Submitted by a viewer of the Urine Marking CE archive (available for On Demand viewing):
Still a bit confusing why the differentiation "urine marking" versus "house soiling." Is this just an arbitrary categorization we created, considering so much overlap? Where does Pandora Syndrome fit in here???
Hi there,
Urine Marking and House soiling (aka inappropriate elimination) serve different purposes for cats.
Urine marking (and fecal marking / middening) is about communication, whereas house soiling is about emptying the bladder or bowels.
Many cats, in primary care, will clearly be in one camp or the other. So, the general rules apply. However, SOME cats urinate out of the box to void their bladders, urine mark for communication reasons, AND have medical problems on top of that! Or they can have any combination of these reasons for urinating / defecating outside of the box. Cats that are house soiling may very well have Pandora Syndrome. Cats that are only urine marking are most likely to be medically normal (but still should be checked, especially if there is no environmental trigger and the cat is over 1 year of age).
Multimodal environmental enrichment is the fancy name for meeting normal behavioral needs. Many famillies never have to do it "on purpose," because they don't recognize their cats as having any problems. But, in reality, the basic recommendations made for cats with Pandora Syndrome (not including the medications and specific diets) are the way ALL cats - in a perfect world - would be managed.
I hope that helps. If I've only muddied the waters, let me know. I'd love to talk about it more! :)
Dr C
Here is a good recap on Urine Marking and a resource for your clients!
