With the onset of spring, one can more often hear fighting and mating songs of representatives of the cat family, as well as notice unpleasant odorous leaks on the doors of private houses and even apartments in the stairwell. Thus, the strongest males mark their territory, indicating who the boss really is. Our article will tell you what to do to prevent cats from marking the front door.
Alpha male or terrible revenge?
Many people unknowingly believe that the neighboring, and sometimes their own four-legged tailed, show in a similar way their unbending character. Or avenge punishment in the form of slippers, brooms, a bucket of cold water, etc.
Everything is much more complicated and depends on the nature of the furry creatures. People are aware of the high olfactory abilities of dogs, while underestimating cats. And their world is just as predominantly consists of odors that play the role of media, alarms and instant messengers.
On the cat's body are many glands that secrete pheromones.
Cat marks are concentrated portions of urine with pheromones, and not only males, but also females can differentiate the territory. By marking a place, the animal thereby puts a kind of barrier to other animals and a reminder for itself that increased care should be taken here. There may be several reasons for this.
- Alpha male marks territory, wanting to show the rest who is in charge of the pack. No matter how cute and domestic these animals may seem, the ancient instincts laid down by Mother Nature will always be stronger.
- This is a manifestation of the cat’s sexual activity. If your cat is in heat, potential "suitors" will not fail to notify their existence.
- Cats also experience stress. This may be due to repair, the appearance of a new pet in the house or in the neighborhood.
- Another anxiety factor is the appearance in the family of the baby.
- Disease.
Experts believe that one factor or their combination can cause an unpleasant phenomenon. In some cases, the animal begins to mark for a certain reason, and the owners, without understanding, constantly punish him for it. As a result, the intensity of the marks only intensifies as the cat begins to get very nervous.
What to do in such cases? The most important thing is not to punish when it comes to a pet. He will not understand the reason and continue his work. Consider several possible ways to solve the odorous problem.
How to wean a cat?
The best option, if it is not a cat manufacturer, is to castrate it. When the level of sex hormones decreases, the search for a partner will cease to disturb the animal, and anxiety beyond the borders of its own territory will not be so pronounced. There is one important point here - the procedure should be performed until puberty of the kitten, at about seven months of age. There are many cases where castrated cats continued to tag. This indicates that the operation was carried out late, when the pet had already tasted the fruits of cat love.
If you have a thoroughbred pedigree cat, castration is not considered. There is another way, at first glance funny. However, a direct effect on the psychology of the animal is used here.
To begin with, under natural conditions in large prides only the main male marks the territory, all the rest are simply allowed to dwell on it. Take a look at your life together through the eyes of a cat: you look after it, bring food, remove the tray, play and entertain. According to the mustachioed, this is a demonstration of the behavior of the lower being in the pride, weak and powerless. And so he is in charge. And it will put labels where it sees fit.
You can try to fundamentally change this situation and show that the main person in the pack is still a person. To start such education is from an early age, then the likelihood of foul-smelling tags will tend to zero.
- If the pet was caught "hot", you should take it by the scruff and raise it to eye level, a large animal should be supported from below with the second hand. So all cat moms carry their babies. Only a very strong opponent can raise an adult, this is intuitive to any cat.
- We begin to hiss loudly and violentlywithout taking your eyes off the animal and accompanying it with light strokes with your fingertips in the face. Remember how cats fight? They wave their paws alternately on both sides. In the same way you should strike.
- Don't look away until the cat pinches the tail and squeaks. Only then can we assume that he admitted defeat.
- To consolidate the rights of the "main cat" the label should be removed and put your own. Here it is not necessary to become like animals at all, just put on top or next to a piece of clothing with a pronounced smell of the winner (perfume, lotion, deodorant). You can simply treat the surface with your perfume.
If necessary, the procedure should be repeated until the result is fixed. The method is quite easy to implement with a pet. But what if the strangers, neighbors' cats mark the front door? It’s not so easy to scare away tailed ones. If you are not ready to selflessly guard your door day and night, you can try one of the proposed tools.
At pet stores sold various products with a specially developed compositionwhich does not harm cats and at the same time repels them according to the assurances of the manufacturer.
However, the practice and reviews of people faced with the problem show that very often the purchase of such drugs is a waste of money.
It is well known that cats are very sensitive to odors.For example, they don't like the smell of citrus. With a slight amendment, we note that there are feline representatives who adore citruses and quite successfully eat lemons, eating tangerines. This method is nevertheless affordable and it is simply necessary to try it. Another option is sprinkle this place with red pepper, mustard powder, grate with a raw onion, treat with iodine solution.
Another way that occurs on the forums is labeling with foil, which works according to the principle of a garden scarecrow. The budget option, but not all cats will be scared, it is likely that they will even decide that this is another toy.
Advocates of more radical methods advise smear the place of the label with chlorine-based cleaning products and even a solution of formidron.
However, bleach only enhances the smell of urine, moreover, many cats are not indifferent to this aroma. So you can get the exact opposite effect.
In order to get rid of the pungent odor, you can apply:
- UV flashlight for calculating the mark - in the event that it is not possible to detect the exact place where the jet hit the surface, for example, behind the battery;
- vinegar;
- “Cocktail” of water with vodka in a ratio of 1: 1;
- concentrated potassium permanganate solution;
- lemon juice - on leather and fabric surfaces it is better to use in diluted form;
- baking soda + hydrogen peroxide;
- professional products in the form of a spray or granules against the smell of cat urine.
Good luck with odors!
On how to get rid of cat marks, see the following video.
