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→Emotional Factors
Positive affiliative reactions that should be noted include allorubbing and allogrooming, tail up and trilled greeting between cats. [[Feline Aggression|Aggressive behaviours]] include active threats such as chasing, hissing or spitting and physical attacks, as well as more passive or distant threats such as staring eye contact, threatening body or facial posture, or spraying in front of other cats. These classes of behaviour and their direction should be noted on a diagram of interactions, as illustrated in the figure. This may enable certain factions to be identified within the household. Combined with the information already obtained about where cats spend most of their time in the household, this makes the allocation of resources easier during treatment. It may also help to identify feline despots. Making an assessment of this kind is important even when looking at a multi-cat household with what appears to be reactionary spraying due to conflict with outside cats. If resources in the home are sparse, then certain cats may perceive there to be a local overpopulation problem which is made worse by competition with outside cats. Sorting out internal conflict is likely to improve the cats’ general welfare as well as help to resolve [[Inappropriate Elimination - Cat|elimination]] and [[Indoor Marking - Cat|marking problems]].
Positive affiliative reactions that should be noted include allorubbing and allogrooming, tail up and trilled greeting between cats. [[Feline Aggression|Aggressive behaviours]] include active threats such as chasing, hissing or spitting and physical attacks, as well as more passive or distant threats such as staring eye contact, threatening body or facial posture, or spraying in front of other cats. These classes of behaviour and their direction should be noted on a diagram of interactions, as illustrated in the figure. This may enable certain factions to be identified within the household. Combined with the information already obtained about where cats spend most of their time in the household, this makes the allocation of resources easier during treatment. It may also help to identify feline despots. Making an assessment of this kind is important even when looking at a multi-cat household with what appears to be reactionary spraying due to conflict with outside cats. If resources in the home are sparse, then certain cats may perceive there to be a local overpopulation problem which is made worse by competition with outside cats. Sorting out internal conflict is likely to improve the cats’ general welfare as well as help to resolve [[Inappropriate Elimination - Cat|elimination]] and [[Indoor Marking - Cat|marking problems]].
==Identifying the Culprit==
It is very important to properly identify the culprit[s] for the indoor housesoiling. Clients frequently blame a particular animal, usually because they have seen it eliminating in the house. However, other cats may also be involved. It is possible to use fluorescein dye to identify the urine of each cat in the household so that the identity of the soiling cat can be confirmed ''[see box below]''. ''Recent research has shown that the fluorescence of urine spots from fluorescein treated cats may vary with urine pH. The fluorescence of fluorescein varies with pH, such that it only strongly emits light under UV illumination when it is in a neutral or alkaline solution. In acidic solution it may hardly glow green at all. Spots should therefore be sprayed with a buffer solution of sodium bicarbonate [baking soda], which will produce a pH of around 8, before testing with a UV lamp. ''If faecal soiling is involved, then a small amount of indigestible material is added to each cat’s food for several
days and the faeces are inspected. Crushed sweet corn works very well because
it is easy to identify in the faeces and does not upset digestion.
===Using Fluorescein to Identify Urine Marking or Soiling Cats===
* Fluorescein is available as sterile paper strips, for ophthalmic examination. These contain approximately 1 mg of fluorescein per tip, but this should be checked with the manufacturer.
* The tips should be torn off and rolled to fit into gelatine capsules, giving approximately 5 per capsule [5mg].
* This dose is given once daily for 3-4 days.
* Urine sites are checked daily.
* Lightly spray each site with a solution of sodium bicarbonate [baking powder], mixed in water [1 tablespoonful in 125ml water].
* A UV lamp is then used to check the site for fluorescence.
* It is vital to start by testing the least probable culprits first, working up to the most probable. Otherwise fluorescence marks left by one cat will obscure those of another. If it is certain that the culprit is a resident cat then the culprit may be identified by a process of elimination, which minimises the risk of leaving lots of fluorescent stains for the client to
clean up.
* A 5-day washout is left between testing of each cat, to make sure that each individual has excreted all of the dye before testing the next.
* Although fluorescein is water-soluble and can usually be removed with normal cleaning, this testing method may leave stains on fabric, carpets or wall paper and owners must be warned of this.
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