Do you see your cat scent marking his territory, particularly rubbing cheeks against objects? Wild cats are fastidious about it and, as Dr. Morris says, they will renew their scent markings as the scent fades. It is interesting that cats can detect when another cat has been in an area by the degree of degradation of the scent deposited on surfaces. The strength of the scent creates a time reference like a clock. This helps cats avoid each other but it also means that a cat marking his territory has to continually top it up.
We should therefore see routine scent markings going on. In the wild this includes spraying with urine but the domestic cat nearly always scent marks by rubbing his cheek against an object. If allowed outside cats will also scratch trees to scent mark.
In my experience, the favorite objects to mark are at central points or important junctions, which means doors and doorways. Of course, we know that cats hate doors. They get in the way from a cat’s perspective. They are unnatural barriers within his territory.
Although I don’t see my cat, Charlie, scent mark very often, I have noticed a black stain near a door at cat height. The place is a part of my home which is like a junction, a crossroads. After hundreds of scent marking top-ups a cat can leave a visual mark that is particularly noticeable if the wall is white. It is a build up of the oils on his fur.
The one major place where I see my cat scent marking with his cheek is the patio door. This leads to the garden and it is where stray cats turn up for their drugs (catnip) and food. And foxes too. It’s a zoo chez moi.
Because of all the activity by other animals including cats, my cat is compelled to reassert his control over this area of his territory by rubbing his cheek against the door when I open it to let him in. I have blocked off the cat flap to stop strays coming in.
Charlie also scratches furniture which is a form of scent marking as there are glands within the toes. A favorite place is near the patio door, which reinforces the belief that the area is a key one for him, from a territorial standpoint.
I have never had a full-time indoor cat. I wonder if full-time indoor cats scent mark their home? If there is a single cat, or siblings, who lives entirely inside it would seem unnecessary to scent mark because there is no need to claim and protect territory from outsiders.
This begs the question as to whether the ancient behavior that is scent marking is fading away with the domestic cat. They have the protection of a human home. Where is the need to do these wild cat things?
Rubbing a cheek against your leg when you are about to feed him is not scent marking for territorial reasons, obviously. It is affectionate behavior – scent exchange.
Note: if anyone has a photo of their cat scent marking please email me with it attached and I’ll publish it here. mjbmeister[at]gmail.com (change [at] for @ before using it)
Kobe has urinated in my sister’s laundry basket containing her dirty clothes a few times. She finally got a cover for it, so now he can’t get in there. Maybe he wouldn’t do that now that he has his new cat tower and all the confidence that comes from looking down on everybody. I doubt she’d want to test my theory. At least he never peed in her bed.
I should send some of her photos of Kobe or see if she would like to pick some out and write an article about him. He is a very different cat from Monty in many respects, but similar in others. If it were not for us, he probably would not have survived. A timid, frightened cat like Kobe would not have very good luck getting adopted from a shelter. We were shocked that they would even think of dumping him there.
The general gist of what you are saying seems to be that the more stresses a cat feels the more he marks and vice versa. This makes sense.
The classic stress induced scent marking is peeing on the cat owner’s bed. The bed is an area that strongly smells of the owner and is a place where a cat will feel more relaxed and he reinforces that feeling by adding his scent.
This sort of thing can happen if the owner is away a lot leaving her cat at home alone.
My sister’s cat Kobe scent marks more than Monty. Kobe came with the house. The tenants upstairs were on a month to month lease, and we gave them the appropriate notice. While they were still here they said, “We’re taking this cat to the Humane Society. He is jealous of the baby, doesn’t get along with our other cat and the dog chases him around so much that he hides in the closet all day. Our other cat won’t let him eat or use the litter box.” So this was Kobe’s life. We told them to let us take him when they left. Kobe felt a great need to scent mark constantly. But one change in the apartment decreased the scent marking by at least half. I bought Kobe a used cat tree and cleaned it up for him. Despite Monty’s dismay (“Where are you taking MY new thing?”) we put it upstairs for Kobe in a sunny spot by the window. My sister says after Kobe climbed to the top perch he got a different attitude. “Look at him,” she will say, “He thinks he owns the whole world from up there.” Having the higher perch gave him confidence. He’s been more accepting of me petting him, he hides less (if at all) and he doesn’t scent mark as much. He is still a cat nip junkie. And when Monty tried to stick his nose into Kobe’s house (my sister’s apartment upstairs) Kobe didn’t run and hide, but took a swipe at Monty’s nose. There were no injuries, and we were glad to see Kobe being confident, not scared. We would love it if the two cats could keep each other company, but we won’t force anything.