will a female cat mark her territory if another cat is going into heat?

Question

i have a 15 yr. old cat and a 5 month old kitten. the kitten isn't fixed yet (vet's recommendation) and is possibly going into heat. my older cat has recently begun to spot the carpet and all the areas which she usually lays. she's still using her litter box but is randomly peeing in certain spots. i've had the kitten for about 3 months and my older cat just started this new behavior. is this normal?

in response to a response, my vet, whom i trust implicity, (he was a former medical director for the aspca) suggested we wait because it would be better for her the kitten's maturity, but we are getting her fixed soon. i have heard different age ranges before so i'm hoping he knows what he's doing.

Answer 1

There are a couple of answers to your question..I have 6 cats and do lots of reading about them and their behaviors. Your cat may have a health related problem (peeing outside the litter box is usually a sign) Or, she may be telling you that she is jealous of the kitten, and is marking her territory with urine. I have a female cat that does this...and I have to keep her separated from the others. She doesn't do it when I have her with one of my neutered males. You may also need to get another litter box, my vet told me to have 1 box for each cat, or even one extra because they can pick on each other for the litter boxes, and don't like each others odors. It's best to wait to have the kitten spayed at 6 to 9 months before the heat cycle. Give your older kitty treats when she is with the kitten, so she can associate the kitten with her favorite goodies. They learn by association, and that helps the process of her accepting the kitten. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

15 years your cat could also developed a bladder infection from the stress of having a new cat in the home. Sometimes they will not use the litter box because of territorial issues so it's always good to have one litter box for each cat plus an extra one just so they can have each if one is using the box at the moment. http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/inappro-elim3.html

Another person on here had the same problem a couple weeks ago and discovered that the kitten was stressing out her older cat.

Answer 3

It's not unusual. Hopefully, it will stop once the kitten is fixed.

The general rule for fixing kittens is 5-6 months. Is there a specific reason the vet doesn't want to have her spayed yet?

Answer 4

yes