neutered male cat spraying on christmas tree

Question
QUESTION: We have had a cat we adopted from the SPCA for 4 years (he is now 7 years old). He is neutered, but we have had 2 issues with spraying - the most recent involved our christmas tree last year. We always purchase a fresh cut tree, and last year was the first year he sprayed on the christmas tree. we figured that another cat had marked it, so our cat was merely marking back. we got rid of that tree, purchased a new cut tree from a different tree farm, had the tree in the house about a week, and THEN he sprayed that tree too. With Christmas really close now, I was wondering if there was something we could do to ward off this potentially negative behavior. Do you know of any suggestions that might work? We really do not want to get a fake tree.

ANSWER: Gail,

He sounds like a territorial cat and he is marking this new addition (Christmas tree) to his territory with his scent. Luckily neutered cat urine does not have an offensive odor (no tomcat smell).

Here are some suggestions to keep him away from the tree that other people have used:

* From Petsmart:"Boundary" Indoor/outdoor cat repellant by Lambert Kay--it works wonders!

* Some household cleaners have a high concentration of citrus (orange, lemon, etc.). Cats hate the smell of citrus. Soak some absorbent objects (eg a small, egg sized piece of wood) in the cleaner overnight and hang these from the lower branches. Repeat if they start to lose their smell.

* Citrus scented body spray. Spray the base of the tree and the bottom branches thoroughly.

* Take a few paper envelopes. Fill with Cayenne or crushed
peppers. Seal the envelopes & poke holes in it with a pin.
Hooking the envelopes to the bottom of the tree. Cats hate  the smell of pepper!

* Take a bottle & fill it with any kind of alcohol (rubbing alcohol, Vodka,etc.), add crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper. Leave this to sit for 2 days then strain and put in a marked spray bottle. Spray the bottom branches of your tree.

* Spray around tree with any perfume. Repeat because it wears off.

* Use citrus peels (orange or lemon) to sprinkle around the tree. To make the peels go further, grind them in a blender to release the citrus oils and mix with water. Put in a spray bottle and spray around the tree and branches.

Moth Balls: another scent deterrent, but please, place them inside a covered container with a few holes poked in it (they can be toxic if ingested). Put in strategic areas around the tree.

Remember: DO NOT use tinsel on your tree. It can be fatal to cats. It gets wrapped around their intestines.

I hope this helps. And have a Merry Xmas!

Tabbi





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Tabbi, thanks for your great ideas. should we do this to the tree outside before we bring it in? I would think so, but i wanted to check. Also, you said that neutered male cat sprayed urine has no offensive odor. Ours did. Does that change any of your advice? He had a bladder infection and started randomly peeing this summer until we gave him antibiotics, and that urine did NOT smell at all.
So since when he sprayed it smelled bad, would you change advice or eliminate some of the suggestions. We tried the citrus thing, and that did not work.  Thank you so much for your advice.

Answer
Gail,

I personally would do what you are going to do to the tree when it was inside. Then you will have whatever you use in the vicinity of the tree also to broaden the keep-away zone. But outside is fine too. It's really a matter of preference.

Cats are like people, some offensive odors, and even catnip, doesn't bother them. You just have to find the one that does bother him.

If your cat previously had urinary stones or crystals which gave him the bladder infection, they are re-occuring and he may have them again. That may be the reason he is peeing outside the litter box now (they associate the pain of peeing with the litterbox so they avoid it) and why the urine smells bad.

I would take your cat to the vet and see if the problem with him spraying is a medical issue and not a behavior problem.

I am also including a link to a good article about neutered (and un-neutered) cats spraying. It is a good reference article. Copy and paste, or type, the whole link into your address bar:

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=41437

I hope this helps...keep me updated.

Tabbi
deartabbi@yahoo.com