I have my mothers cat coming in a few days to stay for a week or two.

Question:
I know cats 'spray' things but i'm not sure if that means he will do it in here?
I had a cat but i was still *young* so my mam took care of that kind of 'stuff'

I'd just like to be prepared if it is going to happen!

most cats don't spray if they are neutered and if they live by themselves, depends on the cat, you haven't really given us any information about the cat

if you feel the need to be prepared I guess bio washing powder, rubber gloves and a good cloth

He is neutered and he is the only pet.
However i have a dog here.

It tends to be un neutered toms that spray, though toms who were neutered late sometimes do too.
Placing his tray in a suitable place maybe more important - make sure its somewhere quiet as cats like a bit of privacy when they go. Don't have it near his food/water. Also cats like the water to be in a different place to their food.
Don't worry too much about giving him his own bed - he'll likely find a place (or places) to sleep.
I'd also try not to let him out as he'll not know where he is and may get lost.

Thanks.
He's a house cat so won't be going out, not that i'd let him out anyways, among other things, there are a tonne of cats round here and they're vicious with eachother. He's come in with his arse thoroughly kicked.

The fact that you have a dog is neither here nor there as to whether the cat will spray or not, if he doesn't do it at home I doubt he will start at yours

as others have said most cats that spray are entire toms, but its not unheard of in stressed moggies whatever their sexual status. If he's moving and not lived with dogs before I'd say get a feliway plug in or spray, they really do work wonders and will help him settle quicker.

We have 6 cats that share a large cage in our garden overnight.
The toilet tray [they all share ] food bowl & water bowl are all next to one another
So called ' experts ' say cats wont share a toilet tray
Ours prove that wrong

No experts say that cats don't like to share a tray, not that they won't. I'm willing to bet you have endless stress related issues which you no doubt ignore, instead pretending your cats are all ok with living in a cage together

why would you cage cats in the garden at night? That must be horrible for them

You will need to be extremely vigilant in case he tries to slip out. He will probably want to escape, even if he's a house cat, in an effort to get back home. Cats tend to be extremely uncomfortable away from their usual surroundings, more so than being away from their owners.

Also, if he's not used to going out, he won't very streetwise and able to deal with dangers such as traffic.

For this reason, I always ask someone to pop in to feed and check on our cats a couple of times a day if we are on holiday. They are far less stressed in their own house.

Agreed - my cat clearly misses her territory far more than me. Last time she came home she managed two bits of meat stick before the pull of the cat door and her territory got too much and she had to go out to check it!

Firstly, I must stress, my cats are as indoors or outdoors as they want to be and are not caged at all but - I have never had any problems or stress related issues only having one litter tray for at least 2 cats. I have 5 cats at home at the moment and two litter trays. All quite happy.

Looking at the location of the caged cat person, I'm guessing its for the cats safety/security?
I have 13 that live in my garden that don't come in my house - stray/ferals that have decided to set up home. I feed them twice a day, I've got all but 3 (10 week old kittens) neutered, all are vaccinated and they all share the same toilet. Which just happens to be under the shrubs and borders in the garden. I have a very understanding gardener.....

We often think our lets are happy, but that is not always the case. I'd suggest adding four more trays and seeing what happens, my guess would be you'd notice a huge difference in behaviour and all trays would be used. This isn't something researchers have made up, it is years of studies. Yes it cats will make do, but why would you want them to have to? Are you telling me you have no issues at AT&T? Because frankly I wouldn't believe you, either you'd be lying or blind to them. There's no obesity, anorexia, fur pulling, over grooming, toiletting issues, spraying, scratching in unwanted places, overt cats and inverted cats, fights, pica, wool sucking etc etc?

As for the guy with the cage, I don't have an issue with cat chalets, I understand their use (and I presumed that's what he meant by cage) but I do have an issue with 6 cats in one chalet and one tray, it's like putting us into a small room with 6 neighbours who we know, live along side but don't really have much to do with, and giving us as sand pit to shit in. Nice.

YMCA?

Our cat never used to drink from his water dish whilst it was next to his food bowl but the day we moved it to another room, bingo...

Agree with the rest of the advice too.

Indoor cats especially need somewhere to climb and 'look down on the world' as it were - it could be a windowsill or a specially designed climbing frame. A scratching post is also needed, not just for its nails but as a way of marking its terrority. Buy cat nip spray to use on the post if the cat doesn't take to it within days, you only need to use it a few times, not perminantly.

To be fair, many cat owners have cats that regularly bite them or scratch the furniture or poo & urinate all over the house because they're doing something wrong and good cat behaviourists have sorted the problem within days, often down to simple things that the owner didn't understand.

Our cat never drank from his water dish whilst it was next to his food bowl - he drank water from the birdbath and puddles instead - but since we moved it, he drinks from it all the time.

My cats are all indoor only cats and are perfectly happy...if i were you OP i would keep the cat in one room away from the dog with the food litter tray anything else he might need, just to start with and let the cat get used to being in a strange place...definitely dont let him out, he wont know his way around and will most probably get lost.

Why would you treat your cats like that? It sounds like it is more for your convenience than their contentment. Would you want to eat your dinner next to a dirty toilet? The reason your cats put up with it is beta cause they are caged and have no choice!!!!

No, to all your points. Apart from one - the corners of my sofa are slightly buggered from scratching, but cats scratch to keep their claws in condition, not through stress.... All but one of them use the scratching posts in the house. And it's something he's done since it was just two of them as kittens. He'll walk past the post to get to the sofa...
You don't have to believe me, I'm not bothered. All my cats are healthy, happy little buggers. Microchipped, vaccinated up to and including rabies with a clear titre test,, wormed and flea dropped regularly, firm stools and no spraying. The litter trays are large (one of my boys is a Maine coone cross so it has to accommodate him), emptied of poo several times a day and cleaned out totally every three days. I'm positive if I put more trays out that they'd utilise them, but there's no need. I know my cats very well, I (well, my husband) spend a lot of money in quality food (for all, including the ferals/garden cats), vet care when needed, and a medicine cabinet and shelf in the fridge dedicated to all things cat. I vaccinate the strays in my care myself (in conjunction with the charity vet I use to get them neutered), so I think I'm all sorted. And not blind. Thanks for the info though, saved me a google.

When I adopted 2 rescue cats I researched the advice on litter trays so I put down 3, one for each cat and a spare. Both cats chose to use the same tray for toileting (usually one would use it, then the other would go in straight afterwards) and used the others as sort of play ''sand-pit'' areas scattering the litter all round the rooms and rolling around in the trays. It was a nightmare to clean up all the time as the litter would just go everywhere! After a few days I had to get rid of the 2 trays used for this purpose and leave them with just the one which they were happy with. Now I just keep one hooded tray which only one of my 3 cats ever uses, either when she is spooked by fireworks, the weather is inclement or she just can't be bothered to go outside. The other 2 just always go outside, no matter how bad the weather and they seem to hold it in for extended periods when the weather is particularly bad. I have never had a cat toilet anywhere they shouldn't in my home.

They all scratch carpets and furniture but I agree this is for claw sharpening purposes.

I think it depends on the cat and their relationships with the other cats in the home - but many cats do prefer to 'share' the litter tray.

I will answer orange bird on here as it has nothig to do with the other thread.

My opinion is based upon research, personal and professional experience. It is not fact, not is it superior, however is believe you would be hard pressed to find a behaviourist who would say that a multi cat household is stress free, because they are not. I have no doubt your cats are stressed in one way or another, not all stress is bad if they can relieve it, but they will be stressed all the same. Much stress is tolerated, and it is most likely that your cats tolerate the living situation best the can, and this maybe to a pretty high degree. But you would be amazed at the difference in cats when separated from siblings. Cats that have lived happily, with no obvious signs of stress, who when moved to single cat households becomes completey different cats. The slim line indivuals who suddenly become chunky monkeys, because finally they can eat food without pressure, the ones who were fat buggers slimming off because they don't have to grab and go, or because they have more outdoor access now, rahher than time sharing, the ones hat suddenly stop using the tray because they can access the outdoors to pee, the ones who's condition improves due to less obsessive grooming. Etc etc.

There are plenty of cats the live in groupings of 2-3 that thrive, but it is unheard of for all the cats in that group to be non-stressed, one will benefit from the relationship more than the other. Similarly a big groups of cats like yours will cope, but the will release the tension in other ways - if you say there are zero issues related to any stress then I do not believe you, cats are always stressed about something, be it food, sleep, other cats,building works, heat, cold etc - they can relieve this stress Ina. Variety of ways from displacement behaviours to scritting to internal health issues.

Don't believe me? Do the research yourself. Why would you not want to help relieve any stress by doing something as simple as putting a couple of extra trays out! If you are so confident there are no issues then why no do it anyway and prove your point.

I'd suggest really watching your cats, not as an owner but as an unbiast observer - look for a cat who starts washing whoever another cat comes in a room ( displacement behaviour) or one that won't look the others in the face, or one that's a little funnier than the rest, look at who eats when, who takes heir time, who doesn't. If they have outdoor access, monitor who goes out when, how long for, what for. Etc. you'd be surprised at what you will spot.

So no, to reiterate, not superior, I have oodles to learn, but I also don't arrogantly presume that my animals are perfect I had a thread on here not so long ago about my two boys scrapping like crazy, I was humble enough to admit I needed help with an issue I was to close to, I couldn't be objective.

I agree with the last line, and that's fine if they have the choice, that's the important part! We have two in at the moment who use on tray for number ones, the other for twos, they must have a conference to discuss whichever ray is better for which business...,