Tomcat spraying

[Performancemini]

OK, here's another animal question. My husband rescued a tomcat that some people abandoned when they sold or their place was foreclosed on. (husband does remodeling/construction on the side and this was on a job). I am not sure if the cat was still inside somewhere or if he was left outside. It was between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Anyway, he's been keeping him in the tack room in the barn, which is heated about 58-65 degrees. He has a litterbox which my husband says he was supposedly (supposedly-since I couldn't go out there since I am on crutches) using. Well, we had some thawing and I can get out there. The tack room reeks of tomcat spray (luckily almost all the tack is in the house for the winter). This cat is, rough guess, between 2-4 years old. If we get him neutered, what are the chances he will quit spraying? If there's one thing I can't stand it's tomcat spray. We had that before with a barn cat and he kept spraying the hay that we would stack downstairs for the week. The horses wouldn't touch it. (can you blame them!). My husband loves cats and I don't hate them-but I can't put up with this. I didn't know about the cat until they had caught him and were bringing him home. I would prefer a spayed female or a neutered kitten who never got the spraying notion.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

It's my experience that once they start, they seldom stop. We currently have several males, and a few of them still spray, even though they have been fixed from an early age. I have found that a lot of times having other cats (whether they spray too or not) keeps a cat spraying even after they have been altered.

 

[shorthorsemom]

many of ours stopped once neutered, or at least it was greatly reduced. Doesn't smell quite as bad once neutered . I have had female cats back up and spray on something too....Nothing stinks worse than tom cat spray though. He wants to wander and keeping him in the tack room might not be a good idea. tom cat spray will soak into leather and he also might claw your stuff. I hear you about the horse hay. I once was heading to work and grabbed a flake and tossed to my horses and got in the car. It was then I was aware of the stench coming off my hands and then noticed it was also on my steering wheel. Have almost all our cats neutered, but still have one tom I can't catch that enjoys spraying my front door on occasion.

My thoughts are that neutering may or may not fix the problem, however neutering is a good idea for many more reasons other than just spraying. I say go for it and hope for the best. Since he is a rescue cat you can get him neutered at a clinic for not much money. Male cat neuter is not expensive if you go to a clinic. best wishes. ps... there are "cat condos" available for short term confinement that is like a big crate but very tall and has shelves in it for them to sit on and jump up and down. On my cats that I need to train for litter box and have rather reliable I put in the "cat condo" for a period of time with a scratching post and a litter box. This is where they also recover from neutering and spaying. Maybe the condo or crate use until they are fully recovered is why I have success on getting my guys to stop spraying. I don't think that spraying the bars of the crate is satisfying for the cats. I got my condo from pet edge. It was well worth it and I have done trap neuter release and rehab of many cats. We are a farm in the middle of mc mansions and get many dropped intact cats. I round up a bunch every year and have gotten help from forgotten cats organization in getting them fixed. LOVE forgotten cats by the way. If anybody wants a super great organization to donate to, these folks are AWESOME. I can't say enough great things about these wonderful folks that have helped us with our feral and dropped cats.
Best wishes! Try a big crate while you are deciding. Pick a litter box without a lid that will fit in one corner. Once he is neutered and healed and using the litter box, he might (hopefully) begin to behave himself. I used to use a product called FON (feline odor neutralizer) I have no idea if it is still available.. I use natures miracle for clean ups too.

 

[Performancemini]

Thanks. I had planned on checking on rescue/feral cat clinics to get him neutered. A friend who has taken in a number of cats suggested two. My husband has a covered litter box in there. He should probably take the top off then. He lets him wander the barn when the temps aren't too low. He needs to keep the heater going to keep the water buckets thawed (we have to turn the water on and off in the house at present). Oh, the heater is an oil enclosed typed. On very low. You can touch it without getting singed. Cat has a 12" window ledge he sits on to look out; but I can see where he probably has "cabin fever" like we do. He seems like a nice cat otherwise.

 

[Mona]

The only trouble we have had with that, was on a mature cat that we had neutered when he was about 9 months of age. He never sprayed, always used a litter box. When we moved to our current home, the cat was several years old, and must have been the change in his life that prompted it. I kept threatening to bury him while they were putting the septic field in!

Anyway, I kept after him and he did eventually stop doing it. Nothing I hate more than the smell of cat pee! YUCK!!! Maybe the cat is not happy with the change in his lifestyle?? (being kept in the barn)

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I'm thinking he is marking his territory. Nothing in this new place smells like him so he feels he must mark it by spraying. Nuetering should help but I think only time will solve it (and thats a maybe depends on the cat) Good luck

 

[chandab]

Such interesting timing, since I'm having spray problems with a neutered male, but I know why he's doing it... He's mad about the newest feline addition in the house. [i brought an orphaned 5 week old kitten in the house back in September. He's now much bigger and neutered, but there are still issues.] Spring can't come fast enough, then they can all spend more time outside and that will pretty much eliminate the problem. Today was a huge temp drop, and the big naughty kitty is a pansy about cold weather, but also doesn't like to use the litter box if he doesn't have to.

 

[amysue]

As a self acclaimed crazy cat lady I can understand where you are coming from. Neutering him may help the problem but at his age it is not a guarantee. What it will do will make him more apt to stick around and stay close to home. Maybe he wont spray as much if allowed to go outside. If you mix bleach and water in a spray bottle and wash down every thing in your tack room the smell may fade. If it got on anything porous it will stink forever. You can get a black light and check to see where he sprayed the most and treat that area first.

 

[Performancemini]

Thanks for the cleaning tips AmySue. It will be a while with this weather and til I am off the crutches til I can get out and do any of that. And it WILL be ME that will have to do it. Hubby loves the cats, but I always get stuck with the clean up. I am thinking he is not keeping that litterbox clean enough. I know a lot of cats won't use the box if it gets too full.

 

[amysue]

Thatsva good point. If the box is dirty they wont use it. If a female wont pee in the box, its usually because she has a uti. But being a tom cat, he is probably marking his territory.

 

[HGFarm]

I have had some stop spraying after being neutered and a few that didnt. Being neutered does reduce a lot of that territorial stuff that makes them want to spray.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I just observed one of our female feral cats (spayed for several years now) that backed up and sprayed on some roll fencing of mine this morning right in front of me. Man, she got quite a long shot too. wow. No litter box would have contained that.

 

[chandab]

I just observed one of our female feral cats (spayed for several years now) that backed up and sprayed on some roll fencing of mine this morning right in front of me. Man, she got quite a long shot too. wow. No litter box would have contained that.

I have both a spayed and an unspayed female barn cat that spray, and you're right they do have a long shot. The unspayed female can be a handful, and will likely be fixed the next time there is a low cost spay clinic in the area.

 

[Ashley]

It will smell less as it will be just urine and not a miss of urine and sperm, which is what makes it really stink

 

[Miniv]

I've noticed that male cats who were neutered at a young age don't tend to spray.

A tom cat who is neutered as an adult may or may not stop.....depends on the cat and the living situation.