Help! 5-year-old black cat sibling marking all over the house. Possible reasons.

 This is the Reddit.com post supporting the title. What to do?

He has 3000 sq ft of house and attic to roam and play. Has a brother from same litter and both are very socialized. They sleep w us every night in our bed. He has a massive outdoor catio jungle in my backyard (50ft x 80 ft) with a 100ft tunnel that runs under Palms and leads to his lizard hunting paradise. 3 litter boxes scattered throughout the house that are always clean w fresh litter. I’ve tried just about everything… still always cleaning up cat piss from walls, carpets, couch. It’s a nightmare 😱 need advice??!!

My answer would be three possibilities on the basis that the cat has been neutered which is the default situation.

The picture is here to illustrate the page only. This is not the cat in question. Image in the public domain.

Clearly, if the cat is not neutered then there is a much higher chance that they will mark territory. But as mentioned on the presumption that the cat is neutered one possible reason is that the brothers no longer get along. 

Siblings become independent

This may well happen because when siblings in the wild grow up they become independent. They leave the natal home range and go in search of their own home range. Their sibling then becomes just another individual occupying their territory. They are independent cats. They are solitary, essentially. The fact that they are siblings no longer helps to ensure that they get along.

So, this particular individual might feel stressed by the presence of his sibling and is marking territory to send a message to his brother that this is his home range and he is unwanted. Marking territory helps to calm him down because he creates his little home which smells like him.

Although siblings can get along it is not a certainty. The idea that adopting two siblings automatically gives you two cats who will keep each company and get along all their lives is a fallacy.

Separation anxiety?

Another possibility is that the owner is not around enough which is creating separation anxiety in one cat. This is happening despite the fact that the person has created a very nice cat environment with lots of things to do and to stimulate them mentally. That is irrelevant in terms of the particular problem clearly otherwise the problem would not exist.

Medical

A third possibility is that the cat who is said to be spraying is not actually spraying urine but is depositing small spots of bloody urine around the home due to cystitis. This is also heavily linked to stress. Dry cat food may exacerbate the problem.

These are three possibilities. When a cat is spraying inside the home it is invariably to do with a mental issue triggered by stress of some sort. That needs to be addressed. The source of stress needs to be found, isolated and then removed.

Why is my cat constantly peeing by my front door, he doesn’t do it anywhere else just in that one spot

 The full text of the question:

"Why is my cat constantly peeing by my front door, he doesn’t do it anywhere else just in that one spot,we have 3 litter boxes that are cleaned daily,he’s peeing in there also but constantly by the front door (6 months old maine coon x bengal booked into be neutered on the 28th." 

The person who posted the question and who was seeking help describes inappropriate elimination ('peeing') but I don't think it is peeing. It looks more like spraying to mark territory as it occurs near the front door. This is a major point in the cat's 'home range'. The area that he considers to be his claimed territory. 

They describe their cat as a Maine Coon x Bengal cat cross. A very rare cat breed. The cat looks more like a Bengal to me. Here he is:

Why is my cat constantly peeing by my front door, he doesn’t do it anywhere else just in that one spot. This is the cat who looks more like a Bengal cat to me. Picture: u/beccamx41

If the cat feels that there is a threat outside the home and perhaps that threat is another cat (or a person) who comes into the home through the front door they might mark it to provide the strangers with a clear signal that they are stepping onto his territory.

The key is the 'front door'. Domestic cats will tend to mark territory in prominent place within their range such as on the boundaries and intersections. 

I feel that a front door might be the boundary of this cat. He might be an indoor cat. The walls and doors of the home is the boundary. 

Spraying is likely to be on the walls or door that is vertical surfaces whereas peeing will be over horizontal surfaces. That'll be the clincher. 

Check the exact location of the urine.

Reasons female cats pee on things

The reasons why a female cat might pee on things are the same reasons that a male cat might be on things. The question is one of Google's predictive questions meaning that they ask questions for you in the belief that they know what you want to ask.

Stress is a factor in inappropriate peeing. Image: MikeB.

I'm going to interpret the word "pee" very widely to include urinating and spraying. Clearly, female cats are just as likely to eliminate inappropriately as male cats. Therefore, if they don't pee in the litter box it may be because the substrate i.e. the litter material, is not a good match for that cat. Domestic cats do have a preference or they can object to a certain litter material. Declawed cats pee outside the litter tray 6 times more often than non-declawed cats. Tender feet and stress are the cause?! Or the litter tray might be in the wrong position. 

Or in a multi-cat household she may be bullied and therefore is forced to urinate outside the litterbox because she is forced off it i.e. there are not enough litter trays. Or the bullying may cause her to feel stressed and anxious.

On the subject of anxiety and stress, it can lead to what is called feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) which is cystitis caused by no known cause except the cause is going to be stress and anxiety. If you combined that mental state with a permanent diet of dry cat food there is a possibility that the cat will develop urinary tract problems and a bacterial infection which leads to cystitis. The major cause of FIC is conflict with another cat in the home.

Male cats are more prone to cystitis because of their anatomy, however.

Female cats do spray urine just like males but less so. They are territorial like male cats. They have their own home range. But they don't defend it so aggressively compared to males. That is probably why people ask whether female cats do spray urine. Urine spraying is like a calling card as it tells are the cats that this is the resident cat's home range.

The matter of a home range is relevant to multi-cat households as well because the home ranges are much compressed which is one reason why without careful management the cats can become stressed or a timid cat can become stressed and spray.

The bottom line in answering the question as to the reasons why a female cat might pee inappropriately or spray is because of cystitis, stress and anxiety and/or defending a home range. Of these 3, the most common will be stress as it can lead to cystitis and spraying. Separation anxiety is a factor here too.

Feral cats have lower incidence of cystitis compared to domestic cats. This is probably because they are less emotionally stressed but they are probably more physically stressed.

Domestic cat tail quivering when spraying urine to mark territory

There is a discussion among a certain section of cat lovers as to why domestic cats quiver their tails when they spray urine against a vertical object to mark territory. Not all cats do it or they don't do it all the time. It is, however, very noticeable when it occurs.

Spraying urine horizontally to make territory on a vertical object. Tail quivering can accompany the process.. Picture: Pixabay (modified).

Not even the experts understand the reasons why this happens. It may simply be just a part of the physical process of spraying urine. My personal opinion is that if a cat is quivering her tail when spraying urine it is because it is a manifestation of the effort to spray urine at considerable force against a vertical object. It may even be part of the process of forcing the urine out of the bladder.

This is a common sense reason for it and it ties in quite nicely with the actions and behaviour of humans when trying and force things. When people force things they push and shove and repeat their effort until it happens. Tail quivering is not dissimilar. It probably simply expresses the urine from the bladder and down the urethra more quickly and efficiently.

Experts say that when captive wild cats quiver their tails when spraying it occurs when the spraying is particularly vigourous. This supports my thought on this rather specialist subject. Black-footed cats have been seen to do it and it goes hand-in-hand with treading of the hind feet which you also see when cats spray urine. Hind feet treading is also a visible manifestation of the effort required.

There is an alternative reason which is perhaps far-fetched. I can remember a cat that I rescued from the streets of London many years ago. She was under a car. When she saw me her tail quivered in exactly the same way. It quivered because she was pleased to see me because I spoke nicely to her and ultimately adopted her. She knew that she was being rescued. I wonder if tail quivering during urine spraying is a sign that the cat is enjoying a pleasurable moment. In other words tail quivering is an expression of pleasure as urine spraying might also be pleasurable as well as purely functional.

All cats do this both wild and domestic.

Why Does a Tomcat Spray Urine On the Garden Wall?

Tomcats (this word is usually used to describe a male cat that has not been castrated) mark their territory by squirting a jet of urine backwards onto vertical objects within their environment.

They aim their urine at tree stumps, fence posts, bushes and walls which are landmark features within that territories. Sometimes these features are at the borders of their territory and sometimes they might be at a crossroads but they would usually be in some sort of prominent area and possibly on a path or track that is used by the tomcat and other cats in the area.

They are particularly keen on places where they have sprayed before and where other cats have sprayed before so that they can add a fresh dose of urine to freshen the smell.

We all know that cat urine is very strong smelling and very hard to remove. It is interesting that although cat urine is very strong smelling to a human, another way that a cat marks his territory is by rubbing against objects to leave his scent on the object. We cannot smell this odour.

The odour of a cat's urine fades gradually and the degree of fading is indicative of when it was deposited. This provides a message to a cat who sniffs it telling him or her about the movements of the cat who deposited the urine.

In short, deposited urine on vertical surfaces provides information to cats about what is going on. Apparently, the smell also carries information about the emotional state of the sprayer and the individual's identity so there is some variation in the smell between cats. A sprayer in effect leaves a calling card and leaves a message to other cats who pass by.

It makes no difference to the act of spraying whether a cat wants to urinate or not. Urination and spraying are quite separate behaviours. You will even see cats that have no urine still going through the motions of spraying and marking territory even though no urine is actually involved.

Neutering both male and female cats reduces the incidence of spraying but may not eliminate it. Personally, my cats have never sprayed. The other day, I saw a Siamese cat outside my flat spraying  onto a bush next to a flowerbed. It is the area where the Siamese cat likes to frequent and to urinate and defecate. Clearly, another cat had visited the area and the Siamese cat was just topping up the marker to make sure that her message was loud and clear.