Hi

I wonder if I can get any advice. I have 2 bengals (mum age 10 and daughter age 7) and a Burmese (age 10) all house cats we have a large 3 bed house with a good size garden which they have access to at weekends on a lead, all neutered. The older female Bengal has always sprayed periodically since she had 1 litter of kittens around age 3. We have tried urine off, feliway, separation, we have replaced sofa's bed, various clothes, tables, rugs, carpets. We have tried new litters and currently have 4 litters for 3 cats in 2 different rooms that are changed daily and washed out monthly and replaced with totally new litter. The other 2 have never sprayed and have always been very anti the older female when she does spray leading to aggressive fights and obviously more stress for all. She is and has always been a quite nervy cat. We have had vets look at her for urine infections etc with nothing ever working. I've sort of learned to live with my house smelling like a toilet on occasions as even though it is cleaned well. sometimes I can't get rid of the smell. She loves weeing on the plastic window cill when I'm out at work and even though thoroughly cleaned when the sun hits it in the afternoon it seems to permeate from it. Recently she has started pooing in various places, some weeks none other weeks daily, again I took her to the vet and he is saying there is nothing physically wrong with her. I'm at my wits end and wondering if a behaviourist is the answer and wondered if anyone can recommend one in the Sussex area. She is utterly adorable and I have learned to live with the fact she has a bit of a quirky nature and put up with replacing my furniture on a regular basis but the pooing is really getting me down and I don't want her to get more stressed if the other 2 bully her because of it. any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Welcome to our forum. Unfortunately, females do spray. Know that spraying is a territorial thing. And this is very common in multi-cat households. You've put up with this a very long time, so it seems there may be nothing to change this behavior. The fact that there is aggression shows this is territorial. Hopefully, you have multiple cat trees and the cats have their own areas in your home they can retreat to. A cat behaviorist may be able to help you. I do know "Tabitha" has used one for her kitties and she is in the UK.

Two things I'd recommend:

1. More litterboxes, and further apart. If the cats aren't getting along, then she may be having difficulty getting access to a litterbox.

2. You need to start looking seriously at the behavioral issues. A cat behaviorist would be a really good idea. There are also many episodes of "My Cat From Hell" that deal with this problem and offer solutions for it (especially in the earlier seasons). Most of the time, the solutions involve catification (making sure that there are enough places to climb, and can get up off the floor and out of each other's way). And then trying to improve their relationships through positive associations. For active cats, making sure she is getting enough play (with you) can relieve a lot of stress as well. The book "Cat vs Cat" is also really good at giving you insights into the types of issues that cause them to squabble and how to resolve some of those issues.

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The little monsters 3