Feline House Soiling Problems
by David Appleby

House-soiling takes four forms:

• elimination of urine as bodily waste in inappropriate locations*
• scent marking by spraying
• elimination of faeces as bodily waste in inappropriate locations*
• scent marking through middening

All are normal behaviours seen in all Felids and the treatment success rate is high.

*Inappropriate = unacceptable to the owners.

Incidence

IM – Indoor marking i.e. spraying onto vertical surfaces, middening onto walkways and scratching Others – behaviours including attention-seeking, pica, self-mutilation, anxiety and behavioural obesity Ac – aggression towards cats Ap – Aggression towards people Toil – House training problems Bond – bonding problems Fear – fearful and phobic behaviour

From the APBC’s 1997 annual review of cases

Breed predisposition

The reporting of behaviour problems is higher in pedigree cats but this may be a reflection of their cost, retention indoors or emotionality, inherent or caused developmentally. Of the pedigree strains Siamese are referred most often and predominantly for spraying and there appears to be a disproportionate representation of Persians amongst those with toileting problems.

Implications

• Reduction in owner’s standard of living
• Breakdown in cat - owner relationship
• Owner embarrassment and reduced social contact

Health

If pathological reasons for the problem are not identified the cat’s health could be at risk and its welfare detrimentally affected by inappropriate behaviour therapy. Sometimes treatment for a physical condition has to be introduced before behaviour modification can commence e.g. a cat may start inappropriate toileting within an owners household because it associates pain caused by feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD - formerly called FUS feline urological syndrome) with its litter tray and avoids it. Avoidance (conditioned response CR) occurs because the neutral stimulus, in this example the tray, becomes the predictor (conditioned stimulus CS) of the painful experience (unconditioned stimulus US). The cause of the pain has to be treated before the learned behaviour of avoiding the tray can be addressed.

History

Unfortunately most owners know little or nothing about their cat's early life. This is significant because a cat's personality develops for the first two years of life and lack of exposure to stimuli during the sensitive period of two to seven weeks can result in a nervous demeanour in the presence of man and an inability to adapt to changing or challenging environments. Any information could be useful in understanding the cause of the problem e.g. the paternal inheritance of friendliness has proven to be significant in cats and that friendliness correlates with boldness. These points are important because nervous cats are most likely to display reactionary spraying.

Determining the nature of the problem

This can be achieved by observing the positioning of the urine/faeces and use of the litter tray. Urine marking and middening are unlikely to correlate with reduced use of the litter tray and the areas in which the cat deposits urine/faeces will often be of behavioural significance. If there is more than one cat in the household it may be necessary to identify an individual by segregation or the use of fluorescein which, when given to a suspect, can be detected in its urine under ultraviolet light. Draw a plan of the property showing the cat’s sleeping and feeding areas; the position of furniture; the position of doors and windows and where the problem occurs. Indicate where the problem was first noticed and where it progressed to in chronological order. When the behaviour is likely to occur e.g. a particular time of day or circumstance, such as when a neighbour’s cat passes can be significant as can events that occurred at the time of onset of the problem.

Identifying eliminative urination and defaecation

Urination and defaecation for relief purposes involves the cat digging with its forepaws in a loose substrate such as soil, sand or cat litter held in a tray and whilst in a squatting position depositing urine in the indentation. This is covered up by the cat manipulating the substrate with its forepaws. The historical ethology that explains this innate behaviour in domestic cats (Felis catus) is its descendance from Felis Silvestris in the semi-desert of North Africa. There the soil conditions made it possible for the cats ancestors to bury their faeces and urine with ease. The probable adaptive advantages of this were scent reduction in the core area reducing the conspicuousness of the lair to predators, reduced risk of infection and parasite control. Predisposition to perform the behaviour would have increased through Darwinian natural selection and man may have selected the more fastidious cats as companions and accelerated this trend.

Innate digging behaviour may be triggered by investigating the substrate used by the mother and poor maternal care can disrupt the learning although learning is not dependent upon observation. It is the presence of appropriate substrates that triggers the innate releasing mechanism of digging. This becomes a conditioned response (CR) to the material (conditioned stimulus (CS)) kittens associate with relief behaviour. Appropriate learning is likely to occur if the breeder, and subsequently the owner, provide appropriate materials, normally cat litter. Substrate deprivation can result in a failure to learn to defecate or urinate in locations convenient for the owner. However the majority of clients seeking help report that urination in previously established appropriate locations has broken down.

Reasons for litter tray aversion and inappropriate toileting:

Poor health associated with pain, as suggested above, is one possible explanation e.g. FLUTD, pain from constipation.

If the cat's food is placed close to the litter tray its innate tendency to avoid fouling eating areas may be triggered.

Anticipation of external fear eliciting events can predispose avoidance, here are some examples, any of which may cause a cat to relocate its toileting to where it feels less vulnerable:

• If the tray is sited in a location, such as near a window, from which it can be viewed by rival cats.
• Owners attempting to administer treatments or children trying to play when the cat is immobile on the tray.
• The litter tray may be placed in a site that is too busy in terms of family activity, or vulnerable to attack from children/other pets.

The smell of cleaning agents or a chemically altered plastic tray may be aversive. Conversely, attempts to thoroughly clean the tray may remove the lavatorial association. A cat may avoid or urinate near its tray if the substrate becomes too soiled, the smell of urine too concentrated by a cover or if there are too many cats per tray. Sometimes the substrate does not suit a particular cat. This can be due to learned preference, in which case the cat may use only the preferred surface or the litter being uncomfortable underfoot in the case of pelleted wood litter. Deodorising litter may be aversive, due to smell or irritation, when wet because chemicals e.g. chlorophyll, are released. A tray that is too small may also cause problems.

Substrate substitutes can trigger the elimination reflex e.g. carpets with a long pile because they can be manoeuvred by the cat's forepaws. In these cases the cat will urinate where the substitute is found but may also use the tray.

Perceived threat outside the owner's home can result in unwillingness to venture out and inappropriate elimination behaviour may occur indoors if a litter tray is not provided.

If the cat is of a nervous disposition, has reduced bladder control, due to age or ill health, it could evacuate in random locations. This can occur specifically in locations where the owner’s scent is strong e.g. their clothes or bedding, because that it where the cat chooses to lie and therefore where control is lost, whether specific or random urination in these locations may continue through scent association. However, urination where the owner’s scent is strong can occur because the cat uses the location to urinate to enhance its sense of security through association e.g. as a result of anxiety during the owner’s absence from home. Associative urination may be akin to marking behaviour.

Prevention of inappropriate toileting

Litter trays containing loose substrate are essential pieces of equipment for those cats that live permanently indoors, those that are kept indoors over night and those which for some other reason, need to toilet indoors.

Making the litter tray the obvious place for toileting.

Clean areas of the house that have been fouled using an enzymatic cleaner. This will remove the odour without leaving a distinctive smell of its own which, if present, may encourage the cat to return to the location.

The cat's food can be divided into a number of dishes and place these where toileting is not desired. This should cause a cat to avoid toileting in these locations. Additionally, stick dry food onto cardboard squares and place in these locations. Do not use this technique in close vicinity of the tray.

Add soiled material to the tray to develop an association.

If the location of a litter tray has to be changed it should be moved it to its new position gradually.

If toileting outside is required in a cat that has only used a tray the cat should have easy access to the garden. Soil should be gradually introduced to the litter tray and the tray gradually moved outside. Finally soiled litter should be mixed with soil in the garden.

Punishment should be avoided because cats cannot associate a punishment given after the event. Attempting to reprimand during the act will cause stress and probably cause the cat to toilet secretively so as to avoid the owner’s aggression.

Identifying marking behaviour

The domestic cat’s superior sense of smell allows it to use olfactory communication. This ability occurs in many species including all other felids. The ways cats achieve this are rubbing, scratching, urine spraying and middening and they detect pheromones by sniffing or Flehman which activates the vomeronasal (Jacobson's) organ. The aspect of olfactory communication is of primary concern to spraying.

A significant indicator of the different functions of spraying and urination is the behaviour of the sprayer/eliminator. After cats have urinated and started to bury it they will stop and sniff the location before continuing. This is repeated until the smell is at a level that does not trigger covering. It has been suggested that the adaptive advantage of this could be the slow release of the smell as a marker but this is unlikely because where marking behaviour is more likely to occur, away from the core area, there is no attempt to cover urine or faeces.

Spray marking is usually orientated to specific objects that are visually significant and repeated spraying on those objects occurs. It is also characterised by the cat’s behaviour of backing up to the vertical surface of an object in a standing position, with its tail lifted vertically, and a small amount of urine in a fine spray directed between the back legs. It is common for the spray to hit the vertical surface approximately 1-2 feet from the ground. Spraying is accompanied by an intense quivering movement of the tip of the tail, one or both hind feet may briefly leave the ground and there may be a concentrated look on the cat's face. Spraying occurs in a squatting position, although less commonly. During squat spraying the hind feet move in a treading action and the tail quivers.

The angle at which cats spray makes it physically possible for the urine to be mixed with either vaginal or anal-gland secretions. However it is not known if anal gland secretions are also present in urine eliminated during relief behaviour which would make spraying a less significant signal apart from its location. It is possible that secretion from an area under the tail base of feline males may be responsible for the distinctive smell of their spray markings. Sites of buried urine are investigated by other cats but not as much as spray markings suggesting that different information is conveyed. The presence of a scent mark can trigger sniffing or even a Flehman response in the cat that discovers it and Flehman is most likely to occur in response to the spray mark of a strange male.

The purpose of spraying and middening

Middening occurs away from the core of the cat’s territory. They mainly occur on elevated sites along the pathways used for hunting. They act as a visual and scent marker.

Spraying is performed by both entire and neutered males and females but occurs more commonly in entire males than neutered and neutering is highly successful as a means of preventing spraying problems. Spraying can be motivated by sexual behaviour in entire males and females and is accompanied by vocal behaviour that is absent in other forms of spray marking. In a mixed colony, male cats sprayed most frequently when in consort with an in oestrus female. Females spray with greater frequency when they are in oestrus, particularly early oestrus. Their spray marks appear to convey information about reproductive status and males spend longer investigating the marks of in oestrus females than those in anoestrus.

Cats are territorial and males tend to have much larger territories than females and their range can encompass those of several queens. Male territories can overlap so females may be visited by more than one male. Cats will fight to establish their rights to a territory but the way territory applies varies even from situation to situation e.g. females may defend territory against other females in one group but may be tolerant or even co-operate in another. It has been suggested that a cat’s territory is divided into zones and that within each zone, marked off by scent, the cat's behaviour is different. The environment in which they live determines whether cats live solitary or more social lives. Where food is abundant communal living is more likely to occur than where it is scarce. So size of territory correlates with the density of population and the availability of food.

One theory as to the function of scent marks, other than female sexual availability, is that they facilitate the time sharing of commonly used areas and paths between individuals on hunting trips away from the core area of their home range. The presence of older scent marks indicating that another cat has been in the area and a fresh spray indicating that there is another cat in the vicinity which may have disturbed the prey species. In this way, it is suggested, cats can judge whether they are likely to encounter another individual which helps to reduce the potential for contact and conflict. The smell of urine marks is thought to change as they age due to the evaporation of volatiles and the production of new smells by the activity of micro organisms. Two unusual, odourless chemicals, feline and cysteine-S-isopentanol, may also produce a smell as they decompose.

The view that scent marks represent some sort of traffic light system that tells cats if it is safe to proceed has been challenged. This is because this would advantage the cat detecting the mark, allowing it to avoid areas that had been recently hunted, which does not improve the survival of the sprayer or its capacity to pass on its genes to future generations, the basis for the development of innate behaviour. Greater occurrence of marking at the core of the hunting range points away from the time sharing, but male exploration of fresh marks before old, and not over marking sprays less than two days old, supports the time share argument. However, even a fresh mark does not necessarily cause the investigating cat to avoid the location and it may proceed without alteration to its behaviour. So spray marks may simply convey information about the sprayer's gender, age, hormonal state and general health. Cats can distinguish between the marks of unknown cats, cats from neighbouring groups and those from their own. This does not necessarily mean that cats recognise the scent marks of individuals, but our understanding of the physiology and capacity to discriminate is incomplete. Cats may identify group scent because of the things group members have in common including diet, genetic variation and the environment in which they live.

Apart from sexual there are three functions of olfactory communication;

• Territorial
• Relational
• For emotional stabilisation (reactionary).

What is apparent is that for the domestic indoor sprayer the cause of spraying is often the latter. When a wild felid, domestic or feral cat encounters the invasive smell of other felids, challenging smells or strange locations the incidence of all forms of marking increases. This probably indicates the adaptive value function of spraying for the sprayer i.e. by introducing its own smell in these circumstances it may increase its own sense of security. It is perhaps this phenomenon that causes a cat’s spray marks to occur more frequently in the core of a cat’s range than the borders of its territory. As the mark decays and its odour changes the cat will be inclined to over mark, to 'top it up', even if the original cause no longer exists.

Just as cats living outside will scent mark in response to environmental stressors and scent disturbances, cats within a household can react in the same way. This may be in response to invasive smells such as those brought in on shopping bags, pram wheels, shoes or the smell of new furniture and items that heat up. In such cases the orientation of spraying would be on the item.

Spraying can be due to a generalised level of stress for the cat e.g. when new people, baby or pets move into the home. There may be general change in the environment e.g. following a house move, building work, rearrangement of existing furniture. In such cases the orientation of the spray or middening can define or redefine the cat's normal walkways.

The cause can be a relationship change or conflict with a family member/another pet, or if over crowding occurs. Spraying increases in multi-cat households but at a certain density this no longer applies. In such cases the orientation of the spray could be generalised throughout the home but especially where the cat feels vulnerable.

Spraying may occur at the boundary of the home i.e. by doors and windows, if the perceived threat seems to come from outside e.g. following a narrow escape from traffic, road works, conflicts with cats outside the home or a cat(s) entering the home via a cat flap.

Cats may also spray when frustrated although this may be an emotional response, similar to anxiety, that frustration generates e.g. when the owner fails to give the cat anticipated attention or when it finds that a doorway is not open denying it access. This has been described as spraying through spite or protest but this would require a degree of cognition cats are incapable of. When cats spray on items impregnated with a particular person's scent it may indicate that the relationship with that person is less than ideal.

Prevention of spraying/middening

Good socialisation and habituation will increase the capacity to cope with challenging events without the need to spray.

Create a secure demarkation between indoors and outdoors. To achieve this consider owner controlled access rather than a cat flap. During working hours the cat could be left indoors with a litter tray, with an option to keep it outdoors with access to a shed or utility room. This would overcome the owner concern about leaving it outside in all weathers. If a cat flap is used one that controls access by only allowing a cat wearing a collar that releases a magnetic catch will deny access to local cats.

Try to ensure that the scent profile of the home environment remains as stable as possible. This will reduce the risk of causing the onset of spraying as a response to environmental challenge.

Where changes to the environment have to be made or a cat is introduced to a new environment steps should be taken to make the environment seem as secure and relaxing as possible:

Cats do not tend to urinate or scent mark in areas where they eat. This may be due to a fastidiousness or because cats feel more secure where food seems to be abundant. Owners can feed frequent small meals in different locations and distribute bowls of dried cat food or cardboard squares/dishes with dried food glued to them around the home.

Allowing cat to sleep in the owner’s bedroom when it is not in use and some strategically placed beds will help increase the sense of wellbeing and comfort. The latter are more likely to be used if placed in warm locations and of a type for which the cat has previously shown a preference. Cardboard boxes turned on their sides can be cheap and effective. In addition the opportunity to climb off the ground, either on furniture or purpose made cat platforms, will increase the sense of security because climbing up facilitates escape behaviour.

Groom the cat with a cloth paying particular attention to the area of the scent glands on the head and then wipe the cloth on vertical surfaces in the house at cat height. This will collect scent from the glands and deposit them in locations that will make the cat feel more secure and reduce the potential for spraying.

Feliway is a synthetic replication of feline facial pheromone (F3). Cats will not spray in locations where they have previously rubbed facial pheromones and using the product will reduce the potential for reactionary spraying. The product cannot be combined with enzymatic cleaning i.e. only clean with water and surgical spirit where Feliway is used.

When faced with cat urine in the home it is natural to reach for the strongest cleaning agents but products that contain ammonia, such as bleach, or chlorine should be avoided. These are constituents of urine and the challenge of the new smell could cause a cat to spray. Areas that had been sprayed or urinated on should be cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner. This will kill the bacterium and remove the smell that might otherwise encourage the cat to return to spray the location when it ages. A 10% solution of biological washing powder in warm water or a preparatory brand can be used. When dry this should be over-sprayed with surgical spirit from a plant mister, kept for the purpose, to break down fatty deposits that remain.

Reprimands for spraying or the surreptitious use of a water pistol as a deterrent is likely to increase anxiety and the incidence of spraying. If the owner’s presence is a source of security punishment could cause a breakdown in the relationship and spraying to continue secretively. Telling a cat off when caught in the act of spraying can result in the behaviour becoming a learnt attention-seeking device when the owner is preoccupied. This can develop due to an association between spraying and the reinforcement of the owner's attention, however negative i.e. through instrumental conditioning.

© David Appleby