House Soiling Analysis

DECISION ANALYSIS FOR CAUSES OF HOUSE SOILING IN CATS

I have developed a “Decision Analysis for Causes of House Soiling in Cats” which follows. In this diagram, I have started with what you start with – what you are finding on the floor. If you are finding only feces out of the pan, for example, you look to the right to see the most common causes for this behavior. Use this decision analysis diagram to see if you can decide the cause of your cat’s problem. Then you can decide how best to treat it.


Feces only out of pan?	YES→	Suspect medical problem (constipation, colitis, arthritis)
NO		Cat prefers another location
↓		Possibly marking behavior
↓
Urine and feces out of pan?	YES→	Pan is aversive
NO		- Dirty pan
↓		- Covered pan, liners, scented litter
↓		- Litter unacceptable, prefers another substrate
↓		- Pan is too small, too deep
↓		Dislikes location (not private enough, etc.)
↓
Urine on vertical surfaces (spraying)?	YES→	Territorial anxiety or other anxiety (another cat, new person in the house, etc.)
NO		Sexual marking by males and females
↓
↓
Urine on horizontal surfaces (squatting)?	YES→	Medical problem (UTI, renal failure, etc)
		Prefers another location or substrate
		Emotional problem/anxiety (too many other cats, etc.)
		Marking behavior
		↓
Pan is aversive	←YES	Urine on varying surfaces? (Ex. carpets, beds, clothes, and hard surfaces)
		NO
		↓
Dislikes the location of the pan	←YES	Urine always in same spot?
Dislikes the litter

Links to return to

Part One -
Why cats miss the litter pan

Links to continue to

Part Three -
What to do about the problem

Go Back To Page Top ↑