Whether you have one cat, or several, you will encounter cat pee either in the litter pan or in other places of your home. The more cats you add to your home, the higher the possibility that the cat pee will stop being in the litter pan and will appear in other places not wanted by you. Anyone with five cats or better who say that they have no spraying issues- well they are either letting their cats out of the home secretly, or they are delusional.
Think I am kidding? I recently talked with several cat authors who also have a high number of cats. They have asked to stay anonymous, but they confess to going to such extreme measures to keep cat pee out of some of their rooms.
One gal says she never allows her cats in her office. I understand that thinking- my last computer fried because a cat peed on it in the middle of the night.
Another well-known author tired of her books being “baptized’ had her husband chasing studs. NOT those studs! The ones in the wall of their home. Once located, they mounted all their bookshelves up high enough so even the most accurate sprayer would miss.
For me, my computer seems to be the main target. That and by the front door. I believe they are guided by my scent- upset when I leave for work without taking them with me (I wish I could!) and spraying their scent to cover mine and offer them comfort, and my computer because I spend a lot of time there as well and my signature scent is the strongest.
They seem to love plastic shopping bags, trash bags, wood and cardboard. They aren’t acting out to try and piss me off (no pun intended) they are being cats. When I bring a new cat or kitten in the home, I can expect for my main hosers- Charlie, Baker, Everest and McKinley to try and “right” the signature scent of the home into something they are more familiar with.
I have Noked-Out, Urined-Offed and Nature’s Miracled my home to death. I have huge litter pans in the living room, dining room, bedrooms, upstairs, on the patio and in the enclosure. I scoop and clean daily so many times my arms feel like they are falling off and still they spray.
It is just a fact of life- one that even cat authors don’t want to allude to that they are dealing with. There is no shame in what the cats are doing. They are acting instinctively. But no one wants to admit that parts of their home at times, smells like a litter pan!
more than 5 (x2) ! and honest to goodness, no spraying issues! 🙂 must be a lucky anomaly!
Thanks for being so candid about the subject. I often get the impression when reading up on the subject that the keeper of a sprayer has failed in making the cat feel comfortable, which I feel is not fair. Overcrowding can be part of the problem, I’m sure, but even with indoor/outdoor cats with plenty of space and plenty of availiable sleeping places and hidy holes inside and out this problem can also occur. I have 4 indoor/outdoor cats (all spayed and neutered) and one of them is a sporadic sprayer. Being a pensioner I spend most of my time at home with them, so I’m always available when they need human company. I think the spraying depends very much on the personality of the cat in question. My sprayer is very territorial and possessive and gets easily upset if strange cats trespass in the vicinity of her outside territory, whereas my other cats are more laid back when this happens. So she comes in and sprays a corner to relieve her tension and from her point of view also to safeguard the house. When she comes in she also scratches the furniture a lot in passing, too, which is another sign of her inner tension. She’s also a bully with my other cats and obviously this, too, has to do with her territorial and resources issues. This happens mainly just before feeding time when they are all hovering around waiting for me to dish out. She’s often a hisser and a growler in the house, too, something the other cats are not. I’ve tried all the usual tips I’ve found in cat books and in the Internet but to no avail. I’ve spent loads of money on Feliway, too, but even that doesn’t calm her. So I just accept the way she is and search out her corners every day to remove her markings when there are any. I’ve thankfully found a suitable urine remover which reliably removes stains and the smell. So I can live quite calmly with the situation. Actually there is nothing that would stop this cat from spraying even if she were the only cat in the household as her issues have mainly to do with the strange cats outside. She has even sprayed the window from the inside because she got annoyed at a cat prowling around in the front garden. She’s very affectionate with me, but rather highly strung. She’s the type of cat that can suddenly growl, hiss and nip you (not drawing blood) while you are stroking her, even though she’s the one who begged to be petted. She’s 7, I got her when she was 2 and when the other 3 cats were already living here. They mainly avoid her because of the way she is. Thankfully they are very attached to me and still feel very comfortable here and haven’t looked for another place to live as some cats are apt to do.