Neutered male marking?

I think my neutered cat is spraying - but I'm not sure.

I noticed several weeks ago that one of my cats were not quite hitting where they needed with the litterbox. it was just outside the box. I assumed it was one of the boys with bad aim. I didn't see it happen all too often.

Since I've gotten my kitten a couple weeks ago, I had to put a litterbox in a spare room for her (since I didn't trust her in the basement yet). Since then, I have caught Boris using her litter constantly... but he's been peeing right outside the box and onto the wall! I've had to clean it up three times in two days now. I moved the litter today down to the basement since I can trust the kitten (and she knows where it is - she used it twice in the basement that I saw).

I don't know that the kitten triggered Boris' spraying since he was apparently doing it before we ever got her.

Is he just messy? Is he marking? He only does it by the litter (so far - knocking on wood).

I will try a vet visit, but I'm pretty sure it's not a UTI.

So, is he marking? If so, what do I do? I can't try feliaway or anything like that because he's doing it while standing in the litterbox. I also can't try to get rid of the smell with Nature's Miracle for the same reason.

I'm not sure how to get him to stop... if that's possible. I certain don't want the problem to expand beyond the litterbox area.

 

After you've ruled out health problems, I'd think Boris is just getting sloppy and lazy like my boys. We have a open litter box and Monty and Milo likes to shoot high so we used plexiglass on 2 sides after we got sick of cleaning up smelly messes. Covered litter box should solve the problem but not all cats like that. I'll post a pic in a minute.
Geez, I need to scrub my litterbox. Looks awful:

 

Hummm...

That's what I was wondering with Boris. He doesn't do it anywhere else (and I hope it stays that way) - But I was surprised to see it on the wall (not real high - at about butt length). I wasn't sure if a sloppy cat would get urine on a wall... that's interesting.

The plexiglass is a great idea. I'll have to figure out for sure if it's medical, if it's marking, or if he's sloppy... I guess I can go from there.

Does spray from a cat smell different than urine? (Boris' actions simply smell like pee)

 

I have no idea. Spray=pee=stink, pew! I'd imagine marking to be in smaller amounts= smaller stink

http://www.pacificapet.com/pet-care/feline-urine-marking.html

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/marking.html

 

=P~ hi lucidity...

it should smell like urine....i believe it is just urine sprayed onto walls...or furniture...inappropriate areas.

thank goodness you caught it early, and it may be that he is just getting lazy. i like the plexiglass idea, vene...

good luck! and keep us posted...

 

neutered males and spayed females can and will mark. I had a spayed female that used to mark my car tires - I could see the spray coming from her. Marking territory

 

Yep, Milo went out one day and marked our bushes where Ginger roams. Saw it with my own eyes. :shock:

 

Yep, here too vene. LOL. When I took Tiddy out in front on the harness he backed into the bushes and sprayed. I was shocked. :shock:

 

My kitty Oliver started spraying the walls when I brought home the new kitten. After a vet check ruled out any UTI, I had to take him outside on the harness regularly for him to "vent". He regularly sprays the bushes outside and fortunately stopped spraying inside. I first suspected laziness when he missed the box and got the wall behind the box instead, but when I found pee on the hall walls :shock: I knew it was more than a lazy butt.

 

That's interesting, dolly. I'm surprised you can take your cat out and have him do his thing out there.

Since we moved the litter so it's all in one place, we haven't had any problems (knocking on wood). I have been smelling around the house trying to make sure he didn't get anything else. So far so good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Lucidity03, if you want to check for spraying you can buy a black light at Petsmart or the like for about $10-20. It's great and it really shows up urine marks in the dark.

 

great tip dolly...wow...i didnt know that...

 

Thanks Lynnhaz. Here's the link for Petsmart if anyone is interested in the black light:

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_ ... 7956038060