Urine spraying

First, it is important to understand the difference between spraying (urine-marking) and indiscriminate urination. A cat who is not using the litterbox, who is urinating outside of the box, is usually motivated by a different set of circumstances. Urination of this kind is found in the form of a puddle on a horizontal surface. A cat who is spraying will usually urine-mark a vertical surface. This cat's urine will be running down a door or the side of a chair. There are many reasons why cats spray.

Cats are very territorial, and it they perceive their territory to be threatened, they will mark it as a warning to others. Unaltered cats tend toward more territorial marking than neutered cats. But neutered cats, male or female, will territorially mark, as well.

Cats will mark their territory by spraying if there is an unaltered male or a female in heat wandering the neighborhood. Spraying will most certainly occur if another cat is not introduced properly into the existing cat's home. Sometimes spraying will take place if there are too many cats in a household. How many are too many? That depends on the cats and how well they get along. For some cats, the addition of one more cat would be too many.

Cats may spray if they are in a stressful situation. This may be when a stranger enters the home such as a new baby or a new significant other. Stress may result when the house is being painted or remodeled. Sometimes, a new cat in the neighborhood staring through the window will produce enough stress to simulate your cat to urine-mark.

For temporary relief from this problem, your veterinarian can help by prescribing chemical therapy. In the meantime, in order to permanently eliminate spraying, you must discover and remove the motivation for your spraying cat's behavior. Usually, the spraying is hormonally driven, but not always. Therefore, sexually altering your cat may solve the problem. This will make her less territorial, hence no need for spraying. Your neighbors may be willing to alter their cats, as well. You may have to play detective to discover what is causing stress in your kitty's life. If your kitty is being physically punished for any misbehavior, she will release the stress of this abuse by spraying, on you, your property, or whoever is administering the punishment.

This can be a difficult problem to solve. I worked with one client whose male cat was spraying. We played detective over a period of several days until we finally discovered that the onset of the spraying coincided with a time six months earlier when she decided to keep her kitty indoors. As soon as he was allowed to come and go as he pleased, the spraying stopped.