Why Cats Spray Urine
First, it should be noted that whole (unneutered) cats are more likely to spray than neutered cats, unless those were neutered after reaching sexual maturity. Cats stake out their territory outdoors by spraying urine on trees, fences, vehicle wheels, and other inanimate objects. This warns other cats to stay out of that territory or be prepared to fight. Quite logically, this behavior is called "territorial marking." A cat is very efficient at keeping his territory secure. He will visit each location regularly, sniff at it to make sure only his own scent is present, and usually will enforce the message by spraying again.
Cats do much of the same indoors, for various reasons, usually involving stress caused by various factors. Cats are creatures of habit and respond to changes in their surroundings negatively, often by spraying urine. Read the rest of this article.
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Comments
I’ve got one that likes to mark things inside. He particularly likes plastic bags. And he’s hit our TV stand once while we were watching. It’s not a lot either. It’s just a teaspoon. My old Maine Coon marked his territory outside, never inside, although sometimes he would miss the litter box. Even when it was perfectly clean! Getting a cat door so that he could go out whenever he wanted solved that problem.
Another cat (female) gets mad for some reason and proceeds to pee on various things, usually rugs, although I’ve had a backpack peed on, in the past it has been the bed, and sometimes it’s on the carpet. I can tell it’s a female because I can’t smell it (my wife can, but barely, and she’s a smoker…) The male cats however, even fixed…
Here’s a weird one: Abby started spraying the inside of the litter box about a year ago when she had a UTI, but she still does it on occasion. The vet says she’s healthy. I figure as long as she’s healthy and only does it in the litter box, I’m not going to complain, but I do wonder about it sometimes.
Some experience shared
I have a four year old male, neutered at 20 weeks, who suffers bouts of out-of-the-box urinating from some so far unexplainable origin.
He can go months without a problem, then flare up for anywhere from a week to a couple months. During which time we torture him with attempted treatments.
What we KNOW so far:
1) He is not infected and DOES NOT need antibiotics (finally put a stop to that madness!) Since he’s not infected, this just causes all of us needless trauma.
2) If he begins showing signs of uneasiness, a dab of Amitriptyline HCl 1mg/02ml) (0.4ml in a Twist-A-Dose dispenser) in the ear works every bit as well as the little blue pills in calming him down for a couple days. Doesn’t seem to affect urinating, but relaxes him noticeably.
He is a world-class expert at catching pills and spitting them out when you finally think he’s swallowed, and put him down.
3) I’ve finally started measuring the urine he deposits conveniently in our sinks. He starts going outside the box about the same time we notice him licking his penis frequently. SOMETHING is bothering him. A roll of Ph paper costs under $10, accurate to maybe .2Ph. Anyway, at first, Ph measures slightly acid, around 6.6, pale yellow. By the time it drops to around 6.0 there will be a little pink. If it gets down to 5.5 or so, there will likely be noticeable blood (red).
I’ve read ‘normal’ should be maybe 5.5 to 6.0 so again, something must be going on. I need to measure when there’s no outward signs of trouble. Maybe I’m missing something here.
Of course our vet thinks everything would be fine if we simply feed Science Diet. We actually have six cats, and they all are otherwise thriving on PMI Exclusive. With a 3 1/2oz can of Fancy Feast split among them every morning (started as a way to medicate those needing it – or, to get them to drink added water). They drink the same R/O filtered water we do – installed after my wife fought a bout with cancer.
I calculate feeding canned would add about $3,000 a year to our expenses. Not gonna happen.
Somehow, I don’t think the food is the problem. And, apologies to those who never go anywhere, we can leave them for 4-5 days with no problems at all.
One other piece – IF he’s in the middle of an episode, a shot of steroid will clear him up within a few hours. And last maybe a month. Since I don’t want to give him diabetes, this will never become his ‘normal treatment’.
When this cat is feeling well, he is the smartest and most wonderful cat I’ve ever seen. All of them shake hands and do some tricks, and three really take to walking on the leash. This little guy runs circles around all of them, for understanding things like sit, stop, stay, (jump) up; and all of them come when called. They only go outside (for grass and bugs) when we take them out, and then usually about fifteen minutes or so.
Because of his reaction to the steroid, we’re now thinking maybe it’s an allergy of some sort.
Also, I bought a bottle of cranberry extract, administered PO by syringe 1ml/3-4ml H2O, once a day, and this seems to stop the problem within a day or two. Clue here?
Two things I note at this point. 1) we’ve got a dozen variables going on at once – hard to decipher what works, what doesn’t; 2) because extensive testing could run $3-5,000 a year with a vet doing the testing, it’s sorta obvious why many otherwise fine cats are killed.
The vet sells pint bottles of Urine-Off for fifteen bucks; I found it on line for $32 a gallon. Smells kinda like apples, and works pretty well. Worth a try.
I don’t care if my house smells like cat pee I refuse to even yell at this little guy. It isn’t his fault. We stupid humans need to learn how to diagnose, and then treat properly, not only our animals but also ourselves!
I’m now studying biology via YouTube/MIT, and bought a microscope. I am going to get to the bottom of this mystery. At 66 my brain is a little stiff but I’m hoping ….
Bill
Has he been tested for crystals in his urine?