We know it can be challenging to manage issues with your cat spraying around the house. It can be due to health issues or anxiety, and it's good to remember that your cat is having a hard time, not trying to give you a hard time even when it's very frustrating.
Here are some recommendations for handling cat spraying issues. Be sure to work with your vet throughout the process to ensure you are taking appropriate actions based on your kitty's needs.
- Rule out any health issues with your vet (including urinary tract and gastro issues; sometimes poo quality and weight loss and spraying can be a sign of gut health or other issues)
- Add more litter boxes around the house to have his scent in more areas
- Add more scratchers to give the kitty additional areas to mark with his scent that isn't spraying
- Keep the litter boxes scooped daily
- Try using a different kind of litter or Litter Attract
- Add more play and enrichment opportunities
- Put food, treats, or catnip around areas where he's spraying to help him re-classify those areas as non-spraying zones
- Determine if there are any common factors that precede his spraying (seeing/smelling outside cats, people visiting, etc.)
- Use enzyme cleaners on the areas the kitty is spraying to avoid re-marking
- If the other pets in the house seem to stress the kitty, give the kitty time apart or let them spend more time in a "safe" room where they don't tend to mark
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Watch episodes of the My Cat from Hell series by Jackson Galaxy (which covers a lot of spraying situations)
- Try Feliway plug-ins (they only cover a small area, so you may need multiple)
- Try an over-the-counter urinary care food in case an issue hasn't shown up on test results (discuss with your vet)
- Try calming supplements, calming food, or ultimately prescription medicine (under the guidance of your vet):
- Fortiflora Calm
- Calming care dry food
- Xylene
- Shen Chinese herb supplement
- Sertralene
- Prozac
There are veterinary behavior specialists in the area as well (like the Animal Behavior Wellness Center) if you search for them, but they will generally recommend all of the steps above.
Otherwise you can review our rehoming tips, though rehoming your kitty will likely be very difficult and hopefully some of the above options may help you.
Otherwise you can review our rehoming tips, though rehoming your kitty will likely be very difficult and hopefully some of the above options may help you.