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My cat likes to pee on his “special places” again and again. Like towels or in summer in one corner of the balcony. Have you trick or tips for this problem?
I´ve seen online some smelly sprays against it. Has anyone tried these? 🙂
This is a more complex issue than it seems, at first hand. The first thing you need to figure out is whether he is spraying or peeing. Spraying is done upright, while peeing means they squat down for it.
The reason it is different is because spraying is done as a marking behaviour while peeing is just…well, peeing. If he is peeing, you might wanna take him first to the vet, as he could be avoiding the litter tray due to a bladder infection, coz he blames it for the pain.
Other reasons to avoid using the tray is coz it isn’t cleaned often enough or because another cat is guarding it. Always make sure you have enough litter trays. The magic formula is ‘the amount of cats +1’. He also could not like the sand, or need a second litter tray for nr 2s, separate from nr 1s. If he is spraying, then he is likely feeling anxious and insecure in his territory and feels the need to mark things in an aggressive way – versus using his face to mark things.
One thing is for certain: your cat is stressed – be it through physical pain or through psychological pressure and the most important question you can ask yourself now is ‘When did it start, and what changed in the house at that time?’ This is one of the most common problems with cats and can be one of the harder ones to solve as there are so many variables that come into play and so many possible causes.
If you want to solve this for real, you might want to contact a cat behaviourist, after you’ve gone to the vet to get him cleared medically. Be prepared to bring a urine sample for the vet (call them, they have tricks for how to do that).
As for treating the places where he sprays or pees, try using an enzyme cleanser, or 1/3d vinegar with 2/3ds of water to get the smell out (or vinegar as your fabric softer for the towels). You want to make sure there is no smell left as it will cause him to re-mark the spot. At the same time, it won’t matter, if the cause isn’t dealt with. He’ll just find other spots to do it – and he’ll be unhappy and at risk for bladder stones.
Also, this forum needs a section for animal behaviour, imho.
My cat is castrated. Can he still spray or have the urge to do it?
I had this ideas too, but he is the only cat at home, has two clean litterboxes and did´t see any reason for him to be stress …
Maybe it´s really medical and a vet visit would be good.
Thank you for all the good tips 😀
Np 🙂
Spraying is done for territorial marking, so even females can spray and yes, neutered cats spray too – especially if they were neutered after 8 months to a years, as the spraying behaviour usually develops as the cat sexually matures, which means the habit sets in. The urge won’t be as strong when he is neutered but as the habit already exists and it isn’t purely for announcing his presence in a mating-type way, he’ll still use spraying as a territorial marker.
Taking him to the vet and having his urine tested isn’t a bad idea – especially if the situation recently developed, as castrated male cats have a bigger risk to develop kidney stones and urinary tract infections.
Let us know how it turns out!
Faye gave a great response, I would say take him to the vet to make sure 😀 Its truly very important to take away the entire smell, whether he pees or poops, because otherwise he might smell it again and want to do it at the same place one more time. After cleaning you can use a strong perfume aswell because just that strong smell wont want him to be near there again untill all the smells are gone 😀 good luck!<span style=”font-family: ‘Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.22222328186035px; font-size: 14px;”>
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I was at the vet and she said it´s all okay 😀
Maybe it´s just a bad habbit.
I use often soap and chlorine but I worry that it´s not that healthy..
Good – normal ordinary green soap will do, to remove the smell. Also, if you use something with ammonia in it, which chlorine has I believe, it mimics the scent of cat pee, and encourages to pee there more.
Now you need to figure out why he does it. Either way, he is concerned – be it about his territory or stressed about something else, meaning he aint happy. The longer you wait though, the harder it’ll be come to stop him from doing it. So think – what happened in the house when he started doing it?
Did you move recently? Get another cat? Did neighbours with cats or dogs move in? Did you have a baby? Bought some new furniture? Did another cat start pestering him? Is there more infighting between the animals you have, more tension? Did you change the place of his litter tray? Is it clean enough? Did you change litters? Are there suddenly loud noises in the neighbourhood? Did it start at new years with the fireworks? Is there suddenly a new person in your life that often comes round? Do they bring a dog? Did you just start working longer hours? Did your routine significantly change in any way? Are you pregnant/recently had a baby?
Also, how old is he, how many animals do you have in the house, how many people, what areas of the house is he allowed in? Is he an indoor or an outdoor kitty? Does he have a cat door? And where exactly does he pee/spray?
I don´t remember big changes or stressfull situations that might be the cause, but he is a very shy cat.
Thank you for the tips 🙂
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