When someone says an animal is “fixed” or “altered” that means the animal has been spayed or neutered.

The operation of neutering or castration of male cats is called an orchidectomy.

Technically an altered cat is a castrated or spayed cat. But to us an altered cat is one who has found a home. Same same but different.

Spaying helps prevent uterine infections and breast tumors, which are malignant or cancerous in about 50 percent of dogs and 90 percent of cats. Spaying your pet before her first heat offers the best protection from these diseases. Neutering your male companion prevents testicular cancer and some prostate problems.

All cats, male or female, entire or neutered can spray. Most pet cats are neutered and do not spray indoors, probably because they do not feel they need to. Spraying indoors is a sign that the cat is feeling stressed and needs to make itself feel more secure, surrounding itself by its own scent.

Ten percent of male cats neutered before 10 months of age will still spray as adults. In households with numerous cats, at least one cat will likely spray, even if all the cats are neutered.

When a cat marks, urine is sprayed against a wall, table leg, couch, or other surface as a male cat stands, raises its tail, shakes, and backs up to the item. It is typically a small amount of urine that sprays out instead of a steady stream that is produced during a normal, squatting, urination.

To keep cats away from gardens, flower beds, or specific areas of property, scatter fragrant items that don’t appeal to a cat’s sense of smell, like fresh orange or lemon peels, organic citrus-scented sprays, coffee grounds, vinegar, pipe tobacco, or oil of lavender, lemongrass, citronella, or eucalyptus.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Vinegar, while a bit smelly itself, works to remove the lasting odor of sprayed cat urine because vinegar is an acid that neutralizes the alkaline salts that form in dried urine stains. A solution of one part water and one part vinegar can be used to clean walls and floors.

Neutralize it! Then you’re going to want to douse the spot with an enzymatic cleaner or simply make your own cleaning solution by combining (white or apple cider) vinegar and water in a 1:1 ratio. Because the vinegar is acidic, it will neutralize the bacteria in the cat pee, offsetting its odor.