Cat Spraying — Why Does It Happen and What Can You Do?
Cats don’t need high-tech devices to communicate. In addition to body language, vocalizing, scratching objects, and rubbing, they use urine to broadcast their intentions and emotions. Cat spraying, which is one form of urine marking, is not hugely popular with people, especially when done indoors.
It can be difficult to tell the difference between urinating and spraying because some cats stand instead of squat while urinating. The smell and the amount of urine indicate whether it’s urinating or a marking behavior. Spray is highly pungent because it contains pheromones. This unpleasant smell sometimes is the only indicator that cats have sprayed in the house. One positive note is that less urine is deposited when cats spray than when they urinate.
Kitties are sometimes caught in the act — backing up to a vertical surface, treading with the front paws, and quickly twitching their tails while spraying. Simultaneously they may close their eyes.
Why cats spray
Cat spraying is a form of communication: broadcasting availability and emotions of the spraying cat. A cat sniffing. Photography by Shutterstock.
Urine is a powerful communication tool — cats can tell a great deal about each other from it including age, sex, status and sexual availability. Although adult cats of both genders, whole as well as fixed, might spray under specific circumstances, intact ones are most often guilty of the smelly behavior.
Whole males, as a rule, spray. Pheromones, released into the urine, advertise they’re ready, willing, and on the alert for girlfriends. Additionally, cat spraying broadcasts clear messages to other male cats to stay away. Intact female cats spray too — the chemicals in their urine indicate where they are in their cycle.
Spray from intact cats is more pungent than from those who are fixed. The unpleasant smell is easier to detect from a distance — important for advertising for a special friend.
Although spayed and neutered cats aren’t looking to connect with members of the opposite sex, they have other reasons to spray including:
- Marking boundaries
Spraying is the feline version of drawing lines in the sand and putting up “no trespassing” signs. Kitties are territorial — the far-reaching effects of the pungent urine lets other animals in the hood know the extent of their stomping grounds. - Reacting to neighborhood cats
Inside cats sometimes spray around doors and windows when they see or smell unfamiliar cats hanging out around their homes. They spray to mark territories and because they can’t reach the intruders to chase them away or engage with them. Often, the unwelcome visitors leave their own calling cards, which the resident felines smell. - Recognizing their own scents
Cats sometimes will spray inside their territories so they can smell and recognize their own scents. - New objects and furniture
Some cats will spray new furniture or objects that are brought into their homes. - Stress
Insecurities and stress can trigger the unpleasant behavior. Some cats are more sensitive than others, responding by marking to situations such as other cats, household changes, owners traveling, illness, new household pets and even schedule changes. - Mingling scents
Some cats will spray their favorite people’s belongings in an effort to mix scents together and create a bond. Another reason is for security. Stressed, fearful cats will sometimes spray objects that smell like their owners, helping the cats feel a little more secure. - Not adjusting to change
Some cats do not adjust well to household changes, including problems between the humans residents, a new baby, schedule changes, moving and remodeling. - Conflict resolution
Conflicts in multicat households can cause marking. Stressed, anxious and threatened felines will spray in order to communicate status and territorial boundaries. In theory, the smelly behavior might keep cats from fighting. Cats who engage in hostilities often are scratched and bitten. Settling wars through spraying is much safer.
How to stop cat spraying
The following tips and suggestions help stop cat spraying, and they also help stop the behavior before it begins:
- Don’t punish cats
Never punish cats when they spray. Don’t yell, rub noses in the urine, or hit them. Those responses will cause kitties to feel more stressed and escalate behaviors. Sadly, it also breaks the bonds between them and the punisher. Kitties aren’t being bad — they have good reasons for marking. Instead, identify the causes for the behavior and address them. - Use an enzyme cleaner
Thoroughly clean marked areas with an effective enzyme cleaner. It might take a couple of applications until the smell is eliminated. - Change mental connections
Change your cat’s association with the targeted areas after the areas have been cleaned with the enzyme cleaner. Do activities she enjoys such as playing, petting and clicker training on the areas. Placing toys and scratchers near them will also change how she relates to the sprayed spots. - Use synthetic pheromones
Using synthetic pheromones around the marked areas can help calm and relax your cat. - Close doors
Temporarily keep your kitty out of the rooms that are being sprayed. - Interaction
If your cat is spraying a family member’s belongings, encourage the person to feed, play, and interact with the kitty every day. - Address intercat issues
Increase the resources to reduce the competition in multicat households. Provide more vertical territory, hiding places, scratchers, and toys throughout your home. You might need to add feeding stations, placing them a distance from each other. Make sure there are enough clean litter boxes — one per cat, plus one, and place them in different areas of your home. Sometimes separating warring cats from each other and gradually reintroducing them will stop the squabbling and the marking. - Discourage neighborhood cats
Keep neighborhood cats off your property by placing safe deterrents around the outside perimeter of your home. Temporarily block your kitty’s view of the unwelcome visitors by covering windows. After the intruders stop visiting, uncover the windows. - Spay and neuter
Although all adult cats can spray, the chances of their marking are greatly reduced by spaying and neutering. In addition to eliminating the reasons to mark, spaying and neutering also helps curtail hostilities. - Daily interaction
Help your cat feel more secure and less anxious by doing activities she enjoys every day, such as playing, treasure hunts and clicker training. - Vet check
Before assuming your cat has a behavior challenge, have a veterinarian examine her in order to rule out any possible medical problems that could be causing her to spray. - Gradual introductions
Newly adopted kitties need to be separated from your resident felines and gradually introduced. It might take a month or longer to introduce them to each other with a minimum of stress.
Although all cats can spray, it is a behavior that intact cats are more likely to engage in than those who are fixed. Once the reasons for the smelly behavior are identified, you should be able to stop it or at least reduce the occurrences by addressing the causes and modifying the environment.
Can’t tell if your cat sprayed and not sure how to clean it up? Follow these tips >>
Thumbnail: Photography by Shutterstock.
Read more about weird cat behaviors on Catster.com:
- Why Some Cats Hate Dogs & What to Do About It
- Cats and Sneezing: Why Your Cat Acts So Weird When You Sneeze
- How to Ease Your Cat’s Stress Before and During Vet Visits
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Got a cat behavior question for Marilyn? Ask our behaviorist in the comments below and you might be featured in an upcoming column. If you suspect a behavioral problem, always rule out any possible medical issues that may be causing the behavior by first having your cat examined by a veterinarian.
Marilyn, a certified cat behavior consultant, owner of The Cat Coach, LLC, solves cat behavior problems nationally and internationally through on site, Skype and phone consultations. She uses positive reinforcement, including environmental changes, management, clicker training and other behavior modification techniques.
She is also an award winning author. Her book Naughty No More! focuses on solving cat behavior problems through clicker training and other positive reinforcement methods. Marilyn is big on education — she feels it is important for cat parents to know the reasons behind their cat’s behaviors. She is a frequent guest on television and radio, answering cat behavior questions and helping people understand their cats.
20 comments on “Cat Spraying — Why Does It Happen and What Can You Do?”
My cat sprays after a bath. He didn’t do spray or anything before, but recently we had a flea infestation and he ended up with three baths in four days. Now he sprays after every bath though it’s been roughly three weeks since his last bath. I’ve reduced the amount of time he’s in the bath,so no more than two minutes, no loud running water, no harmful stimuli. But he still gets upset and sprays. I keep him in the bathroom for up to thirty minutes to try get him to calm down or spray if he’s going to spray. Lately, he’s been fine in the bathroom, then when I let him out, he goes to the hardest spot in the house to clean and sprays like he’s trying to get back at me. I can’t not give him a bath since fleas are horrible even with an exterminator and the cat and the dog are both allergic to fleas. Not sure how I can stop the spraying after bath time.
Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out! Here is an article that provides more information about fleas and how to fight them:
https://www.catster.com/cat-health-care/how-to-fight-fleas-and-ticks-on-cats
The article you previously read explains how the chances of cats marking are greatly reduced by spaying and neutering. If the behavior continues, we suggest taking your cat to the vet for a checkup.
What you are bathing your cat! Cats don’t like water so you are simply stressing your cat out.
Visit your vet for a full health check and the recommended flea treatment and treat your home too. Continue every month until you are on top of the issue.
A few months ago my parents got a new kitten from friends. They thought the kitten was a female but it turned out to be male. They already have a male cat that is definitely not happy about the kitten. The older male cat spends most of his time outside but at night we force him to come inside. He usually begs to go back out and he would just give up eventually. Now he has started to spray us when we don’t let him out.
I have 6 cats, all females. They are
17 year old,
2 x 5 year old sisters.
3 year old
18 months old and a recent addition 14 week kitten.
They were all left alone to their own devices when each additional cat was brought into their home but I made sure that the additional cat had her own safe space to retreat to.
They have always eaten in the same room in separate dishes and they do swap and change dishes a lot.
There’s plenty of cat toys around and laser games, so they do all play together. If kitty gets too close or invaded another cats space, that cat will strike out at kitty but only 1 of the cats hasn’t relaxed enough around kitty and she will hiss.
Kitty crouches down when that cat comes near as if submissive, that allows that cat to come as close as she feels comfortable with kitty.
Given time, a pecking order will form, after all, I have a pride of cats living in my home and most of the time it’s very harmonious.
The spraying has also settled down from what it was 5 weeks ago when kitty arrived. 2 of the queens have now began to mother the kitten and play crazy together.
Just clean up any spraying and make sure you interact with all your cats both one to one and individually.
I have a 16 year old female cat who sprays anything and everything. We have had vet visits, put her on Prozac, tried pheromones, have several litter boxes throughout the house (she uses them regularly). We have cleaned the areas with enzymes. We have completely replaced flooring and parts of the drywall. Nothing has stopped her. I am at a loss on what to do. This has been a slight problem of her just spraying in one or two rooms of the house, which was easy to control, when she was younger, to mow nothing I safe. She has zero health issues. Please help!,
I have a 16 year old female cat who sprays anything and everything. We have had vet visits, put her Prozac, tried pheromones, have several litter boxes throughout the house (she uses the regularly). We have cleaned the areas with enzymes. We have replaced completely replaced flooring and parts of the drywall. Nothing has stopped her. I am at a loss on what to do. This has been a slight problem of her just spraying in one or two rooms of the house, which was easy to control, to anywhere and everywhere. She has zero health issues. Please help!,
Hi Tanja,
Definitely discuss this with your vet and here are a few articles that might provide more insight:
http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/5-cat-marking-behaviors-might-surprise-you
http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-behavior-tips-marking-spraying-head-butt-bunt-middening-litter-box-scratching
My male cat is two years old. His has always used his litter box. He was neutered as a kitten. About two months ago I noticed he sprayed which he has never done. The urine was a medium red. After a vet check the next day, he was given a shot and oral antibiotics for a bladder infection. With no improvement after two weeks another visit was made and I was told he has a kidney infection and two small stones. More antibiotics and food change was recommended. It’s been another two weeks on this new regimen. He his now spraying 1-3 times a day in roughly the same areas and “meows” when he uses his litter box. The vet bills are increasing and I hate to see him having any discomfort or relief . Is surgery our only other option. Are any treatments such as vitamins to his food that may help?
One of my cats was sprayed on by a street cat. Now my other cat sniffs at him and starts hissing and running away from him. He won’t even let him come close. I have cleaned my cat with a wet clothes multiple times but that doesn’t seem to help. Is there anything I can do to make them 2 get along again? They are siblings and got along really well till one of them got bitten and was sprayed on by a street cat. Just to clarify, The wound isnt too serious.
Hi there —
Could you try giving the sprayed cat a full-on bath?
http://www.catster.com/cat-health-care/how-to-give-a-cat-a-bath
http://www.catster.com/cat-health-care/should-you-bathe-a-cat-what-to-know-about-cat-baths
http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/health-care-grooming-tips-how-to-give-a-cat-a-bath-should-not
http://www.catster.com/cat-health-care/what-cats-need-grooming-bathing-and-brushing-your-cat
This sounds like feline nonrecognition aggression:
http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-health-behavior-training-tips-reintroducing-cats-vet
Best of luck. You may want to contact your vet about this and the wound.
Thank you for sharing such in-depth and great information! Some other thoughts…
Male cat spraying is a natural signal tom cats use to communicate and mark their territory but may also be a sign of stress. To be able to stop your cat from spraying, you need to understand why your cat is spraying and act accordingly.
Sorry, but if I knew that your reply would always be, “we suggest that you go to your vet and pay him or her to…” I wouldn’t have read the comments section. Your replies to people requesting help are of no value…
My cat is about a year old and he has been sray ing all over how do I stop him
Hi Tammy — We suggest discussing this issue with a vet and/or behaviorist. Best of luck!
We have 2 neutered male litter mates 9 years old.
They are indoor only healthy Manx/ Maincoon breed.
The dominant one has started to spray or urinate in many areas of our home.
I have started a log of dates, locations, and environmental conditions.
Typically this behavior follows a visit by family or friends.
For instance, spraying on the interior of a door that leads outside when visiting with friends outside.
And the latest, spraying the interior of the front door while visiting with family on the back porch.
I clean the areas throughly, and use an enzyme formula and pheromone sprays.
He will also spray the counter in the kitchen where I keep my shopping lists, coupons, mail, tablet etc.
I believe the spraying with guests involved is territorial, but I don’t know why he sprays when we do not have guests.
Hi Sue —
Sorry to hear about your issues! We suggest consulting with a vet. Best of luck!
I have a three year old Bengal that sprays now once in a while since he has been put on pills to calm him. I can not stop him from spraying. I have tried everything. The spraying started when I brought a female in the house and they never got along she always attacted him. So I rehired her. He does have tricamonisis and it is now under control. My in laws stopped buy to visit outside on patio which has cat fence around it and he sprayed against the fence in front of us buy the gate part. I have to check the house a lot with black light. Only once in awhile this happens now. If he is not on his pills he is worse. He cries a lot and sprays a lot ,thank heavens for the calming pills. But I can not stop him completely from spraying.