Cats and dogs have poor tastebuds compared to humans. That being said... hot peppers is more of a chemical burn issue than a taste.

Not sure about it being toxic....but I was going to put some on my plant leaves but then realized the cat might get it on their paws and then wipe their face/eyes and... eeeek! I know how that feels... @.@

It's best to keep hot pepper away from pets and children. Even my husband forgets to wash his hands after handling hot peppers and has paid the price many times.

I guess the poor taste buds give us an indication why cats are so finicky with their food.

Thought I’d give a little update on this.

We’ve had a couple more incidents, one of which had a plug socket nearby so another Feliway was plugged in. The other spot was on the boiler cupboard in the hall. We used to have a litter tray next to it but moved that to the main living room when it was being decorated and hadn’t moved it back. Mainly because Jagger had used it fine quite happily in its new position. So now I’ve put a litter tray there again so both litter trays are in the main house, and none in the conservatory.

Interestingly, when Jagger had to go on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories recently, I discovered at 4am (due the general chaos going on that woke me), that Hendrix was hassling him when he needed one of the trays. Jagger had been to the vet obviously which always causes some angst, but as soon as we shut Hendrix in the kitchen, poor Jagger shot to the tray as the meds had given him explosive diarrhoea. So I’m wondering if Hendrix can be possessive over the trays to a certain degree. Having both trays in the house will make it easier for Jagger to use them hopefully as he won’t use them in the conservatory anymore (doesn’t like the thought a fox might be able to see him!).

Jagger also sleeps with us much more frequently at night which means he’s not so worried if there is a fox outside as he’s less likely to hear it. And we have one coming around quite a lot lately.

He will sit outside the bedroom door waiting for us to go to bed, then jump up, attack Jon’s feet and then lay on mine.

Keeping the feliway topped up seems to really help, so thank you Brian for mentioning it! I feel like we’ve definitely seen an improvement... He still gets agitated about using the trays but we’re getting there!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Clare, it is so wonderful hearing from you and thank you for the update. I ran Raiden away from trying to spray in an electrical outlet a while back. I wonder what would have happened if he had done it. I can't find that he has sprayed anywhere in the house in a little while.

Your two are just characters ... and those foxes. They stlll won't leave you alone. I do believe there was a My Cat From Hell episode a long while back that dealt with one of the cats not allowing the other one in the litter box, which they discovered using a surveillance camera. Just like humans, I'm sure cats are extremely particular about their bathroom habits and the privacy they require.

I am happy to hear that things are going better for you. Hope Jon is doing well.

As you know, bengals are like children!!! They just never grow up, get married and leave the house.

Nice! Thanks for the update. Yea, litterboxes can have just as high an importance as something more obvious like favorite sleeping places, in terms of territorial ownership. So when there's any hint of any kind of contention there, best to conjure up more boxes asap before bad stuff happens.

Welcome back.

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The little monsters 3