NINETEEN REASONS WHY YOUR CAT FEELS STRESSED AND UNHAPPY - AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM.

SYMPTOMS OF STRESS.

Stressed cats often become increasingly immobile – hiding if they have a place to hide or just sitting hunched up if there is no hiding place. They may appear to sleep a lot. If there something they fear outside, they will stop going out of doors or at least spend more time indoors. If there is something they fear within the house, they may start living upstairs or under the bed. Very stressed cats stop grooming themselves, and eat or drink less if bowls are in a worrying place (such as near the cat flap or near ambushing  by another cat) They may urinate inside the house or hold back from pee or poo if they have to go through enemy territory outside to pee or poo or are frightened of the litter tray. They scratch more in their territory. Some start spraying.

1. Fear of other outside cats. Your cat may be spraying because of competition, fighting and stand offs, from another cat in the neighbourhood. They can be intimidated by cats coming through the cat flap, strange cats staring into windows or by outside cats spraying on doorsteps etc. If this is the stress, your cat is likely to spray near entry points, cat flaps, doors, and windows. Wash down the outside of the front/back door to clean up any smells left by neighbour cats. Put down anti-theft matting or scrumpled wire netting so neighbouring cats can’t walk so close and think about putting large plant pots as alternative spray sites further back in the garden. Also place wire netting on any surface – roofs, walls etc - from which outside cats may be staring in. (Be careful about any device which might harm children or humans on a wall. Read the FAQ on intruding cats for help with this issue) Use a PetPorte or SureFlap cat flap to keep intruders out - check that the models are big enough if you have a large breed cat. Cover the transparent part of the cat flap with Humbrol Glass Etch spray so outside cats can’t peer in. If the outside cats are troublesome at set times, close the cat flap during those times. Stick cardboard over the flap at these times to show your cat that it is closed and he is safe. Take cardboard off to signal that the flap is open. Or keep the cat flap closed all the time so that your cat feels safe, and his territory is clearly defined so it doesn't need spraying. This will mean letting him in and out by the door. Your cat must also have a litter tray, positioned well away from entry points in a secluded area where it cannot be overlooked. This way he will feel safe and he will not have to pass through enemy territory to toilet. See FAQ about cat intruders for more ideas.

2. Sight/scent/sound of cats/wildlife/dogs. Sometimes a cat is spooked by the mere sight, smell or sound of neighbouring cats/foxes/dogs. Cats hate being overlooked by animals on neighbouring walls, window sills, high gardens etc. In which case the spraying will be near a window or a door which shows the sight. Block off the sight of the potential threat by covering the lower panes of the window etc using frosted cling film (www.solarstat.co.uk or www.hainteriors.com). One cat was spraying on the windowsill because a neighbouring cat was jumping onto the window box and peering in.

3. Fear of indoor cats. Sometimes a cat feels threatened by another cat in your household. This doesn’t mean that the cats are fighting, just that one feels under pressure, and this may be difficult for an owner to recognise. Eyeballing, ambushing, blocking pathways – these are the subtle ways cats bully each other. Spray sites are likely to be where cats have to pass each other – hallways, corridors, stairways etc. The fearful cat needs a retreat. Try putting a cat flap operated off the microchip into the airing cupboard or similar. Also make sure there is one litter box per cat or more, Don’t just put a row of litter trays next to each other. Place them in different locations. Also have more than one bed per cat, and more than one feeding location and water location. The bullied cat must be able to get to food, water and beds without passing the bully. Install several scratching posts. Feed cats in separate locations or keep food down all the time. Reduce areas of competition. Get a cat behaviourist to come and look at their relationship and read my FAQ on inter-cat aggression. Consider rehoming either the victim or the bully. Sometimes spraying by one anxious cat makes the other anxious and it starts spraying too.

4. Too many cats. If the cat is spraying because of serious fighting within the household between cats, then you may have to consider rehoming the spraying cat. More than eight out of ten households with seven cats have a spraying problem – reduce the numbers. It looks as if the cats get on OK, but they are merely tolerating each other. When something else goes wrong, their anxiety surfaces and subtle bullying begins. Cats Protection suggests that a three bedroomed house should have only two cats. Sometimes it is the arrival of a newcomer which upsets the cat social scene. In this case, rehome the newcomer on the grounds of last in first out. With luck, the problem will then go away.

5. New dog or some other new pet. It’s frightening for cats, that are unused to dogs, to have to live with one. Rehome the dog. Most cats are OK about rabbits, hamsters etc which after all are prey rather than predator but a very upfront house rabbit might worry them too.

6. New objects. These bring outside scents into the house. If your cat sprays on new objects, such as new furniture, Christmas tree, shopping bags etc, clean these items thoroughly and treat with Feliway. Shut away any further new items at first. Before giving the cat access, spray with Feliway. Also add your own scent to the item by rubbing on or leaving or draping on a dirty T-shirt or pyjamas smelling of you! The other possibility is that the cat is spraying the carrier bags because you are putting them down on the doorstep before opening your door – and you are putting them down where outside cats spray. So clean up any area where you put carrier bags down before entering the house.

7. Building works or decorators indoors or outdoors. Very close road works or major work in the garden counts too. Keep the cat away from the altered rooms till paint smells etc have died down. If road works are just outside your house, keep the cat in a room furthest away. Spray Feliway or install a Feliway Diffuser in the newly decorated room . Consider putting the cat in a cattery while building work is going on.

8. Visitors. These are intruders into the cat’s home territory. Occasionally cats will spray at Christmas etc. when there are visitors. Or if a cat dislikes a visitor in the spare bedroom (previously the cat’s territory) it may spray on the door there. Sometimes visitors smell of the dogs they have left at home or there are just too many or the wrong kind (from a cat point of view). Consider using the cattery if visitors are staying.

9. Visitors with dogs. I don’t think it is fair on a cat, which is frightened of dogs, to have to bear this. Again, consider a cattery during the visit or persuade your visitors to use kennels nearby – they can take their dogs out for a walk. Or book them into a local B&B.

10. Cat sitters. Sensitive cats can be upset when left behind with sitters, when their owners are on holiday. Their core home territory feels no longer safe. The cat sitter may be seen as an intruder or the change of routine may upset the cats. Use a cattery next time.

11. Boredom and frustration. Indoor only cats may get very frustrated if they don't have enough to do. Cats without a cat flap that have to wait to be let in and out also get frustrated. This frustration is stressful for them. Read the entry about indoor cats.

12. Attention seeking. Occasionally spraying becomes an attention getting device. The cat will look as you as he does it. In this case you probably need expert help! Indoor cats are probably more likely to do this than outside cats. Try to give the cat other focuses for its attention, not just you – more games, install a cat flap, etc. Ask for my sheet on indoor cats. In order to deal with attention seeking spraying, you have to ignore it. Look away. Say nothing. Go out of the room immediately.

13. New cat flap. The cat may fear intrusion by outside cats through the flap. Get rid of this or shut it down, if spraying started after installing it. Go back to what you were doing before the cat flap.

14. Electrical appliances and radiators. These may be sprayed on because when they heat up they emit odours that attract the cat. Warmed up items include radiators, kettles, cookers, toasters etc. Clean the area around. Try Feliway assuming that you can use these on a safe area of the electrical item. Do be careful of electric shocks! Repaint radiators with radiator paint available from DIY (very easy). Let them dry and paint smells diffuse before letting cat have access to them.

15. Human changes. New routine, new partner, new baby. Job change if the new job makes you smell different – ie if you start working for a vet, you will smell horrible to cats.

16. Anxiety about the litter tray. Make sure the litter trays are not overlooked by outside cats or used as ambushes. If in doubt add some more in a new place. Read earlier FAQ or info sheet, “Eighteen questions to ask if your cat stops using the litter tray.”

17. Mirrors, reflections, artificial scents. Sensitive cats can be upset by their own reflection. They do not recognise themselves. Instead they think they see an intruder. Cover up the mirror. Mouse and Rat Repellers and other ultra sonic deterrent devices can badly upset cats. They are set at 30,000 to 60,000 Hz, above human hearing but well within cat hearing. Turn these off. Also turn off human scent plug ins (not Feliway). These can make the home smell wrong to a cat thus causing anxiety and making spraying more likely.

18. Hormones. Cats sometimes spray pregnant women in the first three months of pregnancy. Usually this stops later on in the pregnancy. If a companion animal – dog or cat – comes on heat the cat may also spray then. See if flooding the room with scent from a Feliway Diffuser helps or, better still, spay the animal (not the human!) on heat.

19. Medical problem in another cat. It’s just possible that a medical problem in the spraying cat’s companion cat may make it smell different and prompt spraying. So if the non-spraying cats include any oldies check for kidney disease etc. I have one case in which the companion (non-spraying) cat got kidney disease and this seems to have set off anxiety marking by its companion, possibly because the smell of the ill cat changed. Veterinary visits can make a cat smell of the clinic – a smell which all cats hate. So if one cat is coming back from the vet, the other may attack it or be frightened by its smell. Take both cats to the vet, including the well one.