Q - My condo is about 1175 square feet and I knew after adding a 4th cat that the territory was being squeezed, but a 5th cat made the cat pot truly boil over. The dominant "top cat" began spraying to make sure the new cat knew she was in his territory. ..yet my neighbor upstairs has 10 cats, why am i having this very evil behavioral problem and not him???

A - Upon reading books on this I believe all my cats are very, very close in cat rank, just a hairline below or above each other. Thus the top cat is very insecure. The cats that are “below” him use my vast affection for them to make their ranks “higher” thus creating cat social friction and stress everywhere in the cat line. My neighbor’s cats must be very separate in rank, meaning there is a separate top cat, 2nd cat, 3rd cat and then lower ranks.
Ultimately, using this knowledge, a fragile peace has been made with my 4 cats and the 1 foster, although eventually adopted out the foster.
The top cat (who sprays) was my least "bonded" cat and special efforts are made to bond to him so his stress level goes down (expressed by attacking the other cats or spraying) and his sense of security is increased . This "bonding" included:

  1   picking him up and showering him with affection, talking nice, playing specifically with him using his favorite toys (Da Bird) and giving everyone treats when he is nice around the other cats or just random treats.

Above: cats lounging on the "Cat Beach"

2   Set up 3 hot pads in the kitchen, an especially favorite cat hang-out near the dry food bowls and wheat grass (cats love wheat grass). This has become a popular "relax and de-stress center" for my 2 dominant cats: top cat (black)and an older female (white) as well as chummy kitten Obiewan in this picture.

Other coping mechanisms:
  3   In areas of conflict/stress expression put" Feliway "or other cat pheromone plug-ins. Feliway is a pheromone imitation of the gland at the side of a cats mouth that says"relax and be happy" when he smells it-thats why cats rub their mouths on things and you ! These products come in plug-ins and spray bottles. The plug-in will "calm" an area for about a month and the spray has to be used daily.
  4  Clean up all urine sprays with a guaranteed cat urine molecule destroyer (I use "Stink Free Instantly",also Cat Fancy Editors Choice), following directions. After the urine molecule destroyer spray the spot thoroughly with Feliway or another cat pheromone in the spray form such as "No Mark!" by Pet Organics, also following the directions on the product. ("No Mark!" when for example sprayed on a bed, all my cats will jump on the bed and go to sleep. But it doesn't work for every pet, experiment until a product is found that works with your particular pet.)
When the cat comes back to check the spot he will think that another cat was very happy with his spray and will feel calm. If a specific cat is caught in the act they get punished, this helps too as a loved cat hates to see his owner (the food source) upset.

And if the spraying behavior continues, you just have too many dern cats!

Q- I have a 12 week old kitten who is 100% healthy per my veterinarian but no matter what kind of food he is fed, he still has "droopy" stools. The vet can not come up with an answer, what is wrong?

A- This is common in a cat who has very little tolerance for the carbohydrate fillers found in most cat food. Before becoming Egyptian mousers about 10,000 years ago and living with humans where perhaps they received a little milk in addition to mice, cats ate exclusively (rodant) meat and have short intestinal tracts designed to extract only protein from their food. (Because there is so much available energy still left in a cats stool is why dogs like to eat it, in case you ever wondered!).

This cat health problem was eventually solved by feeding the cat "Lifes Abundance" cat food. Also noticed that my cats have rarely thrown up over the three years that they have been on this diet which is a SUPER bonus. Have tried other high protein, natural cat foods like Evo which they like but throwing up happens which is a nuisance...