cat spraying - help needed

[michelle1k]

I am really hoping that someone here can help. I have a female (spayed) indoor / outdoor cat. Our home is visited almost daily by a neighborhood male cat who sprays: all over our porch, yard and driveway. I have never caught him in the act, but have glimpsed him from afar a couple of times. Any ideas how to discourage this behavior and / or how to get rid of the *nasty*, *nasty* smell?

Warmly,
Michelle in NY

[AppleOrangePear]

<aybe they like people withthe name MIchele

We are having the same problem is a stray though ( i think) and it has even sprayed in our garage.. I want to get a humane cage to catch it though i know itll get put down by the animal shelter however im about over this darn thing stinking up the outside of my house and especially now that i have a baby

Michele
WWW.NAturalFamilyliving.net

[shannon0218]

Urine Erase works for the smell. One thing that may keep these cats away is amonia soaked rags in a plastic bag with holes poked in it, place the bags in the areas that the cat is peeing. Some people have sucess wtih using dog hair as a deterent. Talk to your local dog groomer, they are usually happy to give you a bag of fur, lay it around your perimeter and in the areas the cat is spraying.

[mother_sunshine]

I was going to say get a dog, if that's an option. :LOL

We have 3 cats and our dog doesn't let any other cats near our home.

Our male cat has sprayed in our home before (in dd's closet, ick). I can't let him in the house anymore because of it, so I was hoping that someone had some advice on how to stop the spraying when it's your own cat....?

[michelle1k]

Thank you - I am going to try get some dog fur!

Warmly,
Michelle K

[mommymushbrain]

Mother Sunshine... is your male fixed?? We had the same problem with our male until we got him fixed. He still tries to spray, but there is no stink to it, THANK GOD.

I had to burn our shower curtain because of that stinkin' cat.

[mother_sunshine]

Yep, he's fixed. I think being neutered helps the problem but not entirely unfortunately. His pee still smells, although luckily the smell isn't noticeable outside. We have 3 cats (the other two are girls) so I assume it is a claiming territory thing. He sprayed in dd's closet (all over her stuffed animals which I had to individually scrub and machine-wash (several times each) :
This happened right after we moved so maybe he was staking his claim early. Now that we've been here a few years I wonder if he would still do it, but I'm really hesitant to find out.

[MaWhit]

Spray the cat-sprayed areas with straight vinegar. That should neutralize the odor.

[shannon0218]

For those of you whose own cats are spraying, try adding some organic dried catnip to their food everyday. Spraying is a stress and control thing in cats (unless they have a bladder infection) and the catnip sometimes mellows them just enough. If that fails, alot of people have good luck with cats on Elavil, but that means a vet visit and meds--catnip is a good first step.

[MyOcean]

Feliaway, it's synthetic cats feel good pheromones spray the areas with it and cats smell these pheromones and stop spraying. Unfortunately, it's expensive.