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A neutered male cat who has already begun to spray (which is territorial behavior) may - or may not - still continue to spray after he is neutered.
The problem is territory.
Is my house big 'nuff for them all to 'get along' together in?
Is this old tom cat going to learn new behavior?
Will he be sufficiently motivated to do so?
Does he feel 'safe'? Does he 'like' (ie - at least not fear) all of the rest of my cats up in here?
Do I put out enough food and water bowls - and cat litter boxes, and sufficiently far apart, so that they all feel that they have safe access to enough food, water, and clean litter box(es) whenever they want all of that?
Will his neutering cut back on his testosterone levels enough that he feels less territorial, if the above conditions are all met?
Will he decide that he prefers to live outside, after all, even though it's safer, warmer, and nicer, in here? It will also be more boring...
I have his entire family in here, now. His wife (mate), and 2 or 3 generations of his children. He's happy to have them with him, certainly. he's so glad to be reunited with his son, Tiger Mac! Cobby and Tiger Mac spend all day long and all night long running up and down and all about, tearing up the joint, in great fun together. Blackie is happy to have her daughters with her - all of them. Big Velvet, Little Velveteen, Nike and Midnight all spend most of their time with her. Velvet spends an INORDINATE amount of time chasing after our pet cat, Alice Cooper. He's been neutered since kittenhood. Only God knows why Velvet likes Alice so much... although, he does look like Blackie, Velvet's mama. Nike also loves loves loves our Alice... It's bizarre how our old boy, Alice, suddenly has become sooo popular! and our oldest cat, patches, who has been bottom-of-the-rung cat for the entire 14 years she's lived with us, has FINALLY found her backbone, and defends her favorite sleeping places quite well. Patches fights off even Big Velvet! Amazing!
So, in the end, Sue, we don't really know... but so far, no one has even drawn ao much as a scratch's worth of blood. Not even any caterwauling going on in here. They're all just making new friends and working out who is where on the newly revised totem pole.
We have had a couple of small and isolated spraying incidents. A good cleaning-up, some Nature's Miracle, my Shark steam pocket mop, and all's good.
A neutered male cat's 'spray' is not the same as his urine, any more than is that of an intact male cat. But that of an neutered cat is less strong-smelling that that of an intact male cat.
The problem is territory.
Is my house big 'nuff for them all to 'get along' together in?
Is this old tom cat going to learn new behavior?
Will he be sufficiently motivated to do so?
Does he feel 'safe'? Does he 'like' (ie - at least not fear) all of the rest of my cats up in here?
Do I put out enough food and water bowls - and cat litter boxes, and sufficiently far apart, so that they all feel that they have safe access to enough food, water, and clean litter box(es) whenever they want all of that?
Will his neutering cut back on his testosterone levels enough that he feels less territorial, if the above conditions are all met?
Will he decide that he prefers to live outside, after all, even though it's safer, warmer, and nicer, in here? It will also be more boring...
I have his entire family in here, now. His wife (mate), and 2 or 3 generations of his children. He's happy to have them with him, certainly. he's so glad to be reunited with his son, Tiger Mac! Cobby and Tiger Mac spend all day long and all night long running up and down and all about, tearing up the joint, in great fun together. Blackie is happy to have her daughters with her - all of them. Big Velvet, Little Velveteen, Nike and Midnight all spend most of their time with her. Velvet spends an INORDINATE amount of time chasing after our pet cat, Alice Cooper. He's been neutered since kittenhood. Only God knows why Velvet likes Alice so much... although, he does look like Blackie, Velvet's mama. Nike also loves loves loves our Alice... It's bizarre how our old boy, Alice, suddenly has become sooo popular! and our oldest cat, patches, who has been bottom-of-the-rung cat for the entire 14 years she's lived with us, has FINALLY found her backbone, and defends her favorite sleeping places quite well. Patches fights off even Big Velvet! Amazing!
So, in the end, Sue, we don't really know... but so far, no one has even drawn ao much as a scratch's worth of blood. Not even any caterwauling going on in here. They're all just making new friends and working out who is where on the newly revised totem pole.
We have had a couple of small and isolated spraying incidents. A good cleaning-up, some Nature's Miracle, my Shark steam pocket mop, and all's good.
A neutered male cat's 'spray' is not the same as his urine, any more than is that of an intact male cat. But that of an neutered cat is less strong-smelling that that of an intact male cat.
at sue.
He's a purrfect example of a gorgeous tom cat, beautiful coat and markings, fat and full of catitude! In other words, he's a hottie tom cat. 
Chinese food. Boneless spare ribs, wonton eggdrop soup with noodles (some our cats love noodles!), and some Chinese vegetables. They love vegetables, too. Go figure. 
I guess it's a holdover from when they used to raid my vegetable garden... who knows? There's NO TELLING what a cat will cotton to... ever!
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