Two male cats spraying, parents are at the end of their rope.

Hi all,

I'm writing this on behalf of my elderly parents who have been dealing with cat spraying issues for years at this point. They have 2 male cats and one female cat who all came from the same litter and they are about 13 years old.

About 5 years ago the two male cats started spraying and it has been like that ever since, pretty much everyday they spray somewhere. They/we have tried many things: - feliway - giving them more attention and play time - extra litter boxes - aggressively cleaning everything with enzymatic cleaners of course. - checking for outside strays who might be marking the house.

One of the cats has a clean bill of health but the other one has not been to the vet in years because getting him into the cat carrier is such a taxing experience. These cats were feral until they were caught at about 6 months old and my mother did a terrible job at socializing them. This is one reason why we have not tried anti-depressants or ruled out a medical issue for the one cat.

Having read through many of the cat spraying posts, I'm not really sure there is an answer or what I'm looking for, maybe you have a similar story or an idea?

We have also not tried a cat behaviorist but there is really only one in our area and they do not have such great reviews and our vet doesn't recommend them. Maybe there is some kind of Skype service we can enlist instead?

My parents are experienced cat owners but my mother is definitely way over her head with semi-feral spraying cats, and her love for them leads her to apply human psychology to their behavior and that gets us nowhere.

We haven't been able to identify a trigger except it perhaps all started after my sister's cat came to visit while she was in between apartments. This other cat was isolated in a separate room but the spraying cats could definitely smell him under the door.

I assume the two male cats are territorial with each other but who knows.

My mother also has a bizarre practice of corralling the three cats together in a room everyday for at least an hour in the early evening. I tell her that this is strange and unnecessary but she says that she needs a break from them and now it is just routine. I don't know if this triggers their spraying behavior but I don't think putting two spraying cats in a room is a good idea. They do not usually spray in this room.

Some other notes: - the girl cat does not spray - they are 100% indoor cats - the two male cats aren't really aggressive with each other but they're definitely not cuddle buddies. - the house is pretty big - there is one cat tree and lots of toys. - I don't live with them or even in the same state.

Their house is reduced to very little furniture and lots of it is covered in plastic so adding more vertical space for the cats is possible.

My parents still love these cats and I know they'll never give them up but at this point they are just dealing with the spraying as it comes and waiting for the cats to die :(

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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/bktzyk/two_male_cats_spraying_parents_are_at_the_end_of/