Blog 9 | Spraying
Generally when a cat sprays, it is a sign of marking its territory. Before telling your cat off, think about its behaviour and the cause as to why it felt it needed to do this as punishing your pet will tend to lead to more spraying.
Spraying is your cats way of leaving their scent or marking for other cats to pick up. Whether you have a male or female, neutered or not, spraying indoors hints that your cat may feel insecure. While this is normal outside, inside your home is a different matter and could be a sign that something is wrong.
Cats spray by backing up to a surface and squirting urine from a standing position sometimes while shaking their tail. This is different to when they urinate which is usually from a squatting stance, leaving a pool of wee.
WHY DO CATS SPRAY?
Outside, spraying urine is part of a cats normal behaviour, using different scents to create a map of their surroundings. Where leaving a scent with their cheek tends to mean they feel safe and relaxed, a urine scent is generally left in areas where they feel threatened and insecure. This can remind them when they return to the area how they feel and if necessary a top up spray will be added.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOUR CAT STARTS SPRAYING INDOORS?
If your cat has started to spray indoors you need to establish why. This could either be because of a change in its environment or a medical issue. The first and most important thing to do is check with your vet to make sure there is nothing wrong with your cat's health.
Next you to to find out what is causing your cats change in behaviour. Finding this out won't be easy and again you can speak with your vet to find possible causes.
The location of your cat's spraying may give reason to why it feels threatened. If your cat sprays on internal doorways or hallways, it may be because they come into contact with other cats close by. Providing extra litter trays, bowls and places for your cat to play, scratch and sleep can help reduce conflict and create a sense of security.
If your cat is spraying on windows, external doors or even the cat flap then the threat could be from outside, usually another cat or animal. While it may not be practical to cover windows, reducing your cats view of the outside may help. If other cats have tried entering through a cat flap maybe upgrade to a chip/magnet flap so only your cat can enter.
While there could be a number of complicated reasons and issues for your cat to spray, it is important to reduce their anxiety and make them feel relaxed in your home.
We hope this short blog has been informative and if you have any useful tips, feel free to leave them in the comments section.
Purrfect regards
