[ashleywong]

HI all

i noticed that there is considerable interest in this particular thread. I hope that this article offered some useful insight into the wonderful mysterious creature that we all so arrogantly "enslaved" as our pet.

this article is a first-hand account (although the writer is an american not malaysian) of her problem with an adopted cat the showed persistent behaviour that is consistent with stress - urine spraying or marking.

and i'm sure that many of us can identify with this problem - at one point or another our beloved feline family member has sprayed urine somewhere or everywhere in our house.

to us, this is unacceptable based on our pre-determined norms for humans. however in a cat's world, urine marking is very normal and in fact, expected. in fact, when a cat spray on urine, it is sending out a strong message that "i'm here", "this is mine", "stay away", or even to calm itself.

urine marking is one of the behaviour that is brought on by or related to stress and anxiety in a cat. the reason for this stress/anxiety may be brought on by the presence of a new cat in the house (a newcomer or adoptee), the cat has fallen sick/has been hospitalised and now returned home stressed out/you have rearranged the furnitures and decorations in your house or you are having or had just renovation done to your house/some stray cats are prowling around your perimeter...

or even something as simple as you and your family member/partner engaging in arguing bickering constantly and this even doesnt' need you both to raise your voice - you may lower your voice and speak excruciatingly pointedly but your cat can and will pick up on your emotions - anger, excitement .

or it may even be something so simple as your cat relaxing one find day when a door suddenly slam shut (blown by the wind or shut by someone) loudy and startled the poor cat...

or even by neglect and/or cruelty to the cat!

point is, the source/reason for stress/anxiety is harder to pinpoint if you don't see it with your eyes but it does happen and it is very real to your cat. your cat may even exhibit other behaviour like excessive vocalization or turn very quiet and timid, become more rowdy aggressive/temperamental towards you or towards other cats/family members or become more moody and withdrawn, easily become agitated, lots of pacing around, repeated behaviour or simply just hiding in a corner or under a piece of furniture or behind the curtain, refusal to eat or lack/loss of appetite, vertical scratching everywhere except for his scratching post /or if your cat never make and scratches begin to scratch vertically any surface he/she can get and of course, litter box avoidance/or simple peeing and pooing somewhere other than the litter box.


by reading this article and understand this point, you are already taking steps to helping your cat and this means you will and can be patient with your cat.

by observing your cat, being patient with it, giving it more love, will definitely help to calm your cat to a certain extent while giving you time to observe what may have contributed to your cat's anxiety and whether you can help remove this source of anxiety.

in the meantime, there are pet supplies product you can purchase from your local pet supply store to help remove the markings - after washing or cleaning up affected area, you use appropriate solution that's can effectively remove any biological stain as well as the strong hormonal scent left behind in the urine - which we human with our poor sense of smell can't detect but which the cat with its remarkably superior sense of smell can and will detect. by removing its biological marking, a cat will not be "encouraged" to continuously spray at the same site , assuming you're also helping the cat to destress at the same time. there is also a product in our malaysian market, well at least in KL, that is designed to help control and reduce stress-related behavioural problem - it's called Feliway and it is actually a product that relies on the mimicry of a cat's natural pherome that calms it down - this will help stop or reduce incidences of stress-related behaviour including urine spraying/marking giving you time to observe the reason for the stress and help to remove the source/reason or least do something about it.

behavioural problem may also be an indication of illness/sickness. This can be easily determine by consulting a vet when you notice urine spraying behaviour. after illness is ruled out, then it remains the problematic behaviour you encoutered may be due to stress and then you can start to help your cat and yourself.

the question is : when you bring home a cat or offer a homeless cat a sanctuary you're actually making a commitment to your cat that you'll be there for the cat through thick and thin, through sickness or health, for better or for worse, through poverty or prosperity, till death do you part.Do you want to help your cat and yourself or you are just content to brush it off and yet blaming your cat for it and may even consider throwing out the cat, surrendering to the local shelter or even lock up the cat in a cage in hope of "controlling" it from marking further.

DO YOU WISH TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION OR PART OF THE PROBLEM?





p/s: pls free feel to discuss and share about this...it is only by sharing that we learn - after all communication and knowledge is a two-way street