Mom's cat spray problem
by Amber
first off...im not a cat hater. i have my own cat. my problem is with my mom. my mom had a bunch of cats in her house over a year ago and she finally got rid of them all due to allergies, cat hair, and new kittens. 16 cats were just to much to handle in a small trailer. the reproducing got out of hand and she just couldnt have that many cats in the household. a few months after getting rid of them, our neighbor brought my mom a stray male cat and then a few days later another cat. we thought they were both males but they turned out to be brother and sister. the female soon got pregnant and lost her kittens so we got her fixed. the male cat then started spraying. my mom has been saying she will get him fixed too but she never gets around to it. they have been here for over a year now and the male still hasnt been fixed....and of course still sprays. my mom and little sister rescued a female kitten a few months back that had a scabies problem. that resulted in vet bills and a new kitten threat to the household. the male cat immediately started trying to mate with her. one day we noticed her belly pouching so we assumed she was pregnant. my mom brought her to the vet to have the pregnanc terminated, only to find out that she had something wrong with her that it wasnt kittens. s she ended up getting fixed. the male cat continued spraying everything. i recently moved back into my moms house with my male cat "Church" who has just reached 7 months along with a baby male kitten. my moms male cat started spraying more and more. i have even witnessed him spraying. he sprays the dryer, the printer, the bathroom counter, clothes, blankets, etc. im pregnant so the smell really gets to me. now to the reason im writting is cause even though i know my cat Church is able to spray now....i know its not him spraying. my mom is stuck on defending her male cat and tries blaming it all on my cat. so my question is...can more than one male cat spray the exact same spot? church is a big cat for his age and hes too playful and still stuck in his baby stage to be worried about mating. RESPONSE: Unneutered males will spray no matter what. As long as he is intact, the spraying will continue. The stress can easily cause the other cats to start spraying as well. And yes, different cats will spray in the same spot. To them, it is a form of communication. Also, it si likely that there are still smells from the cats that your mom moved out which can trigger the need to spray. Until he is fixed, isolated and retrained to the litter box, the spraying will continue. Since he was a stray and used to spraying where ever he wanted to, breaking him of this habit will be very difficult. I wish I had a simple answer for you but there just isn't one. You and your mom need to get together on a plan and stick to it or the problem will never get under control. Donna - House Full Cats Mom |
