When your cat rubs against your leg with his face, or
scratches his scratching post, he is also depositing his scent from the glands
in his cheeks and paws. Another equally normal but less pleasant marking
behavior is urine spraying--the deposition of small amounts of urine around a
given area. Spraying announces a cat's presence, establishes or maintains
territorial boundaries, and advertises sexual availability.
Cats usually spray on vertical surfaces, like the backs of
chairs, or walls. They don't squat to spray (as they do to urinate), but the
tail lifts and quivers, and small puddles of urine are left in several
consistent locations. Cats that spray are usually unneutered males and, to a
lesser extent, unspayed females, but 10% of neutered males and 5% of neutered
females also spray. In households with more than seven cats, the likelihood of
spraying is high.
Cats may spray when they perceive a threat to their
territory, such as when a new cat enters the home, or when outside cats are
nearby. New furniture and carpet smells can prompt spraying as well. Cats may
also spray out of frustration resulting from factors—like restrictive diets, or
insufficient playtime—often wrongly perceived by humans as revenge.