Territorial Marking
Remember, pets aren't people and are not marking out of revenge or
spite. With patience and learning, these issues can be solved.
How do you know if your pet is house soiling or marking?
 | Marking is often done with a small amount of urine on a vertical surface. House soiling is the emptying of the bowel and/or bladder with much larger amounts of urine on a horizontal surface. Some pets may mark with uncovered feces or with small amounts of urine on horizontal surfaces but this is not as common as leg-lifting and spraying. |
| Marking is more common with intact pets. Both males and females can/do mark. |
| Pets may mark objects that have unfamiliar smells (a visitor's purse, shopping bags, new baby!) and objects that have another animals scent. |
| Conflicts between pets in or outside the home may lead to marking behavior. |
| Sometimes marking is a result of anxiety and stress. |
Solutions
| Spaying or neutering can greatly reduce marking behavior. (This is not a guarantee as a few pets continue marking out of habit or personality.) |
| Resolve conflicts between household pets and restrict your pets’ access to windows where viewing outdoor animals may be causing a problem. Keep your cat indoors only where he will be safer and feel less need to mark. Roaming neighborhood cats should be deterred. |
| Clean all soiled areas thoroughly using an enzyme cleanser. |
| Make marked areas inaccessible – move furniture, use aversive materials such as contact paper or carpet runner's pointy side up. Place food and water dishes on the soiled area, play with and treat your pet in these areas. |
| Keep a constant eye on your pet to catch them in the act and redirect the behavior. Catching the behavior as it is about to happen is the key here. Use a loud noise or spray of water to interrupt and then call your pet away and reward with a treat. |
| If you cannot supervise use confinement. |