Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hello

Please can someone give me any advice on how to stop my kitten from peeing on beds.
He is fully litter trained, a bit over 4 months old and I clean the litter tray out everyday.

He's only recently started doing it and I've had him almost a month now.
The first time was in my parents room which he hadn't been in before and he dived over to the bed and peed, I thought he may have been spooked by something.
The second time was about a week later and I was brushing my teeth and came back to my pyjamas completely soaked through and gone through several layers of bedding.
Then when I was fast asleep last night I was awoken by a very strong smell of cat pee to find he'd peed on the duvet next to me and it had soaked through to the mattress
I've always kept my bedroom door open and he usually comes and sleeps with me, next to me or on my windowsill but I can't leave the bedroom doors open anymore in case he pees on the beds.
He's only done it these 3 times but I don't understand why he's doing it and it took a lot of cleaning to get the smell out of my mattress.
He has been neutered.

Please can someone give any advice, it's upsetting me and I can't afford to have ruined bedding and mattresses from staining.
Many thanks

My first thought it sounds very like what happened with one of the ginger kittens we had when I was a kid, at about 4 months old he suddenly started peeing on the bed. He used a litter tray fine until then. A quick visit to the vets and as the vet put it 'he's a big lad isn't he', he wan't just referring to body size. At that time cats were always neutered at 6 months, the vet made an exception and neutered him early, he never did it again. We had several other cats in the house at the time and he had just started marking territory.

So that would be my first suggestion, get him neutered. Early neutering is far more accepted now, the charity I support neuters all its kittens at 12 weeks assuming they are big and healthy. The vet can also check that there isn't any other medical reason for the behaviour.

The other one I have heard of but not seen, is that as they grow from kitten to large cat, if you use one of the larger pellet litters it can start to hurt their paws. If he seems to want to use the litter tray but doesn't want to stand on the litter the problem might lie in that direction and a change of litter might help.

Finally, get a hypo allergenic mattress protector, I think the one we have was about £15 at Asda. I got one originally to help prevent asthma attacks in the night, but they are also waterproof. The day we had our Ragdoll put to sleep he had just been sat on the bed all day with incontenence. When we finally went to bed was when we realised this, the bedspread, duvet, and sheets were all soaked through. The top of the protector was soaked but the mattress was dry. We bought a spare that weekend, so the bed is never with out one, it has never really been needed as much but it has helped when one of the cats was throwing up rather a lot. There may still be a lot of bedding to wash and dry, but knowing your mattress is safe really helps.

Hi Ruth

Thanks for your reply. He has been neutered already so it's not that

The litter I use also isn't large pellets and he pees on it fine.
Occasionally he'll dig at duvet covers and make him stop, so I thought maybe the material makes him want to pee on it for some reason or he's being territorial??
I'm a bit lost.

I'll get a mattress protector just in case and I'll book him for vets next week as he needs a check up anyway.

Thanks

It might just be the feel of the bed, but to be honest I've exhausted my ideas.

A check up at the vets would certainly be the first stop now, other than that keep the bedroom door shut for a while and hope he relearns that the litter tray is the place to go.

I really hope it is a simple solution. Constantly having to wash the bedding each day would be a nightmare.

Another use for the mattress protector is, cut off the elastic edges so you can spread it out, and put one over your duvet etc. I did this when I had an elderly cat who was being sick on my bed, and it saved me a lot of washing.

I've heard that putting tin foil on a place where a kitten has peed will prevent the kitten doing it again. Cats are supposed to really dislike the feel and sound of tin foil. I'm not suggesting you cover your whole duvet in it, just the patch where he digs and 'goes'. Maybe worth a try?

I agree with everything the others have said. I have a friend whose cat Molly, suddenly started to pee on her duvet, Vet said she did this because she had been spooked, which was true, my friend has a child, spawn of the devil, I'm tempted to join Molly and pee in inappropriate places when he's around. Vet said the duvet smelled of my friend, brought Molly the cat comfort, she saw it has a 'safe' place to mark her territory. Molly doesn't do it any more, due to a divorce where Dad took the cats (Molly's friend Milo, up to that point lived on a wide shelf in a walk in cupboard, and I don't blame him) and Mum took custody of the Evil One. But as the others have suggested, a visit to the Vet would be a good idea, might even prescribe a short course of a very mild sedative to relax your kitten, break 'the cycle'. Good luck honey, you would be surprised how common this problem is, but it's always solvable.

Issi

Thanks for all the replies everybody, much appreciated.

I'll let you know if I find a solution!

Hi Mabe when I bought Harper home she pooed & weed in my walk in wardrobe. Antonia one of the vets who,took her home one weekend, told me she did this in her bedroom & thought it may be a 'behavioural issue'. As it happened on carpet in my walk-in wardrobe I bought a spray "Urine off" & followed directions even putting garbage bags down & on hearing a 'crackle' @ 5am jumped out of bed, picked her up & put her in a kitty little tray which was in my main bathroom. Took about a month but no issues any more re: toileting & using trays. Point being could be a behavioural issue getting used to a new environment. Vivian