What to do in case of Urinary Marking of the cat?
Emitting urine jets is a way for cats to mark their territory, but it can also reflect a reaction to a stressful situation, and become a real problem if it occurs most often inside the room. House. Has your little feline suddenly gotten into the habit of squirting urine out of his litter box? It can be a simple pee or a urine marking.
How to understand these phenomena, distinguish them and be able to avoid them? More importantly, what to do when this happens? We answer all your questions.
Find out below all you need to know about urine marking, as well as some practical advice to put an end to it permanently.
Determine if it is urine marking or if it is a pee
It is important that you can tell the difference between urine marking of your cat and apee regular. Note that your cat's gestures vary according to each of these 2 cases:
- In case of urine marking, usually on a wall or a vertical surface, your cat will start by sniffing the area by rolling up its nostrils to breathe well and smell the pheromones. Then it will turn around, still standing, its tail erect in a vertical position, then it will emit a few drops of urine on the vertical support. Finally, it will turn around again to sniff the marked area.
- In the event of a simple pee, your cat will first stir or knead the flat surface (usually the ground). Then he will squat down to emit a larger puddle of urine. After that it will turn around to finally scratch or cover the surface.
Causes of urine marking in cats
The main causes
Urinary marking will most often be linked to the sexual activity of your little feline. Indeed, it is common from the age of 6 months, that your cat (male as female) begins to make sexual marking to attract partners.
In addition to this aspect, the cause of the marking can also be linked to the defense of its territory for males. Territorial marking usually occurs for several reasons. For example when your pet no longer feels in control of his space or can no longer find his way there, in the event of intrusion from other cats or wanderers, or even when he notices an unfamiliar presence (a stranger or a baby) .
Other possible causes
Stress and fear can also cause your cat to mark its territory. The same may apply in the event of early weaning or a problem with the cleanliness of the litter box. Finally, the urine jets may simply be linked to your feline's old age or to a health concern that appears, for example a urinary tract infection or a kidney stone. We strongly advise you in these cases to go to a veterinarian as soon as possible.
How to avoid urine marking?
Generally speaking, the best way to stop your cat's urine marking is to determine the causes and correct the problem at the source.
If the urine marking of your little hairball is sexual, an effective solution to avoid it is to resort to castration or sterilization.
On the other hand, if the tagging activity is related to stress or fear you must pay more attention to your feline: eliminating the stress or reassuring him will limit the tagging of this order.
Finally, if the marking is related to the defense of its territory, you should pay more attention to the configuration of its space (isolation zone, litter zone, eating zone) and avoid changing it very often.
If despite your best efforts your cat continues to emit urine out of its litter box, we recommend that you consult a veterinarian.
Urinary marking in sterilized cats: what to do?
Has your cat been spayed or neutered, but still continues to urine mark? This is possible if before sterilization or castration a little companion had already had to make a urine marking. In this case, the interesting solution would be to use soothing products or pheromone diffusers. By acting as a sedative, they will limit the markings due to stress or the defense of their territory.
Be careful, the use of synthetic hormones is not without consequences and does not work on all cats, this type of product has no positive consensus among the scientific community.
If this solution does not work, it is interesting to consult a feline behaviorist to understand where the trouble is coming from and to remedy it, but this after having checked with your veterinarian that no health problem is present.
How to react during a marking
When you notice that your cat has made a urine marking, we advise you to adopt the right attitudes which consist simply of: refraining from punishing him and cleaning up the traces as well as the smell of 'urine.
Don't Punish Your Cat
It's understandable that the scent of the tagging on your furniture or equipment at home could lift you up, but make an effort to be patient and refrain from punishing your innocent beast. Raise your tone by yelling at him or resort to violence as kicking in the buttocks is not recommended, nor poking his nose into it.
Punishing your cat will only stress him out and create a source of fear that may lead him away from you. Punishing him can be counterproductive, as he will see nothing but injustice and that extra stress will push him to score uncontrollably.
Thoroughly clean the traces and smell of urine
You must take care to thoroughly clean the area that has been marked by your cat. To do this, you not only need to wipe off the traces of urine drops, but more importantly, completely eliminate the smell of the urine, because if your little feline continues to smell it, he will start to mark again.
For effective cleaning of cat urine stains, do not use bleach, the ammonia it contains encourages the cat to urinate in the same place. Instead, opt for a good detergent or a solution of white vinegar, lemon and sparkling water, to absorb the urine and its odor with a paper towel.
One last tip to finish, make sure your cat is well away before cleaning. Because if he sees you doing it, he may perceive it as a game and take the ugly attitude of starting over more often.
