Cat Starting to Mark

Is the cat neutared/spayed. This helps a lot. Sometimes if the cat is older than about six months it may not help a lot. The cat is probably smelling the scent of the dog where ever he is at. Once the cat sprays there then the cat's scent is there and you can probably go to Pets Mart and ask them for spray to help neutralize that strong scent. Maybe the cat is scared that the dog is coming back so he is puting his scent everywhere so the dog knows whose house is it.

Hello,
Our cat is 7 years old and he started marking too. Found out that he had a bladder infection, because neutered males are not supposed to mark. What I did was take a 500mg vitamin C. Cut it in half and crushed it. Got wet food, enough for a week and gave him the crushed vitamin C in the wet food twice a day. Within a week he wasn't spraying anymore.

There is a neutralizer spray that you can spray where he marked that will take the smell out and take it out to the point where he cannot smell it and that is important. You can get it at any pet store. I also found a bottle at the dollar store! Great find there. Anyway, I would try that and make sure he has a lot of water.

Have him tested for feline leukemia. It may absolutely be a situation where your cat started spraying in reaction to this intrusion and now that he's done it, he may continue to do it occasionally. BUT I had a male cat who was fixed, and after a move, which was obviously stressful, he started spraying all over our house. He was tested and it turned out he had it, which was devastating, obviously. I had gotten him from the humane society and they had even tested him for feline leukemia, and he had been negative, and after that had never been exposed to it, so I'm still not sure where he got it. According to the vet, stressful situations can encourage symptoms to start showing sooner.

I REALLY hope that your cat is healthy and has simply picked up a bad habit that you can fix. For the soiled areas I would suggest Woolite OxyClean Carpet Cleaner, or a great product called Kids N' Pets. You can get it at Target. Good luck!!!

We have cats (plural), and cats do get stressed out.

First, you want to get him checked out at the vet's to make sure he is healthy. Cats can be ill without looking it, and this sort of marking can be a sign of a physical illness.

But let's assume he's nice and healthy and temporarily grouchy. There is a product you can buy at a pet store called Nature's Miracle. I buy it by the gallon. It's a little pricey (I look for sales), but absolutely worth every penny. I use it wherever there's a mark or a smell. Often I use a spray bottle, but sometimes I just pour the stuff on. If the offending place is on carpet, you have to let it soak through the carpet and the pad. You'll know you got the marked places completely if, after the product has dried completely, the smell is gone. I have also used it on furniture, and sometimes even in the wash when something has been very mistreated.

You might try using it to wash down every wall (the lower parts), the baseboards, and the floor - and anywhere else you can think of - in that bathroom. That room may need to be off limits to the kitty for a while as well.

Your stressed-out kitty may be smelling things that you don't and marking those places, or he may just be doing it to say, "This is MY turf and not any old visiting poodle's!" On the other hand, one of my kitties has taken to marking the bathroom rug - the one by the tub - and it's not because he doesn't have a clean litter box (oh, and make sure your litter boxes are very clean). He's just taken a fancy to doing it. I have to hang the rug on the side of the tub rather than leaving it on the floor when it's not being used.

Another thing I have done is to spend extra money for a professional carpet cleaner to put the professional-strength stuff on the carpets before cleaning them. That really taxed the budget for that month, but it was worth it in a particular room that the cats heavily abused. I made it off limits to them for several weeks after that, and I'm slowly letting them in again with supervision (it's a guest bedroom).

It can take a while to figure out what's in a kitty's mind. But pretend he's one of your kids and keep at it until you solve the quandry!

I would definitely check with your vet, as there may be some things to test for. When they don't feel well, or if it hurts to urinate, they can relate that to their litter box, and therefore go elsewhere.
Also, I would get some Feliway, it is a plug in pheromone that is supposed to help cats relax. It is suggested for moves and other stressful times, and does help with messes outside of the litter box if it is just a behavioral thing. I have never smelled a thing, so don't worry about that, only they can smell it. I would buy a few (worth the cost), and put it where he is going and also where the dog was just in case the scent is still there.

I have a similar problem. can't wait to read the suggestions.

I second the recommendations for Nature's Niracle and Feliway. Both are great products.
I used to work as a groomer at Ellie's Pet Hotel in Brigham City, and the owner there, Phylene, is pretty much a genius when it comes to solving clients' pet problems. (Consider calling or emailing her--the Web site is www.elliespethotel.com.) She has noticed over the years that many cats seem to mark on rubber-backed non-skid bath mats. Apparently there's a smell to the rubberized backing that bugs them. Costco sells great bath mats that do not have a rubberized backing.
I remember once we had a very high-strung Bengal cat as a boarding guest and it yowled and snarled all day. After we plugged in a Feliway thing, he was so docile and normal, within hours. I think they cost about $20, but if there is really nothing physically wrong (such as a UTI) it might do the trick to de-stress him.
Good for you for trying to work through this problem instead of unloading your cat; you are setting a very compassionate and responsible example for your children. I know cat urine is unpleasant. Best wishes on this being a problem of the past very soon!

M., take your kitty to the vet and find out if he has a bladder infection right away. You may not see signs of pain but if your kitty has a bladder infection he will associate the litter box with pain; therefore, pee anywhere else but there.

If or if not you will need to re-litter box train. Ask your vet about this process. It's not hard.

Good luck!