Cat marking his territory

[milly143]

We moved house about 2 months ago and there are few other cats in the area. One in particular who spends most of his time in our garden and has had a few scraps with my cat. The problem is that my cat keeps relieving himself in the house. He does it at times when the door is wide open and he has a litter tray (which I know he does use) so it's not like he is bursting and has nowhere to go so I assume he is marking his territory (mainly because of the other cats around). We have children in the house alot and I'm really worried that I won't notice and one of them come in contact with it, plus it's not very nice cleaning up cat wee all the time. Is there anyway I can try and stop him doing it or will he just grow out of it. He was castrated when he was young and is almost 2 now if that makes any difference. Any advice would be really appreciated! Thanks!

[andy-hughes]

This is a territorial battle, and the incumbant cat is winning, so you need to give your cat a helping hand.

Find where the neigbourhood cat sprays or defacates, and scrub the area thoroughly with hot water and bleach, rinse and repeat. This will stop him automatically re-marking.

Place some mothballs all around your garden boundary, especially on fences and walls, but leave an area around your back door.

This should discourage the other cat from marking, and allow your cat to mark outside. once he has done so a few times, he should settle, and use his tray.

If you see the other cat, chase it off as quick as you can, and don't allow any urine of faeces to remain any longer than you have to.

It will take time, but once your cat has reclaimed his own area, he'll be quit content to defend it - it's because the other cat was there first that he's having problems.

[Nigels Huni]

i agree totally with the person above but also repetative cleaning of the problem area doesnt help because as soon as yr cat goes to it he cant smell and reminder of himself therefore he feels the need to repeat the spraying offence, i would gently clean/wipe the maj of the urine up then i would spray a mixture of 8 parts water to 4 parts citronella oil onto the spot and every so gently wipe this being careful to leave sum of the residue behind. Cats and Dogs hate the smell of citronella and it works so well to cover their fading scent that they 4get to mark there. as he has been dun I would suggest that this is purley territorial, maybe place some coke/lemonade etc bottle around your garden make sure they are filled 3/4 full with water and without the lid because when the slightest breeze blows over it the noise scares the cats they HATE it.