A case of spraying and house soiling in a domestic shorthair cat

Abstract

A domestic shorthaired cat was evaluated for a severe case of spraying and urinary house soiling. The owner was instructed to modify the cat's environment by offering a variety of litter boxes and litters, cleaning urine-marked areas with bacterial-enzymatic cleaner, placing infusers of synthetic feline facial pheromone in the home, and refraining from punishing the cat for urinating outside the litter boxes. In addition, the patient was placed on daily fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Within a month, the cat's spraying and house soiling behaviors had been eliminated completely.