Author Topic: Spraying. (Read 4803 times)

sabrina · « **on:** November 08, 2012, 01:49:36 pm »

Barnaby is driving me crazy. He has been spraying over my hay and straw and I am at my wits end on what to do. Ponies will not look at hay he has been near and it cost enough without having to burn it. I know its him as I have caught him in the act. any ideas ?

colliewoman · « **Reply #1 on:** November 08, 2012, 02:19:30 pm »

Is he an entire Tom cat? If so there is only one thing to be done which he won't like too much

Off with them little balls!
If he is already done, then has another cat been on his territory upsetting him? That was the only reason any of my cats ever sprayed $:-\$
If he is intact I don't envy you with the smell

funkyfish · « **Reply #2 on:** November 08, 2012, 04:23:54 pm »

Spraying is a post-it-note saying I don't like this/something stressful happens here.

Get a bottle of Feliway transport spray (its small/cheaper than the full size bottle)- from vet/online/petshops etc. It contains an artificial pheromone form the facial pheromone, which means-' I like this', so he won't want to spray there- or spray it on something near the hay to confuse him in to thinking he has already marked it with his face and so doesn't need to spray it.

Hopefully the animals won't mind eating it once sprayed with Feliway.

sabrina · « **Reply #3 on:** November 08, 2012, 05:53:42 pm »

he has been done and the only other cat we have is Jacs the spayed female. Maybe there is a stray coming in about. Cats are often dumped at the bottom of our road. I am willing to try anything.

Mammyshaz · « **Reply #4 on:** November 08, 2012, 09:04:18 pm »

I'd also opt for using feliway to try to relax him a bit about any change in his environment that perhaps hasn't been noticed.
Does he use a litter tray, if so make sure it's cleaned out very regularly but not washed every time to leave his scent while he is having the behaviour issues. The going rate for litter trays is one per cat plus one or two extra ( ridiculous if you have lots of cats

) but then if the house has always been a multicat with many cats they seem to cope better than a small feline group when it comes to sharing territory.

The other thing to try is feeding where he is peeing. Not only does this throw him with a bit of confusion which may just be enough to stop the change in behaviour, but it also puts them off peeing where their food is as cats are known for not wanting to contaminate their food source.

A bit long and maybe mothers and suck eggs, but

there is a tip or two which you aren't already aware of which may help.
Hope it is sorted soon.

sabrina · « **Reply #5 on:** November 09, 2012, 05:43:40 pm »

He does use a litter tray if shut in but most of the time i will find him in the stables using the straw. I have put a cover over the open hay bale so he cannot get to it. This morning he came into the stable building while I was feeding and rugging the ponies and peed on one of my rugs. He has been done and we have had him 3 years which makes him 6. Jacs the female is quite and they often share a bed so goodness knows what is going on. have not seen a stray but there could be one coming around during the night I suppose.

Mammyshaz · « **Reply #6 on:** November 09, 2012, 07:45:54 pm »

What about a litter tray in or next to the stables, if it's going to be in an exposed area you can get covered ones. Not ideal I know but it may help.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #7 on:** November 10, 2012, 10:49:49 am »

Sabrina, it just might be worth getting the vet to check him.

I read somewhere that cats can get a cystitis type thing, and it can cause them to pee more and in odd places. It can be a simple infection, easy to treat and sort out, or it can be an indicator of something more.

My boy Jacob, PTS last year, eventually had a body cavity full of fluid - not pee and not blood - and at 15, the vet reckoned that whatever had caused it couldn't be good news and would need an op, so, given that anaesthetics and old cats are a bad mix, I chose the easy option for my boy.

Much later I read about this cystitis and peeing in odd places thing, and recalled that Jake had had a phase of doing this some months before he developed the swollen abdomen.

Maybe it wasn't related, but you can imagine how much I wish I'd taken him for a check-up back then...

sabrina · « **Reply #8 on:** November 10, 2012, 12:51:53 pm »

Thanks for that, I will have him checked out. never thought it could be a health problem.

sabrina · « **Reply #9 on:** November 15, 2012, 06:03:45 pm »

Well vet cannot find anything wrong with Barnaby so he thinks he may be stressed due to a strange cat going about. I then thought about my hay which comes from Davids big shed. he has cats so maybe they have been among my hay while stored in Davids shed.