Q:
I would like to know if all cats spray? I would like to get a house cat but do not want it to spray my furniture.
A:
The vast majority of cats do not spray. Males are more likely than females to spray, but if a cat is neutered before 6 months, he will almost never spray.
If an intact male cat does begin to spray, neutering him will solve the problem in about 95 percent of the cases. The more cats there are in the household, the more likely that a cat will show territorial behavior. Spraying is one of those behaviors, so keeping the cat population in your household to a reasonable number minimizes the risk of spraying.
The fact that you do not have a cat at the moment is in your favor; a single cat in the house is very unlikely to spray. If spraying is truly a concern, adopt a female cat; this will reduce the risk even further. In the worst case scenario, if your cat did begin to spray, there are many things that can be done to rectify the behavior. This includes making some changes to the environment and in some instances, administering cat medication. Many cat supplies are available for cleaning up.
But I don’t think this is going to be a problem for you. Go ahead and adopt a cat (from a shelter, ideally). You won’t regret it.
By: Arnold Plotnick
Featured Image: Via Shutterstock/Helen Liam
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