Kitty cat issue

[Bride In The Attic]

I'm having an issue with our kitty, Tinkerbell, and she may have to find a new home.

Let me start by saying I am probably one of the biggest animal lovers you will meet and consider myself a good pet owner - but I am at my wit's end on this one.

We adopted Tinkerbell about 3 years ago from the city pound - she was only about 2 months old at the time. She has always been a good cat and gets along well with our other cat and my two daughters.

When she was about a year old she started urinating on our bed. Not all the time - about once a week. And, she uses the litter box so I know it's not a training issue. It's not a urinary tract issue either as it only happens from time to time. We've now gone thorugh several feather beds and duvets and I've now just got a duvet cover on my bed without the duvet inside...I was thinking she liked to pee on them because they were soft. Well, she still is urinating on the bed and has now started on DD's (2). I just can't put up with it anymore. I can't live my life with all of the doors closed to bedrooms all the time and expect guests and my kids to remember to always shut the doors.

She is fixed so I don't think she is marking a spot - I think it's just a bad habit.

Anyone experienced this? I'm wondering if there is something that I can buy and spray on the bed that would be safe and keep her away.

I'm about to contact a local rescue organization and see if they can find her a new home. It really breaks my heart but I can't keep doing this!

Help!!

 

[melanie18]

We are having the same problem with our cat (luckily its our dining room rug and not our beds). Some suggestions from our vet were:

Have you changed the type of litter you usually use?
The cat may have a urinary tract infection or kidney problem.
The cat simply has an attitude (don't they all )

We were told to confine it to a small room with just the litter box and food/water until it is consistently using the litter box. We are now going on 3 months of the cat being locked in the basement for days at a time only to come upstairs and once again, pee in the dining room. I'm getting close to my wits end.

I feel your pain. Our prior cat urinated on our bed repeatedly and we finally had to put him down due to kidney failure (we went through 2 mattresses, not fun and not cheap). As much as you love your cat, it's infuriating to clean mattresses where the urine simply soaks in and you can't EVER get it totally out.

Check with your vet for suggestions. Sometimes running a simple blood test will give you a diagnosis.

Good luck!

 

[Mish19]

YOu may think you have cleaned the bed/covers/carpet but simply cleaning is not enough. The cat smells the urine and "knows" that is an "acceptable" spot to urinate on. Get an enzyme neutralizer such as Nature's Miracle. Any pet store or vet clinic should have it. Cats also for some reason like to urinate on feather blankets, don't know why.

 

[andromedaslove]

I suggest that you try a different type of Kitty Litter. The best I have found is the Arm and Hammer Super Clumping Litter. Here's my story about my kitten. She has been with us since she was 6 weeks old, and has always had some strange habits. She won't drink out of the water bowl, she dips her paw in and then licks the water off, then she proceeds to shake all of the excess water off of her paws flicking water all over my kitchen counter. Then she started peeing on the leather couch, my husband's leather jacket, etc... Come to find out the kitty litter wasn't clean enough for her. In my defense my son was supposed to be cleaning the kitty litter every day and obviously wasn't doing it good enough for her. Ever since I took over cleaning the litter myself we have not had a problem with it at all. The Arm and Hammer Super Clump has helped alot too. It clumps REALLy well so that you can remove almost all of the pee, which keeps it from smelling, and keeps her from peeing on my leather. Just a suggestion.

Dana

 

[Randi]

Ditto on the feather statement. My cat peed on my down comforter, and I couldn't stop him. I had a mattress cover so I never had to get a new mattress. I finally threw out the down comforter after I got sick of washing it. I went to a polyester filled one with a new duvet cover and he hasn't peed on it again. That was 7 years ago.
Good luck.

 

[LoveWDW]

When we adopted a new kitten we kept her in the bathroom at feeding times so that she would eat the kitten chow and the older cats wouldn't. (Naturally as soon as we let her out the other cats raced to the kitten chow and she raced to the dishes with the older cat's food- but that's another story.) Every time we locked the kitten into the bathroom- and it only happened at meal times- one of the older cats, age about 7, would "use" the kitchen rug - both things- the litter box wasn't in the bathroom, it hadn't been moved from the basement. When we gave up trying to separate the cats at meal times the bad behavior with the kitchen rug stopped. The rug, by the way, was machine washable, and I washed it all the time and am pretty sure it was de-scented- especially since the behavior did stop. So what I am saying is that the behavior seems to have been a way to protest something the cat was upset about- the new kitten being given supposedly special food.

I wonder if putting a liquid-proof pad on the bed and using some cat repellant from the vet would work.

 

[Microcell]

I second Natures Miracle- they have it at petco. It does work. It may not stop her if it is an attitude thing, but if it is a scent thing it should stop if you use Natures Miracle.

My cat got mad at me right after I brought both babies home and peed twice with DD and once with DS. Could it be having trouble with any kind of big life change?

 

[SchultzFamily]

We have the same problem with our cat. He's about a year and a half old and has been peeing on various things since we got him (about 8 weeks old and fixed). His favorite is clothes left lying on the floor. I'm constantly telling the kids to pick up any clothes and put them in the hamper but you know kids, things still get left on the floor. Now my daughter's carpet smells. We had it cleaned today (they even came yesterday and sprayed something on it to break down the urine prior to cleaning) but it still smells. DH wants to give the cat away but he is otherwise such a sweetheart with a wonderful personality that the kids and I have been resisting that! I ordered a product called Urine Gone that we saw an ad on TV for but it hasn't come yet so I don't know how well it will work. We've done the Natures Miracle and it hasn't helped the carpet, must be down in the pad. I have put Natures Miracle in the wash when I've washed the clothes he's peed on and it really works well. DH is convinced its because he's a male cat and we've never had a male before and never had this problem before. Hopefully this Urine Gone works but I'm not really counting on it.

 

[Aidensmom]

I've never had a problem like that with a cat, but my dog will chew up some of my sons plastic toys if his bedroom door is left open, so we just close it. I am not sure why you would rather get rid of your pet than close the bedroom doors. It is my 4 year olds chore to make sure all the bedroom doors are closed (and the dog or the cat are not in there) every day. I would much rather do that than a pet I consider a member of my family.

 

[DisneyMomOK]

I don't have any suggestions because I have never had a cat, but what a terrible position to be in. I understand loving an animal, but wouldn't that be very unhealthy for your DD to have the cat urinating on her bedding? Based on some of the previous posts, it sounds like even washing cannot completely dissipate the urine. Good luck with what sounds like a very difficult problem.

Sharon

 

[Bride In The Attic]

Thanks for all of the suggestions - I've been washing the bed linens with Febreeze but I'll try Nature's Miracle. I really think it's a bad habit and I'm not having much faith it will ever go away.

I am not sure why you would rather get rid of your pet than close the bedroom doors.

I guess I'm just very frustrated about the whole thing. I don't want to find her another home - but it is a pain in the neck to keep the doors closed all the time and, quite honestly, I don't want to have to! I want fresh air in the bedrooms and I want my DD2 to be able to go in and out of her room without finding someone to open her door. And, everyone has to sleep with the doors closed at night...DD(8) is having dream issues and would rather sleep with her door open. It is a hassle.

I'm trying to cut Tinkerbell some slack and will try some of the suggestions you all have given me - thank you Dis'ers

 

[Bride In The Attic]

I understand loving an animal, but wouldn't that be very unhealthy for your DD to have the cat urinating on her bedding?
Sharon

That is something I do think about - as much as I love Tinkerbell, of course my DD comes first.

I'm going to call the vet on Monday and chat with them about it. If it is a behavioral problem we'll have to have a family discussion and see what we are all comfortable with.

 

[Coloradomom]

All the suggestions here are good and I hope one works for you.
One word of caution if they do not. Taking Tinkerbelle to the pound may not be the best idea.No one will want a cat with that issue, and if they do not know about it and then it happens, they may not be as kind and humane towards her it as you have been.
We had that issue with a cat years ago and after trying all the remedies, nothing worked and it got worse.(if it had just been keeping doors closed for us that would have been ok, but it was everywhere). We decided (sadly) to have our kitty put to sleep so that he would not risk someone treating him badly in reaction to our issue. This was with our vet's total support and after she had helped us try various things.
It was hard to do but we felt it was more humane for him.
Good luck to all of you.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

When I used to live in Ohio with my fiance we had a neutered male cat that would always pee on my clothes and towels on the floor so we started shutting him out of the rooms. Then he started urinating on the blankets on the couch so we had to keep them in the closet. Then he started getting in our gym bags and urinating, so we had to put them away. We kept taking him to the vet and changing the litter but nothing was found to be wrong. It was driving us crazy. So now my fiance and I have gone our separate ways (not because of the cat) and he got to keep the cat. And my clothes and towels are urine free! What a great deal. Good luck!

**I've heard Listerine poured on the spot and then washed also gets rid of anything the cat can smell so he/she won't go in the same spot again.

 

[Chesire]

My goodness, I thought I was the only one with a problem like this! Thank you for posting!
We have a wonderful 7 year old male who is the sweetest animal I have ever had. He just likes to urinate on any clothing/blankets on the floor and the dog beds. He has been to the vet several times and this is definitely a behavior issue. We have tried everything and nothing has worked. We also keep every door closed so he doesn't get tempted.
At first we were dealing with it and cleaning up after him. Then Christian came along. I don't like having a baby around a cat like ours and we are at a loss of what to do. The cat has never touched anything of Christian's.
We were also told the animal shelter would put him down.

 

[Bride In The Attic]

We were also told the animal shelter would put him down.

I will definitely not take Tinkerbell to the pound - that is where we got her from and her time was running out. There are several no kill organizations in our area that find foster homes until a forever home can be found. If we decide Tinkerbell must go this is who we will use.

If you go to petfinder.org and click on rescue organizations you can find the no kill orgs in your area...

Good luck with your kitty! I too am surprised at how many of us have the same problem!