Why does my cat spray around the house?

Cats will often urinate or spray in inappropriate places as a response to stress or sometimes due to them suffering from cystitis.

Firstly, take Humbug to the vets and get him checked out to ensure he is not suffering from any illnesses. Cystitis is common in cats, and one of the first symptoms is them weeing in different places, usually just small amounts and occasionally with blood. It can be treated fairly easily. If you can, take a sample of his urine along with you. If you let the vets know when you book the appointment what the problem is, they will be able to give you advice on how to do that, it is not as difficult as you might think!

Cats will also urinate in new places or on new things as a response to stress. If they are weeing by doors, it can be because something outside is upsetting them, so they place their scent in that region to reassure themselves. Is there a new cat around he may have been fighting with, or one which is coming into the house? Or has anything else changed? Have you had builders in, a new family member or new furniture? Some cats can be very sensitive to change in their environments and will urinate on new things in order to make them smell of themselves.

It can be difficult to stop inappropriate urination, and the first thing is to try to identify any underlying stressors and counteract them. If it is another cat, try to stop it coming into the house, or garden. Water pistols work very well against cats, they hate not knowing where the water comes from! It doesn´t hurt them but they will run away! If it is an object or person that can be more of a challenge, your vet will be able to supply you with a spray or plug-in of a cat pheromone. The scent it produces is the same one which cats use to mark things when they rub their faces on them. It is very comforting scent for them and can make them much more relaxed. People cannot smell it. They available from your vet, who may also be able to give you some good advice on how to stop this problem.

It is also very important to clean up the urine correctly. Most cleaning products are based on ammonia, which is also the primary ingredient in urine. The ammonia smell is masked to us by the scent of the product, ´pine fresh´ or similar, but the cats can still smell it, so to them it smells just like urine and is a reminder to urinate there! Clean anywhere he urinates with soda cystals, which have no ammonia, and then wipe down with surgical spirit. Take care with the spirit and check the surface will take it, as it can be very harsh. Try then spraying the area with the pheromone spray. Also, you can try placing some cat biscuits where he are weeing, if he has a favourite spot, as cats will rarely urinate near to food. Also, ensure he has enough litter trays, some cats prefer more than one, and that they are cleaned out regularly.

I hope this is helpful, let us know how you get on.

Cat