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Indoor Marking - Cat (view source)

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==Diagnosis==

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[[Feline Communication Behaviour#Marking|Marking]] forms a part of normal cat behaviour, it only becomes problematic to owners when inappropriate surfaces and methods are chosen by the cat. Scent is used to identify [[Feline Territorial Behaviour|territories]] as well as individuals. It is therefore important to establish the motivation of the behaviour to be able to resolve the issue successful in the eyes of the owner.

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[[Feline Communication Behaviour#Marking|Marking]] forms a part of normal cat behaviour, it only becomes problematic to owners when inappropriate surfaces and methods are chosen by the cat and when cats are obliged to [[Feline Territorial Behaviour#Domestic Cat Territory|share territories under domestic circumstances]]. Scent is used to identify [[Feline Territorial Behaviour|territories]] as well as individuals. It is therefore important to establish the motivation of the behaviour to be able to resolve the issue successful in the eyes of the owner.

Diagnosis involves several steps:

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~~DOMESTIC/Territory~~

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Contrast this with the situation in the domestic environment. Pet cat groups are made up of unrelated and neutered males and females with widely differing rearing backgrounds. Some may come from a genetic and rearing background that does not favour sociable living in a group. From the owner’s perspective, the expectation is that the cat’s core territory will match the

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internal living space of the home, so that facial and flank marking are seen indoors and spraying or claw marking is only performed outdoors. However, instead of being one large contiguous area, each domestic cat’s territory may consist of several small patches that are distant from each other. Each cat is forced to travel across several other cat’s territories in order to get to a latrine or hunting site. This increases the amount of feline traffic through gardens and increases the likelihood that each cat’s core territory will be overlooked by cats outside. If underfed, despotic or intact male cats enter the homes of resident cats then this further undermines the perception of the owner’s home as ‘core’ territory.

So several scenarios emerge. If the core territory is threatened by being overlooked or invaded by cats that are not part of the group, then the boundary of the core territory can retreat into the house and the resident cat[s] will use spray or claw marks to delineate a boundary at the edge of the core territory which happens to be within the home. These cats may end up inhabiting the upper rooms of a house as core territory and then spray marking or middening on the ground floor, but the situation often starts when urine marks appear at windows or external doors, or around the cat flap.

Bara

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