Cat peeing on beds

[Maymay]

I am getting desperate. I homed a lovely stray a year ago which my vet thought had probably been spayed. It turned out that she hadn't and had a litter of 5 lovely kittens in May. My daughters have homed 2 of them, my neighbours another 2 and we kept 1. They were all trained to the litter tray when they were first walking with no trouble. All the other kittens have no problems but mine will either pee or poo as soon as she gets upstairs! She is perfectly well behaved downstairs, but show her a nicely made bed and she will "perform" immediately. This makes life so difficult making sure she never gets upstairs. I am seriously thinking about re homing her, but who would want to take this problem on? Any ideas please. Other than this she is a beautiful, friendly lap cat.

[Willowgill]

Aw please don't resort to rehoming unless you have no other options. Has she been spayed yet - this might help? How many litter trays do you have and do you have any upstairs? Could you leave one outside the bedroom and shut the door until she gets used to using it or put waterproof covers on the beds with a litter tray next to the bed. Another thing is they don't like lemon oil so you could try soaking some cotton pads with it and placing about the bed (I've tried this on the carpet and it does seem to work). A lot of cats seem to like peeing on fabric and carpet for some reason and it is a difficult habit to break but it can be done with a lot of patience.

[Maymay]

Thanks for your reply - yes she has been spayed. We only have the one cat litter tray, but to be honest if I put any more round the house it might be me who is looking for a new home! My husband is quite anti-cat and he only agreed to have the stray under duress in the first place. We have tried long gaps between being allowed upstairs to see if the habit would reappear, but she can't seem to resist.

[lilynmitz]

This is a really common problem with kittens, as they like the soft texture under their paws. I'd suggest you just keep all the bedroom doors closed until you get on top of this.

What are you using for her litter? Can you change it to something softer? Make sure you clean it out regularly, as some cats don't like to use soiled litter. I'd also suggest you have at least two litter trays, for the same reason.

She may also be upset about her siblings suddenly disappearing, and it will take her a while to settle down again. Please resist the temptation to get cross with her, as she won't associate this with the soiling, and it will only stress her more, particularly if your anti-cat husband is reacting to this situation. She will really pick up on any stress and tension. Give her lots of reassurance and one to one play time, and try to stay calm around her.

Wash the soiled bedding with a biological detergent to get rid of the smell - if she can smell the urine, or bleach, it will encourage her to use the bedding again.

Some cats also don't like the smell of new perfume/aftershave/detergents, and soil to cover this. Could this be an issue?

Please don't give up on her. Soiling cats are really distressing (been there, done that!") but you can get on top of this eventually. I'm sure others will be along with helpful suggestions, but meanwhile this link might help.

http://www.catchat.org/urination.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JulieandBarney]

"My husband is quite anti-cat and he only agreed to have the stray under duress in the first place. We have tried long gaps between being allowed upstairs to see if the habit would reappear, but she can't seem to resist

Hi there,

Just to throw something different in the mix here, sorry ! My close friend had the same problem, the words above shout out that the cat is picking up on what appears to some resentment from your husband, the situation was exactly the same, he disliked cats, and the cat picked up on it, so he soiled certain places as he felt distressed....personally if that was my hubby I would be having words...lol.... x

[Maymay]

Thanks so much for taking time to reply. What seems so strange is that she uses the tray quite happily when downstairs - it is only when she gets upstairs (which is very rare) that she pees inappropriately. I may have overplayed the anti cat husband. He loves them really but is anti trays all round the house. He usually has one or other on his lap so don't think there is too much stress involved! We use the finest grade litter I could find on previous advice and it is cleaned as soon as it is used.

[JulieandBarney]

Hi

That's good to hear that your hubby not such an 'anti cat' person !!...... I am biased I suppose, as my hubby works a 14 hour night shift, 4 nights a week, then has come home, and on more than one occasion, with me at work, sat awake with Barney for hours, (though he himself has been totally worn out) just getting some laxatives into him, as he has suffered with chronic constipation, until he is well and able to rest, then after about 2 hours sleep, he heads off for another night shift !! but as lomg as Barney is ok, he is fine !!....He is the same with our dog too....he loves animals bless him....

Maybe keeep the tray downstairs and try and stop contact upstairs as best you can....x

[lilynmitz]

Maybe you have to play it with your husband that in the short term at last an extra litter tray is preferable to piddle and poo in the bed. Just until you get her settled I a bit better. And definitely ban her from the bedroom for now. Mitz had a habit of oeeing on the hearth mat when he was stressed, so he was only allowed in the living room when we were here. He would also pee by the front door if someone knocked of the door rather than using a bell (he was blind and the knocking scared him). So we put up a notice by the door for visitors , problem solved. It just takes a bit of lateral thinking sometimes.