Why would a female cat suddenly start spraying?
MissQ asked:
My neighbor’s cat has been spraying in my house in recent weeks, and I am wondering why. She has visited often in the past year with no problem. But about 3 months ago I caught her spraying in my kitchen and she did it again the other day. (Yes , I broke down and let her in again after the first time.) My neighbor says the cat never sprays in her house. We have a dog but he moved in with us over a year ago and the cat never seemed to be bothered by him before. A cat lived in the apartment before we moved in and apparently they were not chummy. But why all of a sudden?
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My neighbor’s cat has been spraying in my house in recent weeks, and I am wondering why. She has visited often in the past year with no problem. But about 3 months ago I caught her spraying in my kitchen and she did it again the other day. (Yes , I broke down and let her in again after the first time.) My neighbor says the cat never sprays in her house. We have a dog but he moved in with us over a year ago and the cat never seemed to be bothered by him before. A cat lived in the apartment before we moved in and apparently they were not chummy. But why all of a sudden?
January 14th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
My mom’s neighbor thinks that her cat is a female, but we have kept telling her it’s a male. If you are not familiar with checking to see if it’s a male or female, take it to your locale vet.
January 14th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
It could be that the cat isn’t “fixed” yet. Since spraying is an attempt to mark territory as the animal’s own I would guess that the cat has finally decided that she/he belongs there and wants to let all other kitties know to “buzz off”.
Males are more likely to spray but females do too occasionally. It would be more likely to stop if it were spayed/neutered but even that doesn’t always make them stop.
January 16th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
If there used to be a resident cat in your apartment belonging to the former tenants, his (or her) scent may still be around. The scent of strange cats will often trigger spraying in other cats who will wnat to “re-mark” the territory as theirs. Cat urine contains a protein that is long-lasting and which cats readily pick up. It could be destroyed by enzyme based cat-urine sprays like “nature’s Mircale.” Get one of these sprays available at pet stores. Apply it where the cat sprayed becuase unless you remove the urine smell, the cat will keep spraying that spot. You can also buy a small hand-held black light that shows off where cat urine has been sprayed or deposited.