We Tell You How Cats Mark Their Territory

Cats are fascinating animals, but there may be a couple of things and curiosities that you do not know and that it is important that you inform yourself, especially so that you can better understand their behavior and can attend to their needs. One of those things has to do with the territoriality of felines, so be prepared because we will tell you how cats mark their territory.

Cats are usually very territorial animals, although this varies greatly depending on the breed. Therefore, they use different ways to make other cats understand that a certain space or object belongs to them. Cats basically use three ways to mark their territory, so learn to identify them so you know how to deal with situations like missions or what their affectionate approaches mean.

Anal glands

The most common way of marking in cats is through urine. However, this is almost unique to male cats, and usually occurs when there is a female cat in heat nearby. The missions are made with small amounts of urine impregnated by the oil produced in its anal glands, which are emptied when the cat expels the urine and indicates that the animal is ready to reproduce.

Cats leave these messages on the surfaces where the cat can approach, so they will also do it inside your house, since it is within their territory. There are artificial pheromones that are used to apply on the surfaces that you do not want the cat to urinate, however, this problem is greatly reduced in neutered cats.

Other reasons why cats carry out missions is when something surprises or scares them, when they are under a lot of stress, after a move (because they must delimit a new territory), when a new feline or other pet arrives at the home.

Pheromones

Just as the anal glands produce pheromones that mix with their urine to make the marking, cats also use an oil that is produced close to their skin and is secreted through the pores to delimit the objects they consider theirs.

So they commonly rub their body against certain objects or people, especially if they share their territory. So what we normally take as the cat’s way of showing us affection  really corresponds to a dominant attitude towards us, but don’t worry, this is absolutely normal.

You will be surprised to know that cats do this even with other animals, for example with dogs, and that the glands responsible for producing this oil are found throughout their body, including their pads, tail and head.

Scratches

Something that can be very upsetting to cat owners is finding their furniture and belongings destroyed by scratches, which their cute pet has given them. However, this is one of the most normal and healthy activities that a cat can have. Scratches are a visible way that cats use to indicate to others that this place belongs to them or that it is their play site.

Scratching is part of their nature, so you will hardly get them to stop doing it. What you can do is control the places where it does it by teaching it from puppy to use scratchers, at first it will cost you a little to start using it, but with a little patience and training it will learn.

The best thing you can do is determine the places where he likes to scratch, since they generally choose the same places to do it. Once you have identified it, leave a spray with water nearby and when you catch it scratching, throw some water on it and take it to the place where the scraper is located. You must place it in an easily accessible place that remains cool, cats do not like hot places.

However, if the cat scratches all over the house, continues to do it in other places despite the scratching post, or scratches or bites you frequently, it may be a stress problem, so it will be good to take him to the vet so that do an evaluation. And remember never, under any circumstances, ever tear your cat apart.