Veterinarians specializing in animal behavior at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine are conducting a clinical trial for the Food and Drug Administration aimed at determining how effective an anti-anxiety drug is in treating urine marking in cats.

Urine marking or spraying is a territorial behavior usually found in male cats or unspayed females. It can cause unwanted odors and stains on carpets, walls and furniture.

"Urine marking is not just a household nuisance," says Melissa Bain, a veterinarian in the behavior service and the study's principal clinical investigator. "It's also one of the leading behavior problems that lead people to relinquish their pets to animal shelters or even to have a healthy cat euthanized."

Bain and colleagues are now enrolling cats that exhibit urine-marking behavior in the study. Participating cats must be healthy and between one and 12 years old, share a home with no more than three other cats and mark on walls or other vertical surfaces at least three times per week.

The study will compare the potential decrease in the marking behavior of cats receiving the anti-anxiety medication with that of cats being given only a placebo or sugar pill. The results of the trial may help provide owners of problem cats with the means necessary to treat the problem of urine marking.

Cat owners interested in volunteering their pets for the study should call (866) 790-0279. Potential cases will be screened and appointments will be made for cats that meet the qualifications.

The appointments are being held at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in Davis, as well as sites in the UC Veterinary Medical Center in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Enrollment will continue through October 2001.