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Unneutered males are most likely to spray. Neutered males as well as unneutered females and neutered females also may exhibit this behavior.

Owners may observe their cat spraying and notice a urine odor, or find evidence of urine on vertical surfaces.

Urine marking is a normal social behavior of domestic cats which serves several communication functions. Contrary to popular belief, spraying does not intent to exclude other cats from the marking cat’s territory; other cats are drawn rather than avoid sprayed sites, making it appear more like an advertisement and information sharing.

 Neutering stops or at least greatly reduces urine marking in 87 percent of intact males that spray. Generally, cats will cease spraying within two weeks after undergoing this procedure; however, improvement may not occur for up to six months in some cats.

 For unneutered cats, neutering by itself is often effective in eliminating or greatly reducing urine marking. In neutered cats that spray, however, environmental, behavioral and pharmacological management is required.

Urine marking occurs in sexual, territorial and competitive contexts. Treatment requires first identifying the specific social or environmental factors that trigger the marking and then both limiting the cat’s exposure to those factors and reducing its response to them.

Environmental management involves making changes in the household that reduce the cat’s exposure to arousing stimuli. For example, when the presence of stray or neighbor cats triggers spraying, it is necessary to either block the cat’s view of those cats or to use repelling devices to keep the other cats away. Sometimes it is possible to work out a "traffic control" schedule with neighbors to reduce the cats’ exposure to one another.

• Urinary Tract Infections
• Spaying and Neutering your Pet, Part I
• Cat acne
• What is Feline Leukemia (FELV)
• Spaying and Neutering your Pet, Part III

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