Does Your Cat Spray in the House?

There really isn’t much worse than having a male cat that sprays pee all over your house. The smell is strong and can soak into furniture or flooring, and is hard to get rid of. While it’s far more common for whole/intact (those who are not neutered) males to spray, it’s also possible for neutered males to spray.

One way to reduce the possibility of having your male cat spray is to get him neutered early, before 4 months old. Generally, if you wait until a cat has already started spraying and then get him neutered, chances are fairly good that he’ll continue spraying. Not always, but a lot of the time. First, a little background in why a male cat sprays. Males are territorial. They will defend their home and surrounding territory, especially if they are allowed outside. Although even indoor cats will exhibit territoriality.

You’ll know when your cat is getting ready to spray because he will back up to your couch, chair or wall, raise his tail and make little stepping motions with his feet. His tail will shake when he begins spraying. The urine spray comes out in little bursts to cover a wider area. And he will be able to spray several times close together in different areas. Another way a male cat marks his territory is by scratching. The claw marks on tree trunks, or your furniture, shows other males that a particular area belongs to another male. You can see this behavior exhibited on television shows about large cats like lions or tigers.

There could also be another reason a male cat suddenly starts to spray or starts peeing outside his litter box, and that is if he has a urinary tract infection. He will be miserable and since it hurts him to urinate, he’ll try different areas, hoping it won’t hurt as much. If you are suspicious that your cat might have a problem, it’s a good idea to have him checked out at the veterinarian. The vet will do a simple urine test for bacteria and administer antibiotics if the test comes back positive. Hopefully that will solve the problem. But if there is no infection, the sudden onset of spraying might be because of stress.

If some event has taken place that upsets the cat, he could start to spray to assert his dominance or to make sure everyone knows the area belongs to him. Stresses that could trigger spraying might be a new family member such as a baby arriving, or a death in the family. Any new pets, even birds or rodents. But, especially new cats, male or female. It might be difficult to figure out what’s going on, but with a little thought, you can probably determine the reason for the cat’s behavior.

Since male cats are territorial, the responsible thing to do is to keep him inside and neuter him if he isn’t already neutered, so he won’t be tempted to fight other cats who might wander into his yard. Cat fights can be potentially harmful or even deadly if bites and scratches become infected. But if your cat is an outdoor, or indoor-outdoor, cat, he will likely do most of his spraying outside around the yard. You shouldn’t notice the odor much at all outside, but the neighborhood cats sure will and they will stay away. None of this should deter you from having a male cat as they are every bit as loving and sweet as females, sometimes more so. And remember, not all males will spray.