Cat at the dorm sprayed on me

Question

I'm a 21 year old female university student and I'm currently living at a dorm. There are a lot of cats here that have been living here since God knows when. I have loved cats since I was a kid but I tried to resist all of this since I came here. These cats can be really demanding and they sneak into your dorm room and leave cat hair everywhere and even eat your food so I usually stay away from them.

My friend and I were on the rooftop drinking tea with some other women too. This female cat came towards me, turned her bottom towards me and sprayed on me! I have always heard male cats spraying but this was a female and I'm sure she did not urinate but a spray. I jumped up and my tea was ruined, I ran to wash myself.

This was really odd. Cats hang around me often, cuddle in my feet and they also poop in the bathroom stall that I usually use. They urinated on my bed and pooped on it a few times too when I was new here. My friends say cats love me but I don't know what it is.

Why did this happen?

Answer 1

Sounds like territorial behavior. Contrary to common belief, female cats will spray territorially as well as males, but it is less common. Cats spray more when they are stressed, like when they are in a new territory, or their territory is being disrupted, like if there is someone or something in it that wasn't there before. So it's very likely related to the fact that it's in a dorm where new people are going in and out constantly. It's hard to say why cats pick the particular spots they do to mark. It may just come down to personal preference.

I recommend to continue keeping the cats out of your room. Another thing that might help is to get cat pheromone spray, known as feliway, which sometimes helps calm cats when they are stressed and marking territorially. It is also recommended to thoroughly clean with cleaners designed to remove cat smell, to discourage the cats from getting the habit of marking that spot due to the smell.