Hi. I have a Bengal, Jasmine. She is 3 years old, she is absolutely lovely and I adore her. She sleeps with me under the duvet and is incredibly loving to me. I have another cat who is 7, and a Cockapoo who is 1. All girls, all spayed. Jasmine and Dog play a long incredibly well and chase each other, and run about for ages. Jasmine has her own places, she has a bed 7ft off the ground, climbing posts, and a very big house. In fact I researched Bengals and dogs before I got the dog. Jasmine expects a lot of play and the dog seals the deal. However, she continues to spray on my furniture and soft furnishings. I can't explain why. She seems so happy but it is getting too much now. We have thrown out new furniture and she continues to do it even in front of us. The smell is so bad. I have tried plug ins and Calming sprays, and I clean with non perfumed products, shop bought and homemade. Any ideas please. She does not use a litter tray, never has. She goes in the garden. Please help - she just so adorable. I've shut the dog away and she goes looking for her and calls too her. I appreciate any help. It is alsways vertical.

Welcome to the forum, Vicki. Do you know if Jasmine was spayed before her first heat? It is common for cats to start spraying if they are fixed later. You say she enjoys an outdoor garden! Do you know if any other cats are in the vicinity? Spraying signifies territory! While is may appear she is content with another cat and dog, she is marking her areas. And if she has access to the outdoors and there are cats she can smell (a cat's smell is 14 times stronger than ours), she may be making sure she marks against the other cat, although you would think she would do it outdoors.

In order to completely clean the furniture, you need an enzymatic cleaner. Nothing else is going to work. She will continue to go in the same area as SHE can smell it. I do think you need to bring a couple of litter boxes into play. She may not like the type of litter box you have, or the litter, so you may need to experiment. Get a hooded one that you can remove the top if she doesn't like to be enclosed. Try a different type of litter and Cat Attract.

While going to the bathroom and spraying are two different things for the cat, one has to be diligent in making sure the cat prefers to urinate rather than spray. If you Google the problem, you will find many solutions from cat owners in your same predicament. But, the key is always going to be getting the area completely cleaned. A product like Natures Miracle will clean and get rid of the odor. There are others on the market, but you need one specifically for cat urine.

Good luck.

CAT DIAPERS.

This was totally not on my radar when I posted my reply earlier. They truly do make diapers for cats. They are just over $1 each and probably less if you buy in bulk. JewelsPride Cattery uses them when they show their Quadruple Grand Champion Solo. These shows are multi days so they have to spend time in a hotel. They put a diaper on Solo when they are in the room and here he is modeling it. He is one of their studs and he sprays. I'm not sure if he likes the color or not.

Sherry

I took on everything you said. Here we are 4 months on and no different. I bought litter trays and she doesn’t use them. They are in the rooms but behind the blanket box and beside the tall boy, so not in the open but not shut away either. Never used! I found. A cleaner - do my best. But now she is spraying on all soft furnishings, shoes, bags, walls, the banisters -all down the stairs and walls. We don’t have any visiting cats in the garden , and although small - she runs the neighborhood. She didn’t have a season before she was spayed. I was sitting and reAding in the window seat and she had not seen me but walked onto the other windowsill and her tail stwrted vibrating and she was tip toeing end I realised and said “no you don’t” she looked so shocked and ran away. I’ve never seen her react before. I don’t know what to do.

Is it your other cat Jasmine doesn't like? she is obviously marking for territory and also she is marking you as hers ie your shoes, bags etc. My boy Oscar sprayed but it was either side of big windows, which were obvious gaps in his defence. I sprayed feliway where he sprayed and also put a little bowl of biscuits and a scratch post at each spray point, just to make him know that the places he felt insecure were actually really happy places with his scent already on them on the scratch posts. It sounds like Jasmine sprays in a lot of areas so I'm wondering if she is telling your other cat the whole house is hers?? It does sound like a serious case and obviously spray marking and not peeing. I think you should try Zylkene. It is a natural milk protein that mimics the calming effect of mother cat's milk on the babies. It is not a drug and totally natural. It may work to chill her out so she doesn't feel the need to mark. Vets sell it but you can get it on Amazon too. In the mean time invest in those thin plastic decorating covers for your furniture so protect them. Good luck and I really hope it works out for you.

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

It sounds to me like there are multiple issues there.

1. She’s not litterbox trained (obviously). I don’t quite understand your attitude and approach to this. She’s not a dog, so I don’t understand the “she just goes outside” thing. To me this would be the #1 thing to work on. I’m not an expert on this, but I would probably confine her to a single room, get some cat attract litter, get some really big,clean boxes, and experiment with different types of litter etc. then watch her behavior really closely to try to understand why she might be rejecting various boxes.

2. Sounds like she has a ton of anxiety and territorial issues. Sounds like she is kind of seeing her environment as just being a stressful and worrisome place. Again, I would probably try to get a handle on this by removing different stimuli/irritants and observe carefully. The most obvious irritants would be whatever she is encountering outside, the dog and the other cat

Contacting a cat behaviorist would probably be beneficial too.

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The little monsters 3

I agree with Melissa and Brian. Cats spray for territory! They want to mark their scent and say "this is mine, stay away." Since she goes outside, she should be spraying out there as well. Unfortunately, this is behavior that generally cannot be stopped. It's their instinct and once they start, you can't control it. I would do as Brian says and try different types of litter boxes and cat litter. Although, peeing and spraying are two different things. However, both eliminate the urine from the body. My male, who was neutered at 12 weeks still sprays. Generally, IF a cat is fixed at an early age and they remain indoor cats, they do not spray! But, Raiden's previous owner net him roam the neighborhood for six years and that instinct has stayed with him. Also, this is usually a problem in multi-cat or multi-pet households. Each pet needs their own space and territory. If they overlap, it can be a problem. Eliminating this behavior will not be easy and would probably take a while, if you can ever resolve it. I'd spend a lot of time Googling and see what comes up and what might have worked for others.

My parents had a male neutered cat years ago (fixed at a young age) who started to spray in the house and he was an indoor/outdoor cat. The cause turned out to be another male cat that the neighbors had gotten and was going around picking fights with all the neighborhood cats. I am not sure what happened to the cat, I think it actually was taken by the neighbors daughter to live with her but.. anyways... once that cat was gone... my parents cat stopped spraying.

Basically what I am saying is encountering cats outside CAN cause a cat to spray inside.

I am not sure how to turn a indoor/outdoor cat to an inside cat (I am sure there are articles on this) but that might help if something outside is stressing her out.

I think the diaper idea is a good one to use until you can figure out the cause and perhaps in time, solve the issue.