Neutering a male cat at 5 years-spraying issues?

CBFi

Hi, I'm thinking of adopting a 5 year old male cat who will be spayed before I adopt him. Can't get a straight answer for this online-will he still spray even after he's neutered since he's been neutered late? Thanks for answers in advance.

Nody

Once the hormones are out of his body he should be fine; might spray some due to other issues (goes for any cat) such as feeling unsecure, not owning any area of the house, scared etc. but as noted that can happen with any cat.

SillyMangoX

Some cats will spray and some don't, I have a 4 year d male who was neutered at 5 months and he sprays, but only does it on the leather couch upstairs so easy to clean! I used to have an unneutered male a few years ago and he wouldn't dream of spraying, so it depends on the cat really there is no straight answer!

jimf

SillyMangoX wrote: »

Some cats will spray and some don't, I have a 4 year d male who was neutered at 5 months and he sprays, but only does it on the leather couch upstairs so easy to clean! I used to have an unneutered male a few years ago and he wouldn't dream of spraying, so it depends on the cat really there is no straight answer!

mine was done at 2years old to try and stop the little ram from rambling this was a great success and as far as the spraying this stopped within 6/8 weeks after and he was quite bad

just seems to like pissing on top of santa my wife has for the bootom of the christmas tree its about 2ft tall of course daughter and myself think this is quite funny wife has no sense of humour or smell thank god :D

anniehoo

CBFi wrote: »

Hi, I'm thinking of adopting a 5 year old male cat who will be spayed before I adopt him. Can't get a straight answer for this online-will he still spray even after he's neutered since he's been neutered late? Thanks for answers in advance.

OP, just a small correction, but "spaying" refers to females and "castration" is males. The term "neutering" encompasses both genders

The tom cat scent generally takes about 2 weeks + after castration to dissipate so if he's a sprayer now the scent will linger for a bit after the procedure.

As mentioned, spraying can be a territorial and/or behavioral issue so once his hormones have calmed down this shouldn't be an issue. Shouldn't doesn't mean "won't" though, so it's something you should read up on for future reference as it can relate to anxiety or another medical issue.

Best of of luck and well done for adopting an older cat. Sure come back and ask us any questions you have once you have adopted him

CBFi

Thanks for the replies. We're in rented accommodation so we have to make sure we're not destroying the place. It would prob be safer to adopt a female cat if we can, would you think?

Thanks Anniehoo-we're keen to get an older cat so we know personality is set. Kittens are gorgeous but we'd like to make sure this is a match made in heaven

Nody

CBFi wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. We're in rented accommodation so we have to make sure we're not destroying the place. It would prob be safer to adopt a female cat if we can, would you think?

Thanks Anniehoo-we're keen to get an older cat so we know personality is set. Kittens are gorgeous but we'd like to make sure this is a match made in heaven

Not really; once the hormones are out it really don't make a difference and it's easier to integrate a new cat into into a home with a male cat over female (thinking ahead here :P ).

CBFi

Haha thanks Nody. Yeah we're trying to make sure we get a cat that will integrate well with future animals and small children (argh scary thought) thanks for your input.

Pumpkinseeds

I think it depends on the cat really. We have 4 adult cats and a 12 week old foster kitten. Two of the males were neutered at about a year old. One never sprays the other sometimes does it in the garden if there's been a strange cat in the garden and he can smell it. Our latest male was about 2 when he arrived in May last year, he was stray for a long time and still sprays the garden a lot if there's been a strange cat in the garden.

We brought home a stray 3 year old female a few months ago and the males accepted her an awful lot more easily than they did with each other. The kitten isn't much of a threat, the other female cat isn't impressed with her though, but the males aren't really bothered and our former feral loves to play with her, several times a day, every day.

CBFi

We'll be keeping the cat indoors as we're in an apartment complex in a built up area so hopefully that'll reduce the risk of territorial spraying. Thanks everyone. Fingers crossed all goes well

Rips

CBFi wrote: »

We'll be keeping the cat indoors as we're in an apartment complex in a built up area so hopefully that'll reduce the risk of territorial spraying. Thanks everyone. Fingers crossed all goes well

Just make sure you have a good enzymatic cleaner suitable for removing the smell of cat urine, baking soda is great as well. That means that when he does come home, if there are existing smells in your apartment, or he has any accidents settling in - you can try and prevent it from becoming habit forming.

Keep his litterbox really clean, and maybe put out a spare, even if its just a box with with some litter in, in a new place he could take exception to your designated area!

CBFi

Thanks to everyone for your advice-a little update. We've adopted a little boy from the DSPCA and collect him Wednesday. He's only 4 months old so the DSPCA will neuter him at 6 months.