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Feline Inappropriate Elimination

29 14:20:22

Feline inappropriate elimination is the most common behavioral
problem in cats. Approximately one third of cats house soil,
urine spray, or mark. House soiling with urine may be
differentiated from urine spraying by the amount of urine that
is released, and where the surface of elimination occurs.

House soiling consists of a complete voiding of the cat’s
bladder on horizontal surfaces resulting in a large puddle.
House soiling may be accompanied by defecation in inappropriate
locations.

Urine spraying consists of small amounts of urine at a time and
is usually on vertical objects.

Urine marking on human smell is the exception to the above,
consisting of complete urination usually in areas associated
with human body odor, i.e. beds, dirty linens, bath mats, etc.
Cats rarely mark with feces.

House Soiling

House soiling may occur for a variety of reasons. House soiling
is usually associated with a “litterbox” problem or medical
disease. Cats may have developed an aversion to the type of
litter, type of box, the location of the litterbox, or litterbox
odor.

Some cats develop a surface preference, for example carpet, or a
location preference. Medical diseases that increase thirst and
increase urination can manifest as house soiling. A medical
workup is always indicated in cases of house soiling. Minimum
diagnostic workup should include a FeLV/FIV test, CBC, General
Chemistry, and UA with culture and sensitivity.

Treatment of house soiling

Addressing litterbox problems

The goal of addressing litterbox problems is to make the box as
attractive and easily accessible as possible.

The number of litterboxes should be 1 + the number of cats in
the household.

Litterboxes should be in easily accessible, high traffic,
lived-in areas.

Many cats don’t like covered boxes. Try to offer a large, open
box.

Litterboxes need to be scooped daily.

Use a premium, unscented clumpable litter. Stick with one brand.
Cats tend to prefer fine substrate.

Clean the litterbox with warm water only. Some cats find citrus,
pine, or lemon scented detergents aversive. Do this at least
monthly.

Do not use litterbox liners.

Do not use any form of punishment is the cat eliminates outside
of the box.

Clean soiled areas and make those areas aversive

The smell of soiled areas attracts the cats to eliminate in
these areas again. Enzymatic cleaners are the most effective in
eliminating odor from soiled areas. Soiled areas should be
blotted up, or cleaned with warm water, and then with enzymatic
cleaners, paying special attention to both horizontal and
vertical surfaces. Equalizer and Anti-icky-poo are two enzymatic
cleaners that are recommended. Most cats find mothball crystals
aversive. Make soiled areas aversive by applying a ¼ teaspoon of
crushed mothball crystals to soiled areas once to twice weekly.
Some cats may find the use of citrus, pine, or lemon scented
products aversive. Citronella spray, Pinesol, or Lysol can be
applied to hard surfaces. These products should be re-applied
twice a week.

Retraining the cat to the litterbox

Confinement and supervision is key here. Confinement should
consist of a small room (bathroom) with hard floor (no carpet),
food, water, litterbox, toys, and bed for 1-2 weeks. If the cat
prefers to eliminate on carpet, a litterbox with a carpet
remnant and very little litter can be provided. Each day, a
small remnant is provided, and gradually increasing the amounts
of litter sprinkled on it. Once the cat accepts the box with
litter and without carpet, the cat can be let out for very short
periods, and increasingly longer periods under close
supervision. The cats should not have the opportunity to make a
mistake. A bell collar is helpful for supervision.

Removing stress factors

Change in the household environment, such as moving furniture,
redecorating, etc. is stressful and should be minimized. Changes
in the owners’ schedule resulting in more or less interaction
with the cat are stressful. Owner interaction should be made
consistent with a daily set playtime. Cats should be provided
with interactive toys that can be rotated daily. Punishment
increases fear and anxiety and damages the human-animal bond. It
should be avoided. Limited feedings is stressful for cats as
they prefer small frequent meals. Whenever possible it is
recommended to free feed choice. Water should be changed daily.
In multi-cat households there is often stress associated with
territoriality or passive aggression. Every cat should have its
own feed, water, and litterbox station in their preferred
location so that they can avoid confrontation with other cats.
It is sometimes not possible to identify and remove the
stressor.

The goal here is to reduce stress to below the threshold that
can be tolerated by the cat. Pharmacological therapy is
sometimes indicated to reduce stress or anxiety.

Urine spraying, marking

Urine spraying is often associated with stress or anxiety. Feces
marking can occur under the same conditions, but occur rarely.
Spraying or marking is a form of territorial communication that
occurs twice as often in males. Intact cats tend to spray or
mark more often that castrated/spayed cats. Ten percent of
castrated males and five percent of spayed females continue to
spray after neutering. Medical disease is seldom associated with
spraying. Urine marking on areas with concentrated human smell
is often associated with conflict related to a person.

Treatment of spraying/marking

Castration/spaying If intact, the most effective way to deal
with spraying is to neuter the cat. Surgery is thought to be
equally effective regardless of age or previous experience.
Castration is 90% effective in eliminating spraying behavior.
Spaying is 95% effective in eliminating spraying behavior.

Removing stress factors

The most common stressor is that associated with exposure to
other cats inside or outside of the household. To reduce or
eliminate stress associated with exposure to strays outside of
the home, one should prevent visual access to windows or keep
strays away. One might consider the use of a motion activated
sprinkler to keep strays out of their yard. In multi-cat
households there is often stress associated with territoriality
or passive aggression. Every cat should have its own feed,
water, and litterbox station in its preferred location to avoid
confrontation with other cats. Limited feedings is stressful for
cats as they prefer small frequent meals. Whenever possible it
is recommended to free feed choice. Water should be changed
daily. Change in the household environment, such as moving
furniture, redecorating, etc. is stressful and should be
minimized.

Changes in the owners’ schedule resulting in more or less
interaction with the cat are stressful. Owner interaction should
be made consistent with a daily set playtime. Cats should be
provided with interactive toys that can be rotated daily.
Punishment increases fear and anxiety and damages the
human-animal bond. It, therefore, is detrimental to treatment.
Problems associated with the litterbox can also contribute to
stress, especially the use of covered boxes (with only one
escape route) in multi-cat households. Refer to addressing
litterbox problems under the treatment of house soiling.

Cleaning sprayed/marked areas and make those areas aversive

The smell of soiled areas attracts the cats to eliminate in
these areas again. Enzymatic cleaners are the most effective in
eliminating odor. Sprayed/marked areas should be cleaned with
warm water, and then with enzymatic cleaners, paying special
attention to both horizontal and vertical surfaces. Equalizer
and Anti-icky-poo are two enzymatic cleaners that are
recommended. Most cats find mothball crystals aversive. Make
sprayed/marked areas aversive by applying a ¼ teaspoon of
crushed mothball crystals once or twice weekly. Some cats may
find the use of citrus, pine, or lemon scented products
aversive. Citronella spray, Pinesol, or Lysol can be applied to
hard surfaces. These products should be re-applied twice a week.

Pheromone therapy

Feliway® is a synthetic feline facial pheromone that induces
cheek rubbing, a marking behavior that is used instead of
spraying in areas where the cat feels most at home. Feliway is
sometimes used as an adjunct therapy, and is thought to have
anxiety relieving effects.

Prominent areas as well as sprayed/marked areas should be
treated twice daily. It should be used after cleaning with an
enzymatic cleaner in place of an aversive, i.e. crushed mothball
crystals. It has been reported effective in eliminating spraying
in one third of cases, and reducing spraying in others. It has
no side effects or contraindications.

Pharmacological therapy

Medications that decrease anxiety or stress can be beneficial if
the underlying stressor cannot be identified or removed. All
medications and drugs must be metabolized by the body and
therefore have potential side effects. A medical workup is
indicated before drug therapy should be instituted.

The above is general veterinary information. Do not begin
any course of treatment without consulting your regular
veterinarian. All animals should be examined at least once every
12 months.