male urine spraying

Question
Hi, my family is planning on adopting a cat from a shelter.  The one we are most interested in is a 2 year old un-neutered male given up from his previous owners for unknown reasons.  He is very outgoing, cuddly and great with my two young children...unlike a lot of the other shelter cats we have looked at.  Obviously nobody wants a cat that will come in and spray urine, but I'm worried that I may be inviting trouble here.  Of course he would be neutered before he is adopted, and I have no idea whether he was a sprayer prior to coming to the shelter.  My question is, I guess, since he's already mature will he be likely to still want to mark his territory even after he's neutered?  I know there's no definite answer, but I'm trying to make a good, educated decision and wondered if you had any experience with this, or if there are any statistics, etc.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.
Candice

Answer
Candice,

Shelter staff should be able to tell you about your prospective adopted family member. In most cases folks who clean the cages should be able to tell you about any potential litter box issues. It takes about 4-6 weeks for the testosterone to leave a mature cat's system when they are neutered. Just in case you do run into a problem with urine marking that doesn't disappear after proper steps are taken you would be smart to check out the shelter's return policy. Just because the owners of this kitty gave him up doesn't mean that he is a bad little guy, I have seen people give up cats for the most ridiculous reasons including that they don't match the furniture any longer. If this little guy seems like a great cat he probably is. I haven't really had many issues with neutered male cats even if they were mature when neutered. All in all the best advice that I can give you is to adopt this guy, make sure that you have at least 2 litter boxes available (I tend to prefer one litter box per cat plus one, it avoids some of the potential reasons for going outside the box). I would also suggest that you have an enzymatic cleaner on hand. The way that an enzymatic cleaner works is by using friendly bacteria to kill the smell of organic matter (pee, poop, vomit, etc). You can usually find enzymatic cleaners at pet stores, but you may want to look at your local janitorial supply store as buying the larger container is more economical and the cleaners can be used for pretty much any cleaning application around the house. I also recommend that you keep air fresheners and artificial scents away from the area that the litter box is in and use a clumping litter that is unscented. Some cats are irritated by scents just the same as people are. You will want to make sure that the litter box is located in an area that is accessible to the cat, but you also want to make sure that this kitty has privacy to use the toilet - cats and humans are alike that way. Please feel free to contact me again with any further questions or concerns.