Not spraying, but looks like it

[yangdemei]

Mitts often looks like he is spraying (I guess, I'm not sure)

He'll walk up to something, point his butt at it and his tail will shake. But he isn't actually spraying!! Nothing comes out and there is no scent.

What is this? I'm worried most because we are thinking of getting him a buddy and don't want some weird habit to turn into a real problem.

FYI, he's just been to the vet and all is fine. He was fixed almost 9 months ago.

 

[momof3rugratz]

maybe it is a habit and he doesnt want to stop..

 

[urbantigers]

My cat does something very similar to this. He looks as though he's about to spray, his tail is in the air and his back end quivers. But in 9 years he has never actually sprayed. About the time I first noticed this there was a question in a cat magazine I read from someone whose cat did this too. The answer was that it is a behavioural thing and the vet likened it to a release of pent up emotion and said it was mainly slightly timid and nervous cats who did it. My Jaffa is quite a nervous little lad and a real mummy's boy and I noticed he does tend to do it most often when I go to pet him (especially when I get in from work). It's like he's so excited at the prospect of seeing me and getting a cuddle he has to release the emotion via a physical action. If your cat is doing the same as mine it's not at all harmful and just a little quirk! And he won't actually spray.

 

[sar]

You took the exact words right out of my finger tips!

Willow does this a lot and is a very excitable (yet needy) kitty! He will do it when we go to play, if he's not seen me for a while (even if it was only me being in another room) and on a multitude of other occasions!

I just say that I'm glad that he's neutered and call the behaviour his "weeing moments"

 

[yangdemei]

Originally Posted by urbantigers

My cat does something very similar to this. He looks as though he's about to spray, his tail is in the air and his back end quivers. But in 9 years he has never actually sprayed. About the time I first noticed this there was a question in a cat magazine I read from someone whose cat did this too. The answer was that it is a behavioural thing and the vet likened it to a release of pent up emotion and said it was mainly slightly timid and nervous cats who did it. My Jaffa is quite a nervous little lad and a real mummy's boy and I noticed he does tend to do it most often when I go to pet him (especially when I get in from work). It's like he's so excited at the prospect of seeing me and getting a cuddle he has to release the emotion via a physical action. If your cat is doing the same as mine it's not at all harmful and just a little quirk! And he won't actually spray.

Thanks so much urbantigers! He usually does this when I wake up or when I just get home. It is usually accompanied by a very cute roll on the floor!

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by yangdemei

Mitts often looks like he is spraying (I guess, I'm not sure)

He'll walk up to something, point his butt at it and his tail will shake. But he isn't actually spraying!! Nothing comes out and there is no scent.

What is this? I'm worried most because we are thinking of getting him a buddy and don't want some weird habit to turn into a real problem.

FYI, he's just been to the vet and all is fine. He was fixed almost 9 months ago.

You can take the "plumbing" away..but not the desire. My male does this too....and so does my female. Every day they "mark" their favorite spots with invisible spray.

Katie

 

[jen]

Mine do this too all the time.

 

[purrpaws]

Prego does it too. In fact when he goes outside (supervised only) he will spray tress and plants for real, but inside he only "pretend sprays"

 

[missymotus]

My boy Baker and girl Scampi do this too, mostly when they are excited.

 

[crys12065]

OMG...My kitty does the same thing! Especially when I get home from work and he is happy to see me! I was wondering what the tail thing was..it is so cute it quivers and shakes but nothing comes out.

I was also worried about getting him a buddy because of this behavior ( Ithought he wanted to spray but could not figure out how) but I will rethink it now that it seems to be more common than I thought

 

[katkisses]

Oh yes, about half of our cats, ferals included, do this! Cody doesn't, Dolly does and she's a girl!!! One of our younger cats, he isn't even a year yet, and is neutured, does it too!

I always wondered what the point of them doing it is, and probably will never know seeing as it's for different reasons from cat to cat.

 

[brennok]

Rogue, one of my females, has always done it, but has never sprayed. She does it whenever she gets really excited such as at feeding times. She gets so into it her back legs start moving up and down as she walks in place. I usually pet her and she stops.

 

[coaster]

Yes, my Rocket does this too once in a great while. The first time I saw it I jumped and rushed to stop him, but now I know he doesn't actually spray, I don't get too excited. The interesting thing is that he always does it in the same place, so I suspect it's a kind of marking behavior....although he's not actually marking anything.

 

[valkyri]

My Peaches does this. I always thought it was because he was a juvenile/teen... that when he grew up things would start working. It seems to me, though, that it is not a physiological problem, as I once thought. After reading these postings maybe he is "pretend" spraying. Why on earth he would do this, who knows? Thank goodness it is pretend, because he only does it to daddy's leg!! I was dreading the day he would do it for real. It sounds like maybe I was worried for no reason. Thank you, cat lovers! HUGS -V

 

[Rippit]

Worry. Our Groucho boy used to just act the part and did it for a couple of years. Now he really sprays right in front of us with no hiding it. I sometimes catch it early and yell before he does it and he runs for the door as if he knows he is being bad. Sometimes he does it really fast and it's like he's really trying to "blow it out there" by lifting a leg and everything. I clean it up right away so there is no odor lingering fro him to readdress. We are in a dilemma, we don't want to put him out permanently, but we can't have that behavior in the house. What is going on here?

 

[danteshuman]

Dante wiggles his tail when he gets excited. I thought he was going to start spraying so I had him neutered at 4.5 months instead of 6 months as planned. 10 years old & Dante still wiggles/shakes his tail when he gets excited. My bud is a hyper scared-y cat to. I guess you call it nervous. I call him super wuss & yes he is a mama's boy to. He is only brave when I'm around to protect him