What is cat spraying
Cats urine marks for sexual reasons and due to stress. If your cat has not been neutered (male or female), the answer is probably the first and there is an easy fix for it involving some surgery.
If your cat is neutered, it is most likely having a crisis of stress and feels that it doesn’t have enough space for itself.
This tends to happen in multi-cat households, but sometimes even cats that live alone are stressed enough by outdoor cats or people in the household to feel that they have to communicate in this way.
Make sure that your cat has its own “core area” that contains an elevated place for them to sleep and groom, space to play, eat and drink (water and food should be separated), and easy access to a litter box where another cat is not guarding it.
Cats just don’t have many non-confrontational ways of communicating.
Urine marking is very stressful for humans but is a way for cats to make their feelings known to other felines without getting injured.
If a male cat sprays you then, yes, it really IS to mark you as his territory. Your cat will only spray you if he loves you and considers you!
Let’s just be thankful that male humans don’t do that.
What is cat spraying / Why do cats spray? Can I stop it
Sometimes fumigation could be a result due to a stressful situation as you may know that cats are not really the bravest type of animals.
During these types of situations, cats spray urine to increase their self-confidence and release their natural emotional stress.
Mainly cats would be spraying on vertical surfaces, but sometimes they would also be horizontal.
The presence of cats outside your home would cause your cat to urinate through doors and windows in this way, they would identify your territory. Cat urine contains pheromones, which are chemicals that would give other cats certain messages or warnings.
Many times people rearrange living spaces, change houses, or simply change the cat’s surroundings so this can make cats feel stressed and add markings around the house.
Ask yourself your questions:
- Is there a new pet in the house?
- Is there a new baby?
- Do you have other cats living in the same house?
- Does your cat have any other cat enemies outside?
- Have you recently changed a cat’s daily routine or environment?
When Your Stress Begins to Affect Your Cat
There is no denying that all of us are living in fairly stressful times.
The combination of work, family responsibilities, and bombardment of bad news from the television and internet can all help to make you jittery and edgy.
Without realizing it, your behavior can easily reflect negatively on your cat, which can result in inappropriate elimination.
When your kitty starts to urinate all over the house or apartment, it may be time to step back and take an honest look at how you’re behaving.
Household Stress
Cats are not packed animals, like dogs, but they do become just as attached to their humans as dogs do, and can quickly tell when all is not right with you.
Because cats are basically nonverbal, they are experts at picking up body language and facial nuances, so even if you are not tearing around the house screaming and yelling, there is a good chance that your cat will be able to tell that you are stressed.
When you are stressed, your cat will be stressed, and the likelihood that the litter box will be ignored will increase.
- Cats that become stressed are also much more likely to develop interstitial cystitis. This is a rather poorly understood condition whereby the nerves connected to the bladder become inflamed and the cat loses some bladder control. It also involves a loss of the protective mucus lining of the bladder so that urine is able to irritate the delicate walls of the organ.
- Once your cat becomes stressed out as a reaction to your stress, he or she may begin spray marking in order to try to establish a feeling of security.
De-stressing Your Cat
Your cat isn’t trying to irritate you when he or she pees in all the wrong places, so never punish the cat either physically or verbally; not only will it do no good, it will only make the animal more stressed.
Giving your cat plenty of attention, especially stroking him or her, will have a calming effect on both of you.
It has been scientifically shown that petting an animal reduces stress, and as you become more settled, so will your cat.
Pheromone products that bind to the cat’s neurotransmitters can also help to restore your cat’s normal behavior, and often once the problem of stress is removed, the problem of inappropriate elimination is also eliminated.
Help Your Stressed-Out Cat to Relax
While we may think that stress only affects humans, the fact is that cats can easily become stressed and show this by inappropriate elimination.
The intelligence and sensitivity of cats make them susceptible to stress, and when you begin to find puddles on furniture or rugs, it could well be the result of an upset and fearful cat.
Stress can actually cause a physical condition, interstitial cystitis, to occur in your cat.
Although this illness is not completely understood, it appears to affect the nerves connected to the bladder and can cause your cat to lose control.
Once other medical conditions have been ruled out, it will be time to help your cat relax once again.
Meditation for Kitties?
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to teach your stressed-out cat how to meditate, but there are some things you can do to help your cat relax and hopefully return to normal litter box use as quickly as possible.
Multi-cat households usually have one cat who dominates others to some extent. A cat who is ‘lower down on the totem pole’ can feel threatened by the top cat.
Providing a safe spot for the lower status cat can help relieve the pressure he or she may be feeling. A litter box, bed, food, and water in a separate area can help calm a nervous cat.
Make sure there are enough litter boxes for all the cats at home. Each cat should have its own box, and all the boxes should be kept clean. Jockeying for position with other cats at a single litter box can cause a cat to avoid using it.
A change in the litter can also upset a cat and cause inappropriate elimination. If you are changing litters, do so gradually, adding a bit of the new one every day.
Upsets in the household, such as illness, a new baby, or a new pet can stress your cat out. If possible, pay more attention to the cat and try to settle things in as quickly as possible – a return to a routine will help your cat back to the litter box.
Indoor ‘trees’ for cats give cats a secure perch where they can get away from other pets and young children who may not understand how to treat animals.
Sit down with your nervous cat and spend some time simply stroking the animal. This is very soothing and comforting to a cat, and you will probably find yourself relaxing as well.
Many Cats Can Mean Elimination Problems
Cats are certainly not social in the same way that dogs are, but their behavior patterns have certainly been changed over their long association with humans.
Strictly solitary in a natural setting, cats now enjoy not only the company of people but often that of other cats. It’s not unusual to see a pile of cats sleeping happily together.
However, you should always keep in mind that cats do need a bit of space and privacy as well.
Households with multiple cats often suffer from litter box problems where one or more of the felines soils inappropriately.
Pinpointing the Culprit
Once one of the cats starts avoiding the litter box, it’s important to try to find out which one it is.
The problem often arises because one cat is dominant over the others and will attempt, often successfully, to keep the other cat, or cats, from using the litter box.
Fights can actually follow as the dominant cat ‘repels boarders’. In most cases, the cat who is lower on the social spectrum will be the one who is the inappropriate eliminator.
Refrain from punishing the guilty party, neither the dominant cat nor the one who is urinating on the rug; just find a solution as quickly as possible.
What to Do
It’s not too difficult to overcome litter box avoidance in a multi-cat home, especially if you approach the problem through the eyes of your cats.
- The most obvious solution is to provide several litter boxes for the cats, placed at a distance from each other. Cats enjoy some privacy when using the box and a dominant cat will have more trouble enforcing his or her position if the boxes are separated.
- Dirty litter boxes invite cats to avoid them. Keeping the boxes clean will encourage the cats to use them.
- Observe your cats and see the spots each cat enjoys most – this will be the best place to put a litter box.
- Do not situate litter boxes near where the cats eat and drink; this is especially important when you are adding new boxes.
- Use an enzyme cleaner to remove all traces of urine and feces from places where accidents have occurred. Cats will be attracted to the smell and consider the area to be a latrine.
Always keep in mind, too, that after discovering who is not using the litter box to have the culprit examined by your vet just to make sure that no medical problem is present.
Is Your Cat Marking (cat spraying) Your Home?
The smell of ordinary cat urine is strong enough, but when a cat sprays marks, the odor will be even more overpowering and unpleasant.
Unlike urination, which does leave a message for other cats to an extent, spray marking is more like a billboard with lights.
The whole reason for marking is to inform other cats of a particular cat’s presence.
And, while urine is simply the waste that has been filtered out by the kidneys, marking includes other bodily chemicals with information about sex, health, and undoubtedly other important cat messages.
Unlike normal urination, which is made by the cat squatting down, spray marking is done when the cat is standing and the deposit will be made on a vertical surface such as a door frame or the front of a sofa or chair.
The cat will back up to the chosen area and wiggle its tail as it delivers the spray behind it. The volume of the spray is much less than is produced when the cat urinates.
Stopping Spray Marking
While some female cats will spray marks, the main culprits are intact males.
Spray marking is used not only to deliver some information about the sprayer but also to mark territory, which is especially important in the wild where hunting grounds must be protected.
This behavior is also much more common in homes where there are several cats, and the order of dominance constantly needs to be established.
However, there are steps you can take to minimize the chances of spray marking.
- If you have a multi-cat household, provide several litter boxes, rather than just one, there should be a box for each cat and a spare.
- All litter boxes should be kept completely clean. Feces and clumps of urine-soaked litter should be removed daily and the litter changed completely once a week.
- Block off the area being spray marked. The cat will usually return to the same spot periodically to ‘renew’ the fragrance, so denying access can help to eliminate the problem.
- Use an enzyme cleaner to remove the spray. You may have to apply it several times to remove all the smell.
- Neutering both toms and tabbies can help to stop spraying behavior.
Stress can also trigger spray marking, so address any issues that may be making your cat, or cats, nervous.
What is cat spraying
Finding the Right Box for Your Finicky Cat
The biggest mistake cat owners make when purchasing a litter box for their fussy cat is that what you may think looks like the perfect box may be anything but that to your kitty.
Manufacturers design boxes that will appeal more to the buyer, in many cases, rather than what your cat will actually use.
Understanding what constitutes an acceptable box for your cat will help keep the waste where it belongs – in the litter box.
Choosing the Right Box
You might find that there is a rather bewildering array of litter boxes for sale. Long gone, evidently, are the days when cat owners cut a cardboard box in half and filled it with litter.
Not only can your cat use a basic plastic box, but there are also enclosed boxes and mechanical self-cleaning boxes and special boxes that fit on your toilet.
A good deal depends upon the personality of your cat – a laid back kitty will be more apt to take whatever you give him or her, while a nervous cat might be spooked a fancier box.
What is cat spraying / Why do cats spray? Can I stop it
- The plastic pan is probably the most widely used of boxes. These boxes should have the litter changed completely once a week. Washing them before putting in a new litter will keep the box smelling nice longer. If you are getting a plastic pan for a kitten, make sure it’s low enough to allow the kitten access easily.
- Covered boxes look neater, but some cats don’t like going into a dark spot to eliminate. These litter boxes also take up a good deal of room.
- Mechanical boxes that automatically remove waste are not only quite expensive to buy and maintain, but many cats are afraid of the noise and motion.
- Toilet seat boxes may be the ultimate in sanitary treatment of cat waste, but it can often be difficult to get the cat trained to use this kind of litter box.
You can help make it more likely that your cat will accept the box you have chosen if you put it in the right area – somewhere private, but not dark and cold, and somewhere still close to the main part of the home.
If your cat absolutely refuses to use the litter box you have purchased, it would probably be easier and less stressful for both of you to simply try another kind of box.
Cat Urine Odor Removal Tips
There is no mistaking the heavy, ammonia smell of cat urine. Whether your cat is simply urinating wherever he or she wishes or is spraying urine to mark territory, the result will be the same.
This is a strong odor that will affect a surprisingly large area of the home, even if the problem area is relatively small.
You should actually account for yourself lucky if you are able to spot a puddle or a wet area on the rug or upholstery and begin treating it immediately.
However, once the urine has dried, in most cases you will have to locate it by smell or by using a black light.
cat spraying: Odor Removal Once the Urine Is Found
Once you find out the problem area, it’s important to take some care to remove the urine as completely as possible; not only for the sake of your nose but to discourage your cat from thinking of that particular spot as a bathroom.
The organic compounds found in cat urine can pose some problems in removing the odor – some of the compounds are water-soluble, but the uric acid not only is capable of binding to adjacent surfaces but is not soluble by water. When you find fresh urine you should:
- Wipe up the urine from hard surfaces with a paper towel and use the same to blot urine in furniture or rugs. Don’t use cloth unless you are prepared to throw them away afterward.
- An enzyme cleaner is your best choice for removing cat urine. These cleaners are specifically designed to break down the uric acid into ammonia and carbon dioxide, which will simply off gas naturally afterward.
- Do not try to hasten the drying process after using an enzyme cleaner since it interrupts the normal dissipation of the ammonia and carbon dioxide.
- Use the best enzyme cleaner possible – inexpensive cleaners often require multiple uses before they remove the odor of cat urine.
- Be generous when applying the cleaner; you should soak the target area to allow the enzymes to really do their job.
- After leaving the cleaner on for approximately a quarter of an hour, blot it up, then let the spot dry naturally.
What is cat spraying / Why do cats spray? Can I stop it
Although rugs are the usual areas where your cat may urinate, beds, sofas, and clothing can also be sullied.
Use the same procedure on these as you did on your rug. Slipcovers and clothing should be washed separately after they have been treated with the enzyme cleaner.
Spray marking will be found on a vertical surface such as a door frame or chair leg.
What is cat spraying / Why do cats spray? Can I stop it
Product Review
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Spraying, or peeing, around the house is a big no-no, for obvious reasons; and sometimes, cats that regularly use their litter box turn to other areas of the house to urinate or spray.
As a result, owners tend to focus on the issue of the mistargeted urination, rather than on why the behavior is occurring – the key element to Cat Spraying No More.
The Cat Spraying No More System carefully outlines various scenarios of unwanted spraying and targets possible causes in an easy to understand and well-laid out format.
Brain Training For Dogs
The system eases the reader into the topic and playfully chides with owners about the author’s own unfortunate experiences, how the author was able to overcome them, and how you can, too.
The author’s encouraging voice helps cat owners understand their cats better. There are underlying reasons why cats do what they do, and when things are not quite right, they react.
This system helps cat owners understand their cats better by discussing the reasons why cats urinate outside their litter box.
It then outlines a system for owners to follow, based on their specific situation, so results are targeted and more effective.
Depending on each scenario, there are detailed step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow. The author guides cat owners with reassurance and support.
Some of the major plus points behind Cat Spraying No More are:
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Results may differ. As long as the system is used as instructed results are generally achieved very fast, however, if the system is not followed properly, little to no results are experienced.
In Conclusion
- There really is no risk in trying out this product. With no questions asked money-back guarantee, if things don’t work out as you expected you get what you paid back.
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