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My adopted male cat marks. Should I neuter him or can he be trained?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 5 months and 14 days old | 11.7 lbs

we adopted him from the street I'm almost sure we need to neutur him. How important is it? Are there any alternatives? Can he be trained? Tnx

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Christie Long, DVM

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on November 14th, 2016

Unfortunately it is extremely difficult if not impossible to train a male cat to ignore the natural instincts, such as urine marking, which make them difficult to keep indoor. Male cat urine has an extremely strong odor, and is quite unpleasant, and it's their natural tendency to "mark" areas that they consider to be theirs, which in your case will likely be all around the inside of your house. He will also be very interested in leaving your house to roam in search of females, and to fight other males that he considers to be a threat. Clearly, these are dangerous behaviors. While you may be concerned about the safety of neutering, since it requires general anesthesia, I can tell you that it is a well-understood procedure that is nearly painless, and takes no more than 5 minutes if performed by a trained veterinarian. Once DoReMi is neutered, he will no longer have the "urges" that drive the behaviors listed above, and will be quite content. I strongly advise you to have him neutered, and soon, as he's getting very close to starting to become sexually mature.

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    Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Castration can potentially ''smooth'' some behaviours (especially the ones related to sexual instinct) and sometimes training can become easier. That is not always true though and a good dog training can really do miracles! If you are not planning to breed from him, I would recommend castration anyway.

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