I hope this two pages of an infographic helps in understanding domestic cat tail body language/signalling. It can be quite subtle. There is one cat breed, a rare one, with a curled-over tail called the American Ringtail. This cat will struggle with one or two of these tail signalling positions! And, of course, the tailless …
In an extraordinary video from TikTok we see a cute domestic cat that looks purebred (Brit SH?) practicing walking handstands as if they were human gymnasts. It is amazing. He pulls himself up just like a gymnast. Is there a plausible and practical reason for this form of feline behaviour? I have seen it before …
Cute cat does perfect walking handstands like a gymnast? Read More »
The phrase “pee on things” is very general. It could mean urinating in the usual way, outside of the litter box or it could mean spraying as a “calling card”. The way the title is framed I believe that people want to know why female cats spray urine so I’ll deal with that first. Spraying …
The question is asking why indoor cats spray urine, which is done, as you probably know, to establish territory. Because this is the purpose of spraying urine (normally onto vertical surfaces) it occurs when cats feel that their territory is threatened by an ‘invading’ cat. How might this happen to an indoor cat? Some examples …
Yes, female cats spray urine. To be clear, spraying urine is not the same as urinating to remove a waste product. You probably know that but it’s got to be stated for complete charity. Spraying is to scent mark territory and it is carried out horizontally onto a vertical surface. The basic information about female …
This is a very specific post about a feline behaviour which you may have noticed. When cats spray urine to mark territory as a calling card they back up to a vertical object such as a bush or tree and spray urine horizontally onto that object. When they do it their tail may quiver or …
Cat tail quivering when spraying urine to mark territory Read More »
Domestic cats spraying urine in the home is obviously highly unpleasant but is entirely normal behaviour for a domestic cat under certain circumstances. I was surprised to read some rather shocking statistics in Dr Bruce Fogle’s book Complete Cat Care. He correctly says that cats spray urine for two completely different reasons, (1) a cat …
If you have six cats there is an 80% chance of urine spraying Read More »
Yes, adult female cats spray urine for scent-marking purposes. However, mature males spray urine far more frequently at 99% of total spraying activity in a study (Methods of scent marking in the domestic cat by Hilary N Feldman, May 26 1994 – the entire study is published here – see base of page). In other …
The title describes unwanted feline behavior and the cat’s owner wants to know how to deal with it. As you can see, their cat became inadvertently locked outside during a rainstorm. The cat flap that she used is one of those which is triggered by a microchip under the skin of the cat’s neck. These …
My cat got locked outside and now she’s spraying the doors Read More »
What can I do to stop my cat from spraying? It can take patience and keen observational skills to get to the bottom of this unwelcome behavior or it can be immediately apparent. But it is natural feline behavior and so it does not deserve punishment. That would make it worse, in fact. Never punish …
