Hi there,
Just wondered if anyone can help us. We have lived in same area for 15 years and have two cats, one male one female (both 13 years old) both are spayed/neutered.
For the past two weeks our poor cats have been "terrorised" by one/two tom cats in the area - I think one lives opposite My female cat who is soft as a brush, must have been fighting one off and has been bitten on the tail by them (she has never been in a fight in 13 years!!) and it has cost us £75 and two visits to the vet to get it straightened out - she is now frightened to go outside.
We came home one day and SOMEHOW a tomcat had got in thru our cat flap (magnetic collars on our cats to open it) and peed all over our settee which STUNK!! :gag: as you can imagine. Although we have removed the covers and washed them, this has happened again. We were actually in the house when we saw the tomcat FOLLOW our male cat in (he must literally have snuck in before it locked) - so thats how the bugger is getting in.
Now this morning, I saw my female cat lift her bum and spray (!) a bit wee all over the exact same spot where the other cat had weed, even though we cleaned it scrupulously.
HEEEELP!! Any ideas (short of capturing said cats and getting them neutered as any responsible cat owner should!!) on how to stop this or if anyone else has had similar experiences???
Many thanks:huh:

OK- I'm going to move this to the pets group, since most pet owners have been there at some time or other.

You only did part one of the smell removal process, which is why your girlie feels the need to scent mark over the spot where it was done. Washing may remove the smell to human noses, but it doesn't to animal noses.

What you need is

1 a solution of biological washing powder, which you use to soak the area and rinse thoroughly (you need to clean it more than you need to keep it dry). If it was a hard area I'd also suggest adding bleach to the water, but if it's fabric then you can't.

2 a really good odour remover (like Safe4's one- it works wonders) to follow up with- Febreze doesn't work for animal noses either.

3 a steam cleaner to penetrate the area and neutralise any lingering pongs left by the first two steps.


How you stop him coming in is the other matter- and I'd set about being bigger and scarier than he is. You may not be able to stop him coming into your garden, but you can stop him from coming into your house by arming yourself with a super soaker water pistol (does no harm but can get them wet from the other side of the room and hisses REALLY loudly whilst it does it) and as many loud deterrents that you think your cats can cope with (no point in traumatising them too).

Then you sit in wait for the terrorist and you soak him, you hiss at him really loudly (with the water pistol), you jump up and down and make yourself generally big and scary and clang together anything that's likely to shock him.

You do this any time that he comes near- he'll get the message in a week or two of your guerilla campaign.

Thanks very much, thats much appreciated. yes we tried Fabreeze and that didn't work. I had been told that bleach encouraged cats to respray so had tried to avoid that but this was obviously not true. It is a hard area, ie covers remove from the settee but its the legs but it doesn't really matter about bleach because its white underneath and its covered by the covers, so will try that. Where do I get Safe4s One, not heard of it??

Thanks for the tips about scaring him off, will try this. Had actually thought along these lines and have actually already basically jumped up and down and yelled at it whenever I see it, but the problem is having the hose pipe around or rather getting to it before he does.
How long will this go on? We have NEVER had this for 15 years in this area and the tomcat ain't new either - any ideas why now? Do they only "spray" in season and if so when is this?

If your tom is trying to muscle in on the territory then he could carry on until he makes your cats back down, in which case he will just then scent mark it as a matter of routine- so this is your chance to tell him that this is not his territory and to go back to wherever he was before.

Whereabouts in Sheffield are you? I've got lots of safe4's odour killer (I've got an account with them and currently have enough to last me the next year or two, so there's no reason why you couldn't snaffle a bit out of my large container).

Hi Mediusa
Sorry I didn't look at your last post. To update you, this has become a complete nightmare! TO update on last six weeks. Tomcat now basically broken the catflap, has p***d just about all over our kitchen and dining room, despite cleaning, bleaching, using cat spray from pet shop. Our cats now only use litter tray as we have resorted to building a wooden (lockable) cage on the outside of the cat flap as he just barges his way through even the locked catflap.
This has kept IT out and our cats safe for about two weeks. Unfortunately we do open it during the day and then the other night it got in whilst we were watching TV couldnt hear it. Got upstairs and had an ALMIGHTY scrap with our male cat, fur everywhere. Further vets visit and another £40 bill. Then yesterday our female cat took a dump in the spare bedroom (spanking clean liter tray downstairs, peed in the kitchen against the dresser and again against the internal garage door. Am at complete WITS END. Do we speak to the owners who clearly don't give a **** (we already wrote them a note a month ago about it). As far as I see it aint going to stop until they get it neutered.

Are our cats weeing/pooing in bizarre places because they are stressed? We don't want to spend the entire summer boiling because we darent leave the conservatory door open. Surely only unneutered males spray? I want to catch the bloody thing and take it to the vets and get it neutered.

The only suggestion the vet could make is to catch it and take it to the cat pound so the owners have to go and get him back. I don't want to start a vendetta but SURELY TO GOD the owners have to see sense and see what distress this is causing/costing us...

HEEEELLLPP???

Sorry to hear you are having such a terrible time of it, tplongy. Contrary to popular belief, it's not just un-neutered toms who spray- neutered toms AND queens can spray, if they feel vulnerable, threatened or anxious.

To try to keep things under control, you might want to invest in a couple of Feliway plug in diffusers (look on ebay or any of the online vets - I just got a couple of additonal ones because our one and only neutered tom Alfie is going through a stage- we think it's since we brought the gerbils home last month- he's been marking territory and generally being a b&gger, but since plugging in the diffusers (touch wood) and cleaning up thoroughly with 'Simple Solution Cat Stain and Odor Remover' (£3.99 for 20fl oz from Pets at Home) and using our polti steam cleaner, all is well.

We tried just using a solution of biological washing powder first, as that has worked before with other cats we used to own, but Alfie the barmy bengal HAD to be awkward, didnt he, and he still sprayed - however, since washing thoroughly and using the Simple Solution this week, this has stopped.

With regards to your big bully invader - keep at it with the spray gun if you catch him trying to get inside your cat flap- be persistent - it doesnt hurt but will give him a messag that he is not welcome.

If you can find out whose cat it is- tell them about the problems you are experiencing - he's causing you stress and expense and unsettling your own cats. Dunno if it will make a bit of difference, but for your own peace of mind, they ought to be told.

Did you say your catflap is a magnetic one? You could try replacing it but I'm out of touch with which brand is the sturdiest, now. If you email the main makers, they might be able to advise you. It would be such a shame if you had to keep it fastened up.

By the way, if you have a Feliway plugged in near the catflap, that might help to appease your own cats and the unwelcome tom...

Yes, your cats are stressed, hence poohing all over- again, Feliway is designed to calm stressed cats and hopefully, investing in a couple should help to resolve this problem. I know this is all turning into pay out, but it will be worth it - a Feliway plug and a 30 day refill is about £16-£20 depending where you get it from - if you google you'll find loads of places selling them and some do discount if you buy more than one.

Is it possible to construct a mesh storm door to fit over the conservatory door entrance? We have a mesh door over our back door, so that our indoor cats can sit and fel the cool air and watch the world go by, but cant escape. Might be worth looking at.

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=feliway

Here's some on Ebay!

I'm so sorry to hear that things haven't got any easier for you tplongy. The lives of both you and your mogs must be being made hell by this marauder.

Katkins suggestions would all seem to be helpful ones- certainly if your little ones are stressed then a Feliway should stop them from feeling quite so stressed whilst you deal with the intruder.

Personally I think you really do need to speak to the owners of the other cat, if only so that they understand what a menace he's being. He's also at great risk of catching and spreading some pretty horrible diseases if he remains unneutered, and is at a hugely higher than normal risk of getting fighting injuries and being hit by a car whilst in pursuit of queens who are in season.

I'm not sure that there's any sure fire way of getting the cat to stop coming in- but if you make it sufficiently hard for him, and sufficiently unpleasant, and sufficiently unrewarding for him to be in the house he WILL stop.

Then you'll just have everyone's shattered nerves and the smell to deal with- good luck. If you want copious quantities of odour killer please let me know- I've got enough to last me about 5 years.

Just checked and the ones I just bought this week came from nutrecare.co.uk A feliway plug and refill was £16.99, a refill alone was £11.29 and postage was £1.99

oh and postage was really quick too, despite the floods and postal delays
Link is http://www.nutrecare.co.uk

Thanks to you both. Never heard of the plug in things, will definitely try them. It didn't get in over weekend. However our little girl peed over the dresser leg on Saturday morning and on the bin on Sunday morning. More cleaning (Got the Simple stuff), nothing this morning though - great! Jasper our boy is back off to another vets visit tonight to check up on his tail..grrr.

Downloaded a brochure about spraying from CPL website Friday. We are ASSUMING this cat is a tomcat. The urine STINKS, and its vile. We know EXACTLY whose cat it is, it lives directly across the road from us. This is the conundrum. We have lived on road for 15 years however 18 months ago we moved next door! No issues whatever until April this year (ie 14 months ago) however next door (our old house) new cat moved in. Then suddenly this moggy starts when for past 15 years no issues at all??!!

This cat sits outside for approx 23 hours of the day, the poor thing, no idea why people have cats and then lock it outside every hour of the day and night (half the problem I think), even in that horrendous rain last week they were in, but the cat was out! Anyway at the height of the hassle, the night before we went away on holiday, at 2 am in the morning, mopping up cat pee and soothing our frightened cats, I thought this is enough - I wrote the neighbours a note explaining what had happened (ie fight, vets bill, peeing all over, new cat flap, more pee, etc etc). I said PLEASE PLEASE could you try to keep your cat in at night? Will Talk to you on return from holiday... then we posted it and went away.

We haven't spoken to them since, I mean I really don't think they give a ****, they are a middleaged couple (late 40's eearly 50's would guess), but they keep themselves to themselves - in 15 years never spoke one word to them. Am torn between utter frustration and talking to them about it and starting WWIII!!

sorry noticed put 14 months ago I mean 14 months after we moved

Good for you tplongy, I hope they respond positively- I cant imagine why people have cats if they insist on shoving them outside at all hours. Granted, if it has access to its own catflap, it can pick and choose when it wants to go out but sounds as if it doesnt have a lot of choice, no wonder it wanders the streets picking fights- it obviously thinks the streets are its territory- and the houses on those streets! Anyway, dont despair, keep it up with the cleaning - you might want to re-think which rooms your cats have access to whilst they are still stressed and marking their own territory) remember neutered toms and queens will still spray if they are distressed, just to control the areas you have to clean up...

thanks Katkin, he most definitely doesn't have access to a catflap, poor thing sits around on the drive waiting for them to come home. Presumably they feed him and then kick him out again!!
I had considered restricting their access to the rest of the house although they haven't peed anywhere but the kitchen/dining room and conservatory (all where the other cat has been) but I thought this might stress them even more when they are used to complete access to whole house???.

However we had a new carpet on the stairs, landing and bedroom last week and the little chuffs are shredding it (potentially because they are hardly going out at the moment) - gets worse doesn't it?
Anybody want two identical black cats?? (only joshing!!)

Do you think i should speak to the owners or not? To gain - they MAY consider locking him in or even neutering him. To lose - my temper! Although there are no neighbourly relations to speak of (ie we never speak to them) - if they don't respond positively and to be frank I can't see why on earth they would because they didn't respond at all to my letter - then I will just be furious?? GLUM!

I dont think it would hurt- let's face it, you are getting stressed out by this, so are your cats- you can tell them nicely that the current situation is upsetting you, upsetting your cats, causing you problems and expense - if he's not neutered, he ought to be - for his own health and to prevent him siring unwanted kittens -and of course to stop him spraying in YOUR home! A reasonable neighbour if approached reasonably OUGHT to do something (reasonable) about the problem...she says.

just wanted to let people know - I bought the Nutricare plug in thingys and my little angels seem to be a lot more relaxed now. The fiendishly solid wooden "cat flat extension" my partner made and locked at night as kept said moggy away so far and no repeat incidents. My two are gradually picking up confidence but still going outside, furtling around, then coming back in and pooing in litter tray! DOH! Guess next thing will be to train em out of that. Think we need to remove the fiendishly difficult lockable wooden extension off cat flat and just replace with simple solid wood slot in thingy - to encourage them to use it again (at the moment they prefer the back door as they kinda associate cat flap with horrid moggie!)

Still scratching our new carpet, but definately no more weeing incidents from Tinker (the little girl) - hopefully the plug ins are "chilling them", plus obviously lots of cuddles!

THANKS ALL for your support...

big smilie!

defintely sounds like progress. glad all is beginning to return to normal and sure the litter tray thing will be resolved soon too - main thing is, you n your cats are nowhere near as stressed as you were xK

Could you borrow some dogs and allow them the run of your garden to have a good wee, this may deter the Tom? worth a try.

My sister borrows my dogs when she has an intruder, but her cats are used to the dogs, so she can have them over night at her house and it seems to do the trick. I wouldnt suggest stressing your cats out more by having dogs in the house, but they shouldnt do any harm on the garden if your cats are kept in for the afternoon.

That sounds like a good idea actually, have a friend with a very friendly labrador who would probably happily come along and pee all over, sods law that they don't pee on command though! As you say might need to leave her there a few hours in the garden::) One assumes the smell won't freak our two out too much?

Update - Nov -
Put chicken wire up on side gate to house in half hearted attempt to restrain dreaded moggy, but thinking it would just jump onto garage and get into garden anyway. RESULT, clearly moggy is bone idle, can't be bothered to jump and we have now been moggy free for about two months. Wooden extension of cat flap removed. Our cats fully recovered, going in garden fear free, one of them is pooing in garden, other still using litter tray but we are moggy and urine free - yeeeeah. Here's to idle tom cats!!

LOL:hihi::hihi::hihi:

Pesky lazy tom cat. Glad harmony has now returned and your cats can chill again.

Thanks for the update.

Wahay! Here's to slovenly marauders!

I'm glad that you and your mogs are recovering from his reign of terror.

Glad to hear things are finally coming round and your poor stressed cats have the garden back to themselves again. Thanks for the update xk

:hihi::)
Thanks All!