Posted by Jane
One of the biggest problems cat owners face is the rather unpleasant one of their beloved cat spraying in their own home. And one of the biggest lies owners will fall for is from the sellers of all those commercial products that promise to remove the odor and stop your cat spraying forever. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on odor and stain removal products each year and the sad fact is, most of it is a complete waste of time and money. Even worse than that - many of the commercial products available actually make the problem worse! But all those ‘experts’ don’t mind at all - after all, it’s not in their interest to solve your problem is it? They would rather be selling you more and more of their product each time your cat re-offends! You may think that the unpleasant smell of your cat’s spray has been eliminated but in reality, many products compel - yes, actually compel, your cat to continue to spray his scent around your home and often with increased frequency. So, if the commercial stuff doesn’t solve the problem, what can you do to reclaim your home? Unfortunately, many owners become so frustrated with their inability to stop this anti social behavior, that they take the drastic step of abandoning their pets to fend for themselves or worse, euthanize them.
And, as a cat lover, this is what makes me so MAD.
The real and only way,as far as I am concerned, to stop your cat spraying in your home is to fully understand what made them start in the first place and address that trigger. Cats spray to mark their territory - period. They don’t spray to empty their bladder (they are far too fastidious to do that!), they use spraying as a means of communication their ownership of a certain area and if they are spraying indoors, that is the area they are claiming ownership to. The scent that we owners object to so strongly, carries complex messages to other cat noses - primarily ‘Keep Out! This is Mine!’ If other cats enter a territory, they can deposit smelly messages in reply to the territory owner’s message. This might just be saying, ’Hi, I’m just passing through - hey, nice place you’ve got here…’ or it might be, ‘Watch your back, punk, I’m going to beat you to a pulp when I see you and claim your kingdom for my own!’ If your cat receives a challenge along the lines of the one above, he’s going to be pretty unhappy about the situation and it is this upset emotional state that is the root trigger for his spraying indoors. What your cat is doing is retreating to his ‘core’ territory - the absolute center of his world and the part that he feels compelled to protect at all costs. So, he marks his core territory with the strongest message he can manage, in the hope that this alone will be enough to repel any challenge for ownership. Also, a secondary effect of surrounding himself with his own scent is that he will feel reassured and comforted by that familiar smell - just like you or me having a favorite blanket to wrap ourselves in when we feel ill or upset. So, to remove the reason for your cat spraying in your home, you have to turn detective and find out whay had upset his emotional balance. Once you’ve done that and taken steps to remove the cause of the upset, you then need to remove all traces of your cat’s own scent from his core territory.Why? Well, even though it’s your cat’s own scent, if he detects that his message is fading, his instinct motivates him to replenish the weakening odor by laying down fresh scent. And this is why commercial products don’t work - in fact they make the situation worse. Most products simply cover up your cat’s odor by masking it with a more pleasant, stronger scent - to us, that is. Your cat’s sense of smell is far better than ours, so he just thinks that a new, bigger animal has come along to leave a new scent marker. So what is your cat’s response to all this? More spraying and a more fragile emotional state as he is now firm in his belief that he has yet another, strangly scented challenger to deal with!
For much more detailed information, including an effective cleaning solution that you can make yourself for pennies, take a look at the Special Report in the Cat Owners Confidential Products Category.
And when you discover the depths of ‘Stop Your Cat Spraying’ lie, you’ll be mad too.
I am lucky. I have 2 cats who are 13 this year and I have never had a problem with them doing this. I wonder if it is more likely that male cats would do this?
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