Dear George,My humans don't understand me. A new despot cat has moved into the neighbourhood and they haven't even noticed. He's leaving unplesant and scary messages on the nearby plant pots and walking up and down the wall glaring at me.
So I did the natural thing. I sprayed on the windowsill - a big post-it sign which said "There is danger here!" I wanted to remind myself that it was dangerous to look out and see him.
Oddly enough my humans then sprayed themselves - pine scented disinfectant. A really big urine mark out of a bottle. Naturally I topped it up and have kept it topped up. They are getting even more upset than I am. And they don't get the message at all. How can I tell them what is going on?
Oliver
Dear Oliver,
This is a common problem among humans. They are scent blind as well as dumb animals. Can't read body language. Can't detect scent. Don't keep an eye out for other cats. Hopeless apes, as Wicky Whudler calls them. Worse still, when they do detect the spray scent of danger, they just don't understand it and try to cover it up with stuff they think smells like pine forests. Actually to us it smells like cat urine in a pine forest, and very strong cat urine. So naturally that makes us feel even worse and we try to cover it up with our own scent.
Your problem is how to communicate with an inferior species, your humans. Our rather sad pets often misunderstand spraying altogether. They think we are being "naughty" or "evil" or even trying to take our revenge on them. This is really pathetically incompetant of them but we must remember that humans are dumb animals. They cannot understand a word of what we are saying.
Spraying is an sign that we are anxious and that we need help. Usually what upsets us is the intrusion of another into our territory -- the cat next door, a new cat in the household, nearby dogs or a new puppy. Sometimes house sitters and cat feeders upset us too. So we spray. And usually where we spray give an indication what is going on. If it is near the window it is because we see something worrying outside. If it is near the door to the garden, it may be that a neighbouring cat has posted a spray mark just the other side of the door. And so on.
Our problem is not spraying. Our problem is getting help for our anxiety. Our humans simply don't understand us and at times this makes me gloomy,
George.
PS. My late companion William is sponsoring a photo competition in the Cat Extravaganza, 4th September 2pm, St Leonards Church Hall, Marshalls Brow, Penworththa, Preston, Lancs.
I'm so happy I "happened" on your blog site because you really understand we cats & how we feel. I'll be following your blog faithfully now.
ReplyDeleteMy beloved Oscar sprayed in my husband's closet because I had a house coat in the laundry hamper with the neighbor's dog smell on it. It never occurred to me he would even notice, I was sooo wrong! Did he ever notice.
ReplyDeleteCelia, George's mum came to my rescue. She told me to put surgical alcohol (denatured alcohol in the US) on the spot on the floor. It totally removed the problem area and Oscar never went back to that spot again. It totally removed the odor from the closet floor. We have hardwood floors so it just poured a small amount of the denatured alcohol on the floor and let it soak in, then wiped it up. As George suggested your kitty is upset with the spraying on the outside. Their sense of smell is incredible.
My name is Walter and I spray! I'm 9 now but I've sprayed since I was 18 months because I was poorly and while I was feeling unwell a tommy cat came into my kitchen and left a threatening message, I didn't know if the message was to me or to my brother or sister but it made me anxious and it made me redirect my aggression onto my brother, sister and another sister who came to live with us soon after. I also was bereaved and lost my uncle who I loved very much. I had a horrible time for a few months and it really upset me. I have seen a pet shrink but she advised drugging me! My people said "no way", they've tried all the usual stuff Feliway and Bark remedy (is that not for dogs? Bark?)and still I've sprayed through thick and through thin. They say it's part of my charm and I'm never going to give it up now and they don't even think I'm anxious these days and because my sisters sadly died there is only my brother and me, so now and again I bully him but not as often as I used to. But I need to spray! I spray the curtains sometimes but not all the time, I spray beds and I spray computer desks! My people put plastic up because they know I have to let out my feelings somehow and they would rather I sprayed than self harmed by licking my fur off. I spray if they move the furniture or if they bring anything new into the house, I spray it. I spray handbags, shoes, humans, I spray upwards, sideways, I can aim between doors and I can hit small targets and once I even sprayed a banana that was waiting to be eaten. My people have searched the Internet for years and tried all sorts of things to make me forget about spraying but folks I am never going to forsake spraying because I love it, it makes me feel good, so they just wash the places I spray and hope their house doesn't smell too bad.
ReplyDeleteThey say they love me unconditionally and if I need to spray then I'd better get on with it and spray...so I do.
Love Walter
Oliver, my advice? Spray .....all you want!
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm upset I pee on their clothes, laundry, purses.....on whatever I feel is worth to punish them! Keep up the good work :-)
Love
Minnie
Hm! I sometimes want to do it really bad but being a rescue.....I always have second thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to spend winter outside again in my life!
Frederico
Che pasa? Spraying? And they don't get the message? Man, they must be really slow (I'm talking intelligence here)
ReplyDeleteCan you re-home to more intelligent people?
Diego
Hey, I'm doing it on the rug by the main entrance and they have no clue why I'm doing it!
ReplyDeleteThey turn the rug around! Can you believe it?
Cheetho
I'm too shy to do it! I'm a rescue and after 2 years on the streets I won't take the chance.
ReplyDeleteThank you but no (no matter how tempting it is)
Shumba
Cheetho, doors to the outside and windows are very worrying places for cats, it's where apes come in and out, and where we see other intruder cats. Ask your apes to get some Feliway spray and spray it on both sides of the door posts inside, spray it at about your head height (not on you though!) and get them to remove the rug. They need to re-spray about every three days. They could put a Feliway diffuser in the hall near the door too. Tell them you are peeing there because you feel vulnerable about what comes in and out of the door and what is outside. Sometimes you just have to spell it out for apes.
ReplyDeleteWW