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Spraying

The most important rule is to keep at it! The key to dealing with a house soiling problem of any kind is to tackle the problem from several angles at the same time. And even when you think you've tried everything, you need to systematically go back and try again. Sometimes changing one small detail in the treatment regimen will make all the difference.

Behavioral Treatment and Spaying/Neutering

The single most effective treatment for spraying in both males and females is spaying/neutering. 90% of males and 95% of females stop urine marking after being altered. However, for the small percentage of cats that don't stop marking after altering, it's important to find the anxiety causing agent(s) that prompt(s) these cats to continue spraying.

Look for recent changes in the cat's immediate environment. (Has there been a move, a change in your schedule, home improvements? Any recent additions to the household of either two or four legs?) Don't neglect to check beyond your front door. Is a neighborhood cat regularly 'invading' your yard in full view of your indoor cat? Remember, a change that seems like nothing to you could set off territorial anxiety in your cat.

Unfortunately isolating a cause is not always easy. Cats typically don't show stress until a week or more after a precipitating event. So most of the time, you'll never know precisely what triggered your cat's urine-marking behavior. But if you do believe you have identified the cause, either remove it or try in some way to minimize its effect.

For example, if a particular person seems to be the cause ask that person to spend time playing with the cat. If the cause seems to be a neighborhood cat 'intruder', pull down the blinds so your cat can't see it stalking across your lawn.

Regardless of whether you can identify and remove the cause of your cat's distress, you still need to work on modifying your cat's behavior just as you would with a litterbox problem. Keep your cat out of the room where it regularly 'goes', deter it from using the bed or other furniture (there are 'scare' devices on the market to help you), and above all be patient and kind to the cat. It is already stressed and yelling and harsh punishment could only make it worse.

Drug Therapy

When faced with an intractable spraying problem that altering and behavior modification don't seem to help, you can ask your veterinarian about drug therapy. While drugs are not a panacea, they can be very helpful. According to veterinarians drug therapy gives behavior modification a chance to work by interrupting the cat's persistant pattern. (NOTE: Animals should be on the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible time!)

Unfortunately drug therapy comes at a high price, namely serious side effects. For example, progestins - once widely used for anxiety-related spraying - are now recognized as having serious side effects. Likewise, the antianxiety drug diazepam (Valium TM) can have very serious side effects in cats.

Finding a drug that is safe and effective over the long term is important for the small number of cats that do not respond to other treatments. There are currently high hopes for a drug called buspirone. It appears to have virtually no side effects.


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