Cat soiling the house?

When cats soil the house, they're usually performing one or two different behaviors — they're either marking or eliminating.

This simple quiz will help you to identify whether your cat is marking or eliminating.

1) Your cat stands and squirts urine on vertical surfaces, the tail is held straight up and may quiver while the cat does this. The cat also often tread-move the feet up and down in a gentle stomping motion, similar to kneading with their front or back paws.

YES (urine marking)

NO (eliminating)

2) Your cat squats and urinates on horizontal surfaces.

YES (eliminating)

NO (urine marking)

3) Your cat will often make scraping motions with the feet, as if attempting to cover the waste.

YES (eliminating)

NO (urine marking)

4) Your cat is highly unlikely to make scraping motion with the front feet, as if trying to cover the waste. It just have left a message – the cat wouldn't want to cover it up.

YES (urine marking)

NO (eliminating)

5) Your cat usually look for quiet, out-of-the-way locations to eliminate, especially if the cat have ever been caught in the act and yelld at.

YES (eliminating)

NO (urine marking)

6) your cat often choose soft, absorbable surfaces. For example upholstery, bedding, clothing that's on the floor or furniture, area rugs or carpeting.

YES (eliminating)

NO (urine marking)

7) Your cat often target walls, drapes, furniture legs, doorways, appliances, and even stereo speakers.

YES (urine marking)

NO (eliminating)

8) your cats messes are more likely to be in highly trafficked areas. The locations are socially significant to the cat, and the surface may be varied.

YES (urine marking)

NO (eliminating)

The marking cat

Placing urine marks is a normal, social behavior for cats. It is like a personal note left for other cats to let them know who was here and who claims territory.

By urine marking, a cat tells other cats of his presence and makes a statement about such things as what piece of property is his, how long ago he was in the area and, over time, when other cats can expect him to return. Cats can even advertise when they are looking for a mate.

Cats that are allowed to go outside will usually only mark outside.

Reasons for marking inside are usually territory issues such as:

- intruder into to their territory

- lack of distraction

- boredom

- distress

- external threat

- Change in the surrounding of the cat, that can be new furniture, a person or animal that is added to ore gone from the cats life, but also the construction area at the next corner or the dog that moved into the house next door.

If their world is predictable, there are no conflicts, they are spayed or neutered and they don’t need a mate, cats have little reason to mark and probably will not. But, if they want a mate or they are distressed about something, they’ll deal with their distress like any cat: they’ll mark their territory.

To a cat, marking helps keep unwanted individuals away-whoever and whatever those individuals may be-and it creates an atmosphere of familiarity that makes them feel more secure.

It can be helpful to contact a behavioral specialist on a matter like this.

The eliminating cat

Usually there are two reasons for cats to eliminate outside of the toilette. The first one is pain caused by a bladder inflammation. There is more than one reason for a bladder inflammation, that's why more diagnostics will be needed.

The second reason can be the toilette itself. Maybe it is not clean enough or the litter has been changed.

If you are concerned about your cats health – bring in a urine sample ore let us help you to get one we provide special litter for it.