Cat Spray question
- Bruce_McGee
- K_Quint
- Caroline
- Caroljw
- Bruce_McGee
- klemm2
- msruss
- pa1555
- pa1555
- mrmeanie
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» Bruce_McGee - The REAL Reality of Unneutered Males
For the sake of your cat's first litter of kittens who may very well suffer a life of misery, pain, hunger, loneliness, illness and the list goes on and on. Please have your cat neutered. It is a very simple procedure and the cost is relatively inexpensive. If your family member objects, then they need only go to animal shelter and watch the excess kittens be destroyed - and this happens each and every day. Your cat will very soon contribute to the very existance of those same kittens that will die at the hands of the animal control people - that's their sad job to do but it is reality speaking. There are not enough homes for these existing kittens. Do not add to the population by allowing, and with due respect, ignorance or objections to play a part.Secondly, your cat being unneutered will be the subject of nightly cat fights. Are you prepared to have your loved one come home day after day with massive bite wounds abscessing pus and blood, wreaking with foul odor from his diseased and inflammed flesh? Your cat feels pain just like you do - will you allow another cat to rip open his face, his neck, gouge out his eye(s), shred his ears, tear a whole in his belly? Think what a papercut feels like - now imagine the pain your cat will suffer day after day after day when he starts fighting - and he will. Your cat is no different from any other intact male cat out there. And he will spray and mark his territory, rest assured. Your house will wreak of urine. Those cuddles you enjoy now? Forget it! His hormones will dictate his interests and desires are outside, not on your lap.
Take a look deep into your 10-month old kitten's eyes today and ask yourself, "Can I let my cat continue down this path that will greatly change the way I see him today?" - "Am I prepared to see my cat turn into a battle-ravaged warrior tomorrow?" In the feline world, tomorrow comes very, very soon and this may well be the demise of your cat. Fighting brings on felines diseases, FIV and Leukemia are two deadly examples. There are many of these to look forward to. And the vet doesn't just give you a tablet to make IT go away - cats don't survive these diseases. They die and their deaths are not painfree either.
Please strongly consider neutering your cat. I remember our family cat of years ago when I write this response. That was in the days before the push and effort to spay and neuter animals. How I wish my folks had neutered "Smokey". It hurt me so much to see him come home torn to shreds or to look out the window and see another tom fighting him with all-out intentions and there was nothing we could do. Neuter your cat before this becomes your story. Because it will be your story - soon!
-- posted by Bruce_McGee
» K_Quint - Neutering Is Better...
When we got our chocolate lynx-point Siamese, Patch, 12 years ago, my husband didn't want to have him neutered because he planned to loan Patch for stud servicing.But we never got around to registering him, and stud opportunities never happened. So we watched Patch grow from a happy, affectionate kitten to a surly, mean-tempered fellow who roamed at night, sprayed everywhere, and fought at the drop of a catnip mouse....his ears were so notched that he looked like the meanest gunfighter in the West....
He disappeared for a whole week once---we were sure he was dead. He came back thin as a rail, starving, bleeding, and stayed long enough to fill his belly--then he was gone again for two more days.
And the abcesses---they were awful!!! I had the vet drain a bad one on his head, but he had several more bad ones on his legs that exploded at the touch...what a nasty mess to clean up!!
We'd had it with him---he stank from the spraying, he had a bad temperment, and his unearthly yowl in the middle of the night when neighborhood females were in heat was unbearable....at the age of 5, we had him neutered....
And what a wonderful change!! He became a loving, affectionate companion who slept all night with one of our sons, allowed our daughter to dress him in doll clothes without complaint, wanted to cuddle on whoever's lap was available, and never strayed very far from the back porch. His health improved rapidly, he stopped spraying within a couple of months, and regained the curious, playful attitude of a kitten.
We had to let him go this April when he became paralysed due to cardiomyopathy, and we still miss him greatly. But the last 6 1/2 years of his life were wonderful, for him and for us.
Please, please help your cat to be healthy and happy...please have him neutered. Our opinions about having a "natural" cat were antiquated and out of touch with today's realities---disease and injury are no more natural for a cat than they are for a human.
We have two year-old OSH's now...and part of the breeder's contract was that she would have them neutered before she would release them to us....they are healthy, playful indoor kitties, and we look forward to many, many years of happiness with them.
Please do the same for your cat.....
Kathryn Quint
-- posted by K_Quint
» Caroljw - Don't misunderstand....
I think most of you understand but I want to make sure....I DO want to get the cat neutered. The other family member is not a 'cat' person (yet) and just doesn't 'get it.' I'm still trying to talk him into it. But there's a new kitty in the house now and said person really likes this one; perhaps we're getting somewhere now! But what I really wanted to know was if anybody out there has EVER had an unneutered male who spent a lot of time outside and didn't spray in the house.-- posted by Caroljw
» Bruce_McGee - Unaltered Male Ego
I think your odds of winning the lottery will be better than you having a male unaltered cat in the house who does not spray. It's their nature, and to stake out their territory, which includes the inside of your home due to wandering cats outside your doors and windows, they will spray anywhere and everywhere they choose. I have a little female right now who has chosen to spray out of anxiety and it's a part-time job keeping up with the smell and markings of her urine - and she's not full of raging hormones.It is difficult when you're dealing with someone else's (and with due respect) ignorance to feline care and responsibility, but neutering your pet is the only answer. As Bob Barker of "The Price is Right" says, "Help control the pet population. Have you pet spayed or neutered" ... We have enough unwanted and deserted animals on the streets, the alleys, the pounds, and weighted down in a river somewhere.
-- posted by Bruce_McGee
» klemm2 - cat only acting like he's spraying
Hello! I have a male cat who is 3 years old. He was neutered as soon as he was of the age. About a month ago, he became "sick". We took him to the emergency vet clinic and he wound up staying for 12 days. He had crystals in his urethra. After removing the catheter for the first time, he became reobstructed, so catheter was reinserted and then he got a fever...and things just weren't "right". They discovered that he had a nasty sore by his rectum where he was losing skin. The culprit of this was a tear in the urethra. They sewed a drain in the sore and because of the tear, decided they needed to keep the catheter in for a lot longer this time to allow the tear to heal. (I'm getting to the point
So, we brought him home, it's been nearly two weeks now..he is doing "ok" despite the fact that he is still straining to urinate (every time we took him back for a ck. up, they said this was to be expected since he was so irritated.) Anyway, he sprayed occasionally before all this, and now I see him backing up to the wall, or whatever he chooses, and he LOOKS like he is spraying but nothing comes out. This has happened repeatedly. Does anyone have any ideas on this? I told the whole story because I just didn't know if it would be related in any way to him illness. Thanks!!!
-- posted by klemm2
» msruss - neutered cat spraying directly on people
We have 2 neutered cats. In the last few months, one of them has started spraying directly on my wife whenever she is seated and he gets a chance. He also sprays on purses or clothes that she hangs where he can reach them, and miscellaneous other places in the house, usually on the most expensive furniture.We live in rural area. The lady next door has dozens of cats, who use our yard as a thoroughfare. They spray all over our yard, as do both of our neutered cats. But this spraying inside is new.
I know that the main ways to prevent cat spraying are to neuter the cat (done when he was 8 weeks old), and to de-stress the cat.
We already put in an electronic door to prevent incursions into the house by the other neighborhood cats. They used to come in the regular cat door and eat our cats' food, but that hasn't happened for many months.
Our cats don't fight with the neighbors as far as I can tell, and often go over into their yard to play (and spray).
While I sympathize with the cat's stress, and we'd hate to lose a much-loved family member, if we can't stop this he has to go.
If anyone has any ideas on the cause and/or cure of this behavior, I'd be most grateful if you'd send them to me directly at msruss@hotmail.com.
Any help in saving our cat Pete's life is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
-- posted by msruss
» pa1555 - neutered cat spraying directly on people
I sympathize with your problem- my 2 year old male, Jasper, has started spraying on everything - boxes, bags, wallks, doors, windows, the microwave, exercise bike- I cringe at what I haven't yet discovered. He had a problem with crystals a few months ago, but I think it's a behavior/stress/territorial thing. He was one of 4, then I took in couple more cats. Also, there are several alley cats. My neighbor had a spraying problem and she tried everything- even Feliway. She said that a preparation my holistic vet concocted worked for her. I forgot about it until today. It has gentian, star of bethlehem, impatiens, cherry, plumeria and a couple of other flower essences. It looks like water and you put a few drops in your hand and pet the cat with it. You can also spray it in a mister. The vet called it "Emotional". I'm going to try it and see if it works on him. If this doesn't work for me, then Jasper will become my first ever outside cat. He will stay outside unless there's a blizzard. I hope you will consider making your cat stay outdoors rather than putting him to sleep. Something else you might consider- you may have had the cat neutered so young that they "missed" something or as was the case with our family cat who sprayed; he was diagnosed with an undescended testicle. My parents opted to make him an outdoors cat rather than have an operation to remove the other testicle.Good luck with your situation. I'm going to try that potion a few days and see if it works. Also, I guess I'll have Jasper's urine checked next payday. Regards, Patsy
-- posted by pa1555
» pa1555 - cat only acting like he's spraying
Klemm2, my cat acted like he was spraying. Sometimes nothing comes out, then I discovered there were a lot of places he had successfully marked. Maybe have his urine checked again? Mine had those crystals and he was better after they treated him with antibiotics but he won't eat the special food so maybe they've come back.-- posted by pa1555
» mrmeanie - neutered cat spraying directly on people
In response to neutered cat spraying directly on people posted by msruss:Ok I hate to say this but there really is no permanent cure for cat spraying believe me I know!
We took pity on a lost and abandoned cat over 4 years ago when it followed us to our community pool...4 years later we are at the end of our tether as to what to do with him: As an outdoor indoor cat he sprayed on everything possible on our first house including our carpet which had to be ripped up...in our next house he was almost an outdoor cat unless we were home he still found vertical surfaces and cupboards to spray in... stupidly we moved and took him again to our next new home where we listened to the advice of vets and friends and made him an indoor cat (they said hew was spraying because of going in and out all the time made him insecure so we flew him across the country, bought a house with partially finished basement utility room and kept him in there and the rest of the house... with lots of monitoring and stressful exchanges between me and my husband… We used Feliway and for a while he was good...but of course the next change we went away for a few weeks he sprayed on everything. including my husbands shoes and his briefcase! We get mad we clear it up we forget and then it happens again!! I have spent SO much time cleaning up his spray it is just crazy but I don't want to give up on the hope one day he will stop... I don't think it is going to happen. My mum came out for a visit recently that upset him so he sprayed on the bed, on my husbands case, the laundry I spent a week watching out for the cat and on the last day of my mums visit when I noticed the cat had sprayed on our suitcases because we were going away it was the last straw and I burst into tears... Mum says I am crazy and this IS A CAT!! who is ruling my life...it is true, he doesn’t like change but my life changes all the time, we move a lot we go away a lot he is not ever going to be happy with us... what now?
Options:
1. Try and find a way to keep him outside 100% and not give in to crying to come in
2. Try and find an angel who can live a life with no or little change and him
3. Have him euthanized because no one else wants a spraying cat.
None of these options are really viable which is why we still have him but I hope you see that this is hopeless
The first vet I ever spoke to 4 years ago gave me the most common sense answer, he had a cat who sprayed and he tried everything, eventually that cat became an outdoor cat and he recommended I did the same. It was hot where we lived and I was worried about the cat overheating he asked: Have you ever seen a cat with heat exhaustion? I guess I hadn’t he said they are smart and can stay out of the heat. It is sad that thousands of cats are euthanized every year many healthy with no behavioral problems, it will be a sad day if I decide that is the only viable option left for us and our cat...but it may be. It may be the only choice for you too.
Please let me know what you decide to do... if you can live with your cat as 100% outdoor cat that would be the best option for you.
-- posted by mrmeanie
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