

SunnySomer

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Sorry to say i have no idea how to help with this, our cat was fixed at 6 months, never sprayed in 3 years until my son started crawling, cat was so shocked "it" could move, sprayed everywhere, unfortunately this continued till cat passed away aged 24!!

Oh no, typoqueen, how did you live with that????