Expert: Jessica - 6/11/2010

Question
What is the difference between spraying and inappropriate urination? And is one drug better than the other for different types of inappropriate urination, eg Buspirone, Amitriptyline, Fluoxitine. I am not sure what my vet is telling me. She said I should call Dr.K. Houpt at Cornell University, one of only a handful of true experts in animal behaviour and veterinary psychology.

Answer
Hi David.  Sorry for the delay in my answer, my internet was down.

I don't doubt that Dr. Houpt is a great expert in animal behavior.  Cornell is perhaps THE best veterinary college in the United States.  And she would no doubt have a lot of insight as to why your cat may be spraying or inappropriately urinating, as well as some behavioral modification techniques for you to implement to help you solve the issue.

However, the difference between spraying and inappropriate urination is pretty simple, and reasons for them are usually pretty straightforward, too.  Spraying is done vertically.  The cat remains standing and literally sprays urine on vertical surfaces, often around doorways, chairs, and new objects that come into the house.  Spraying is a territorial behavior and is used to mark things as the cat’s property, and to leave their scent behind as a message that they’ve been in the area.  Both males and females can spray, but it’s most common in males.  If the cat is unneutered, it’s usually done to attract members of the opposite sex, but when the cat is neutered, it’s often due to anxiety that the cat may be losing his territory.

Inappropriate urination is done in a squatting position, just as if the cat was using its litter box, but outside the litter box.  Often, a cat urinates inappropriately because he has a problem with his litter box.  For example, he doesn’t like the litter you’re using, the box is too dirty, the box is in an inconvenient spot, etc.  Inappropriate urination can also be due to a physical illness such as urinary tract infections, stones, inflammation, or even diabetes or kidney failure.  Occasionally, though, inappropriate urination can be due to anxiety, too.  By and large, inappropriate urination can be solved by first ruling out a physical illness and then finding out what the cat objects to about the box.  Adding a second litter box and then trying different litters, a different style of box and putting the box in a different location until you get it just right might help.  A training litter such as Cat Attract (www.preciouscat.com) may be worthwhile.  This was formulated by a vet to train cats who have inappropriate urination problems to use to litter box 100% of the time.

Statistics suggest that fluoxetine is the best medication for solving anxiety-related spraying and inappropriate urination.  Not only does it have the best success rate for treating the problem, but it also has the fewest cases of relapse once the medication is discontinued.  There are some reasons to try the other medications, such as the use of amitriptyline when inappropriate elimination is due to urinary tract pain, or, if some reason, fluoxetine fails.

Behavior modification can be a big part of solving the problem, especially if separation anxiety happens to be a big part of your cat’s anxiety issues.  This is indicated if the urine marking is done to personal belongings such as clothing or your bedding and seems to occur while you’re away from home.  So you may definitely want to consult Dr. Houpt.  As far as a medication goes, I believe your local vet will still need to prescribe that.

Best of luck!

Jessica