why do cats spray

If you have a problem with cat spraying, it's time for more than just another round of furniture cleaning. You need a solution—fast. Not only do you need to know how to remove cat spray, but also what caused your cat to start spraying in the first place, so you can help stop the bad habit.

When your cat sprays, he's telling you he'sstressedor fearful, and that can cause significant stress for you and your household. Thankfully, you can help reduce feline spraying if you understand why it's happening. For best results, it's important to make a proper determination between ordinary urine spraying and behavioral urine spraying.

Your cat may feel uncomfortable because you're not adequately cleaning the litter box. Or your cat may simply not like the type of litter or litter box you use. Trydifferent types of litterand litter box sizes to see if any of those make a difference. It's also possible the litter box is located in an area where there's too much noise or foot traffic. Try moving the box to a more isolated area in the home.

Why Do Cats Spray In The House And How Can I Stop It?

Is accessibility to the litter box an issue? Make sure your cat has easy access to the litter box. If your cat has hip issues, maybe she doesn't want to step over a large entrance to get inside the box. Or maybe another pet blocks her access.

If all other potential causes have been ruled out, check with your veterinarian to see if there is a health-related issue. Barring any of these reasons, stress could be a culprit, just like it is for vertical spraying.

If your cat directs urine onto a vertical surface (marking), his spraying is likely caused by stress or nervousness. Male cats spray most often—particularly adult, unneutered males. But that doesn't mean they're the only ones that spray. Any cat, male or female, can spray.

Do All Cats Spray?

Stress-triggers that can lead to spraying include a recent move, new furniture in your home, loud noises, or a new pet or family member joining your household.

Even a feral cat wandering around outside might be enough to cause your cat to feel defensive and start spraying. In general, anything that causes your cat to feel insecure could lead to inappropriate spraying.

Traces of previous spraying can trigger your cat's desire to re-mark an area, making it cyclical. In addition to standard household cleaning products or urine-removal products, many pet parents find vinegar-water mixtures, followed by baking soda, to be effective at removing odor. Be sure not to use a cleaner with ammonia, which is actually a component of cat urine and can trigger further marking incidents.

Cat Spraying & Marking: How To Stop It

Good options for cleaning cat spray include theWee Wee Carpet and Fabric Stain and Odor Destroyer(for all pets) or theWee Wee Cat Carpet and Fabric Stain and Odor Destroyer. The latter is designed specifically to treat cat messes in a safe way that penetrates deeply to prevent re-marking.

Comfort Zone products can ease your cat's stress, making her feel calmer and less likely to spray. By mimicking soothingcat pheromones, theComfort Zone Calming Diffusercan give your cat a calm, relaxed environment and will help to reduce urine marking.

Comfort Zone Spray & Scratch Control Spraycan be used along with the diffuser. Spray it directly on the items your cat is drawn to spray on, whether it's a couch or a specific corner of the room.

Cat Spraying: Why Cats Spray & How To Control It

Spaying or neutering your cat—especially early in life—will usually eliminate, or at least decrease, spraying. Even if your furry friend is no longer a kitten, spaying or neutering still helps to reduce spraying. Talk with your vet for a professional recommendation.

Many times, spraying is a sign of insecurity. Help your cat feel more confident by setting upwindow perches, cat trees, andcat condosyour cat can claim as her territory. The more territory a cat "owns, " the more confident she feels. Playing with your cat more can also help, as pent-up energy can lead to stress and nervousness. If your cat is stressed by seeing a feral cat, try closing the blinds at night.

If the problem is another animal, like adog aggravating your catoranother cat bullying your pet, you might need tore-introduce themso they get along better. You may need to keep them in separate rooms and feed them on opposite sides of a closed door to help slowly build positive associations. Swap scents and then slowly release them back into each other's lives, starting with supervised visits.

Cat Spraying: Why It Happens And How To Stop It

When cats spray urine, they're generally acting out due to fear, stress, or disruptions in their lives. Asking the right questions to understand why your cat is spraying is the first step to finding a solution. Seemingly subtle changes in your pet's daily routine or surroundings can cause a big reaction. Take action, and you'll likely notice big improvements in your cat's stress levels.

Tips to Solve Cat Scratching on Furniture & Doors Is your cat scratching your furniture? The situation isn't hopeless! These tips can help you and your kitty feel better.

Help Reduce Conflict in a Multi-Cat Household Sometimes cats act out because they're stressed. Here's how to help your mean, stressed-out kitty.

What To Do About Cat Spraying

Supplies to Have When Bringing Your New Cat Home Are you bringing a new cat home? Here are the supplies you'll want on hand so your kitty feels safe and secure right away.Urine spraying is a form of territorial marking behaviour, performed by adult cats. There is still some debate about the purpose of urine spraying but it is suggested that it facilitates communication between cats from a distance, to coordinate different cats’ movements in a territory to enable ‘timesharing’, and for the avoidance of aggressive encounters.

There is, however, no evidence to show that any cat investigating the spray marks of another cat avoids or retreats from them. Information about the timing of when these marks were made may be present because sniffing and flehmen response varies depending on the age of the urine deposit. Odours are so important to a cat’s survival that they have a second organ of scent called the vomeronasal or Jacobsen’s Organ enabling them to ‘taste’ significant smells.

This organ consists of two small apertures behind the front teeth in the roof of the mouth that connect to the nasal cavity. The cat opens its mouth and draws the air into the apertures; the facial expression adopted at this time looks like a kind of grimace and is referred to as the Flehmen response (see picture right).

How To Prevent A Cat From Spraying: 12 Steps (with Pictures)

Urine spraying has also probably adapted to fulfil other functions in the domestic neutered pet cat, reflecting the emotional state of the animal. Cats spray during socially stressful situations, possibly to increase their self-assurance, or as a coping strategy for stress or even as a form of displacement activity. You will often see other cats outside spraying urine against bushes, fences and other objects. It is normal behaviour for a cat to spray urine under these circumstances, however, if a cat starts to spray urine indoors this indicates that it doesn’t feel secure and that something is causing it to become stressed.

The classical presentation for urine spraying involves the cat backing up to a vertical surface, often after sniffing the area intensely and showing a flehmen response. The cat stands with its tail erect and quivering and raises its hindquarters. The cat may or may not tread with its hind paws while squirting a stream of urine (usually less than 2ml). Some urine marking can take place on horizontal surfaces (usually objects or items of clothing on the floor), either in a squatting posture or by standing and spraying. The spray marks can be quite hard to find, you may just be aware of the smell. Sometimes all you can see is a small trickle of brown, sticky substance on a skirting board, radiator or door. Other favoured targets for urine spraying include electrical equipment, full-length curtains, plastic bags and clothing.

Males and females are capable of urine spraying although the frequency is higher in males. The incidence is much higher in intact animals (those that have not been neutered), suggesting it may be facilitated by sexual hormones, providing information about the sprayer’s presence and reproductive status. Approximately 90% of intact males and 95% of intact females show a significant decrease in spraying after castration/spaying.

What Age Do Cats Start Spraying? What To Do About It

In the neutered population it is estimated that 10% of males and 5% of females engage in urine spraying. The incidence of urine spraying in a household is directly related to the density of the cat population. The likelihood of urine spraying increases in direct proportion to the number of cats within a household, to as much as 86% with 7+ cats (some studies show a figure of 100% with 10+).

The first thing you should do is contact your veterinarian. If your cat is young and has not yet been neutered then the most likely cause would be that your cat is becoming sexually mature. Neutering at this time would probably prevent the spraying from recurring and would avoid roaming, fighting and unwanted pregnancies; your vet will advise.

Caution should be taken in presuming all urine spraying has a primary behavioural motivation

How To Get Rid Of Cat Spray Odor: 12 Steps (with Pictures)

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