Our cat sprays in the litter box when he expects food outside of meal times and doesn’t receive any.
What can we do to prevent this?
Cat is male, neutered, almost 2 years old.
We feed him 4 times a day (8am, 930am, 8pm, 930pm).
Mix of wet and dry food (he much prefers dry food).
He has 2 litter boxes at different parts of the house.
What usually happens: 30-60min before his meal time, he might start to pester us for food by nudging us and biting us.
When we walk around the house, he dashes after us as though he’s expecting to be fed.
If we enter the kitchen and he dashes in, only to realise there’s no food, he then proceeds to enter a litter box to spray.
We did consider health issues, but he’s been to the vet for a mild bladder inflammation before and the test didn’t show any UTI or stones.
It also only happens after being denied food, or if he receives wet food but prefers dry food.
We also try to play with him before meal times, but this behaviour still happens after we’re done playing.
Do we need to feed him earlier?
Feed him more?
Train this behaviour out of him?
Brief Answer:
Your cat’s behavior is a clear case of anxiety-driven, attention-seeking spraying, complicated by a history of bladder inflammation.
While spraying usually targets vertical surfaces, eliminating inside the litter box when stressed is inappropriate elimination.
The specific trigger – denied food – indicates a strong association between his anxiety, the expectation of a reward (food), and the elimination/marking behavior.
His prior bladder inflammation makes him physiologically predisposed to stress-related urinary issues.
The primary solution is to eliminate the unpredictability and your direct involvement in feeding.
I highly recommend switching to a timed, automatic feeder for his dry food portions.
This removes you as the “food dispenser” and significantly reduces the attention-seeking behavior and the resulting anxiety when denied.
You should also increase the total daily food volume slightly and distribute it across at least five to six smaller “micro-meals” to stabilize his blood sugar and hunger levels.
Finally, use an enzyme cleaner on any current or past spray sites, and introduce a Feliway diffuser near his primary resting area to lower his overall stress threshold.
Detailed Answer:
Your cat, a neutered male with a history of mild bladder inflammation (suggesting interstitial cystitis, often stress-related), is displaying a learned, anxiety-driven behavior.
The “spraying” inside the litter box is technically inappropriate elimination that serves a dual purpose: it is a response to high emotional arousal (anxiety from denied food) and a manipulation tactic to gain attention or express frustration.
The anxiety is heightened because he anticipates food, but when the expectation is broken (you enter the kitchen with no result), the psychological pressure leads to the urinary behavior.
Feeding him earlier or more in a free-for-all manner will only reinforce the demanding behavior, not solve the underlying anxiety.
The most effective, cost-saving solution is a multi-step behavioral modification strategy focused on reducing his anxiety and breaking the association between you, the kitchen, and food delivery.
First, invest in an automatic, programmable feeder for his preferred dry food.
Program it to dispense five to six very small, fixed-time meals throughout the day, including one around the time of the previous 8:00 AM, 9:30 AM, 8:00 PM, and 9:30 PM feedings, plus a few additional micro-meals in between.
This establishes a predictable, non-human-controlled food delivery system.
When he pesters you, you should completely ignore the behavior; he needs to learn the machine, not you, provides the food.
This will save you significant energy and stress from constant pleading and dashing.
Second, for his preferred dry food, use puzzle feeders or scatter-feed the portions, making him “work” for the meal.
This turns mealtime into a form of environmental enrichment, significantly reducing boredom and the time he spends fixating on your mealtimes.
This is a low-cost, high-impact behavioral intervention.
Third, ensure his two litter boxes are cleaned daily, using a non-scented clumping litter, and place a Feliway Classic diffuser near the area where he spends the most time relaxing or near where the spraying behavior often starts.
This synthetic feline facial pheromone creates a calming, safe-feeling environment, lowering his baseline anxiety level and making him less reactive to frustration.
By addressing the anxiety directly and removing your role as the unpredictable food source, you interrupt the cycle of demand, denial, anxiety, and spraying.
Should this integrated approach not show improvement within three to four weeks, a formal behavioral consultation or revisiting the Cat Spray Stop guide for its structured approach to instinct redirection would be the next cost-effective steps before further veterinary investigation.
About The Author
