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Territoriality: the cat is letting other cats know that the
marked area is “his” territory
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To communicate sexual availability
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Out of stress or anxiety
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A change of location: some cats will begin to mark when their
owners move house
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If a new animal or human is introduced to the house
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Because of overcrowding (too many other cats in the house)
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The cat is receiving less attention than normal
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A significant change in lifestyle or routine (for example, the
owner gets a full-time job; someone moves out of home; the house
is renovated)
Which cats are more likely to mark?
All cats mark - and unfortunately, there’s no way of predicting in
advance which cats are going to become sprayers!
However, some cats are more likely to mark than others. From most
likely to least likely, these are:
If
you have an intact male cat, urine marking is practically to be
expected. The urine of a tomcat has that characteristically strong,
catty odour, and is very recognizable (and offensive) to humans:
neutering your male cat will remove this odour and will also reduce
the likelihood of recurrent marking.
Although neutering is strongly recommended in the treatment of
feline marking, it’s not necessarily guaranteed to work:
approximately 10% of neutered males and 5% of neutered females keep
right on doing it.
How can I get my cat to stop marking?
Although there’s no hard-and-fast, guaranteed ‘cure’ for this
undesirable behaviour, there are a number of steps that you can take
which are likely to either significantly reduce, or stop entirely,
your cat’s marking.
Listed below are some of the most effective options:
There are a huge number of reasons why your cat is choosing to
urinate outside the litter box: he may be marking, or there may be a
medical cause for the behaviour. Before you can decide on
appropriate treatment, you need to rule out health-related causes
for the inappropriate elimination.
Take him to the vet for a urinalysis (a complete analysis of his
urine) and an overall check-up, to make sure that there are no
medical reasons for his behaviour.
Neuter your cat immediately. This is the single most effective thing
you can do to stop your cat’s spraying, and if you hope to get any
control at all over the issue, it's pretty much mandatory.
Statistics show that a whopping 87% of all cats stop marking when
they’re altered - of this number, 78% cease marking immediately, and
9% stop within three months.
Behaviour modification is a tried and true method of controlling
your cat’s spraying, although it will require a considerable
investment of time and effort on your behalf. You’ll need to
supervise your cat closely, paying attention to where and when he
marks. The use of behavioural-modification tools like water pistols
and shake cans (a tin can with ten pennies or a handful of pebbles
inside – when shaken, it makes a loud, scary noise) speeds the
process up considerably: when you catch him marking, startle him out
of continuing by either spraying him with the water pistol or
shaking the can vigorously.
‘Redesignating’ the areas which he tends to mark in can also help:
cats don’t like to spray in areas where they eat, sleep, and play.
If he marks in particular places around the home (as opposed to
indiscriminately), put his food bowls next to the spot, play with
him there, and put his bed there.
Treatment for marking is based around removing your cat’s motivation
to mark in the first place. The most common reasons for marking is
territoriality: he could be feeling threatened by the presence of
strange cats around the house, or he could be experiencing some
conflict with another cat(s) in the house. So, to control his
marking behaviour, you need to minimize his need to act in a
defensive, territorial way.
You can do this by minimizing his exposure to the strange cats, and
by resolving any conflict in the home.
For strange cats:
Keep him inside the house, and restrict his access to windows: shut
the doors to high-risk rooms, block out his view by installing
shields across the sills (these are made of translucent plastic, and
can be bought from home-improvement and DIY stores), and if you have
a cat-flap, make sure it’s permanently closed (both to prevent your
cat from going outside, and to prevent other cats from coming in.)
For problems inside the home:
If the problem’s based around a situation in the home (perhaps he’s
feeling overcrowded, perhaps there are conflict issues with one or
more other cats), you’ll need to pay attention to how your cats are
interacting, and then separate the cats that have issues with each
other.
Keep them in separate rooms, with separate litter boxes and food
bowls. This doesn’t have to be a permanent thing – once the
spraying's stopped, give them at least another week of separation
(just to be on the safe side) and then you can gradually reintroduce
them by way of mutually-enjoyable events like mealtimes and
playtimes.)
Make
it really easy for your cat to urinate appropriately. Make sure that
there are enough litter boxes in the house: there should be at least
one more than the total number of cats. If you have a multi-storey
house, make sure there’s at least one box per storey (more, if you
have more cats), and see that they’re all cleaned regularly.
For a really detailed look at how to deal with your cat’s behaviour
problems, take a look at Complete Cat Training. It’s a cutting-edge
cat training manual that’s focused on training your cat and changing
her behaviour for the better.
For professional tips on transforming your cat’s behaviour problems
(as well as teaching her some pretty neat tricks, from sit and stay
to roll over, play dead, and fetch!) Complete Cat Training comes
very highly recommended.
Article by KINGDOM OF PETS |