Hi Lisa,
Have copied this from the Feline Advisory Bureau, a mine of information on all things cat pi55.
Spraying and soiling indoors
The cat is a very meticulous animal and usually confines its toileting behaviour to the litter tray or garden. The smell of cat urine in the house or the discovery of faeces in the corner of the room can therefore be worrying. Illness, being trapped in a room or a sudden fright may all cause a one-off 'accident'. However, the reason for the inappropriate deposition of urine or faeces in the home should be determined for the health and welfare of the cat.* Whatever the cause, punishment of the cat is not the answer. This will only make the cat fearful and the problem worse.
Spraying or urinating ?*
Cats use urine as a scent signal or 'mark' for themselves and other cats. The motivation for the deposition of urine for scent marking is very different to that of urination to relieve a full bladder. Catching the cat in action, or a little detective work at the site, will help determine whether the cat is spraying or urinating. To urinate the cat squats and deposits a volume of urine on a horizontal surface. The carpet, duvet, settee or bath are commonly chosen sites. To spray the cat stands up, usually makes a treading motion with its back feet, quivers its tail and a small volume of urine is sprayed backwards onto a vertical surface such as a wall, leaving an obvious scent mark. Cats commonly choose a spot close to the door or window, especially curtains, to spray. Some specialise in spraying electrical equipment or novel items in the home such as shopping bags! Once you have ascertained which of the two the cat is doing you can take action to resolve the behaviour.
Medical problems**
A cat that has started to urinate inappropriately in the house should be taken to the vet for a check up. Cystitis or some types of urinary tract disease may cause the cat to strain and to pass small amounts of urine frequently. The infection or irritation make the cat urinate where it is, rather than attempting to go outside or to the litter tray. Urination in this way can sometimes be confused with spraying.
Why does my cat soil indoors ?**
A cat may not want to go outside to urinate or defecate for a number of reasons.
Old age
An older cat may not want to venture out in bad weather or it may be having problems using the cat flap because of stiffening joints.* Providing a litter tray may solve the problem.
Fear
Cats normally dig a hole, squat to urinate or defecate and cover it up afterwards. Because a cat feels very vulnerable during this exercise it may prefer to stay inside if there is something threatening outside that it would rather avoid. This can be a neighbourhood dog, another cat, or fear of traffic after a close encounter with a car. If you think that the problem is caused by another cat frightening yours outdoors, or even coming in through the cat flap, then you need to take steps to make your cat feel secure again. Shut the cat flap and let the cat out yourself. In this way you can provide some security and help frighten off any cats waiting in the garden. Change to a more selective cat flap - one with a magnetic or electronic key which is worn on the cat's collar so that intruders cannot violate your cat's safe refuge. It may be that your cat has to run the risk of going into other people's gardens - and thus encountering other cats and dogs - to dig a hole because the soil in your own garden is not soft enough. Dig up an area for your cat to use. Choose a quiet corner with some shelter. A pile of sand will be equally attractive; or provide a litter tray indoors.
Presence of strangers
Occasionally cats urinate or defecate indoors as a marking behaviour when owners go on holiday and leave a stranger to carefor them. Because they feel vulnerable they 'mark' an area that has a strong scent of the owners such as the duvet. The best way to avoid this is to keep the bedroom door shut. Make the cats feel secure again on return from holiday (see later).
Litter tray problems**
If your cat normally uses a litter tray but has recently started to go elsewhere in the house there may be an obvious reason.
Dirty litter tray
Cats don't like using a tray if it is heavily soiled. Litter trays should be cleaned out every couple of days and the solids or clumps removed regularly. If you have several cats provide one litter tray each.
Litter tray too clean!
Using scented litter, deodorants or disinfectants with strong smells may put the scent-sensitive cat off using the tray. Use a disinfectant which is feline friendly such a bleach (diluted as recommended).* Make sure the tray is rinsed thoroughly with clean water. Avoid disinfectants which turn cloudy in water as these usually contain phenols which are toxic to cats. Rinse the litter tray before use.* Cats learning to use the tray initially may need to associate it as a latrine area and too-frequent cleaning may weaken this association.
Wrong type of litter
Changing the consistency of the litter or to a scented type may put the cat off using it. Many cats prefer fine grain litter with the consistency of sand. If you want to change the type of litter you use, mix the new one in gradually over a week or so to gauge the cat's reaction.
Position of the litter tray
If the tray is positioned in the open where the dog, children or other cats disturb it, the cat may feel too vulnerable to use it. instead it may seek a more secure spot behind the sofa! Place the tray in a quiet spot where the cat only has to watch in one or two directions at once rather than in the open or in a thoroughfare. Placing food near the tray will put the cat off using it. Put the feeding bowl elsewhere.
Type of litter tray
If you use an open type of tray it may be worth purchasing one with a lid to provide security. An inverted box with a hole cut in it may suffice.
Bad associations
Occasionally a cat decides not to use a tray because it has had a bad experience there. Perhaps it was cornered there to be given some medication or it has been intimidated by another pet or child when last using it. Repositioning the tray to a quiet spot and providing a lid for it may help!
Breaking the habit
Whether a genuine accident or not, once the cat has urinated or defecated at a particular spot, its sensitive nose will encourage it to use that place again as a toilet. The best way to break the habit is to keep the cat away from the area for as long as possible and to remove any residual smell that the cat could detect. Wash the area with a solution of a biological or enzymatic washing liquid/powder and then use a plant mister to spray it with surgical spirit. Scrub this off too and leave it to dry. You may want to try a small area first on delicate fabrics. Placing some dried food in the area may help to prevent the cat using it again.
Retraining
Some cats need to be retrained to use a litter tray in the same way that kittens are trained by their mother not to soil their bed. Initially the mother removes the waste and by a couple of weeks old kittens learn to leave the nest to urinate and defecate Placing a cat in a large pen with its bed and litter tray mimics this early learning. In a pen there is little option than to use the tray - it is the tray or the bed. In this way the cat should learn to associate toileting with the litter tray.
Let the cat out when you can watch over it and put it back on the tray if you see it heading for a soiling point or behaving as if it is about to urinate or defecate. If an accident does happen, clean it up with tissue and place the soiled tissue in the tray so that the cat learns to make the associations you want it to. The cat may get the idea within a few days or it may take a few weeks. When you think the cat has started using the tray properly, gradually reintroduce it to the rest of the house, one room at a time so that you can oversee it and prevent accidents happening.
Why does my cat spray indoors ?*
All cats, male or female, entire or neutered, spray. Usually this occurs outdoors as a part of their scent communication system. They also leave scent signals by rubbing, scratching and bunting (rubbing the glands around the mouth onto twigs or other objects). The cat leaves a scent not just to let other cats know it is there but to 'furnish' its area with its own familiar smell, giving it confidence. In the un-neutered cat, the urine not only signals the cat's presence but its sexual status. Females in season have high levels of oestrogen in their urine to attract toms. Toms leave a highly pungent spray which is a combination of urine and secretions from anal glands under its tail.
Cats also mark their indoor territory by rubbing, scratching and bunting. Most pet cats are neutered and do not spray indoors, probably because they do not feel they need to. Spraying indoors is a sign that the cat is feeling stressed and needs to make itself feel more secure by surrounding itself with its own scent. As indoor spraying indicates that the cat feels threatened by something, any use of aggression by the owner in telling the cat off only serves to make the problem worse. Owners must instead try to ascertain what the threat is and then take steps to alleviate it. Common causes include new cats in the house or in the neighbourhood, a new baby or person, building works, redecoration or a change of routine.
Help your cat feel secure*
Even when the cause of spraying is not obvious there are ways in which you can make the cat feel more secure. For example, limiting the area the cat has to patrol to one or two rooms may help improve its feeling of security and reduce the desire to mark.
Decorating and building works
A nervous cat or one that is kept entirely indoors may be threatened by changes to its home environment. Smells brought in on feet may be enough to trigger a feeling of insecurity and the need to spray. Redecorating or replacing furniture effectively removes all the cat's subtle scent markings which have been carefully placed by rubbing and scratching, with the strong smell of new carpets, paints or furniture. To reduce their impact, keep the cat away from the altered room until the smells are not quite so strong and have mingled with the other familiar scents in the house. You can help speed up this process by spreading some of the cat's own scent yourself. Take a soft cotton cloth and rub it gently around the cat's face (where some of the glands which produce the cat's individual scents are located) to collect its scent. Dab the furniture or walls of the room where the problem is occurring with the cloth and repeat daily. The cat may be less likely to spray it if is aware that its own scent is there already. Veterinary surgeons can also supply a product which acts in the same way. It contains facial pheromones - the scents produced by the glands on the face.
Threats from neighbouring cats
If your cat has been unsettled by another cat entering the house,shut the cat flap and let your cat in and out yourself. Cats often spray around a cat flap or doors to make themselves more secure and to signal their presence to invading cats. Change the cat flap to a selective one opened by a magnet or electronic key on your cat's collar. Chase other cats out of the garden to give your cat support outside. Once the cat feels that indoors is safe there will be less need to mark it.
New resident cat
The addition of a new cat to the household can threaten resident cats, or upset the balance in a multicat household, and induce spraying. To overcome this difficult problem you need to be able to prevent conflict, give the threatened cat(s) more security and link the presence of the cats together to something rewarding. The problem with cats is that you need to find something that provides more reward than the feeling they get simply by hiding from the threat. Try feeding them together. If they like attention supply it when they are sharing space in the same room and generally make it pleasant when they remain calm together. This can be helped by supplying high perches for the cats. Shelves, wardrobes or cat activity centres provide perches that allow cats to share a room but still feel safe. Consider putting the spraying cat in the safety of a large pen or carrier and letting it share the space in a room with others while they become acquainted. Pheromone sprays may help to make the home more cat friendly.
When a cat is simply too stressed for the situation ever to be resolved it is worth considering rehoming the threatened cat to a place with no other cats. Without the pressure of trying to cope with other cats it is unlikely to spray.
Discouraging marking*
Part of the clever process of passing on feline scent messages is that as they degrade, the cat is encouraged back to top-up the mark. Thus, to stop the spraying behaviour you need not only to reduce the threat but all the motivation to re-mark the scented area too. This can be undertaken by cleaning away all the scent of the urine as described earlier. Placing a food bowl at the site may also discourage further spraying.
Specialist help*
Spraying and soiling can be cured in many cats using the techniques outlined here. In some the problem can be more persistent. Discuss the problem with your veterinary surgeon. Occasionally behaviour problems can be treated with medication. If necessary, your case can also be referred on to a specialist in feline behaviour.
*
The page is at:
http://www.fabcats.org/spraying.html Failing that, a pair of Toetecters might do the trick...
Ian
13-Dec-2004, 15:09 
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