Indoor marking

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• Indoor urine spraying may be performed by up to 12% of all cats.
• Cause: sites affected are of behavioral significance, eg points of entry and exit or are associated with the owner's scent.
• Signs: deposition of urine and/or feces in the home or excessive scratching of items within the home.
• Diagnosis: indoor marking involving urine and/or feces must be distinguished from inappropriate urination and/or inappropriate defecation .
• Indoor urine marking usually occurs from a standing posture onto vertical surfaces but not exclusively.
• Using feces as a marker (middening) involves blatant deposition of feces in behaviorally significant locations.
• Prognosis: common cause of death through euthanasia.
   Print out the Owner factsheet on indoor marking to give to your client.

• Marking behavior within the home - may involve urine, feces or scratching.
• Facial marking is usually considered acceptable by the owners.

• Indoor marking in whatever form occurs in locations of behavioral significance.
• In the case of indoor urine marking small amounts of urine are usually deposited onto vertical surfaces from a standing position but it is possible for marking to occur from a squatting position onto horizontal surfaces.
• Urine marking on horizontal surfaces can be very difficult to differentiate from inappropriate urination .
• In the case of marking with feces, the feces are usually deposited openly, ie no attempt is made to cover them.
• In many cases the cat continues to use the litter box with no problems.
• Indoor scratching marking occurs primarily on vertical surfaces in very specific locations.
• There are often other behavioral signs of anxiety or distress.

• Puberty for marking involving urine and/or feces.

• Entire males > entire females.

• Neutered males (10%) and neutered females (5%).

• Marking using urine, feces, or scratching is normal behavior but when it is exhibited in the home it is indicative of a social problem or is an adaptive response to environmental stresses.
• Indoor marking can occur in response to excessive challenges to the cat's security, eg redecoration or major home improvements, invasion by local despotic cats etc.
• Indoor marking can also occur due to the cat's inappropriate reaction to usually acceptable stimuli such as minor alterations within the household, introduction of another cat into the household or a minor alteration in routine.
• Examples of possible causes of indoor marking include changes in feline population density either within the home or in the neighborhood, changes in the present environment or moving to a new one, alterations in routine, including decrease in time owner spends interacting with the cat, inappropriate punishment.
• Indoor marking can be seen in association with other behavioral conditions involving lack of social competence eg over bonding to owners, fear reactions.

• Insecurity and social incompetence for reactional indoor marking using urine, feces or scratching .
• Presence of a sexually active potential mate for sexually related indoor urine marking.
• Excessive disruption to a core territory.

• Moving house.
• Separation from owner.

• Normal feline behavior but in an unacceptable location.
• Inappropriate response to stimuli.
• Lack of social competence.

• Deposition of urine in behaviorally significant locations within the home, primarily but not exclusively on vertical surfaces .
• Deposition of uncovered feces in behaviorally significant locations within the home .
• Presence of scratching in behaviorally significant locations within the home.
• Generalized signs of social incompetence .
• Anxiety .
• Aggression .
• Polydipsia/polyuria .

• Indoor urine marking - deposition of urine within the home usually small amounts on vertical surfaces but deposition on horizontal surfaces is possible.
• Fecal marking - blatant deposition of feces in locations of behavioral significance within the home.
• Indoor scratching - excessive use of scratching in the home directed toward locations of behavioral significance eg window sills, doors or pieces of furniture placed in locations of scent challenge.

• Other signs of social incompetence .
• Reluctance to use certain entry or exit points.
• Increased dependence on the owner.
• Fearful reactions to stimuli.

• Aggression - indoor marking (especially urine spraying) may be associated with problems of feline aggression and the spraying may be exhibited by either the aggressor or the victim .
• Water intake and urination frequency.

• To identify underlying cause.

Other

• Use of fluorescein to identify culprit in multi-cat households.

• To rule out underlying cause of problem.
• See abdominal radiography .

Biochemistry

• Thyroxine in geriatric cats suspected of hyperthyroidism.

Fecal analysis

• To rule out medical cause of problem .

• Presence of urine and/or feces in the house .
• Position of the urine and/or feces .
• Presence or absence of disruption to social environment concurrent with the onset of behavior.
• Positioning of scratching.
• Frequency of scratching.
• Presence of other symptoms indicative of social incompetence.

• Posture of the cat especially when depositing urine .
• Timing of the depositing of urine and/or feces in relation to stimuli .
• Reaction of cat to litter facilities provided .
• Presence or absence of medical problems concurrent with the onset of behavior.

• Inappropriate urination and/or defecation .
• Location or substrate preference especially when dealing with urine marking on horizontal surfaces.
• Medical problems affecting the urogenital and GI tract.

Indoor scratching

• Scratching in order to condition claws and exercise claw retraction apparatus.

• Avoid punishment.
• Confine the cat unless under supervision to prevent access to previously targeted locations.

• Effective cleaning of previously marked locations:
  • Wash the area with a warm solution of detergent, rinse with cold water.
  • Leave to dry.
  • Spray the area with surgical spirit (alcohol).
  • Do not rinse.
  • Leave until completely dry before allowing cat access again .
• Deter cat from marking in the area again by using food or bedding to indicate security and to increase the cat's confidence.
• Identify initial cause of the marking and rectify, control or remove if possible eg clean away all traces of other cats' marks around the house, prevent stray cats gaining access to the house, temporarily or permanently board up cat door etc.
• Treat any underlying related behavioral disorder eg desensitize and counter condition cats who spray in reaction to specific stimuli such as visitors, or undergo a remedial introduction program if the new cat in the household has been the trigger for indoor marking.
• Increase security of the home territory.
• Temporarily decrease the size of territory by using some form of confinement and then act to increase security within that diminished territory before allowing controlled and gradual increase in territory available.

• Ensure litter box is acceptable to cat:
  • Change litter type.
  • Clean out regularly.
  • Provide more than 1 litter box in multicat household.
  • Ensure litter box is in private location.
• Use of drug support:
  • Clomipramine 0.3-0.4 mg/kg SID-BID.
  • Amitriptyline or buspirone 2.5-7.5 mg/cat BID.
     CARE in multicat households due to possible increase in inter-cat aggression.
     Diazepam - other medications are more appropriate.
     Megoestrol acetate - other medications are more appropriate.
  • Use of pheromonatherapy: Feliway applied to the environment.
  • Neutering especially in pre-pubertal or adolescent males but also in females.
  • Restructure relationship between cat and owner where urine marking is linked to problems of over bonding and protest spraying is being exhibited.

Any of the following must only ever be used in combination with the behavioral therapy

Scratching

• Declawing - unacceptable to some owners.
• Gradual transfer of behavior onto an acceptable substrate eg a scratching post rather than furniture and then transfer to an outdoor rather than an indoor location.

All forms of marking

• Alter routine and access to outdoors - some cats need more access to outdoors while others may need increased protection from it with an indoor existence.
   CARE - other behavioral factors must be considered before deciding on greater confinement.

• Punishment should be avoided as it runs the risk of affecting the cat-owner relationship. If the cat is caught in the act and the owner can use a remote negative stimulus such as a loud noise, which is not connected with the owner, it may have some limited benefit but BEWARE since indoor marking is related to incompetence, the use of aversion is often counterproductive.

• Frequency of marking behavior within the home.
• Owner assessment.
• Signs of increasing social competence.

• It may be necessary to alter the behavioral modification program as treatment progress. For example it may be necessary to confine the cat to a smaller part of the house to start with and then gradually increase its freedom.
• It may be necessary to begin by using some form of drug therapy in order to increase owner compliance and avoid the option of euthanasia - especially in long-standing cases of indoor urine marking.

• Adequate socialization and habituation of cats from 2 to 7 weeks of age .
• Careful attention to the behavioral needs of the cat when considering alterations to the structure of the home or to the make-up of the social grouping either feline or human.

• Prognosis is affected by the length of time over which the problem has been present.
• Long-term indoor marking has a learned habitual component that can be difficult to treat.
• Indoor marking is linked to problems of insecurity and incompetence and the prognosis for resolving the marking will be dependent on the success of treatment for the other behavioral indicators.

• Decrease in the frequency of indoor marking.
• Increase in the cat's level of social competence.

• Standard reasons eg incorrect diagnosis, lack of owner compliance.
• Long term marking problem with significant habitual component.
• Inability to identify, control or remove triggers.

• Mills D S & Mills C B (2001) Evaluation of a novel method for delivering a synthetic analogue of feline facial pheromone to control urine spraying by cats. Vet Rec 149 (19), 197-199.
• Schwartz S (1999) Use of cyproheptadine to control urine spraying and masturbation in a cat. JAVMA 214 (3), 369-371, 351-352.
• Seksel K & Lindeman MJ (1998) Use of clomipramine in the treatment of anxiety-related and obsessive-compulsive disorders in cats. Aust Vet J, 76, 317-321.

• D Appleby Dip CABC, The Pet Behaviour Centre, Upper Street, Defford, Worcestershire, WR8 9AB, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1386 750615; Fax: +44 (0)1386 750743; www.apbc.org.uk
• Dr H Ellen Whiteley DVM, HCR 64 Box 606, Guadalupita, New Mexico 87722, USA.
  

• Companion Animal Behaviour Therapy Study Group Mr D S Mills BVSc MRCVS, CABTSG Secretary, De Montfort University, Lincoln, Caythorpe Court, Caythorpe, Grantham, Lincs, NG32 3EP.
• European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology c/o Dr J Dehasse DVM, 129, Avenue de la Fauconnerie, B-1170, Brussels. Belgium. Tel/Fax: 00 32 2 675 8666
• Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors PO Box 46, Worcester, WR8 9YS, UK. Tel 01386 751151.

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