Savannah Cat Chat - THE Place for Savannah Cat Talk

Welcome to the Savannah Cat Chat Forum! Our forum has been in existence since 2012 and is the only one of its kind. We were here, serving the savannah cat community before Facebook and Instagram! Register for a free account today to become a member! Please use an email program other than Hotmail, since Hotmail accounts are blacklisted by many servers and ISP's. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site in some of the forums by adding your own topics and posts. But in order to take advantage of the full features, such as a private inbox as well as connect with other members ad access some of the larger topics, a donation of $2.99/mo or $25/yr is requested. This will allow us to continue running this forum!

F5 Intact Male Marking - Need Advice

meowinNH

Savannah Teenager
Hi. I have an intact F5 male who is 16 months old. In the last 3 months he has reached maturity and has begun repeatedly marking pillows, couch cushions, in bowls, on papers, etc. I use Feliway diffusers which helped a lot at first, but he seems to be adding new locations now. I also use Anti Icky Poo enzyme cleaner to remove the pee that I can identify. I'm not sure what else to do.

Before I am spammed about getting him neutered, please understand that I adore the breed and purposefully purchased my 2 Savannahs to begin a respected breeding program. I'm not looking for advice to get him neutered at this time.

I would appreciate any insights into ways to curb his marking and make it more manageable. Thanks in advance, I always appreciate the great advice from people on this site.

Steve
 

Pam Flachs

Savannah Super Cat
Hi Steve,

Welcome to the wonderful world of the intact male cat. You will not be able to stop his marking, and it may get worse, unfortunately. Some intact boys mark more than others, and some never do.

If you don't want your home and possessions completely soaked and smelling of cat urine/spray, you are going to have to contain him in one area he can call his own. This can be an unused room, a place in your garage (with heat) or outdoor enclosure off your house or other area. He need not stay in there at all times, but for those times you are not at home or sleeping and cannot watch his every move. I'd suggest a large covered kennel for his down times; these are great to use for that purpose and are easy to assemble and add on to. The floor will need to be washable, a tarp can work in a pinch, and cover the floor liberally with puppy pee pads and hang shower curtains on three sides. You can also clip the pee pads to the areas he marks the most. Put a cat tree, scratcher, hammock, shelves to climb, a litter box, and toys in the stud condo. Place food and water dishes up on a shelf or he may pee in them.

Here's a link to modular pens for illustration. There are many brands; just google modular dog pens.

http://www.optionspluskennels.com/

You might be able to find one or two for sale on Craigslist.

You could also consider stud pants for him. Here's a link describing them. I have not had a boy who would wear them, but worth a try IMO.

http://www.castlepaws.net/studpants.html

Do you have a mentor...perhaps the person you got your breeding cats from?
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
Hi Steve... as Pam says.

The hormones that your intact male cat is producing make him wish to tell EVERY cat in the vicinity that he is there! His life's mission is focused on attracting as many female cats as possible. He "knows" that his urine smells GOOOOODDDD! And he thinks putting it everywhere will tell the girls he's ready and waiting. And will tell other male cats he's in charge...

There is no harm in wanting your stud male to be a housepet...but to do so you will have to live with a stinky house...that's just how it goes. That is why you will see that most breeders have their male cats out in an enclosure. Here in my home, the intact female cats live as my pets, they do spray when in heat and I have to be vigilant with cleaning, but their pee doesn't smell like skunk like an intact male cat's pee does!

IMHO, even when an intact male doesn't spray and confines his urine to his litterbox, it is still way too pungent to be inside my home. So even when you have that rare male that doesn't feel the need to mark his entire territory... it's not pleasant to live with.

So my females live in the house, and I have a 6X12 enclosure in my garage that connects via walkway to an outside enclosure. When a queen is in heat that I wish to breed, she goes down to that enclosure.

I'm sorry that I can't offer you a solution that will help stop your male spraying in the house... this is the reality of breeding.
 

Lori Greer

Cahaba Cats
yes to all the above. We were fortunate that our very first stud didn't spray but we've had others that are serious hosers. There is no getting around it if you are going to breed and often the girls will spray as well.
 

Trish Allearz

Moderator
All of my adult females mark in the house. So as Lori said, it's not just the boys.

Where is your breeder in all of this? They should have told you all of this before buying cats to breed.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2
 

Angie Panczak

Savannah Super Cat
Lucky my boys started at 10 mos and 8 mos. My one will never use a litter box to pee. My girls spray when in heat. I didn't realize how bad the boy sprayed and how bad it smelt until I had his outdoor enclosure built and moved him from his indoor room. It took me 6 months of constant cleaning before I got the smell out. The smell lingered through the house even though it he was only in the one room. I recommend an outdoor/indoor enclosure.
 
Top