# How to calm / destress my cat



## Laura & Dinda (Jan 2, 2017)

hi
I'm having issues with my Bengal Dinda! He is nearly 11 years old and is spraying - something he has always done but see my previous posts re that!
I have started to find he is spraying, now I have had a stressful time as my family pet - a dog that lived with my parents- died last week. Prior to that I took a tumble and sprained my ankle. I've also had a lot of visitors recently including my best friend who used to own Dinda, her 3.5 year old and her 5 week old baby so I can appreciate Dinda may be unsettled but he's been up to no good for nore than the last week!!
So I keep a feliway plugged in at all times. He has a hooded litter box with oko litter that is cleaned twice a day minimum. He goes outside. He has the front double bed to himself, he comes into my room when I'm in bed and joins me, he gets wet and dry food and has a water fountain. He has lots of toys and scratch posts. He is spoilt!
However I'm trying to do whatever I can to chill him and get him to stop spraying. 
The beaphar bet behave spray I put on the fire place - he sprayed again!
The feliway is plugged in and changed every month. I squirt cat calm spray round the rooms after a lot of visitors have been. I play with him. I cuddle him, I provide him with clean eating area and bowls. I tell him he's a good boy and praise him when he is good / loving. 

Is there anything else I can do? He's going to the cattery end of April for a week for the first time in his life (I tried to get a friend to house / cat sit but they are not available) 
I do t want to be drugging him up or have him sleepy and dislike as I live our playtime, plus he only has one eye so don't want him vulnerable when outside.

I have read about pet calm spot on, cat nip (sends him giddy), chamomile (how do I use) 

Any advise at all would be appreciated on this - and on cheap cleaning products to clear cat pee!!


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

I have answered on your other thread re: cleaning products. 

Re; calming products. Some people find Zylkene supplement added to food is effective.

http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/search/cats/zylkene/relevance?gclid=CNOLo42-1NICFUafGwodha4EeA

Give contents of 75mg capsule twice a day.

Some find Beaphar spot-on helps. Put on back of head once a week.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beaphar-Ca...2674&sr=8-3&keywords=beaphar+spot+on+for+cats

Pet Remedy plug-in diffuser seems to be liked better by owners than Feliway diffuser.

*Chamomile is toxic to cats - *please don't use it for him.

Nutracalm is stronger than the supplements I have mentioned above, it contains l-tryptophan, an amino acid. You have to buy it from the vet. Some people find it very effective for their cats who spray. It made my cat too sleepy and relaxed all the time so I don't use it.

http://www.nutravet.co.uk/nutracalm

Have you had the cat checked by the vet to make sure he doesn't have a UTI or cystitis? Cats quite often soil as well as spray if they have a bladder problem. Feed wet food only for a cat who has a bladder problem. NO dry food!!


----------



## Luna_2016 (Oct 3, 2016)

My only suggestion would have been Feliway as it worked really well for our kitten but it sounds like you have already been using that and its no longer so effective... lots of luck finding a solution!


----------



## Empeewee (Apr 20, 2017)

Has the kitty been neutered?


----------



## Laura & Dinda (Jan 2, 2017)

Yes he is nearly 11 years old and was done over 10 years ago!!
He is a little menace he has sprayed bedroom doors, wardrobe doors, my drawers, the toilet, my tv unit, my curtains!! He's driving me mad!!xx


----------



## Empeewee (Apr 20, 2017)

This sounds like a seriously tough situation, really feel for you. Do you scold him when you catch him spraying? When we catch our cat, we chuck her in the litter box or outside. It's hard to teach older cats but sometimes it works. Also keeping him occupied most of the time will reduce spraying though it's difficult to keep cats occupied


----------



## Empeewee (Apr 20, 2017)

Bengals are also notoriously strong willed and stubborn animals, which we found out the hard way


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@Empeewee - cats _never_ respond well to being punished or scolded.  . (neither do other animals come to that!)

Scolding a cat will not address the cause of the spraying. Identifying the cause and addressing it is the way to reduce it or at least manage it. All the scolding will do is make the cat miserable and fearful and cause them a lot of stress trying to suppress what to them is natural behaviour in response to certain stimuli.

Cats spray for a reason, they do not do it to be annoying to humans. It is a natural instinct which is triggered in some cats by certain circumstances.

Chucking your cat in the litter box or throwing her outside when she sprays is achieving nothing. It has not stopped her spraying! . Far better to be patient and do some detective work to identify possible causes, instead of losing your temper with her.

A few possible causes of spraying:

Late neutering (after sexual maturity) after 4 months of age: If this is the cause all you can do is manage it and accept philosophically you will never cure it. Make sure to have future kittens neutered by 4 mths old.

Sharing the home with other cats: Observe interactions, increase resources, (food, water, litter boxes, cat beds, scratch posts etc) and give the sprayer her own area of the house to come and go as she wishes.

Other pets in the home (eg. dog): give the cat her own space which the other pets are not allowed access to.

Strange cats entering the home through cat flap: buy a microchip cat flap.


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Laura & Dinda said:


> Yes he is nearly 11 years old and was done over 10 years ago!!
> He is a little menace he has sprayed bedroom doors, wardrobe doors, my drawers, the toilet, my tv unit, my curtains!! He's driving me mad!!xx


What was the result of you trying him on the calming supplements I recommended to you in a previous post? One of them should surely have helped to an extent by now?

If Dinda has always sprayed since he was a youngster you are unlikely to cure him at the age of 11. The behaviour has become too habitual.

Didn't you say earlier in your other thread he was neutered late by his previous owner from whom you adopted him? If he was neutered after the age of sexual maturity (after 4 months i.e.) then the spraying is likely linked to that.

90% of late neutered cats stop spraying once castrated, but not all do.

Best thing you can do with Dinda is damage limitation. e.g.......

At all times keep him shut of bedrooms and anywhere with soft furnishings.

Give him a calming supplement long term. (see my previous post for links I gave you)

Fit a microchip cat flap to the door so no strange cats can get in the house.

Do not tell him off for spraying, it will only make him more anxious and more inclined to spray.

Consider enclosing your garden with cat proof fencing so no other cats can get in the garden and Dinda can't get out of the garden. (thus less need for him to keep spraying to protect his territory.)

Clean up urine stains with a strong enzyme cleaner such as Bio Tex stain remover. If he can smell where he has sprayed he will go there again, so it is really important to keep on top of the smells.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bio-tex-Bi...e=UTF8&qid=1492704343&sr=1-3&keywords=bio+tex


----------

