Why do Cats Spray and How to Stop?

Animals have a whole-brain instinct of their own which is built to help them survive in wild and stray situations.

These innate instincts help them communicate, terrorize or mate with their opposite gender. Cat spraying is also known to be one of these methods through which a cat communicates several factors.

The reason for cat spraying can be medical as well so before trying any of the below-mentioned tips and tricks in controlling your cat.

It’s better to rule out all the medical causes because this article is compiled to deal with the behavioral type of cat spray.

While many pet owners are good at training their cats and pups for litter boxes soon, spraying or marking can still happen, no matter how much trained they are.

There are a number of reasons why this can happen which are discussed ahead. So, to limit your stress and efforts of cleaning spaces every now and then.

It’s better to look out for some methods that are effective in preventing any such event from happening. To know all about cat spraying and how to prevent or stop it, keep reading.

What Does it Mean by Cats Spray?

Spraying or urinating by marking is a type of behavioral response from cats that can mean different things and can be due to different causes.

Usually, spraying can be a sign of your cat’s communication without any fight for marking her territory and dominating other cats to back off.

It can also mean a sign of a cat’s heat cycle during which she would want to attract male cats for mating through the smell of urine, as animals do that a lot by using their sense of smell.

Other less common reasons can be medical issues in which it’s not really the cat’s fault. Some stressful conditions for animals, such as cats, who are highly sensitive may also change their behavior in which you can find her spraying.

All these conditions can be dealt with, through ways which we have discussed below according to the given circumstances.

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Why Do Cats Spray?

Cat spraying occurs either due to medical reasons or behavioral. To treat this issue better, it’s important to learn about what causes it to happen in the first place.

Below mentioned are the medical and behavioral causes that induce spraying in your cat every now and then.

To dominate other cats in Surrounding: Cats usually use spraying as their method of challenging or threatening other cats to mark their dominance.

This method of marking a territory without communication is the oldest of animal instincts which are their habits to survive in the wild and are still intact even if they are living in better home conditions.

To mark their possessions: Even in the house, a cat might feel the need of marking her possessions and spray on them to keep other cats or animals away from them.

This behavior is generally observed in stray cats when they are on their own but a house cat spray can also end up spraying on her bed, toys and other things for this matter.

Change in routine: A slight inconvenient change in routine or environment might be stressful for cats, this can make them anxious and they usually don’t know how to respond in such conditions and hence end up spraying on different areas.

Stressful conditions: Some stressful conditions other than change in routine might also trigger the same response in a cat such as illness, medical issues, pregnancy etc.

Mating season: Most animals use their sense of smell for mating and attracting others and cats are not different in this regard.

Female cats, when in their heat cycle, usually lure male cats to mate and hence can use spraying as a method of attraction.

New objects in Surrounding: If you have changed your furniture or a cat is anxious about some new objects or additions to her surrounding, she might feel anxious and her response would be spraying.

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Various Ways to Stop Cat Spraying

Cat spraying is not a permanent behavior that cannot be tackled or managed with appropriate steps and tips. If you are facing this issue from your cat, following are the ways which can help you deal with any such situations effectively.

Get Your Cat Neutered/Spayed

Getting your cat neutered or spayed can be a lot helpful if you haven’t gotten it done yet. Spraying is usually a trait seen in male cats more than females.

So, getting neutered can help in keeping them calming spray when their hormones hit them. When they won’t feel the need to mate, they won’t spray either.

For females, spraying can still continue even after getting your cat spayed but it can reduce the frequency effectively.

Rule Out the Causes of Stress

If your cat is neutered/spayed already, then you must focus on other causes of her stress and anxiousness. There are a lot of causes that can affect your cat’s behavior such as:

• Change in hometown
• Shifting to a new place
• Changing her living area
• Changing or replacing her belongings
• Installing new objects or devices at your home

If you find any of these factors, the spraying is definitely a response of stress to it. Try making her comfortable with the new change or reverse the condition for her if possible, and that should solve the problem for you.

Check for Their Environment Changes

There are a lot of factors where a cat might not feel safe or feel threatened. See if your cat is threatened or bullied by other stray cats who enter your house in the night.

When cats feel threatened by a strange cat and her presence, they usually spray to tell them to back off and for marking her territory.

Keep Your Cat Busy in Training and Playing

Your cat might also feel lonely if she stays idle most of the time. This can also result in spraying. So, try to maximize her activities, training, and playing routine.

You should also be involved with her most of the time so that she does not feel left out. If she is scared or anxious and if that is the reason for her spraying then this routine modification can make that go away.

Install More Litter Boxes

As cats get older, they might develop urine incontinence with time. So, if your cat is old and you see her running when she has to pee but sprays before she can, that means she can no longer control her urge.

To deal with such circumstances, you are advised to install multiple litter boxes in every corner of your house so that she can reach out to any when she has to urinate.

Consult Your Veterinarian

Mostly the reason is obvious and by above mentioned methods, one can deal with her cat’s spraying habit. But even if you have tried all of the above and nothing helps.

Then consulting a vet is crucial to rule out other serious medical complications that your cat might be going through.

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Conclusion

Cat spraying is absolutely annoying and stressful for pet owners, but it has several steps of management that can help you deal with or overcome the problem.

By following the advice and recommendations given above, you can make sure of your cat’s normal behavior and no more cat spraying.

So, keep all the tips and tricks in your mind and you can deal with this issue in no time with perfect long-lasting solutions and zero worry.