Cat spraying on new baby's stuff

[Norasmomma]

He has done this type of thing before, when I was pg with my DD it started-he'd never sprayed before(he was neutered at 5 months) and then he sprayed on my Dh's tool belt. When I got pg with my son he did it again, only on my reusable grocery bag, which I caught him doing. I know he has also sprayed on one of DD's toys.

Well now he's just gotten all ballistic about it, the other day he backed his butt up toward me and the baby like he was going to spray. I freaked out and got DH to chase him off and throw him out, then he sprayed on our washing machine directly in front of my best friend. He's been kicked out of the house for the last 2 days, we let him in today and within a couple hours he sprayed on the baby's blanket, I didn't catch him, but I saw something on the floor and then I went to wrap DS in his blankie it was wet and smelled like cat pee. IDK what to do, Dh is ready to kick him out of the house-I have to agree, I can't have him spraying on all of our stuff, just because he's mad there's a new baby in the house.

Any suggestions?

[mum06]

I'd kick him out. I'm ready to kick my cats out too (I have two female kittens that are just old enough to get spayed).

You really don't need this extra stress and mess to clean up. He is a cat. He'll do fine outside.

[VroomieMama]

Don't leave your cat outside.. we have enough animal populations outside. Just take your cat to humane society and put him up for adoption or give him to one of your friend or advertise him on craigslist.com to see if someone wants to pick him up.

[Norasmomma]

I live in the county-he's fixed and it really doesn't matter if he's outside, he won't be populating the world. I've had him for 8 years or so, he's been a good cat, he just has territory issues I'm guessing. I also could never give him to the humane society since I live in such a rural area there isn't one and the local cat rescue is filled to the brim. I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do to alter his behavior. I don't want to throw him out, he's just going on the "three strikes" rule and he's being a PITA. He's gone through phases of this before, and I guess he's suffering from emotional upset due to the arrival of our baby a couple weeks ago.

[swissgirl]

I speak from way too much experience in these matters. Babies and kids can stress out cats so much, it becomes a downward spiral of health and behavioral issues.

One thing to try in the house in confining the cat to certain rooms and closing doors to rooms he should not enter. It obviously becomes more difficult in open areas of the home. Let him outside as much as possible. Make sure food, water and litter box are in a safe, quiet area away from children. Toys, blankets, clothes left on the floor, on beds are accessible to the cat.

You can try the various deterrent sprays on the market; they did not work for my cat but maybe your case would be different.

Talk to a vet about this. Allowed to continue, it will only get worse.

Good luck. This is one of the hardest things to deal with as a pet owner (especially when the cat's behavior was not problematic prior to kids arrival)

[MissMommyNiceNice]

But letting your cat outside is a big deal to the songbird population. Feral cats are the biggest predator of threatened songbirds. I would try confining him to a certain area or giving him away for adoption.

[Norasmomma]

Originally Posted by MissMommyNiceNice

But letting your cat outside is a big deal to the songbird population. Feral cats are the biggest predator of threatened songbirds. I would try confining him to a certain area or giving him away for adoption.

He's not feral, he'd be fed. Plus it's almost winter there are no songbirds in Northern WA in the winter. Anyway I'm trying to figure out how to keep him an indoor/outdoor cat-that's it. I don't want him to be outside, I have 3 cats, he's the only one having issues. All of them are indoor/outdoor and always have been. I'm looking for an answer to my dilemma-not a lecture about why I should give my cat away.

[RockStarMom]

My cat only does it when there are things around that are the type of material he will do it on...so I keep all paper bags, plastic bags, and any kind of cloth off of his level, and also barricade the closet, and it's not a problem. Good luck! I know it's a pain.

[ejg123]

Oh, so sorry you are dealing with this. We've had similar problems with our kitties since our son was born. We are a very pro-cat household so for us, it was always a matter of "hmm, how can we work with this issue." We also foster for a shelter so have dealt with lots of stressed cats over the years.

Our cats are indoor only, and before our son was born were very much like our little cat-children. Of course, they still are to a point but we have much less attention to give them. I'm sure your kitty is just expressing his stress and jealousy. I know it is hard to be patient (oh, do I know this!) but I think that might go a long way - him realizing that you care about him and aren't just going to throw him out or send him off.

There are a couple things you can try:
1. Feliway is a cat phermone that you plug into an electrical outlet. Humans can't smell it, but it calms stressed kitties. One covers about 600 square feet. We've had good success with this and so have families that have adopted kitties from us. http://www.feliway.com/us
2. Rescue remedy and bach flower essences work for some cats. I know it sounds very hippie, but we turned to them with very difficult foster cats. You can put them in the cat's water, or in a spray bottle and put them on your hands when you pet the kitty. With the Bach essences, you probably would want Holly for jealousy but you can look at the various indications here http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/remedies.htm to see if there is a better fit.
3. Mostly, I would try reassuring your cat. Give him his own space with his own food, a nice bed, some special toys. He is probably just expressing his confusion/jealousy/overall concern about a new member of the family and changing dynamics.

Probably more than you wanted....

But good luck!

[Noelle C.]

How often is his litter box cleaned? Sometimes cats also hesitate to use the box if they don't like the TYPE of litter.