Health and Behaviour 91
Re-directed aggression
If a cat is unable to flee from, chase away, or fight with a perceived threat, the heighten
sense of arousal and frustration it experiences may cause it to re-direct aggression
towards whatever or whoever is closest. This could be the owner or another animal
that it normally considers to be part of its social group. Re-directed aggression is a
common cause of relationship breakdown and fighting between cats that have previ-
ously had a friendly, bonded relationship.
House-soiling
A breakdown in house training might result from the direct effect of stress on the
gastrointestinal or urinary systems (see previous sections), contributing to diseases
that can cause frequent elimination in multiple locations owing to urgency or lit-
ter-box aversion due to associations with pain or discomfort. A stressed, fearful or
anxious cat may also want to avoid eliminating in places where it feels vulnerable,
which may include the litter box and/or outdoor elimination areas.
Indoor urine spraying
Urine marking (spraying) is a normal communication behaviour in entire cats
(male and female) used primarily to advertise fitness and sexual status to potential
sexual partners and rivals (see Chapter 3). But in neutered cats, it appears to be
linked to a heightened state of arousal due to territorial behaviour and/or stress
and anxiety (Borchelt and Voith, 1996; Bowen and Heath, 2005; Neilson, 2009;
Amat et al., 2015).
Indoor urine spraying by neutered pet cats seems to occur most commonly
when there is perceived competition for resources with other cats, especially
with others not considered to be of the same social group. It can also occur in
reaction to other household stressors such as: moving house, visitors, building
works or a new baby in the household (Borchelt and Voith, 1996; Pryor et al.,
2001).
The reasons why neutered cats urine mark in the home is not fully understood
and various theories have been suggested, including:
● Territorial behaviour: advertising presence and fitness to keep other cats away
and so avoid contact and conflict. However, there is no evidence that cats avoid
the spray marks of others. In fact, they are more likely to spend time investigating
the mark and so stay in the area longer than they would do normally (Bradshaw
and Cameron-Beaumont, 2000).
● A coping strategy: (i) helping the cat to reduce its stress by increasing its scent
profile (Bowen and Heath, 2005); or (ii) providing itself with information as to
where there is likely to be potential danger or where a perception of threat has
been experienced previously, thereby giving itself greater predictability and control
over its environment (Bradshaw et al., 2012).