Cat spraying the Christmas tree!

[ItsMyPartyParty]

Any ideas welcome, how can I convince my cat the tree is not a tree!

He is neutered, had to move to being an indoor only cat six month ago. Has never sprayed in the house before (we did have an issue of him weeing in the house, but now has an outdoor catio area and wees out there). He is very territorial, so I can only assume he used to spray on the trees in our garden and now thinks the (real) Christmas tree is a tree that requires marking. We haven’t had this issue with Christmas trees before, but he was allowed outdoors then.

I had a neutered male cat who regularly sprayed onto my books and CDs. He was otherwise a lovely cat so we decided that this was a price worth paying for having him. Incidentally, he had a cat door and could go outside whenever he pleased.

When it comes to cat spraying - assuming your cat is fit and well - sometimes it’s a case of just putting up with it unfortunately. Our male doesn’t like changes, female cats and there’s something about our bedroom. He wandered into our bedroom the other day and just sprayed on a present bag!!! Thankfully, can just get rid of the present bag and problem over. For a long time he kept spraying the front door but I think adding a litter box in the hall has stopped that. Maybe you could try adding a litter box nr your tree?

Oh God no the smell!!! My last male cat was a sod for spraying on our tents if they were in the garden getting waterproofed.
We wouldn't notice until we'd gone on holiday, somewhere nice and hot, and then tried to sleep in the tent 😡
The stench was revolting.

I suspect he has chosen the tree because it is an outdoor item which has all sorts of 'foreign' scents which he now needs to overlay with his scent. It's possible the tree may even have the scent of another cat on it. He may stop once it smells of him/home, and hopefully won't transfer the habit to other items.

Why does he have to be an indoor cat?