Scottie the sprayer

A little over a year ago, we had 3 cats, Cory, Scottie, and Abbey.
Then on 3/27/04, Cory went to the RB at age 18. We then had Scottie, a
feral 7 year old, and Abbey, 3. All neutered or spayed, of course, and
totally indoor cats.

About a month after Cory died, Scottie started, for the first time in
his life, to spray one of our doors leading to the outside, to the
carport, specifically. I assumed it had some complex relationship to
Cory having previously been "top cat" and Scottie now feeling he had to
defend his territory. Our neighborhood has a huge amount of cats, both
stray and outdoor cats with homes. I think a lot of people feed them
so none are ever too scraggly looking and many are quite hefty. We
too, feed them and have for the 10 years we've lived here. I do get
some of them neutered but, for the most part, I don't know who has a
home and who doesn't. I know for a fact that 3 of the cats who snack
here have homes. It's just that kind of neighborhood where most people
let their cats out, unfortunately.

Well, Scottie never seemed bothered by the outdoor cats although, now
and then, there will appear one that seems to get him in an outrage.
But I assume that it was something about the outdoor cats that got him
to begin spraying, combined with the loss of Cory.

I diligently sprayed Feliway and the problem would go away until I got
lax about the Feliway and then he would spray again. So I would do the
Feliway again until I, once again, got lax. I believe the pkg. insert
says something about doing it faithfully for a month. Whatever it
says, that's what I did. So, for the most part, as long as I
continually sprayed Feliway, he wouldn't spray.

Then, in July, we got Marbles (also neutered, of course). Well, 9
months later he still is separated from Scottie and Abbey, for the most
part. A couple of months ago, Scottie started spraying that outside
door again. Sometimes the Feliway will stop it for a few days but now,
even if I diligently spray the Feliway, he still will do it every 3
days or so. We have a throw rug by that door, which I keep washing
with Nature's Miracle or another enzymatic cleaner that I can't
remember the name of right now. Then he won't spray for a couple of
days after it's washed. I imagine we track in the outdoor scents and
some of those outdoor cats spray out in the carport so he can smell
them anyway. He's always sniffing over by that door. I'm going to get
a new rug later today, one that is primarily more of a mat, so that it
can be easily washed off. Maybe that will help or maybe not.

I really don't think that Scottie's issue is with Marbles since it
predated his arrival. I'm sure it has more to do with the outdoor
cats. I would hate to quit feeding them now that they are used to it
and to say I should get them all trapped and neutered seems impractical
since there is a never-ending supply and I don't know if they are
strays or cats with homes anyway. A few years ago, I did inadvertently
get a neighbor's cat neutered, thinking he was a stray. I guess right
now it may be worse because of it being spring and I'm sure some of the
outdoor cats have raging hormones. But it's getting annoying. It's
bad enough we have to keep Marbles and the others separated but now we
also have the lovely scent of cat spray wafting through the house when
we get home from work.

I suppose I could try to get Scottie on meds but I hate to do that.
He's very feral acting and doesn't pill well and gets freaked out when
you try to do it.

Why, after 7 years, did those outdoor cats start bothering him? We've
been feeding them since before we got Scottie. He, in fact, is one of
the ones we used to feed outside. Is there any solution other than
quitting feeding the outdoor cats? Or getting them all neutered, which
would be quite a job, very time-consuming and pricey, and, like I said,
many of them have homes. And, yes, I also have a Feliway diffuser as
well as spraying twice a day.

Oh, and if the throw rug is not by the door, he doesn't find it quite
as attractive to spray there. He will occasionally but the rug seems
to make it more delightful. We could not have a rug there at all but
more dirt would get tracked thru the house. Maybe the odor is not
getting washed out well enough and a new rug without fabric on it might
alleviate the problem somewhat but that's the only plan I ahve right
now. Any ideas?

Candace