Hi,

I've read all the pee threads here but still have a problem!

I have a neutered male approx 8 months old. He lives in a 4 bed house with me and (every other week) two 10 year olds. Ever since I got him in Oct he would pee on my son's bed first thing in the morning if given the opportunity. The rest of the day he's fine and uses his litter box. Shutting the bedroom door seemed to solve the problem but over the last couple of weeks he's started peeing on my bed first thing in the morning. Usually when I'm in it but this morning it was when I was in the shower.

Sometimes I can hear him yowling in the kitchen shortly before he comes upstairs and pees (a full on big pee) on the bed and I assumed it's because his litter box smells or he wants feeding. I've changed to wood pellets so the smell is no longer an issue I don't think and it's cleaned regularly. He likes to sleep on my bed and did so all last night with no problem but then after I fed him he peed so I don't think it's him wanting me to get up and feed him.

I'm using an enzyme cleaner on the mattress and bedding each time but there's a a lingering whiff. His litter box and food are in the utility room so I'm going to try moving one of them somewhere different but what else can I try?

He has a climbing perch with a sleeping platform that he naps on during the day but no dedicated cat bed as he's always slept on my bed. I let him out in the enclosed garden most days but he's not all that interested in staying out and only toilets in the house.

Any advice appreciated.

Well, first of all, a cat does not want to eat where the litter box is! The food should be in another area. Think about eating your dinner on top of the toilet in your bathroom, especially if you've just used it and didn't flush it!

If you have a larger home, then you need to have additional litter boxes, especially if your house has more than one level. Cats insist on a clean litter box. In most cases, the cause of a cat not using the litter box is caused by stress. Perhaps the fact that additional people come into the household every couple of weeks. The main thing is to rule out anything medically wrong.

It seems he does use his litter box at times .... so this could be behavioral. However, as I said before, if the litter box is clear across the house or on another level, he simply may not want to travel that far to use it. Set up another litter box closer to the area that he is using. I know for some people, they don't even want ONE litter box in the house, much less more, but if you want to solve the problem and have him use a litter box, then you have to place another one in that area.

If there is a lingering odor in your mattress, then the cat may return there over and over again. There are a lot of websites that deal with this problem and you can use Google to seek out answers that have worked for other people. Good luck.

Hi there. I had this problem with my 6yr old male neutered. He would not choose beds but would pee in corners of bedrooms and downstairs in the living room. Wherever he had pee'd I put a bowl of biscuits (just a couple in each dish, replenished when he had eaten them, I had about fifteen bowls at one point) as they don't like to pee and have food in the same areas. Also the food made him think of the area as a happy place just in case it was stress related. I also put litter boxes in the rooms he had pee'd in ( i now have 3 litter boxes) I also got huge litter boxes as he did not like small ones. I cleaned the areas with the enzyme cleaner as you have but it sounds as if a bed is not as easy to clean as a carpet. Feliway plug ins were also used and feliway spray where he pee'd but not sure whether they helped or not, it can't hurt though.

Oscar also liked to pee on fluffy things like throws etc, so I got rid of them or folded away. A piece of good advice I received was to make the bed perfectly in the morning with covers tight and flat as they sometimes like to pee on rucked up duvets etc. Regarding litter boxes, I clean twice a day with odour free wipes to avoid build up of smell as they are covered boxes. I also use a clumping litter so I can remove all the urine soaked litter. When I change the litter totally I keep a handful of used litter to put in fresh litter just to transfer his scent. Another thing you might try if he pees every morning at the same time is to put him in his litter box and praise him when in it. Oscar has not had an 'accident' for over three months.......touch wood. Good luck and hope it improves

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

I believe it's usually one of three things:

1. Letterbox aversion due to a medical condition (it hurts when he goes, so he tries to "fix" that by trying other locations)
2. He wants to go in a litterbox, but doesn't find any that are acceptable to him, so he chooses to go elsewhere
3. He's "marking" because of territorial insecurity

#2 is the easiest to fix, so it's the one you should probably assume is the case, and see if you can fix it. Try more boxes (open not closed), especially in places where he has "gone" inappropriately. Keep them immaculately clean, make sure they are large enough for him (larger = better for cats) and you may want to experiment with different types of litter. I know some people swear by wood pellets, but to me they are too hard to keep clean, and too hard to keep the smell under control. Put down like 3 or 4 boxes, and make a couple of them a clumping litter. That's my advice.

If that doesn't help, then you have to investigate the other two possibilities, which are less fun.

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The little monsters 3

We are having the same problem. We have a silver Bengal nutered male 7 months old. We rescued him from a chari tty and came with no mention of urinating issues. He peed on the bed this morn while I was in it right next to me. We've spent a small fortune on dry cleaning the bedding already. We have a vet appointment tomorrow to rule out medical issues.

so frustrating as he's so loving but it's a difficult behaviour to deal with.

We are getting a second litter tray today and if that fails we don't know what to do!

Emily, it's good that you're taking him to the vet to rule out anything medically wrong. Adding a second litter box is good, but the type of litter box is important. It must be large enough for the cat and some prefer open litter boxes to hooded litter boxes. The type of litter is important. Cats sniff around and they want a brand they can dig around in.

A lot of times, stress is a contributing factor. You didn't say how long you've had the cat, but there is an adjustment period for many of them. How noisy is your home? Do you have young children who are active. Environment changes can have a real effect on a cat. And you don't know how the first owner treated him.

Suggestion is to be patient and try to understand things from the cat's point of view. Cats, by nature, prefer to use a litter box. If a second one doesn't work, get another one. I realize a lot of people don't want them all over the house, but if you can find one location that works for your cat, that's where the litter box needs to be.

Watching some old episodes of My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet's website may offer you some insight as well. Many of the programs deal with cats not using the litter box. Good luck.

I've had no more accidents since posting but to be fair I've not really given him the chance to do it again as he's shut of the bedrooms unless someone is in there with him. I have made some changes though: bought a massive litter box to replace his other one (which itself was quite big), moved his food to the other side of the kitchen so it's away from the litter box. I also bought a new bed and mattress but that's not entirely due to the cat! I also bought him some new toys and a cat bed which is outside my bedroom door.

He's slept on my bed only twice since posting and I've made sure to shut him out after feeding him in the morning and when I'm in the shower. I'm quite surprised that he chooses to sleep in the cat bed most nights. Over time I'll let him have more freedom in my room to see if he does it again.

consider changing your detergent. fabric softener often smells like ammonia to cats which smells like pee so your fur baby could be peeing to mark his territory.
perhaps try that!