Cat urine spraying
is very often a big problem and misunderstanding between cats and humans. Besides cat sprays indoor is one of the difficult subjects among aggressive domestic cat behaviour and peeing / housesoiling. For us humans it seems – at first – very strange, because olfactory messages in our communication are of another kind. Let’s see why cat urine spraying is indeed a normal cat behaviour:
Cat spraying
As pointed out before, cat spraying resp. cat urine marking is quite normal if the cat does it outside for communication and territorial marking – simply normal cat behaviour and cat language. All cats spray irrespective of being male or female, neutered or still intact.
Do female cats spray? Yes, they do!
There are gradations in frequency and intensity in the cat spraying. Male cat spraying is excessive, neutered cats spraying is less. Smell plays a very important role and cats olfactory organ is far superior to ours. This is due to the increased area of the olfactory mucosa.
Note: It is not understandable, why to use baby powder or any kind of fragrances in cat litters. Our cats suffer due of this extremely artificial fragrances. We should always be aware of cats sensitive nose and consequently avoid the purchase of cat litter with perfume in general!
Cat facts about urine spraying and cat peeing, cat urination
Cat spraying / urine spraying is different to urination, resp. peeing
- The volume of urine is generally less in comparison to cat peeing
- Marking places with urine is part of the normal cat behaviour and is related to cat communication
- Cats urine markings are very durable and it is a communication without any direct contact between the cats and their environment
- The cat leaves a message for other felines
- While urine spraying the cat is standing, the tail is up and trembling, the hind legs are stretched with a touch of tripping by the hind paws.
- The marked locations are vertically, the urine tag is on the nose height of the cat
- cats home of 1st order reflects normally a safe cat housing, consequently there is no need for cat spraying
BUT cat behaviour problem
Also in case of great excitement caused by aggression, anxiety and stress cats are spraying (urination relaxes and at the same time the own fragrances are distributed in the environment, which provides security as well)
=> Cat spraying / urine marking is part of the communication between cats and controls the relationship of felines. It is a spatial organization between cats, messages are conveyed and the exchange is done without direct contact between the cats . The marking is durable and cannot be ignored by other feline beings. Problems with this cat spraying behaviour will occure if the cat is under constant stress and under strong tension and suffering. Then she shows us human friends with her means of communication that something is not right for her and then cat spraying is possibly even in her own home.
One possible cause may be an incomplete neutering resp. castration, see more info Spayed cat in heat behaviour
Hello! I’m Susanne Peimann – here together with Jordi. Big fan and interpreter of the cat world, expert on cats and cat problems of any kind, enthusiastic and amazed Tierhomöopathin/Homoeopath for animals. Interested in more? Visit me at Cat Paths Katzenwege or contact me at info@katzenwege.de – further posts and fascinating cat facts in English will be available soon!