Do you know the difference between cat urination and spraying? You should cause it will give you a hint on what to do to stop it.
One way you can tell the difference is by how and where cats deposit the urine or spray. When cats urinate for elimination reasons, they normally do it on a flat surface like the ground or in a litterbox. When cats spray, they turn their backsides to the object, twitch their tails and spray urine on the vertical surface, usually at another cat’s nose level.
Cat spray smells much worse than just cat urine because it is a combination of cat urine and pheramones. Cats produce pheromones on their mouths, chin, face, cheeks, ears, paw pads, anal area, and upper surface of the tail. They use pheramones to mark their territory; when your cats rub up against you, or furniture he is actually leaving a little trace of pheromones that say, ‘this is mine’, in a friendly way.
Spraying is a common way for male cats to release pheromone to say ’stay out!’ Male cats will mark the outside perimeter of their territory so as to section off the area that they will find a mate in. Female cats in heat will spray to attract a male. Spaying or neutering your cat should be enough to stop him/her from spraying in this case.
Cats can spray due to illness. So before you start trying to correct spraying from a behavioral standpoint you may want to take your cat to the vet to rule out any sort of health problem that could be the culprit.
Cats also spray when they are stressed (e.g. new home, change in schedule, leaving them for a long time, etc.) or the need to dominate or to stack his or her territory (e.g. a new pet in the house, a new baby in the house, etc.)
So, knowing the difference between urinating (accidents) and spraying can help you determine what to do to stop the problem!
Quincy
Now that all the presents have been opened and the holiday celebrations have passed, it is now time to turn to helping our pets once again. As usual, the holiday’s are a time when people buy pets as gifts, only to return them when they realize they’re not prepared to care for them.
