feral femals marking in my house

Question
I have a problem! I have 2 feral females cats that are fighting over alpha position in my house. My oldest feral (2yrs old)has started spraying all over the house. I thought only males done this!! This feral feels safe enough to be played with in my bedroom, thats where she is comfortable. My other feral (1yr old) has taken over the rest of the house, She has dominated over my other cats too. We have a cat door, they all come and go as they please. What do I do? I don't want to have to lock this feral out, she has came so far, besides I would loose her and I don't want that. She sleeps with me every night, she loves me as much as i love her.

Answer
Hi Rebecca,

Are these kitties spayed? Like males, females are more territorial and more likely to spray if they aren't fixed. So neutering reduces spraying dramatically, in females as it does in males.

If they are spayed, you are probably looking at some anxiety related to dominance issues. I would recommend starting with a pheromone product like Feliway or Comfort Zone. There are many different products available on the market today. You can learn more about how they work at www.feliway.com. The basic premise is that they simulate how a cat's natural pheromones work to reduce anxiety. Often, a cat urine marks because she is feeling insecure. So if we can reduce those insecurities by filling her environment with calming pheromones, we reduce her need to urine mark.

You can also see if adding some vertical space in your house will help create some new territory in the home so that the younger cat doesn't feel such a need to hog all the space. Adding a couple of tall cat trees might help her give the other cats permission to claim some space as their own. She can continue to dominate the other areas but may feel less need to spray to reinforce her ownership of them.

Finally, you might need to consider placing the cats that are spraying on an antidepressant if nothing else works. Treatment typically only needs to be given for a few months' time, and it can be compounded into an ear cream. As long as you can get close enough to them to apply a cream to the tip of their ears, it should be no problem to administer.

Good luck!
Jessica