Changes

===Posture of Cat and Orientation of Deposits===

===Posture of Cat and Orientation of Deposits===

The posture of the cat can help in the differentiation process, since [[Indoor Marking - Cat|indoor urine spraying]] is usually associated with a [[Feline Communication Behaviour|Spray Marking#characteristic stance]]. This is related to the function of the marking behaviour since a standing posture allows the cat to deposit urine on a vertical surface at just the correct height for another cat to sniff at it and take in the important information.

The posture of the cat can help in the differentiation process, since [[Indoor Marking - Cat|indoor urine spraying]] is usually associated with a [[Feline Communication Behaviour#Spray Marking|characteristic stance]]. This is related to the function of the marking behaviour since a standing posture allows the cat to deposit urine on a vertical surface at just the correct height for another cat to sniff at it and take in the important information.

However, urine marking does not exclusively occur from a standing posture and it can be performed from a squatting position, which closely resembles the posture adopted during the act of elimination. This fact must be borne in mind when attempting to differentiate between motivations as it is easy to dismiss squatting urination on horizontal surfaces as always being eliminative and yet there are occasions when the cat is actually using that sort of urination as a marking behaviour.

However, urine marking does not exclusively occur from a standing posture and it can be performed from a squatting position, which closely resembles the posture adopted during the act of elimination. This fact must be borne in mind when attempting to differentiate between motivations as it is easy to dismiss squatting urination on horizontal surfaces as always being eliminative and yet there are occasions when the cat is actually using that sort of urination as a marking behaviour.