Five Facts About Cat Spraying – And How to Stop It

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When your cat sprays, it can cause major problems for you, and also signal stress or fear on the part of your feline. So if you have a problem with cat spraying, it's time for more than just another round of furniture cleaning. You need a solution — fast.

Thankfully, you can stop feline spraying problems — if you understand why they're happening. To get started, check out these five facts about cat spraying and urine marking from Comfort Zone® with Feliway® products:

1. It's not about the litter box. Urine marking isn't a sign that Felix needs more potty training. Instead of resorting to kitten-training methods, treat spraying as a cat behavior problem, not an "accident."
2. All cats can spray. Male cats spray most often — particularly adult, unneutered males. But that doesn't mean they're the only ones who have urine-marking issues. Any cat, including neutered males and females, can spray.
3. There is a root cause. When cats mark with urine, they're generally acting out due to fear, stress or disruptions in their lives. Understanding why your cat is spraying is the first step to finding a solution. Did you move recently? Get a new pet? Buy new furniture? Are there stray cats in the neighborhood or new pets in the next apartment? Seemingly subtle changes in your pet's daily routine or surroundings can cause a big reaction.
4. Keeping clean matters. Before you can stop spraying problems, you have to clean up any urine — and clean it well. Traces of old sprayings can trigger your cat’s desire to re-mark an area, making the problem cyclical. In addition to standard household cleaning products or urine removal products, many pet parents find vinegar-water mixtures, followed by baking soda, to be effective at removing odor. Whatever you do, don’t use a cleaner with ammonia, which is also a component of cat urine and can trigger further marking incidents.
5. You can fix it. Spaying and neutering your cat — especially early in his or her life — usually eliminates or decreases spraying problems. Even if your furry friend is no longer a kitten, spaying or neutering may still help the problem — just check with your vet for a professional recommendation. We also recommend using Comfort Zone® with Feliway® pheromone-based products that can ease your pet’s stress naturally, making him or her more calm and less likely to spray. In clinical studies, Comfort Zone® with Feliway® products have been shown to help stop spraying and scratching in 95 percent of cases.

Spraying cats don’t have to be a fact of life, even in multi-cat households or during changes to your pets’ routines. For more information on using Comfort Zone® with Feliway® products, see our cat behavior problems and solutions guide, or find out where you can buy Comfort Zone® products.