IS IT TERRITORY MARKING?

All territory marking is a cry for help.

Cats spray from an upright position, tail held high and quivering. It is a way of marking territory so that the urine will be against a wall or object. Upright spraying is always marking behaviour. Squatting urination can sometimes be marking behaviour particularly if the cat is marking either new objects or in places smelling of the owner (like the bed) but it is more usually a surreptitious pee. A cat usually has a vacant expression on its face and a twitching tail when it is doing marking urination, whether upright or squatting.

In addition to this, marking urination is often done at entry exit points like doorways and windows, on new items, on objects that are on a cat walkway ie the normal path it takes round the house. Or it may spray where the ownerˆs scent is strong like on the bed. Or it may spray on new items like the posh new settee or on heated objects like radiators!

Cats also use poo to mark their territories in the same way as spraying – at doors or windows, on the bed, on the sofa. They often do this on places which smell of their owner – showing how they love them -  and turn to these areas when anxious. Pooing  should be treated in the same way as spraying – cleaning, replaces the smell with Feliway, and reducing the stress.

RULE OUT PHYSICAL CAUSES

Get your cat checked by a vet. If your cat is squatting and urinating large amounts, it may just be relieving itself rather than marking its territory. Cystitis, kidney disease and other disorders may be involved and must be treated before anything else is done. Ordinary urination usually occurs in secluded places like behind furniture or in rooms that are rarely used. There may be problems with the litter tray. Or an ill cat may become anxious and then start spraying.

Sometimes cats urinate in the wrong place because they can’t get to the litter tray in time – old age, geriatric confusion or pain from strained ligament. Check the “18 questions you should ask if your cat stops using the litter tray" in the FAQ above or in the info sheet.

So I shall talk about spraying but in this I include squatting urination when it is marking and also territory marking with faeces. Spraying is not always easy to eradicate. If you can afford it, I strongly advise getting help from a cat behaviour counsellor who can come and visit. In the long run it will be cheaper than a ruined carpet!

Get help fast. The longer you leave this, the more difficult it will be to change. If you decide to try and treat this yourself, do not go in for half measures or try to save time or money! Half measures will not get you anywhere! Put in the effort NOW. If your cat has been spraying for some time, ask for my long term spraying sheet.

Never punish. This will encourage even more spraying. Cats that mark territory are anxious and unhappy.

Which cats spray? Unneutered toms spray most. But castrated males and females (spayed or not spayed) will also sometimes spray.

ARE YOU SURE WHICH CAT IS DOING IT?

Have you SEEN it? Rig up a video camera if necessary (cheap one from www.tiger8.co.uk). You cannot be sure unless you see for yourself.

If you have more than one cat in the household do not assume you know which cat is spraying unless you have seen it happen. If necessary confine each cat separately to a room, in order to find out which is doing the business. Sometimes one cat spraying will set off the other and both or all are doing it. Just to make life more complicated, they may be spraying for different reasons.

There is a fluorescent marker dye from the vet which can be put in food and which comes out in urine, which can help detect which cat is doing it. Pet behaviour counsellors can organise this.

TREATMENT

You have to do three things – clean up, treat the sprayed areas, reduce or eliminate the cause of stress. In that order with rigorous care.

Vets can prescribe Feliway, which helps reduce spraying.  It comes in a spray and in plug-in form, Feliway Diffuser. It will only work if combined with rigorous cleaning and action to stop cat stress. You will need to use both diffuser and spray for 30 days or more, sprayed daily on all the urination areas. In severe cases or if the cats are indoor cats use it twice daily. The aim is to use Feliway as often as the cat is patrolling and marking its territory. If the cat is marking three times a day, then use it three times a day. Be lavish. If you don’t use enough, it will not work.

The alternative treatment (much more work but no cost) is to use the scent off the cat’s own facial glands. This may be more effective, but it is only possible if you can tell where your cat rub rubs its chin in the house. Take a soft clean cotton cloth and tape it or pin it to the places you cat rubs. If you can identify several places, all the better. Use several cloths. When you are sure they have been rubbed, then hang up the cloth where the cat has sprayed. Do this daily rotating the cloths.

If you have a cuddly cat you might be able to take a cloth and gently rub it against your cat’s cheek and chin.  But if you have a nervous cat, anxious about petting, this may freak it out. Do not persist, in this case, as the cat will become stressed and spray more. Use Feliway instead.

As a last resort you can ask a vet to prescribe either the equivalent of antidepressants for the cat, or a hormonal injection. But giving a cat a pill daily may stress it even more and the hormone injection has dangerous side effects.  Drug treatment is not a substitute for dealing with the real causes.

HOW TO PROCEED                 

Clean all the urine sites, see previous FAQ or information sheet. If you don’t do this thoroughly, you might as well not bother with anything else! Consider redecorating if the spraying has been going on a long time.

Then spray with Feliway and plug in a Feliway Diffuser or use the cotton cloth technique daily for 30 days (twice daily if necessary) on the site used for spraying.

Finally add bowls of food at the spray sites. If you have a cat with a weight problem, glue pieces of dried cat food on cardboard and place these at the site – they cannot be eaten but they will make the spray site smell like a dining room not a toilet.

IF THE SPRAYING HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR SOME TIME, START TREATMENT IN ONE ROOM.

Make the cat feel safe in its own territory by putting it in a small room or in an a large indoor pen which has been thoroughly cleaned of urine marks. Confinement means safety to a cat. Put its bed in the room and also supply litter. Use Feliway (or cotton cloth) lavishly in the room/pen before putting the cat in. Keep the cat in there for two or three days being careful to change litter frequently.

Then slowly allow the cat access room by room to the house, cleaning each and lavishly spraying with Feliway daily and supervising it to begin with in each room. Take about a week to re-introduce the cat to each room. If you hurry this, it may not work. You are going to need a great deal of Feliway on the rooms already used by the cats, then on each new room as you give the cat access. Each room will need spraying for at least 30 days on all urine marks. The aim is for the cat slowly to perceive the house as a safe zone with protecting owners.

FINDING THE CAUSES OF SPRAYING TO PREVENT IT STARTING AGAIN.

Spraying is a cat’s response to stress. If you don’t deal with the underlying causes, then it will start up again. There may be more than one cause – all must be investigated. Think about this in chronological order. Where did it start? When did it start? Choose a symbol for the first spraying, say A, a symbol for subsequent spraying, say B and so forth. Make a map of the house and mark the spray points. Location may supply clues – near the front door may mean something frightening the other side. On the route to the feeding area may mean one of your cats is ambushing the other there. Do careful observation of the relationship between your cats.

Try to think like a cat. This is where the help of a behaviour counsellor (see links below FAQs) is well worth having if you can afford it. Sometimes pet insurance pays. Read the FAQ on Reasons why your cat is stressed.