Cats mark their territory in different ways, all with the common denominator of being unpleasant or even damaging to the home. The most obvious way that felines mark their territory is leaving a small trail of urine, but they can also do it with scratches. To get rid of these signals left by your pet, OneHowTo gives you the answer to the question of how to stop my cat from mark its territory.
Most cats do not need to mark their territory when they feel very safe in their home and have the feeling that they are the real masters of the house. This happens when they have no competition from any other pet in the house or when there are no small children who can steal the attention of their masters.
If your pet begins to leave traces of urine or scratches because you have brought a new cat home or have had a baby, to stop your cat does from marking its territory, you need to make it feel that your love for him remains intact. An alternative is to place all their belongings - bed, litter tray and food - in a part of the house to which the new pet or baby has no access.
This way, the cat will feel like he is the master of his domain and will not feel the need to urinate outside the litter box or scratch furniture to be noticed and to state that he is the owner of what he considers his possessions.
If, for whatever reason, you feel that this first option for stopping marking his territory is not useful, you do have alternatives. To avoid scratches, protect the corners of furniture with fabrics. Cats especially like wide, vertical surfaces. Place scratchers at key points so that your pet has a place to sharpen their claws.
As for urinating, this issue is more difficult to solve. You can buy powdered pheromone products which you should apply in your cat's favourite locations. In principle, the cat will stop urinating in the areas where they smell the product.
You should know that cats have other ways of marking their territory which are often more acceptable for their masters. This consists of leaving their pheromones on different surfaces around them. So when your kitten rubs her neck and head on your ankles in what may seem a sign of affection, it really is rubbing its pheromones on your body to make it clear that they think you are their property.
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