Question:
I have a beautiful 15-pound orange tabby named Sammy, who's about 5 years old. A little over a year ago he started spraying/urinating on things in the house. It's gotten so bad that I don't think there's much in the house he hasn't urinated on -- plastic bags being his favorite. A few nights ago, I was awakened by him urinating on me -- right in my face! Since then, he is outside most of the time, and when he is in at night, I lock him up in my office where his food and litter box are. There is usually spray on my computer screen or a box or something that I clean up everyday. I am a single mom with two young girls, two dogs (yellow labs) and three cats. Is there anything I can do to stop Sammy from urinating on everything?
T.J., Sequim, Wash Nov 22, 2010
Answer:
You have your hands full and my sympathy. Many indoor-outdoor cats, getting aroused outdoors by their interactions with other cats, start to spray indoors to demark their territories. Confinement indoors is the best preventive. He may need to be boarded at a good facility for a few days to possibly break his behavioral fixation. Use an enzyme cleaner where he has sprayed, and get Feliway plug-in pheromone dispenser for each room you must restrict him to initially when he comes home. Also, give him plenty of catnip dry herb and make a tea from it, which he may like to drink -- this is a kind of cat Valium. Have a urine sample checked for crystals and cystitis. and as a precaution, get him on a corn-free cat food, Evo's dry and canned foods are good. The fact that he urinated on you could mean he has painful cystitis or a possible partial urinary-tract blockage and is trying to tell you what his problem is, as many cats will do when they have this painful malady.
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