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5 Y/o Spayed Cat Suddenly Marking Her Territory?


leseine7

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Ummm this is a weird one, sorry guys! haha.

 

Almost a year ago, I adopted a kitty from a family who loved her very much but had to move to London on short notice and couldn't find an apartment that allowed cats. They were very attached to her and I knew the separation was difficult for them. I had met and played with her multiple times before she came to live with me, and I've always loved animals so she was friendly with me right away (she can sense when people are cat people and when they aren't.) She is a very intelligent, tuxedo cat (black with white paws and chest), very healthy, answers to her name and some commands, and other than occasionally scratching up our furniture (grumble) is a very good kitty and mouser (helpful in my old amsterdam apartment that constantly brings in mice).

 

Soooo my best friend, who lives here with me, has a boyfriend who also spends a ton of time here - at least 75% of the week he is here and always has been, so kitty has known him for a long time. He's a cat lover, so kitty will frequently jump in his lap and purr and cuddle with him and she runs to meet him when he comes over. It's always been very cute and sweet and we've never thought it was weird.

 

Recently, my friend's boyfriend left his backpack on the floor here when he left for work one day, and my friend and I watched in shock when our kitty jumped onto it and peed on it!!!! I looked up what it was online and what she was doing was definitely marking territory - she positioned herself to deliberately pee directly on it (and her litter box was nearby and completely clean for her to use). She's been fixed and has never done this to anything else so my friend and I cleaned it, ran it through the laundry and we all kinda laughed about it when he came home.

 

Then last night, the same exact thing happened!! He was over for dinner and his backpack fell to the floor without us noticing it, and the cat peed on it again.

 

Why is this happening?!?! She seems to be completely healthy and normal - I haven't seen her pee anywhere else in the house at all (but I've been checking all mattresses and couches). It is clearly NOT an accident when she does it, and it has only been his backpack (lol!!).

 

Very curious to know what everyone thinks. Again, she's known him for a year now and this didn't start happening until this past month. (He's brought the backpack over every time he's visited). So, so weird. Any thoughts?

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some spayed females will continue to mark. not sure what you could about it though but definitely don't clean market objects and spots with anything that contains ammonia or she'll mark even more.

 

 

 

i think she's probably marking because she smells his parents' cats. i would wash the odor off with an enzymatic cleaner and keep the backpack someplace the other cats can't reach it when he's at his folks' place.

maybe you could try spraying the backpack with a pheromone spray. just make sure it's vet approved. not sure if the absence of a symbolic object wouldn't make your kitty pee on HIM instead if he smells of other cats. hey, maybe he could rub a kleenex on his cats and dump it in her litterbox the moment he walks through the door and she would just mark in the litterbox. no, wait. that's probably a terrible idea. maybe it would condition her to mark somewhere in any case, rather than to not mark at all .damn, your kitty is tricky.

 

i've heard they sometimes prescribe progestin, but with little efficacy.

 

i wonder if there's a video with tips on behavioral adjustment in spaying kitties?

 

Anyway, lulz!!! hope you find something that works!!

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some spayed females will continue to mark. not sure what you could about it though but definitely don't clean market objects and spots with anything that contains ammonia or she'll mark even more.

 

 

 

i think she's probably marking because she smells his parents' cats. i would wash the odor off with an enzymatic cleaner and keep the backpack someplace the other cats can't reach it when he's at his folks' place.

maybe you could try spraying the backpack with a pheromone spray. just make sure it's vet approved. not sure if the absence of a symbolic object wouldn't make your kitty pee on HIM instead if he smells of other cats. hey, maybe he could rub a kleenex on his cats and dump it in her litterbox the moment he walks through the door and she would just mark in the litterbox. no, wait. that's probably a terrible idea. maybe it would condition her to mark somewhere in any case, rather than to not mark at all .damn, your kitty is tricky.

 

i've heard they sometimes prescribe progestin, but with little efficacy.

 

i wonder if there's a video with tips on behavioral adjustment in spaying kitties?

 

Anyway, lulz!!! hope you find something that works!!

 

Haha!! Thanks so much for all of this. I think it definitely makes sense it must be from his parents' cats. I would bet if he leaves his bag on the floor at their place, the cats lay on it (my cats have always crawled on top of my purses and bags when I would come home and just chilled there). Since this has only happened twice in an entire year of her frequently interacting with him (and he visits his parents every week), and it has only ever been on the backpack, that has to be the case. I'll relay your advice to him and see what happens if he stops bringing the bag in. (And yes we will definitely take her to her doc if she does it again).

 

Thanks guys!! Weirdo Kitteh!

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I would bet if he leaves his bag on the floor at their place, the cats lay on it (my cats have always crawled on top of my purses and bags when I would come home and just chilled there).
right!!! i hadn't thought of that but cats totally do that!

 

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