Single cat spraying in new house
Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 2:28 pm
We adopted our orange tabby, Fred, about 3 years ago. At the time he was estimated to be 2 - 3 years old and unfixed. We promptly had him neutered and he only marked once or twice in the apartment we lived in at the time. He gets along with our dog.
We bought a house 3 months ago, and after two years of no spraying/marking, he has started marking certain areas in the new house almost as soon as we moved in. We had all existing carpet replaced. He is very specific, only marking fabric objects laying on the floor (but not the carpet itself). He does this mainly in the downstairs play area, which is adjacent to a furnace room where his litter box is. He has also marked our dirty laundry in our master bed closet upstairs. Until yesterday it was only in those two areas, but then he peed and pooped on my visiting Father-in-law's suitcase. He has never pooped outside of the litter box until now. What is weird is that my parents had visited a few weeks ago and he didn't bother their luggage.
We have tried Feliway in the play room, moving his feeding dish into there. He still uses the litter box very regularly and acts like his usual self - very affection and laid back. No other signs of stress or a health problem . We keep our dog out of the downstairs area where his litter box is.
I'm starting to think this is more territorial than stress-related because we've been here 3 months. But I don't know what to do because the house is quite open so it is hard to limit his access to specific areas.
Any help or insight is appreciated!
We bought a house 3 months ago, and after two years of no spraying/marking, he has started marking certain areas in the new house almost as soon as we moved in. We had all existing carpet replaced. He is very specific, only marking fabric objects laying on the floor (but not the carpet itself). He does this mainly in the downstairs play area, which is adjacent to a furnace room where his litter box is. He has also marked our dirty laundry in our master bed closet upstairs. Until yesterday it was only in those two areas, but then he peed and pooped on my visiting Father-in-law's suitcase. He has never pooped outside of the litter box until now. What is weird is that my parents had visited a few weeks ago and he didn't bother their luggage.
We have tried Feliway in the play room, moving his feeding dish into there. He still uses the litter box very regularly and acts like his usual self - very affection and laid back. No other signs of stress or a health problem . We keep our dog out of the downstairs area where his litter box is.
I'm starting to think this is more territorial than stress-related because we've been here 3 months. But I don't know what to do because the house is quite open so it is hard to limit his access to specific areas.
Any help or insight is appreciated!