I have to sleep alone because od back problems. She has never peed on my husband's bed, not once! (this bed is close to her litter box in the master bath.)

The vet asked if she likes both of us and she does. We got her from the shelter in May when our cat died. She is part Siamese. We buy her toys, and just bought her a cat tree which she loves.

Can anyone help me solve this problem?

Annz, I think that downsouth was saying the comforter is dark red, not the urine :)

I have a friend who has a cat who likes things a certain way. She expects her owner to be home at certain times for Her Royal Majesty's petting time. If my friend has evening plans, she has to ask a roommate to pet the cat and to close her bedroom door... or the cat will definitely pee on her bed! The last time my friend tried to pack a suitcase, she opened it up and put it on the bed. Before she could put a single item in it, the cat crawled inside of it and peed in it while making direct eye contact with my friend!

So is there anything that coincides with these incidents of intentional incontinence? Kids or dogs in the house? Visitors? Do your hours change? Is her routine disrupted in any way?

If you've ruled out medical causes, you need to explore the reality that sometimes our animals try to communicate with us in other ways... and sometimes what they have to say isn't very nice! Perhaps you could keep a journal and write down a description of all of the days events whenever this occurs? In looking at it in this way, you might discover something that is preceding the problem and develop a work-around...

He doesn't change the litter every day, but we will try that. I don't use scoopable, but I'm thinking we should switch. It would be more cost effective than throwing away regular litter every day that is still unused.

Hubby suggested shutting this bedroom door and that means her litter box would have to be moved to another area of the house. I really hate to do that as it's in the master bath which is out of sight/smell from the rest of the house.

There are no kids, no dogs, only the two of us.

The vet didn't run any tests. She just felt of her stomach. She was pretty sure it was something she's not happy about. Could it be that before she had a low litter box and this one is high? Or perhaps she smells our other cat in the house?

To the OP, I would suggest you get a more thorough exam (ie a urine test) to be SURE that this isn't a UTI problem. Somehow just feeling the tummy doesn't seem too scientific. Maybe because her bladder wasn't full the vet either couldn't get a sample or couldn't feel any swelling but that doesn't always mean there is no infection. Barring any medical issues, this may just be one of those frustrating cat-owner phases (we all have them). I wish you luck as well. :)

I suspect that, if there are no crystals in her urine and no infection present, the cat is simply showing signs of not being really settled yet in her new home. She may even be picking up on your grief over losing your previous cat.

How do you react when she does it? I know from experience how upsetting it is, but if possible, try not to show the cat your feelings, because it only causes her more upset and will make her worse. When she misbehaves, you could calmly show her the litterbox and have her smell it, just saying, "This is the right place. OK, girl?" And it is important to really remove the scent of her urine from the bedding each time it happens. There are enzyme products that will do the trick. Ordinary bleach does it, too, but would probably ruin the comforter from your point of view!
I may be wrong, but it has seemed to me that Siamese and Abyssinians are more prone to get upset and show it this way. We had a male Aby once who hated being alone until we got him a kitten companion. Our first time away overnight, we came home to find a cushion pulled out into the middle of the room, soaking wet with urine and with a little pile of something else on it. But we didn't go away again until we got the kitten, and he never did that again.
Not so pleasant a solution, but if you get desperate, you could also try using one of those large flannel-backed vinyl tablecloths on top of the comforter for awhile. I am pretty sure it would not interest the cat as a place to pee.

Try to hang in there, and I think she will get over the bad behavior pretty soon.

I never got along with my parents' last cat, who we had from the time he was a kitten until he died last year at age 17. Some time ago when I was still living at home, my parents went away for a vacation, and it was just me at home... danged cat decided to hop into the bathtub and drop a couple of nice turds RIGHT DOWN THE DRAIN HOLE of the tub. (The drain cover had been removed for some reason, so the turds went right into the hole... I had to fish them out with paper towels. GROSS.)

Same cat ruined two mattresses on theire guest bed-- any time they would have overnight visitors who also happened to be cat owners, my parents' cat would pee on the guest bed. The door was normally kept closed, but the cat would literally wait by the door and sneak in, usually unnoticed by the guests who didn't think anything of it, and he'd do his business when they left the room. Since the "keep the door closed" thing didn't work, they eventually had to put a waterproof mattress cover over the mattress... and who likes to sleep on a rubber mattress cover?! Ick.

Hubby and I, however, have had 2 cats (both females, both spayed, one declawed) for about 6 years now... They both share a litter pan, and we are not daily scoopers-- they get the old-style clay litter. Neither kitty has EVER, since we have had them, gone anywhere but in the litter box... And don't think I don't realize how lucky we are!! :)

I also had a dog that would pee on my husband's pillow at times, usually when she was under stress. She wouldn't do it very often and it was usually when something had drastically changed our routine--Christmas, etc.

I don't CARE about her stress level, what about mine? What the heck has a house cat got to be stressed about, anyway? She should have my life for a week, I'm the one who has a right to pee on the burners, if stress is any excuse!

I have two female cats (both are approx. 4 yrs old). A couple of months back I kept smelling ammonia in my kitchen. I finally figured out that one of the cats (Raiju) was peeing in the sink! Well, I tried cat repellent (doesn't work whatsoever), cayenne pepper (found little cayenne footprints all over the counter), duct tape, and then just covered the sink with cardboard...she peed on it no matter what was in her way.

I broke down and bought a $60 scatmat (shock pad). She actually managed to pee on that! I think she finally got shocked enough that she no longer pees in the sink...now she pees on the stove burner. Arghh!

To save my sanity...I have started locking her in my room when I leave. Two separate litter boxes and two sets of dishes. I was hoping that enough time would go by that she would forget about the sink and stove. Nope, twice now she has snuck over there while my attention was on the computer and peed on both (at the same time even!).

Someone told me recently that cats never pee where they eat. So they suggested I put bowls of food over the drains and over the burners. I am trying that now (16Mar07). I will post again with updates.

I am thinking if the food thing doesn't work I may buy a sonic fence.

downsouth, you may want to read my post about the dusty cat litter to get suggestions on a less dusty scoopable litter because what I used produced so much dust it was unreal! I would think that a dirty litter box would be the number one cause of this behavior. But obviously for some cats they've just gotten it in their heads that a bed is a great spot to pee!

My niece’s beautiful color point Persian suddenly developed something similar. After a very trying period, Jan found out her fiancé was mistreating the cat. The fiancé is no longer. Not that this is your problem, but just an example of an insecure cat marking her space.

*sigh* Take your cat to the vet. She has classic symptoms of a UTI.

i tried to rule out every possibility. i made sure her litter was clean. i stopped having overnight guests, or guests at all. i came right home after work and didnt leave her alone alot. she even had her water bowl on the coffee table like she liked. she had kitty grass and bonito flakes. she has always been an idoor cat so its not the wanting to be outside thing i dont think.
i have no idea what it could be.
i had to move from that apt and moved to my moms house. i understand the change might be upsetting for her, as well as there being another cat at my mothers house. and she pees on the bed there too. she has even peed on me. but that still doesnt explain her peeing on my futon and bed while she was an only cat at my old apt before that.
im sure the change of living with me after 4 years with her previous owners was upsetting. but even after a year and a half of living with me, it was still an issue. i love to spoil my princess mimi, for example, i made an outdoor window lounge for her to sit in and enjoy some fresh air while watching the pigeons.
so i am frustrated that i dont know what the issue is so i can fix it.
the only thing i havent tried is taking her to the vet to see if she has a bladder infection. i think i'll get on that.
i love her to pieces and could never give her up, but i just wish i didnt have to cover my bed and futon with plastic when i am not home or worry about cat pee ruining my bed anymore...

:(

is this a calico thing? i seem to have read alot of tortie and calico references.

hmm

this forum is a blessing. so glad to know i am not alone.
:)

It boggles the mind that people don't do this immediately when their cat starts pissing outside of their litter box.

Letting a cat outside is a bad idea, in my opinion. Especially in an urban area. You're asking for your cat to be killed by other cats, stray dogs, or cars. It's also exceptionally rude to your neighbors (take a look at the loose cats thread in the Animal Debates forum for more info). And now that you've given her a taste of it, she is going to whine. Personally, I'd bring her in immediately, and keep her in indefinitely. She may whine for a while, but she'll eventually get over it.

Now, that I have read these posts, its DOWN ALTERNATIVE for me.

All I can say is good luck to those who are having problems and I pray this never happens to me because I know it is a tough problem to solve (my DS's cat was a pee-er for 5 years).

******************************************

My male cat is very high-strung and neurotic as well. The clomicalm that he's on basically calms him down, and makes him much more low-key and less likely to freak out, get scared or anxious, or pee all over the place. My male's peeing (I'm pretty sure) is a combination of behavioral issues, and territorial issues -- sometimes I think he does it just because, and other times he does it when he sees a cat outside or when our other cat really pushes his buttons. Ever since I've put him on the clomicalm, the number of incidents have reduced dramatically, as has his overall "freakiness". It does make him a lot sleepier, so you do have to accept a certain behavior change when you put your cat on a medication like this -- if you're used to your cat crawling all over you and your furniture all the time, that's probably not going to happen anymore. I try to give him his meds in the evening, so that he's more lively during the day. I vastly prefer having a sleepy cat to having one that pees on my bed, so I'm willing to accept the behavior change.

He's been prescribed 1/8 of a pill a day, and they come in a bottle of 30 (that I order online with an Rx from my vet). Chopping them up is a pain, but you can get a special cutter from the vet. A bottle of 30 is pretty cheap -- it's been a while since I bought a bottle (it lasts a long time!), but I think it was something like $35 or $50 -- that should last you around 6-8 months or so. I highly recommend ordering online, as it's much cheaper than going through the vet (or so I've found).

The one tough thing is that our boy has figured out what pill time means -- if I open the cupboard where the pills are kept, he scampers and hides (I think they taste pretty bad), so I've had to get sneakier and sneakier about giving it to him. Usually if I sneak up on him while he's eating, I can pop it in his mouth with him barely noticing.

I highly recommend at least trying medication like Clomicalm or Prozac for situations like improper elimination (once medical reasons are ruled out), because really, what have you got to lose? Try it for a couple of months, and if it doesn't work, then oh well. And there's always the possibility that it might actually work.

The behaviorist didn't suggest medication; she wanted me to set up 7 different litter boxes in the cat's half of the house (equal to 700 square feet), all with different stuff so the princess could decide which material she found more irresistible to pee on than the bed.

The SPCA got her back. I had never heard of cats peeing on the bed before her.

About four months ago, I moved from my hometown to an apartment near the university I am now attending. He seemed to adjust to the move quite well. He stayed with my parents back home until we had the apartment put together, and then we brought him to his new home. He continued to use his box just like he always had.

However, about a month ago we went home for the weekend and left Binx alone. We were gone a total of forty eight hours, and we made sure we left him more than enough food and water and that his box was clean. This was probably the third or fourth time that we left him alone for a weekend, so I wasn't very concerned.

However, when we got home we found our bed covered in about four poop piles and several pee spots. We washed the sheets, comforters, pillows, etc. and used an enzymatic cleaner on the matress and bedding. I just thought that he did it because he was upset that we left him, so I put the incident out of mind.

At least once a week since then, though, he pees and/or poops on the bed. The only time it was ever anywhere else was on some clothes in my bathroom floor. He is clear of any UTI, so obviously it's behavioral, but I don't know what has caused it really. He is our only cat, we haven't changed litter or food, and his living conditions are the same, other than the move four months ago.

He only pees or poops on my bed if I am sleeping (in the guest bed, since my bed smells like pee now) or if I'm not home. Maybe it's kitty cat separation anxiety? Or is it just that he smells where he has gone before and just decides to go there again? He uses his litterbox most of the time, which I now scoop out daily in an effort to encourage him to use it. I've tried to reinforce him with treats and praise for using the litterbox, but he STILL goes back to my bed at least once a week, which hasn't been slept in in a month.

I have taken to keeping the door closed while I sleep at night, but I hate doing it.

I don't know if this will offer any insight, but he has always had some agression problems, which I've attributed to his rough childhood. Sometimes, for seemingly no reason, he will run up behind you and bite you on the backs of your legs, hard enough to draw blood. Most of the time though, he is quite lovable and sweet. He even sleeps with me in the guest bed, which has NOT been peed or pooped on.

Anyone have any suggestions? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

a) buy a waterproof mattress pad, which will run you between $20 and $40 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (the one I'm using is here). Basically it's like a mattress cover, with a plastic sheet inside. It'll serve two purposes -- hopefully keep your cat from smelling the urine on the mattress underneath, AND protect the mattress from further damage. Before using the pad, I'd also douse the bed with something like Nature's Miracle, and run the fan or dehumidifier on it for a while to dry out completely. Do I sound like I have experience with this? ;)

OR

b) get rid of the mattress completely. If you do get a new one, I would STILL get a mattress pad, just to keep your new bed from getting damaged.

Now, to get to the root of your problem. We had this very issue with my male (see a couple of posts earlier). When he was younger, he used to poop and pee all over the bed whenever we would leave the house on vacation. I've heard different theories on why cats do this -- separation anxiety, they do it so you will know where to come back to, whatever. Most vacations, we'd come back to a bed covered in poop and pee (we took to covering it with a plastic sheet). I remember coming back from my honeymoon, starting to unpack my bags, and he jumped up on the bed, and pissed on it right in front of me. So I personally think it's a combination of separation anxiety and "You're gone, and I'll show YOU!" Sometimes he would pee on the bed if my husband and I stayed out too late at night (never thought we'd need a curfew at our age!)

I've already mentioned it (see a couple of posts ago), but the thing that has worked best for us is medication. Because the peeing/pooping thing is an anxiety/behavioral issue in general, putting our cat on anti-anxiety meds has made a world of difference. We very rarely have any peeing/pooping problems on the bed now (and we always have a mattress pad on it, so if an accident happens, then I just throw the blankets and mattress pad in the washer, and it's no big deal). You may find that he'll grow out of it and calm down over time, but for the short term, it may be easier to look into meds.

Also, it brought me a lot of comfort to know that there's a chance he could grow out of this.

Thanks again! :D

One note of caution -- if you do put him on meds, please, please try it for at least two months. Someone else on here did it for only one month and then gave up, which is simply not long enough for it to take effect. My cat really only started to show change after about 3 months -- anti-anxiety or anti-depressants take a while to build up in the system, for cats and humans!

I have..Well, let's just say a lot of cat's. We've had this problem as well. I have never tried medications, though it does seem like a good idea. I know the problem is behavioral for them though. None of them have any bladder problems. All of the cats we have are fixed. 2 of them like to take turns peeing on things. Usually the bed, or dirty cloths (we do not have down comforters or pillows). We don't have the choice of keeping them out of the room.

What I suggest;

1.Don't bother screaming at the cat..It upsets them more.

2.Make sure the litterbox is kept clean. A lot of cats are very VERY picky. I know of cats who wont pee in a box with pee already in it.

3.Keep dirty laundry off the floor. Keep your beds blankets/sheets/pillow cases clean. Cats will associate them with being dirty.

4.Have a lot of patience. Dont get any sort of pet if you cant stand the thought of pee in your house. Common sense. Pet's can be as much as child.

5.Don't get a pet if you have no patience/can't stand the idea of a pet peeing on your stuff. Do us all a favor, don't ever have kids either.

Any questions or comments, you can email. I can answer specific questions. If your rude or something, it'll just go in the trash. Same with any spam that gets sent.

One possible cause of cats' inappropriate peeing, in beds especially, that has not been mentioned is that they may be responding to the scent of the person who sleeps in the bed. Something about the scent may trigger the response. I'm not implying that cat owners don't wash. But cats' smell sense is much more sensitive than ours -- who knows?

So try that, or something synthetic next time you buy a comforter.

But I believe this is a territorial issue.

My buddy had his dog do the same thing, and on his bed and his shoes. If you need to clean up the stains and urine you may save yourself money by trying an organic pet stain remover like Stainerizer.. I heard it him a great job and it does have pheromones to stop the peeing!

You can use anything, and by the way there is always a solution.

I have 2 cats who are sisters, 4 years old, half Siamese, half mutt. In May I moved into a house with 2 other girls and 2 other cats (one male, one female). Boo has never reacted well to change and we had about 3 weeks of peeing on the bed constantly, but that has now stopped. Since she was about 1, Boo has always been the "pee-er" of the 2 sisters. I cannot count the number of times that cat has peed on my DOWN comforter!!

Anyways, currently she is not the issue. Her sister Zoe is.

In the last week Zoe has peed on a pile of clothes on the floor, and twice on my duvet. I originally thought it was Boo until both last night and this morning she came into my room and tried pooing ON me!! I caught her and brought her straight to her litter box. This is EXTREMELY out of character for Zoe, as she has always been the "good" cat. I have set up a vet appointment for Monday to have her looked at.

I am concerned though that she is peeing on my bed out of stress. The other female cat in the house is very dominant and I constantly find my cats with scratches on their faces (she has claws and both my cats are de-clawed). I often find Zoe hiding in the hallway closet or underneath my bed when I get home. I also often hear or walk in on the other female fighting my cats. I'm afraid that Zoe is overly stressed because of the constantly vigilant state she has to maintain to ensure she is not being attacked by the other female!! They are much smaller than the other female (the Siamese in them...) and as I mentioned, declawed. I don't know how to try to reduce the stress between the cats, as I feel that is what is causing the peeing and the anti-social behaviour that is very abnormal for this usual friendly and loving cat!

We have 2 litter boxes for the 4 cats (I know, I know, we should have at least 4 but the space we live in doesn't accommodate that.) Litter is scooped daily and cleaned as necessary (usually once a week).

Any suggestions on how to decrease her stress? Or suggestions on how to stop the fighting between the female cats? The male cat has no problems with any of them, and my cats obviously have no issues with each other, it is only between my cats and the other female that there is constant fighting. It breaks my heart to come home and see scratches on my girls' noses, mouths or face! :( (Also to find urine on my bed!! And yes, thankfully I have a mattress protector!)

A response here or an e-mail would be GREATLY appreciated! My cats are used to being the only 2 cats in the house. I had about 9 months where they lived with 2 other males but funnily enough, MY GIRLS were the dominant ones in that situation!! Either way getting rid of any of the cats is NOT an option. All 4 cats are going to continue living together for some time so I need to find a way to make it work.

Take the cat to the vet. Take the cat to the vet. Take the cat to the vet.

When a cat with no prior peeing problems suddenly starts peeing for no reason at all, the most likely reason is a medical problem.

No need to attack for me pointing out the first obvious thing to do. The comment in my profile is a joke...which if you take personally, well...that's your problem. I'm just trying to be helpful here, and nothing in my prior post was insulting.

Getting back to your cat issues -- have you noticed any other behavior changes in either of your cats? Increased fighting? Any behavioral changes towards you? Have you tried watching your peeing cat as she uses the box -- does she act diffident towards it or unsure?

A couple things come to mind:

- did you have someone in to clean your kitty box while you were gone? If not, then it's no surprise that he expressed his unhappiness about the box situation.

- You're right about routine being key, or so I've found. My male will often mark our bed after we come back from vacation (and we always have someone in to scoop the box, so it's not a cleanliness issue). I think it's his way of expressing his anxiety about our having been gone, personally. I now try to keep him out of the bedroom for a day or so after we come back, and shower him with affection; that seems to have worked well to prevent him from marking the bed.

Good job on finding a possible cause of the marking issues -- crystals are a common problem with male cats, and changing their food can help a lot. I wish you luck with resolving that!

I bought two (they're $75 a piece but so worth it). One I put in the dog bedding, keeping the dog away from it with a baby gate. The other I put under the bedspread. Cat has jumped on the bed and run off and hasn't returned. The trick is to hide them under things so the cat associates the zap with the objects and not the mat.

Another trick is to drop tempting blankets on the floor with the Scat Mat under it, or put the mat under laundry in the basket.

Soon the cat associates the blankets, coats, laundry, etc. with "ouch" instead of peeing pleasure. It works really fast.

Yes, I'd rather avoid staticking my cats, but it's either that or get rid of the pee-er. I really can't have pee all over the place, and shutting every door and putting everything up all the time is not feasible.

Hope this helps someone as much as it helped me. I'm just thrilled not to have pee problems anymore! Wooohooooo!

To contribute, I thought I'd be long-winded and write out every detail of my own situation.

So here's my problem: I have two darling female sister cats (littermates). My friend's cat had the litter, so I got to know them early while they were with their mother. Took them both to my 2BR apartment once they were old enough. Had them both spayed a few months later. Everything was fine.

I moved to a huge house when they were 7 months old. Introduced them slowly to one room at a time, etc. - did everything right. But one day I caught one of them taking a dump on my blanket, and upon further investigation (while cleaning) I discovered three pee stains from that same day in the same area on my bed. Luckily I have two beds to choose from! My mom suggested ammonia and peroxide to clean the mattress, although now I realize that the ammonia isn't a good idea (I assume it lures the cats to pee there again).

That happened in February of 2008 the month of the move, and I chalked it up to the stress of moving, despite their young age. My brother moved into the back of my house for a few months and there were no problems.

Then in August of the same year, I rented out the back of the house to two friends of mine. The back of the house used to be the maid's quarters (it's a 200-year-old house), so it's separated by a swinging door that is kept closed, and the bedroom is only connected to the main house by a hallway - very private and separate. Their small living room, however, is directly below my master bath and bedroom, which are the rooms my cats are most familiar with.

My new roommates have a dog. I'm starting to think this may be the reason my cats have returned to peeing on the bed once every week or two.

To give you a more thorough history, however, the problem returned in August when not only my roommates moved in with their dog, but my assistant moved into my living room temporarily. Unlike my roommates' section of the house, this room was fully accessible to both cats (there is no door, just a curtain), and they began to pee on EVERYTHING in her room; yoga mat, clothing, and finally her bed. I assumed - as did we all - that they were frustrated with my assistant's presence (also, her belongings smelled like her old cat).

I called the vet, but the woman who picked up asked me a few questions and replied "That's not a UTI, that's a behavioral problem." I realize it was only over the phone, but after talking to several long-time cat owners, they all claimed that it couldn't be a UTI. Neither cat acts as if they're in pain or discomfort.

We built a ridiculous makeshift barrier to my assistant's room until late September, when I heeded the advice of my Local Cat Lady, who said I should lock the cats in one small room with nothing but food, water, and clean litter boxes. Luckily my bathroom is enormous, and the cats didn't seem to mind their captivity. I kept them in there for two whole months. Near the end of the two months, at night, I'd let them expand their territory to my bedroom if I was sleeping in the bed (so far they haven't peed on the bed while I'm in it, thank god). And eventually, after my assistant had moved out, I let them roam the house freely again.

It must not have been my assistant that was bothering them, because the peeing problem moved from my living room back up to my bedroom. It was happening maybe once every-other week. I began to cover my main bed with a plastic tablecloth, but now once a week I'd find a puddle of pee ON the plastic tablecloth. I increased the amount of litter boxes I had from two to five; two in one bathroom, and three in the other; three with their usual litter, and two with rotating new kinds of litter to see if they like them better. They use all of the litter boxes regularly. Still once a week or so, a puddle will end up in the center of the tablecloth. I use Nature's Miracle (orange) to spray and clean the tablecloth.

As per a friend's suggestion, I filled a tea infuser with a cotton ball dipped in lemon extract (weird, but at this point I'm willing to try anything). I put the infuser in the center of the tablecloth on the bed, but the very next day there was a puddle next to it. I mean, at least I'm not cleaning blankets and mattresses anymore here, but still... this has become a huge pain!

I'd been sleeping in the bed in my studio (two rooms away from my bedroom) for the past month, as the cats often nap on it and seem to think of it as only "a place to nap" and not "a place to pee." Well, I came home yesterday after a blissful week of no peeing problems, slipped into my studio bed only to find a GIGANTIC puddle of pee that had seeped through two comforters, a crocheted blanket, and a set of sheets (yes, two comforters - it gets cold in my house!). After spraying the hell out of the blankets with Nature's Miracle (I wasn't about to start laundry at that very moment), I moved to my old bedroom, took the tablecloth off and slept there for the night.

It just dawned on me today that, due to the holidays, my roommates' dog has been gone for a week. He came back yesterday. While the cats have no access to the dog, I'm really beginning to believe that they KNOW he's in their house and is an immediate danger to them. The pee in my bed last night was fresh and was definitely from that day, the same day they returned with their dog. This could be good news, as my roommates are planning to move (I hope?!) in the next few months, which means I'd just need to keep plastic sheets on both beds until the dog is gone... hopefully?

At any rate, I'll keep this forum posted, and I hope my laundry list of failed "solutions" will help anyone else who's looking for answers!

1. My cats are regular strays; petite shorthair mutts, one a grey tabby and one a black-and-white spotted cat.
2. I've never owned a down comforter.
3. The litters I've been using are Sweat Scoop, Fresh Step (their usual) and a corn-based one.
4. My cats get along GREAT; the only time they growl at each other is when they're playing really rough, or when one of them has a mouse.
5. I did change their food, although they like it and I believe I changed the food AFTER the problem returned.
6. I clean the litterboxes daily (like I said, there are FIVE of them!) and even use a few of those recycled paper ones so I can toss them out, rather than having to thoroughly clean a plastic one.
7. Both cats were indoor/outdoor cats until October, when it started to get cold and I began to keep them indoors. Still, that happened after the problem returned.

I'm starting to wonder if cats pee on beds because the bed is the best place to get a whiff of their owners' scents? Just a thought - especially to those owners whose cats are peeing on their beds after/during a long vacation.

Additionally, Local Cat Lady #1 did have a cat with the same problem, and she said that putting the cat on antidepressants worked like a charm. I'm still hesitant, but I'm thinking about bringing my cats to the vet next week just to get a solid confirmation that this isn't a medical problem. I'll bring up the medication idea, but I'd rather continue trying to figure out what my cats are telling me.

Also, while I REALLY want to be able to have my cats curl up with me at night, thank you lilmo11 for the Scat Mat suggestion! I work from home, but I NEVER catch the girls "in the act" (I have a water bottle ready just in case), so this may be a useful solution.

It definitely sounds like your cats may be having a territorial issue with the dog in the house. Cats don't like change, and they don't like other animals invading their space...why that equates to peeing on the bed, I dunno, but there you go. Whenever our male sees strange cats through the window out in the yard, he will sometimes pee on our bed in response, so make of that what you will. I don't know about your cats, but ours spend a good 50% of the time on the bed, so maybe it's a way of marking it as theirs and telling other animals to stay away? Who knows.

I'd definitely start by talking to the vet and just ruling out medical possibilities...it seems unlikely, but you never know. Also talk to him/her, and see if they have any other suggestions. You may also want to look into a Feliway diffuser if you don't want to go the drug route right away -- I know some people have had luck with that.

We started closing the bedroom door, which worked until he snuck into the room without notice and was locked in.
The problem had been reduced to accidental lock-ins as mentioned previously and thought resolved until this evening. I heard him meowing down stairs profusely, and called to him (he usually comes to me). I went downstairs to investigate after 15 minutes and he had peed all over our comforter with the door clearly open. It seeped all the way to the mattress. I picked him up and he reeked of urine around his neck as if he had been lying in it! He may be trying to tell me something, but I don't know what. Nothing in his routine has changed.

Oh, he is a solo cat, but lives with a small energetic dog that he loves evidenced by their constant need to be near each other. Also, he loves us as evidenced by his constant need to be near us--so probably not an act of revenge. Does anyone have any words of wisdom?

I have 4 cats;
Jack, age 6 (fixed and declawed male)
Jada, age 6 (NOT fixed or declawed)
Jack and Jada are brother and sister, have had then since they were kittens
Trouble, age 3, added fall of 2006 (fixed and declawed male)
Tinkerbell, age 1, added last fall/2008 (fixed and declawed female)

When it was just Jack and Jada, we'd occasionally find a basket of clothes/towels that had been peed on. We never saw Jack near these things, but did see Jada - although we've never seen her actually do it. We added Trouble to the family as my oldest daughter's cat and the cats all adjusted well to one another. I think they really enjoyed being a threesome. With the exception of clothes piles or baskets, the cats used their litter boxes.
That all changed when we added Tinkerbell last fall. Tinkerbell was a stray that was adopted by our 3 year old. She immediately named her and I tried taking her to the shelter and just couldn't do it. We had her evaluated at our vet, her health was fine with the exception of possible spinal damage from being hit by a car. This is a ? because we don't know for sure how her hips got slightly displaced. Her tail was also paralyzed and later had to be removed because she tried to chew it off herself. It took about a month or so to nurse her back to being a totally healthy cat, she needed love and food. We had her tail amputated and her spay and declaw all in one surgery. She's now a great and healthy looking cat. BUT after we brought Tinkerbell into our home, we started finding pee in the corners, pee on my 3 year old's bed. At first it was mostly in our 3 year old's room - I was thinking it was due to the stress our little one put on the kitties, always wanting to play a little more roughly than our cats cared for. But then it spread ALL OVER THE HOUSE! I bought some special enzyme cleaner, that did work by the way, but it was turning up everywhere, including our bathmats. There was no doubt it was Tinkerbell, as this problem only arose upon her arrival into our home. Her other issue is that due to her possible spinal injury, she occasionally drops a turd without knowing it. No big deal as long as we keep her diet regular! She could just be walking along and "plop!" so that is purely an accidental thing, not behavioral.

As to the corners though, well that's another story. Tinkerbell is litter trained. We know she CAN use the box, it's just that she doesn't always do it.

I thought I had it under control. Find a mess, clean it with my special cleaner. Annoying but we love our cats.

Then a few months ago, we started finding pee in our bed. We have no idea which cat it is, as they all spend time there and no one has been caught in the act. We did treat Tinkerbell 2 months ago for a bladder infection when I found red urine on the carpet. The vet suggested I give the cats distilled water and we have ever since.

Then about a month ago, we moved to a new house and over the last few days have pee in our bed and pee on our couch! This is getting REALLY annoying! Especially since we don't have a washer and dryer right now and it's a 30 minute drive to the laundramt. I suspect Jada likes to pee on clothes and Tinkerbell likes to pee on carpet (our new house has NO carpet and I don't intend to even do floor rugs for the time being), but as far as the beds and the furniture go, we have no idea.

Although, here's another possible culprit. A couple of weeks ago, Jada escaped the house as we were getting ready to leave town for the weekend. We looked and called for her as long as we possibly could and then had to leave. I worried about her all weekend. We came home and I found her hiding in our garage where she could get in through a hole in the wall. After bringing her back in she's been growly ever since. Jada is our high strung cat but since she was outside she growls at all the other cats and is very aggressive towards them. After reading these posts I think we may need to look into meds for her. Also, there is a cat or 2 outside that come to our windows at night and the cats fight sometimes with only the screen between them. These outdoor cats have actually tried to attack our cats through the screen, jumping up at them and causing quite a commotion! Last night an incident got set off which left my 4 in the house all fighting at each other. I think this is preventing Jada from calming down and may very well be the cause of the peeing. Come to think of it, the edge of the loveseat that has been peed on is closest to the window...

So my questions are: Would having Jada fixed help calm her uptight attitude and possibly keep her from peeing outside the box? I'm also going to ask the vet about meds for her. I've also seen some more bloody urine streaks, is it possible that Tinkerbell's first round of antibiotics didn't clear up her infection?

Where there's a will, there's a way...I just gotta figure out what that is...:)

"I've also seen some more bloody urine streaks, is it possible that Tinkerbell's first round of antibiotics didn't clear up her infection?"
Do you know for sure this is from Tinkerbell or could it be Jada? I think I would have them both checked out if you are not sure.UTI's and other problems can cause cats to pee in inappropriate places,especially soft places like beds and piles of clothes.And yes,it is possible that Tinkerbell's first round of antibiotics didn't completely clear up her infection.
Good luck with your kitty family.

April, lots of cats who are declawed develop bad habits because of the stress and pain of being declawed. Bad habits manifest themselves in litter box avoidance, biting and other bad behaviors. No one should declaw their cats.

All pets should be spayed/neutered. Cats who are already spayed/neutered will react unfavorably in an environment where there are animals who are not spayed/neutered. I've already had neutered males try to mate with unspayed females. So getting the remainder of your cats spayed/neutered and not declawed is the best thing you could do for them.

I have a 4 year old male orange tiger that pees wherever he wants. It used to be once in a while on .. yes.. a down comforter, a month, every couple weeks...well today was twice in two days. I want to sit and cry! I love this guy. I love all my "kids", 5 of them. (I also notice "Siamese" brought up quite a bit. I have two but they are not the "pee problem.) This cat is very neurotic. He jumps at a pin drop. He acts terrified at the slightest noise. He has never, ever been hit. Quite the opposite. He is babied, he actually is the baby of the house. I can't figure it out. He has dark orange urine sometimes, othertimes his urine is very normal. He has been vet checked. He peed in the bathtub for over a year but he has stopped that for over a couple months.

I am thinking after reading all the posts, it has to be behavorial. I guess I will see what the vet has to say.

So thank you to all those who took the time to post.

i thought this page was for people seeking help not people who should seek help
that is all arkansis,
hey! f u

In 2003 Gizmo began territorial spraying in the house after we brought Duffy in. We tried Rescue Remedy, Feliway, Buspar, Elavil - nothing worked and I was at my wits end.

I found an article written by noted animal behavioralist Dr. Nicholas Dodman from the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine. The article was published in 2002 in the Tufts Veterinary School newsletter and it was on the effectiveness of Prozac for inappropriate peeing & spraying.

We decided to try it with Gizmo and the day after we began the medication, the spraying stopped. I tried to wean him off of the medication several times, but the behavior returned so Gizmo has remained on Prozac to this day.

He has maybe one "accident" every 6 months - a lot better than daily!!

For anyone who wants to read the article, all three pages are located towards the bottom of this website:

So, my husband and I got this foster kitty 4 years ago right after we were married. She is a Calico mix and very very shy...She lived happily in our apartment/townhouse and the only accidents were related to diarrhea and her pooping over the side of her box.
Anyways, after 2 years we had to move in with my father in law. His wife hates cats. So, my poor kitty became indoor/outdoor. (She HATES the outdoors. She would cry for hours if I couldn't sneak her in without the inlaws seeing.)I put a litter box out for her but she never used it and preferred to go naturally. I was home almost the whole day, so while using my computer/sleeping/etc she would be in my room with me. Only during the afternoon I would sneak her out and then sneak her back after she finished her business.
One time, while my husband and I were out of town, his sister was in charge of the kitty and accidentally left her in our bedroom alone for almost 20 hours. She pooped and peed right in the middle of our bed..but this never happened again and was totally understandable.
Now, fast forward to a year after that...my husband works for the oil industry and we got transferred overseas. We had to fly her over here, and the entire trip, with layovers, delays, and everything took about 23 hours. (not to mention $800 just for her.)
When we got to our new house, she settled in RIGHT away. Our house is HUGE. We have 3 extra bedrooms and 5 bathrooms in all. So, one of the guest bathrooms became hers...and her litter is there.
So everything went perfectly well for about 2 months. We did have one incident where the maid closed the kitty's bathroom door and she couldn't find her litter box and she pooped and peed on our brand new couch. :( I was really upset, but we cleaned it.
Anyways, so this weekend, I hear her meowing in this weird way and look up and she is on the new ouch AGAIN. I got so annoyed and went to see, and sure enough, not only had she peed on one side, I also found another section with pee from a few hours before.
We figured it must be because we were running a little low on litter, so my husband cleaned her box and filled it up. 2 days later, and once again, I woke up and she ran downstairs meowing the whole way for me to follow. SO I did, and found another puddle of pee on the new couch. I cleaned it...and she is acting normal, except she looked really sad and guilty.
I am SO stressed out.. what should I do?????? (we are going to the vet in 4 hours when they open...)

I've had him for seven years and the peeing has been a persistent problem. He will pee on clothes or towels on the floor, yes. Also, plastic bags. Our comforters are not down, but are all cotton and they've all been peed on by him. It's been an ongoing problem for a long time, so I'm considering now taking him to the vet for medication.

I tried Feliway and it seemed to work, maybe I should do that again. I'll admit that we don't clean the box every day... in fact it's closer to every few days. We have a female tabby who doesn't ever go outside the box and has no issues, but this male cat does all the time. My boyfriend had a great idea to get a 2nd litter box and put cat litter in the bottom, then to put plastic on top of it with big slits cut in it, and the male cat has been peeing in that box regularly. I thought it was a miracle cure, but all of a sudden he peed in the bed this morning.

Can anyone Help ME? I love him but am debating sending him to a farm to roam free on the land!