Siamese

　　Whether it is dogs or cats, random elimination behavior especially troubles owners. If you keep two or more cats at home, such bad habits are even harder to correct. Of course, it is not impossible. The following content introduces how to correct multiple cats' random elimination behavior.

　　1. Cat owners should take action as early as possible. If the random elimination continues for a long time, it becomes increasingly difficult to correct. The random elimination problem may be caused by competition for territory. At the same time, this behavior also affects other cats' daily life and disrupts the established hierarchy among cats. If you do not take timely action to stop this wrong behavior, you will find the problem getting worse and worse.

　　2. Find the culprit. When you try to judge “why the cat is doing this,” you first need to find out “who is doing it.” If you can identify this culprit early, you can target and focus your effort on “managing” this problematic cat. Many people isolate cats one by one to find the “suspect,” but the other cats that are not isolated may re-mark their territory by eliminating randomly. If you have a new cat or an almost adult cat at home, you can take the cats to the vet. The vet can give the cats a fluorescent agent that helps identify which cat’s urine residue glows under UV light.

　　3. Behind the random elimination problem, sometimes hides a risk of urinary tract diseases, especially if there are elderly or free-roaming cats at home. Cats with urinary tract disease feel pain when urinating and often regard the litter box as a “place that causes pain.” Some other health problems can also cause random elimination. If you do not take the cat to the vet for urinary tract examination in time, the other cats in your home will also be in a risky situation, as the behavior may increase and worsen. Furthermore, any behavioral training cannot solve the elimination problem caused by disease, so please do not be lazy and take the cats to the hospital promptly.

　　4. Observe the cats' behavior. If the vet diagnoses urinary tract disease, owners need to continue observing the cats for some time. During the observation period, cat owners should focus on the cats’ living environment, such as litter boxes, food bowls, favorite spots, other cats’ daily life, and family member situations, etc. It is best to prepare a notebook to record each incident of random elimination you find, then see if you can find some connections: Does the cat always eliminate randomly in the same room? Is it always on the carpet? Does it happen after meals or at other times as well? Are other cats around at the time? Do you have guests at home? If you can analyze each factor that stimulates the cat’s random elimination, then you do not need to make large changes to the cats’ living environment (such changes can make other cats uncomfortable) to try to solve the problem. (Source：PetsZone)