No one will believe I am not making this up! Frickin CATS!

[secondchance]

We have 6 cats- 3 in-and-out, 2 out, and one mostly out.

So for about the last 6 months or so, our 3 in-and-out male cats have started “spraying” piss around the house on occasion, actually indoors and out (I keep cleaning spray spots off the bbq grill cover in the backyard). Inside the house I’ve been finding semi-dry spray on the lower part of the built-in den cabinets, along the bottom of the shower curtain, on a cleaner bag hanging over a long dress in the walk-in closet, or I’ll smell it and have to sniff around the bottom of couches or beds until I find the effected area, etc. Yuck. This is driving me absolutely bat-shit crazy. I’ve heard that male cats “spray,” but we’ve always had female cats for 30 years until recently, so I never experienced it. When we were about to adopt the 3 abandoned male kittens a couple years ago, they told us if we got them neutered it wouldn’t be a problem. Not true, unfortunately.

Well, we totally adore these male cats- they’re so much more affectionate and friendly than the females, and we wouldn’t give them up for anything, but what they’re doing lately would drive anyone insane. If someone told me this story I seriously don’t think I’d believe them…

So we just got back in town after being gone for 4 days (a neighbor was taking care of the cats), and tonight, for the second time in a month, I’ve found semi-dried piss spray ALL OVER the kitchen counter canisters (where I store the flour, sugar, and tea bags), and a couple weeks ago I found the same thing all over the kitchen blender! WTF?

AND… for the 3rd or 4th time, while we were gone “someone” has left a pee puddle IN the bathtub. I also smelled something in the other bathroom just now, and looked with trepidation into the stand-alone shower and – there was a pee puddle in the middle of the shower floor this time too!

The piece de resistance was a couple weeks ago when I came home from work around 3am, and found a steaming pile of cat shit IN the KITCHEN SINK!!!! I suppose I should be somewhat grateful that they’re pooping and peeing it in the sink and tub and not on the carpet or furniture….. but OMG!

Trust me, I check if I need to scoop poop out of the 2 cat boxes daily, change the litter and wash out the boxes about every two or three weeks because there’s hardly ever anything deposited in the boxes as they apparently do the majority of their business outside. But perhaps they pee in there more often than I realize and don’t care for the smell in the boxes that I don’t notice. I also add a large scoop of litter every week to keep fresh-smelling stuff on the top.

I’m about to run out of the current stock of “Fresh Step” and am planning to try the Pine stuff that’s been talked about here, as it sounds like it will be easier to tell when there’s wet stuff in there with the Pine.

But holy crap, has ANYONE ever heard of such insane behavior? I’ve actually witnessed 2 of the boys doing the deed, one in the walk-in closet on a set of plastic storage drawers, and one against a bed- and of course screamed at them like a lunatic. My hands are getting raw from all the scrubbing, and I hope my house doesn’t reek too bad. I ask friends when they walk in if they smell it, and luckily they say no. I wash all the effected items and have been using a special spray for cat urine (for fighting the smell as well as deterring them), and I’m tired of washing the bedding and couch covers so often.

I’ve been trying to keep the boys outside as much as possible, but our doors are open a lot and they wander in and and just lay around or fall asleep, and they seem so innocent… ha! We love having them around the house and they sleep with all of us– I mean, that’s why we have pets. But I’ll tell anyone (and I've told Beast I'm sorry I couldn’t warn him in time!) they may want to think twice before they get male cats if they’re to be strictly indoor – neutered or not. Omg. Sheesh!

[mrkelley23]

Not only heard of it, but experienced it last winter. Our cats are strictly indoor, but what we finally figured out was that my mother-in-law's tropical trees, which we keep indoors for her in the wintertime, had been visited by an outdoor cat, and our cat was marking territory. Since your cats are in-and-out, I would guess that there's a new cat in town somewhere, and they've smelled him, and they're trying to show him where he can't go.

My vet and the Humane Society both advised against letting our cats out AT ALL when we adopted them, so my guess is that if you're going to let the cats continue to roam, you're going to put up with this. It's a very natural thing for cats to do.

[gsabc]

My first two cats were in-and-out neutered males, never had the problem. All later cats, all but one male, have been strictly indoor due to road traffic by our house and German Shepherds next door. The only thing I can offer is wishing you good luck with it.

You've probably already looked online, but just in case you haven't seen these:
http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-spraying-urine.htm
http://www.cat-world.com.au/feline-spraying
http://cats.about.com/od/litterboxprobl ... yurine.htm

[Ody]

You would think that Spilly's habit of flinging poop all over the walls would be gross enough, but if he starts pissing like that, I'm going to personally kick his ass..... just as soon as he decides to retract his claws that is....

And of behalf of my stupid brother, I'm so sorry he tried to scratch you Holly. Blame LB, he brought him up that way.....

[littlebeast13]

3 seconds after Ody typed that, Spilly, from the second shelf of my souvenir baseball bookcase, just leaned over and barfed all over the carpet.........

Sigh.....

lb13

[MarleysGh0st]

And people ask me why I don't have pets...

[christie1111]

I didn't follow the links provided so this may also be in there, but my male cat (when I had one) started doing this when he had cystitis. You may want to check and see if there is a medical reason.

Otherwise, a little sympathy sent your way. It is yucky!

[kayrharris]

Cats do get urinary tract problems as they get older. Sounds like they were just mad at you while you were gone. I think they do act out just like kids. Spraying is territorial, not that they aren't using the litter box or going outside. I would get them checked out by a vet, though.



kay

[vettech]

With the number of cats involved, I would say it's definitely a territorial issue. Always a good idea to get checked out, but I suspect that's the problem. There are hormonal treatments available to reduce the spraying.

[SportsFan68]

Mork was fine until my roommate's boyfriend moved back from Cornell (I think he flunked out) and started annoying, tormenting, pestering, plaguing, badgering, harrassing, heckling, and vexing the poor cat. I ordered this cretin to stay completely away from Mork the night I came home and found him holding Mork in a paper sack, just his head sticking out. As far as I know, CretinBF did as i said, but still I couldn't get Mork to stop spraying after that, and he became an outdoor cat. Clayton was fine until Casey moved in. He was already mostly an outdoor cat by his choice, and this sealed the deal. He was happy to sleep in his crate inside on cold nights.

I know this is no help; I wish I could offer a solution. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[flockofseagulls104]

I sympathize and emphathize with you. When I got married last summer, I brought my 2 neutered male cats with me to join her 2 neutered and declawed male siamese cats. It was a nightmare.

My cats, who are brothers and have always been primarily indoor cats with no problem, and her cats, which also were brothers and have been 100% indoor cats, were all marking their territories.

We tried putting litter boxes everywhere, we had 6 going on at one point. When one of the siamese cats decided to mark the fireplace wood right in front of us, he was the first to go. We found a nice home for him, and we decided that my cats, who had claws, were now going to be outside cats and live in the detached garage, and we would keep Louie, the remaining Siamese, inside.

It kinda worked OK this winter, when my cats pretty much kept to the garage where it was warm. But now that they are out and about, Louie is obsessed with watching them through the windows and the doors. He has now started marking the windows and doors and other places. He is also starting crying and howling incessantly. We are pretty sure it is nothing physical, although we are going to take him to the vet this week to make sure. We just don't know what to do because it was heartwrenching enough to give the other Siamese away. We cannot lose Louie, but we also cannot let him keep doing what he's doing. None of the advice we find on the web is working. We don't know what to do.

[secondchance]

yep, from the responses so far it sure does sound like territorial issues is the issue. I'm somewhat relieved to hear it's not just me, but of course feel badly for all of us as well- especially Flock. I guess we're just going to have to try to start keeping them mostly outside and the doors shut - which will be extremely difficult as they're so used to being indoors and will cry and scratch for an eternity at the sliding glass door to come in, plus, that door is usually wide open as we're in and out constantly between the house and the office connected to the garage. btw, my husband would sooner give away the kids than the cats.

Now, the spraying is one thing, and the marking of territory makes a great deal of sense- but what's really astonishing me is the other issue, the actual-peeing and the pooping in the tub, shower and sink, and of course the spraying up on the kitchen counter on the blender and cannisters. UP ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER! That is the craziest thing I've ever heard of. They normally don't even go up onto the kitchen counter. And HOW do they know it's actually quite a good place for them to go in the tub, shower and sink??

After thinking about this for the last couple hours, I've come up with one correlation of sorts... all of the affected areas just mentioned happen to be shiny and white... including the blender and cannisters. Come to think of it, the den cabinets are a whitewash finish. Could this mean something? hmmmm

[secondchance]

You would think that Spilly's habit of flinging poop all over the walls would be gross enough, but if he starts pissing like that, I'm going to personally kick his ass..... just as soon as he decides to retract his claws that is....

And of behalf of my stupid brother, I'm so sorry he tried to scratch you Holly. Blame LB, he brought him up that way.....

btw, Ody- it was quite the pleasure meeting you and your brother the other day! Tell Spilly and lb no worries - no harm, no foul.

[MarleysGh0st]

You would think that Spilly's habit of flinging poop all over the walls would be gross enough, but if he starts pissing like that, I'm going to personally kick his ass..... just as soon as he decides to retract his claws that is....

And of behalf of my stupid brother, I'm so sorry he tried to scratch you Holly. Blame LB, he brought him up that way.....

btw, Ody- it was quite the pleasure meeting you and your brother the other day! Tell Spilly and lb no worries - no harm, no foul.

Did you pay a visit to Casa Beast?

[secondchance]

You would think that Spilly's habit of flinging poop all over the walls would be gross enough, but if he starts pissing like that, I'm going to personally kick his ass..... just as soon as he decides to retract his claws that is....

And of behalf of my stupid brother, I'm so sorry he tried to scratch you Holly. Blame LB, he brought him up that way.....

btw, Ody- it was quite the pleasure meeting you and your brother the other day! Tell Spilly and lb no worries - no harm, no foul.

Did you pay a visit to Casa Beast?

I did indeed. I was in southern Illinois last week for my MIL's funeral, and was staying only 10 minutes down the road from the Beast Manor. It was my honor to have been the first BB to visit lb's new abode. My son and I even had the privilege of witnessing the execution of some original artwork being created by ES!

[Bob Juch]

I did indeed. I was in southern Illinois last week for my MIL's funeral, and was staying only 10 minutes down the road from the Beast Manor. It was my honor to have been the first BB to visit lb's new abode. My son and I even had the privilege of witnessing the execution of some original artwork being created by ES!

I didn't know Illinois had the death penalty for squirrel artwork.

[Estonut]

... btw, my husband would sooner give away the kids than the cats.

I'm pretty sure that would change if it were his hands getting raw from all the scrubbing...

[ghostjmf]

Friend of mine this weekend declared that when their 2 remaining (once there were 3) male indoor/outdoor cats leave this earthly realm (they're 15, 16, thereabouts) they are never having male cats again, & maybe not cats at all, much as they love cats, because of the spraying.


Their cats were neutered at the recommended age (at or before 6 months) & it mattered not at all regarding spraying.

I must have so-far dodged a bullet here; my beloved late male cat Tracy chased one male cat brought into the house by a housemate kitty-sitting it for a romantic friend around & around, but there was no spraying from either male cat. And Tracy in turn was beat up by a male kitten foundling I, uh, found & tried to make a go of it with until he started beating on Tracy, which took about 1 night; I was going on vacation a few days later & wouldn't have been there to referee anything drastic. I found foundling kitty a new home.
But during the beat-downs, there was no spraying. Just beating.

Tucker is unbelievably destructive (clothes (mine not his); turntable(mine not his)) but at least to date doesn't spray.

All but one of these cats, the kitten-foundling, were indoor cats.

[BigDrawMan]

I know a woman with 43 cats in her house.She washes down the house several times a day.
It doesnt smell like she has more than 15 cats.
Eighteen, tops.

It sounds like your cats are in firm control of the situation

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/im ... t-problems

Popular Mechanics has an article with tips on cat urine and evicting squirrels

[FannyHeartsNene]

btw, Ody- it was quite the pleasure meeting you and your brother the other day! Tell Spilly and lb no worries - no harm, no foul.

Did you pay a visit to Casa Beast?

I did indeed. I was in southern Illinois last week for my MIL's funeral, and was staying only 10 minutes down the road from the Beast Manor. It was my honor to have been the first BB to visit lb's new abode. My son and I even had the privilege of witnessing the execution of some original artwork being created by ES!

Some guys have all the luck.......

Meanwhile, I'm not so sure about that pine cat litter. The girls wouldn't touch it until I added some scoopable to trick them and now I can't figure out how to scoop the poop without also scooping up the pellets......

Meanwhile, I'd be only too happy to clean up various bodily fluids if only they'd do it on the linoleum. When they feel a barf coming on when they're on a linoleum area, they move TO the carpet.....

[littlebeast13]

btw, Ody- it was quite the pleasure meeting you and your brother the other day! Tell Spilly and lb no worries - no harm, no foul.

Did you pay a visit to Casa Beast?

I did indeed. I was in southern Illinois last week for my MIL's funeral, and was staying only 10 minutes down the road from the Beast Manor. It was my honor to have been the first BB to visit lb's new abode. My son and I even had the privilege of witnessing the execution of some original artwork being created by ES!

Alas though...... she did not get the opportunity to scritch ES......

lb13

[sunflower]

Did you pay a visit to Casa Beast?

I did indeed. I was in southern Illinois last week for my MIL's funeral, and was staying only 10 minutes down the road from the Beast Manor. It was my honor to have been the first BB to visit lb's new abode. My son and I even had the privilege of witnessing the execution of some original artwork being created by ES!

Some guys have all the luck.......

Meanwhile, I'm not so sure about that pine cat litter. The girls wouldn't touch it until I added some scoopable to trick them and now I can't figure out how to scoop the poop without also scooping up the pellets......

Meanwhile, I'd be only too happy to clean up various bodily fluids if only they'd do it on the linoleum. When they feel a barf coming on when they're on a linoleum area, they move TO the carpet.....

Come on, if you were going to barf, wouldn't you want your feet to be nice and toasty on the carpet too?

My old kitty used to do the same thing, he'd always throw up just on the edge of the carpet. The new one doesn't barf at all, I'm presuming because I feed him only dry food. I learned my lesson, and it was all dry food from the moment he came home. Well, and pot roast and carrots...he just loves them.