Why is My Cat Marking my Sofa

Normally cats do not mark the sofa however when a cat feels anxious or is under stress they will mark the sofa and other areas of your home.

I used to rescue cats that were abandoned and bring them through the house to my safe room. Well, that was enough for my pet cats to feel threatened. They would immediately start marking everything. They certainly got my attention and I knew they were not happy, It was their way of telling me that the cat was not welcomed.

Any changes made to the home can cause your cat to become agitated and feel stress. Your cat may roughhouse with the other cats or the family dog then feel stress or anxious. New visitors to your home may upset your cat. If you have a quiet home and the noise level has changed such as more people making loud noises, yelling, fighting, or even loud music.  If the environment of your home changes in any way it will have some effect on your cat.

When a cat marks the sofa, the door, the bed, or anywhere else in your house they are marking their territory. As if to say this is mine, mine, and mine. You can prevent territory marking by using Feliway room diffusers.

A new pet may cause your cat to feel anxious.

Buy Feliway and plug the diffuser into your electrical outlet 10 days before you bring the new pet into your home. This will allow your cat to feel the effects of the diffuser and will calm your cat. Cats will then be more welcoming to the new pets or people. Feliway is a great product to calm an anxious cat. For best results buy, only Feliway cat products, do not mix them with other products and I recommend shopping at Chewy.com (best price for this product)

NOTE: If there are no changes in your home that would trigger your cat to mark then your cat is telling you that it is sick, Cats will mark or pee outside of their litter box when they are ill, It is how they communicate with you. Don't yell at your cat for doing this as it will frighten them. I would recommend taking your cat to the veterinarian for a wellness checkup

Also, it is imperative that newly adopted cats go into a home that has a Feliway diffuser in the outlet.  All newly adopted cats suffer from stress/anxiety and the Feliway will help them to adjust to their home.

How To Care for Stray Kittens

Where I reside it is common for people to abandon their cats and kittens. Every spring we seem to find boxes of kittens left in the woods by my home. Some kittens are weaned others are not.

Photographs of stray kittens

Catching and caring for them are very important because baby kittens rarely survive. They do not know where to go for shelter, how to protect themselves from predators and do not know where to go for food or water.

When we find kittens in our woods we will bring them back home and feed them, hydrate them then check for fleas or injury, We keep all kittens in a room that is safe. This room is their sanctuary where they have all that they need. It is an area in our home that is away from people and other pets. A quiet room that has cat beds, litter boxes, a cat tree and food and water bowls.

This is where the stray kittens will stay until we take them to the veterinarian for a wellness check, dewormer, and vaccines (if they are old enough)

Stray kittens may or may not be people friendly. So it is important to interact with them daily, I like to go into the safe room to read my book or look at a magazine. I never approach the kittens first, instead, I will sit and wait for them to come to me.

Once the kitten makes the first move to be friendly, then I will hold them, pet them and love them. I always talk to the kittens with a calm and caring voice. This helps to not fear humans.

I work with the kittens so that they learn to use their litter box and to scratch on a tree. Spending time with the stray kittens is a way to get them ready for their next step. Being adopted and going to live with their forever family.