
BehavioRx
Case of the Month
for December 1996
The Problem
A six year old spayed, declawed, female Siamese cat started urinating
around the house,
especially in the family dining room. The problem had persisted for
three weeks before the
owners took the cat in for veterinary examination, which revealed no
abnormalities or
health problems.
History
The cat had been obtained from a breeder at 8 weeks of age, and
housetrained to a litter
box quickly with no special effort by the owners, a middle-aged couple
with no children.
The house was a single story, two bedroom home in a suburban
neighborhood. The problem had
no apparent trigger, in terms of visitors, new pets, diet changes,
seasonal weather
disturbances, etc. However, during our HelpLine consultation, we did
discover that the
urination had started when the weather was warming up and the couple
tended to leave their
windows open quite often, both day and night. When asked about
neighbors' cats, they
complained that there were two who had outdoor cats and that these pets
would often come
into the yard, jump onto the deck and the front porch, where a flower
planter was often
used as their toilet. The owners also mentioned that this was the first
year those cats
had been so bold, i.e. gotten onto the porch and deck areas. We also
discovered that both
owners would pick up the cat and take her to the fresh urine, put her
nose to it, scold
and swat her on the rump and release her, after which the cat would run
and hide in the
bedroom. The owners used a commercial pet spot and odor cleaner on the
spots.
Diagnosis
Territorial branding against invading animals, aggravated by insecurity
due to owner
punishment and social rejection.
Treatment
In consultation, the owners were quick to recognize that punishment
might cause the cat to
feel insecure and, hence, try to brand the house in order to feel more
secure. However,
they also recognized that the initial problem followed the invading
cats' new boldness and
the fact that their urine and body scents had started wafting into
their cat's domain at
the time of the problem's onset. We asked what they thought about the
punishment. They
said it hadn't worked, therefore it should be stopped. However, they
asked, without
punishment, "How will the cat know it's wrong to urinate there?" We
responded,
"I'm not sure she could ever appreciate that guarding her territory
from invaders is
wrong. Beside, will she need to know it's wrong if the cause of the
problem is removed and
the urination stops?" They said that made sense and the following
program was
started.
The cat was fed two meals daily, an amount that was finished in a few
minutes, in the
dining room. The empty plate was left on the floor between meals. The
windows in the
dining room were kept closed. Whenever the cat used the litter box, one
of the owners
would go to the box, point at the spot of urine or fecal matter, and
praise the cat. She
was also happily shoo-ed to the box after eating and praised if she
used it. The owners
were advised to get several ponies of the herb, lemon balm, and plant
them in the flower
planters on the deck and front porch. They were also advised to snip
off several leaves of
the herb and rub them along the rails of the deck, on the window sills
and even the top of
their fences.
Results and Follow-up
The urination stopped immediately in the dining room. One spot occurred
in
the hallway on the fourth day, at which time the meals were switched to
that
spot. After four clear days, meals were fed in the usual place, the
kitchen.
After three months, no backsliding has been noted.
The neighbor cats gave up their invasions after two days' encounters
with
the dreaded herb.
Discussion
This couple was unusually dedicated to their pet, and followed
instructions beautifully.
They were especially watchful and took care to praise the cat for
proper use of the litter
box, a step in our BehavioRx instructions that many owners skip,
feeling that simply
feeding the cat at the spots will do the trick. It rarely suffices on
its own.
Previous
Cases
November 1996
October 1996
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