Conference misery::feline

    My first question would be - why aren't your male cats neutered?
    Unneutered males will spray in your home, and the smell is very
    strong.  They will be attracted to the place that they sprayed
    and will continue to spray in that same area, unless you use an
    enzyme-based cleaner to get the smell out.
    
    Neutered cats are much healthier, more content to stay close to
    home (they're not looking for females to mate with, or getting into
    fights over a female).  Not to mention, that by neutering, you will
    no longer be contributing to the enormous pet overpopulation (don't
    know if it's a problem in Brazil, but in the U.S. millions of animals
    are put to sleep because there aren't enough homes to go around).
    
    Pam

    
    It is highly unlikely that a stranger cat can come inside your home
    and spray your living room without your *two* tom cats making a 
    big deal. When there is a stranger cat in my yard, all my cats go into
    red alert. When there a stranger cat on my deck, all my cats howl
    like there is no tomorrow and they start a fight. No stranger cat
    has ever gotten past the deck.
    
    Male cats will sniff their own markings and will repeatedly spray
    the same spots. It is probably too late to stop the spraying with
    neutering, once they pick up the habit, they can't stop, the 
    smell will not be as strong, but you'll still have to clean up
    the mess.
    
    I agree with .1 that tom cats going outdoors should be neutered.
    
    Eva
                                  

    Many thanks for both answers.
    
    Re neutering, well, I've had neutered cats before, but starting a new
    life in a new place , with new cats, I wanted to just see how it would
    develop. I still may choose that option.
    
    Re -.1 I should add to my little story that the pillow in question is 
    only like 5 feet from a door which leads to the backyard. Houses are 
    laid out differently here! My own cats stray around the neighbourhood 
    quite a bit and many times they are both gone for hours, so it is quite 
    conceivable that strange cats can come close without being bothered. As a 
    matter of fact I have seen strange cats feeding from my cats foodbowls, 
    with my elder one being close and letting it happen (may have been a 
    hungry female...)
    
    Rolf

    
    
    > I wanted to just see how it would develop, I still may choose that
      option....
    
    If you know how many poor kitties are in the streets and in the pond
    and how many have to be euthenized. Then unless you are a breeder, 
    neutering you male cats in not an option it is your responsiblity.
    
    Shaw
    

    Shaw, you certainy have a point, but too many things were going on in
    my recent life that made time seem to fly past just too fast and some
    obligations just were neglected.
    
    On the other hand I'd like you to know that both of my cats were in
    fact picked up as little kittens from the street! What I'm trying to
    say is that I'm not insensitive to the problem of cat-overpopulation.
    
    Actually we don't see TOO many stray cats down here, as compared to 
    stray dogs, of which we see plenty. Maybe that's the reason WHY
    we don't see to many stray cats!
    
    BTW, my prevous neutered cats (both male and female) developed a
    tendency to get too fat fast. What can one do against that? I cannot
    seem to resist their constant pledge for a filled food bowl!
    
    Rolf

    Re: too fat
    
    I feed mine WD or RD, which are high fiber and high fiber/low cal
    versions of CD.
    

    
    Rolf,
    
    	My cats get fed 2 times a day, with the amount of food
    proportional to their size and the kind of food according to 
    their needs. Kitty gets kitty food and old cats get cat 
    food made for less active cats. They get a little bit of 
    canned food everyday and kitchen scraps like poultry, fish, 
    cantalope and mango (don't ask ;-)) once in a while. Two
    square meals and that's it. I used to be less strict years
    ago, but then the cats were overweight by about 3 lbs. The
    vet was concerned and so they went on a diet. Took a good
    6 months to get their weight down. From that point on, I
    stuck to the 2 meal a day deal and they have been doing fine.
    
    
    
    Eva 
    
    

    
    
    Rolf,  Thank you for not taking offence to my remark.  I do volunteer
       work in a cats only shelter and have a lot of first hand experience 
       with unplanned, unwanted kitties.  It breaks my heart that these
       poor little creature will either have to be put to sleep or 
       spend most of their precious lives in a cage or maybe worse go 
       hungry in the streets, be chased by dogs and other predators
       get hit by cars and all that. An uneutured male cat, even if you give
       it a great home, will always wonder out, get in trouble, risk 
       getting hit by cars, get into fights and make female cat pregnant 
       and add more to the problem.  It is also proven that neutured cats 
       and dogs have a healthier life.  I don't know if in Rio your 
       local veterenarian provides discounts coupons for spay and neutering
       but over here in the states they encourage folks with providing 
       discounts as some multi cat families might hold back due to the 
       expense. 
    
     All the best to you and your crew ;-)
    
    Shaw