what we call playing is really “training” to kill prey.Have you ever watched a cat catch a mouse?they grab their prey mostly with their teeth, as well as their claws. Your house cat can learn to differentiate however, that your finger is not prey. Be gentle in your reaction – frightening your cat will not bring good results. She only does what is innate.

I’ve had  cats pretty much all of my life, but until I saw my neutered male cat spray on a bush in my neighbor’s garden

. –

I thought that only un-neutered, or “Tom” cats could or would spray

. WRONG.

I now live on a farm and there are a few “barn cats” and also a house cat

. They are all are spayed or neutered, and have known each other all of their lives. Two of them spray..on e is a female and the other a male. i could not believe my eyes when I saw the female cat back up to a hay bale, which was stacked for the horses, and sprayed. WRONG!
I checked with the owner of the barn and she verified that the cat was spayed – I am confused.
I read that
87% of all male cats stop spraying after castration
78% stop immediately
9% stop in a few months
13% keep spraying
Could it be that I live with the 13% of cats which are not under stress, are spayed and neutered and still spray – WHY?
I have read many articles about this, but just as the advice on how to get rid of a cats urine smell (which never works) the explanation for the spraying of cats – seems to fail in my situation. I am tired of grabbing hay for the horses and reaching……you know what!
I have put sand on the floor in front of the bales and it stops the cats from wanting to get close enough to spray, but that is also dangerous for people because it’s slippery for our feet. Also – the hay has always been stored on the same place – it’s not a new thing. I really could use some help with the cats.