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→Behavioural Assessment
* Events in the household or the neighbourhood coinciding with the onset of the behaviour
* Events in the household or the neighbourhood coinciding with the onset of the behaviour
* Assessment of the cat’s emotional reactions to novelty in the environment and to strangers
* Assessment of the cat’s emotional reactions to novelty in the environment and to strangers
===Using a House Plan===
===Using a House Plan===
[[File:House plan Housesoiling.jpg|350px|right|thumb|Example of a house plan]]
One of the most useful tools when investigating a problem of feline house soiling is a plan of the house in which the cat lives. This does not need to be a detailed scale drawing but rather a basic plan indicating the layout of rooms in the house, the position of windows, doors and major furniture and the location of major resources such as feeding and watering stations, sleeping locations and play areas. Each individual cat’s favourite resting places and rooms they prefer to inhabit should be noted on the diagram. The client should mark onto this diagram the location of urine and faeces that they have found (see figure).
To give a better indication of the development of the problem, the client should note the current frequency of urine/faecal deposition at a particular site, as well as how early in the development of the problem urine or faeces were first found there. A convenient way to do this is to label each location on the diagram with a number of stars to indicate current frequency and a number that indicates whether that spot was one of the first, or last places to be soiled, or somewhere in between. The clinician may use this diagram (see example) as a basis for recording additional information about each mark, such as the volume of urine at a site, where precisely on furniture or decorations it is located and whether any particular event appears connected to it.
To give a better indication of the development of the problem, the client should note the current frequency of urine/faecal deposition at a particular site, as well as how early in the development of the problem urine or faeces were first found there. A convenient way to do this is to label each location on the diagram with a number of stars to indicate current frequency and a number that indicates whether that spot was one of the first, or last places to be soiled, or somewhere in between. The clinician may use this diagram ''[see example]'' as a basis for recording additional information about each mark, such as the volume of urine at a site, where precisely on furniture or decorations it is located and whether any particular event appears connected to it.
The pattern of urine and faecal deposits can point to the source of the problem. For example, if the first deposits were found close to doors and windows, it is suggestive that the perceived threat was coming from outside the home whilst initial deposits in the centre of rooms or onto new pieces of furniture would suggest that the disruption of the cat’s security was coming from within the household.
The pattern of urine and faecal deposits can point to the source of the problem. For example, if the first deposits were found close to doors and windows, it is suggestive that the perceived threat was coming from outside the home whilst initial deposits in the centre of rooms or onto new pieces of furniture would suggest that the disruption of the cat’s security was coming from within the household.