Hi Jill, First, I'm so happy that you and Gary made it through your ordeal!
About the marking... It has been my experience that a spayed cat that marks, (if it's doesn't turn out to be medical), has some sort of anxiety problem. Because Gary didn't mark when she was confined, but does on release to the rest of the house, tells me that something is making her feel insecure. Behavioral stuff can sometimes be tricky. We humans sometimes miss things because what bothers us, doesn't bother them and visa versa. What is this "confinement" you speak of? Is she in a room by herself, or in some kind of kitty condo? She may prefer being in her own room. Does she have access to wherever she's been confined? Has something changed in the environment? Has she been acting normal in every other way? Is she jealous over you or your husband? I have a spayed female that marks too. She's also been known to be pretty hissy with the rest of the brood. She's better when we have one on one time. I'm convinced her marking has to do with wanting to get rid of some of the other cats around here, but she's just going to have to get used to the idea that nobodys leaving.
Nina
Jill Poe wrote:
Gary (FeLV+), now that she has recovered from the URI that almost killed her and the herpes virus eye ulcers, just spontaneously started marking in the house. She's not squatting but standing with the quivery tail - which is why we think it's marking.
She's at the vet today but so far the urine test was negative and we're waiting for the results of an x-ray of her bladder.
She was confined all weekend and will pee in her
litter with apparently no distress but almost
immediately upon release from containment, will show
signs that she wants to mark.
We've used Nature's Miracle on the 3 places she's
marked and closed off one room altogether. She isn't
marking in the same spot and this doesn't appear to
have anything to do with cats outside (she couldn't
care less about outside).
So I'm soliciting info about bladder/kidney experiences in your pets, as well as behavioral spraying solutions. We were almost disappointed it WASN'T a urinary tract problem, as I think that would be easier to solve than a behavioral problem! We will consider Feliway (the pheromone spray) and even Valium if the vet comes back with a negative on the x-ray.
Jill
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