<p>We had a male cat with anxiety and territorial issues. He sprayed in multiple places around our home. We have well-cleaned the areas to the human’s sense of smell - but assume another cat would likely still detect the odor of the male cat. </p>
<p>I am anxious to get new kitties (all of ours are gone now.) Hubby thinks that we need to completely eliminate all cat odors before bringing another kitty into the house. He feels we need to tear up all the carpet (and possibly baseboards) and replace all the furniture that the cat sprayed. </p>
<p>He is the voice of reason in our household - but am wondering if we would really need to do all that if we were to bring in female cats. Would they be bothered by the smell of the male cat? It would seem that people bring animals into houses all the time where there are other animals.</p>
<p>Any opinions? </p>
<p>Also - how old should kittens be for adoption? I have a friend who is letting them go at 6 weeks - is that too early? (I think my male cat’s anxiety was in part due to being taken from his mom too soon…)</p>
<p>I would go along with your husband’s plan, and then get a female cat. I’d just rather err on the safe side. There are few things worse than the smell of cat spray. JMHO</p>
<p>I think six weeks is young. If you can convince your friend that you do plan to adopt a couple, see if she won’t let them stay with their mother longer. I’ve read 12 weeks is optimal, but your friend may not go for that length of time. Start there and work down and the kittens may get 2-3 weeks longer with mama cat.</p>
<p>That said, kittens get adopted and adjust all the time. Our most neurotic cat stayed with mom 12+ weeks and has never known another home than this one. She has always had a litter mate as companion. (Mama cat was a pregnant stray that we took in and kept in comfort till mom and babies were all adopted. We kept two.) So no telling why she has such anxiety.</p>
<p>I think it’s probably overkill to replace everything, but honestly that’s just an opinion. If you and your husband want to replace baseboards and carpets anyway, now would be a good time.</p>
<p>Get some of that Zero Odor (I think that’s what it’s called) stuff and really soak the carpets and baseboards. That seems to work with our cat “issues”. I think 9-12 weeks is better for kittens to be adopted out, but I’ve seen well-adjusted kitties who have gone sooner than that.</p>
<p>Sounds more like a desire to change the carpet. A new cat, particularly a young one, will get used to whatever odors exist in its territory. We’ve brought in strays and they’ve adjusted. One is rubbing against my leg. He sprayed when he walked in and the other 2 male cats accepted him anyway. I’ve given up trying to understand what they think - why does Billy need to yell at me when I’m trying to sleep and the door is open and there’s food in the bowl? They like this cat and not that one. This one likes any kind of meat and this one only likes cat food and tuna. Why does the really strong one get chased by the smaller one? Why do they sniff and lick each other’s ears and then whack a paw in the face?</p>
<p>My kitty was abandoned under a dumpster when he was a newborn. Animal Control put him in a foster mother’s house where she had fed him with a dropper. I adopted him when he 8 or 10 weeks old (I forget). He’s not neurotic at all, has never sprayed anything. The rules for pet adoption from animal control is kittens have to weigh 2 pounds before they can be neutered/spayed and then they can be adopted out. They made an exception for my guy since I was adopting two - one was big enough to be neutered and the little one was not so they let him come home with me anyway until he was big enough to go back for surgery, but that was only about a week. Now he’s the big cat - big, fat, happy, terrified of new smells - the plumber but otherwise well-adjusted and a sweetie-pie.</p>
<p>Well, I think our vet told him that we would never be able to have another cat in the house - so that is influencing his thinking. (We have a great vet…so he trusts her opinion.) </p>
<p>It’s not so much that he wants new carpet - it’s more likely that he doesn’t want the stress of new kitties in the house (which I need to respect - but I desperately miss having my companions home with me.) - but he is using what the vet said as his reason.</p>
<p>Right now it’s 3 (me and the kids) against 1 (hubby). I’m trying to formulate an argument that will swing him to our side…LOL. Like I said - he is the voice of reason. The rest of us are spontaneous and don’t necessarily think things through before acting - especially when it comes to cute little balls of fur. :)</p>
<p>I would also suggest something like Comfort Zone / Feliway. This is an anti-anxiety product for cats (there is a similar one for dogs) that comes in various forms such as a diffuser, a spray, a collar, and wipes. The science is that the product is analogous to the pheromones of the nursing mother cat (or dog) and the animal feels that mom’s there and all’s right with the world.</p>
<p>I used the dog version with my new puppy and she quickly adjusted to sleeping alone in her crate. I occasionally use it now for my dogs if I have to go out and there’s a storm or for travel issues with the even-newer dog. As many of you know, I own a pet store. I have many customers using the products for all sorts of anxiety issues with their pets and it seems to work well.</p>
<p>And I agree – minimum 8 weeks or longer if possible before leaving mom.</p>
<p>Um… years ago in our old house a cat must have sprayed in a certain spot in our living room before we bought it because when we got a female cat she repeatedly went over and peed in that spot on the baseboard. She didn’t so it anywhere else( that we ever found) just that one spot. Ugh.</p>
<p>I don’t have any advice on the urine issue, but I do think kittens adjust better if they are a little older when adopted. We adopted two over the winter, and they were 8 weeks old. We adopted two brothers; they were quite attached to each other, and are the most friendly cats I’ve ever encountered. (They are snuggled up with me right now.)</p>
<p>Former crazy cat lady here
I once had five at a time and one of them had some issues with marking ( a male ) It started we think because there were outdoor ferals that same too close to our windows and sprayed. Then it began in an office near the window. We tried everything to clean the carpet , but even though we thought we cleaned everything, it was still detectable to the offender. Carpet and pad had to be ripped out. I don’t think it is just males that do that since I had a stray female who was dirty and lived outside, with access via cat door to our detached garage.
I think it is very, very difficult to break a cat of this and in some cases, impossible.
What I went thru with this cat in terms of testing and treatments was exhausting.</p>
<p>Also , I am a firm believer in kittens staying with the littermates and mother as long as possible for socialization. We have a shop cat that we found when he was too young to be separated ( barely weaned )
His personality reflects this, despite the human interaction from the get go. He’s kind of a jerk
I have also been partial to males because they generally * ARE* more affectionate , but this is a broad generalization
I adopted a female Maine Coon ( have owned 14 of them in the last 18 yrs ) She is so affectionate and sweet…hands down the nicest female I have ever had.</p>
<p>I can tell she was handled and socialized very carefully , based on her personality and behavior.
I’m still scratching my head about how anyone paid money for her and then abandoned her when they left the rental home they also fled</p>
<p>Go ahead and get new kitties. Make sure that they are neutered young. Then, if you end up with another anxious cat who is prone to spraying, reach for the medicine cabinet. Spraying was a deal breaker for us. Our vet put our anxious cat on fuoxetine (generic for Prozac) and he now only sprays if we forget his meds for a few days. He takes 5 mg per day, which is half of a 10 mg tablet. The meds are available from Walmart at $9 for 30, so our annual cost is $54 in meds plus the cost of blood work (to make sure his kidneys and liver are handling the load). The pills are tiny and our weirdo actually likes to take them (though I still have to pry his jaws open). When I rattle the pill bottle the big dummy comes running.</p>
<p>We have two other male cats in the house, neither of whom has taken up spraying, despite their ability to detect whatever remains of anxious cat’s territorial marking. There’s plenty of food and a couple of litter boxes, so they don’t seem to feel much need to compete (despite being older).</p>
<p>I think the cats are more bothered by spraying if they don’t know the sprayer. We think like that: the noise from next door is easier to take, even pleasant, if you know it’s the neighbor kids and not some random people. The boys definitely go into defend the territory mode when a new cat shows up. But once they know who it is, they generally work it out.</p>
<p>So for example when Billy walked in and would nervously spray, the other guys had seemingly already accepted his existence in their territory outside - which I could see because they’d sit near him and not try to drive him off. We don’t know why they decided he was OK but it seemed a consensus decision. But if another cat sprays on one of the deck posts, you see the alarm bells go off. </p>
<p>My point is that cats adapt and if the territory includes this or that smell then they quickly learn that.</p>
but otherwise well-adjusted and a sweetie-pie.</p>