Spraying

[End of tether]

Hi guys, I could really use some advise! I have 2 Tom's, both neutered, rascal is 9 and ziggy is coming 4 in the summer. About 14 months ago ziggy started spraying in the house and no room has been spared, my curtains at the front door get washed at least twice a month! When it 1st started I made sure the litter box was clean, made sure he had plenty of access outdoors as he prefers toileting outside and killed the smell with bio detergent. When this didn't help I took him to the vets, they checked for infections but all came back clear, I had to give him anti-inflammatory meds just in case, it settled for about 3 months and has been back with a vengeance since. He's been back to the vet, they say it's stress but nothing has changed within the house and the cats ignore each other. The vets told me to try the anti-inflammatory meds again, gave him antibiotics just in case and gave me an anti-stress spray, he initially loved the spray but now pees where it's sprayed! Nothing seems to work and I'm really at the end of my tether with him as my house constantly smells of pee. I don't want to rehoming him but it's getting to the point I don't know what else to do and it's breaking my heart as he is such a loveable wee fella. Can anyone offer any other options to stop the spraying? Thanks

[Kay]

I've never had this problem myself, thank goodness, but it crops up regularly on the cat behavioural problems covered by Jackson Galaxy, and if you google 'Jackson Galaxy spraying in house' you will lots of stuff on causes and cures

[Ruth B]

Quite a few years ago I did have a problem with my cats inappropriate toileting and it is a nightmare, so you have my sympathy. For me the cause was a bit more obvious, I had two cats at the time and the older had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, her life expectancy was a matter of 6 -12 months. I adopted a new young cat to be a playmate to the younger one, (who was the ill cats daughter). For the first few weeks everything was fine, then I started introductions and it went downhill from there. The older cat and the new comer started a dominance struggle, and then the daughter joined in, no fighting, but constant marking of territory, and nothing helped. In the end I had to return the new cat to the charity she came from and I was heart broken, I felt so much as if I had failed her. I did hear that she had been successfully rehomed as an only cat which helped a little. After she had gone my original two reverted to the perfect behaviour they had had before. I then started reading some books on cat behaviour and everything that had happened made sense, I realised that for those months i had tried to make it work I had had three very stressed cats and the decision I had made was the best one possible. I hope your situation doesn't come to this, but I have to say you might have to face the possibility.

Some differences ine the cases are obvious, mine was a new cat, yours have lived happily together before. So my first thought is, is there any chance another cat is coming through the catflap and invading their den area (the house). Most cats are willing to share a certain amount of territory but normally have one area they know they are safe, normally their home. If there is a visiting cat then it could be that Ziggy is trying to make it known that the house is his, hence all the marking. If this is happening it could be that not all the scent is from Ziggy as the interloper could be marking as well If this could be the problem then the solution is fairly simple, an exclusive entry cat flap, controlled either by microchip or by collar tag.

Another thing to mention, don't use bleach to clean any urine up, I'm not sure about the bio detergent, but a lot of normal cleaning products can actually encourage the cat to remark the area. You can get specialist cat urine odour removers, this would probably be your best bet for cleaning any sprayed area.

Going on to the harder option, the problem being with in the household. By my reckoning, Ziggy started marking when he was about 2 1/2 years old. This is the age when they can really start to feel the need to assert their dominance. You say that Ziggy and Rascal ignore each other, but have you seen any sign of passive aggression. This can be far harder to spot as it isn't obvious fighting or even hissing and growling, but it still can cause massive stress to a cat. One common one is when one cat prevents another having access to litter trays, or food and water bowls. It can often seem that they are just lying placidly in an area, often a fairly narrow gap, such as on the stairs or across a door way, which means the other cat can't get past them without coming within paws reach, a seeming playful bat as the cat dares to go past, tells them that they are only allowed past on the other cats whim. If this is partly the case then multiple food and water bowls and multiple litter trays can help, as the cat knows there is another option they can get to. While wet food is harder to spread around the house, dried food can be placed in bowls in various rooms, as can water bowls and litter trays. The normal formula I have come across is 1 per cat, plus 1, so in your case 3 litter trays and I would advise 3 feeding and drinking stations as well, and of course everything should be placed separately, litter trays not be near food and water is fairly obvious, but cats also instinctively know that food near a water source could contaminate the water so prefer a water bowl well away from the food. (I do wonder at time what size house the people who come up with these rules have, the rest of us just have to do the best we can.)

Hopefully this has given you some pointers to look out for and some options to try. You might also want to try a Feliway diffuser rather than the sprays. These plug in to a standard electrical socket and give off a constant vapour which I would guess would be the same as the spray the vet suggested. Just make sure that it is plugged in somewhere Ziggy can't get to it, you certainly don't want him to spray an electrical socket.

I do hope you can find a solution, but as I said in the beginning, some cats are just incompatible. I know how hard it is and what you are going through, you have my admiration I only managed 3 months, before it became too much, never knowing what I would come home to, constant cleaning, and checking all the nooks and crannies to see if they had gone in there. I don't want to give you doom and gloom, and I do really hope you can find an answer.

[End of tether]

Hi Ruth b, thanks for that. I don't have a cat flap so I know it's not another cat coming into the house, a new cat has moved in behind us late last year and he did fight with all the cats in the area at the start but he's rarely about now. I'll look into the passive aggressive behaviour, but just thinking back I don't recall seeing them bat at each other, their food dishes are side beside in the kitchen and they get fed together and I've photos of their tails overlapping as they eat! But that's not to say other things aren't happening that I'm not seeing. Both cats don't like feliway, the last time I tried it they avoided the area completely

[booktigger]

Most of my experiences with spraying have been stress related - Anti-inflams won't do anything, but I did find Cystease did (it's a glucosamine supplement that soothes the lining of the bladder). Have you tried Zylkene? It could be worth trying moving the food bowls to opposite sides of the kitchen

[End of tether]

Hi Booktigger, never heard of zylkene. Had him to the vets again today and they have said it's definitely behavioural and not medical and have recommended a behaviourist who's coming out this weekend and after a brief chat said it sounds quite a severe case

[booktigger]

Zylkene is a milk protein that can help calm cats - you can also buy biscuits that contain it. I bought some of it for Lucy and asked the vet if if would help my friends cat with behavioural cystitis, she recommended a food called Urinary Stress. Her vet did also suggest a behaviourist

[End of tether]

We've been on the urinary stress food without any joy

[Ruth B]

I have to agree with your vet it sounds like a behavioural issue rather than a physical one and if you can afford it a professional behaviourist is probably your best bet. They can probably spot the interactions that you don't notice as they seem normal to you. Spotting passive aggression isn't easy, it isn't a cat taking a swipe at another, its noticing where they sleep, where they sit, does one always come for attention when you are fussing the other making the cat that was there first leave. It can look like normal behaviour and normal reactions, but it can mean that one cat is stressed by it.

I hope they can find a solution for you, in my opinion, if it is a behaviour issue then even if you do find a medication that can control it it isn't solving the problem, just covering it over.

[booktigger]

I think dealing with behavioural cystitis is harder than medical.