# HELP - cats peeing on the bed while I'm away! :(



## horseluvrelisha (Jul 5, 2010)

So, I've had my cats for 5 years now. I recently moved; it's been about two months since I moved into the new apartment with both of my cats. They have both been fine, very happy and adjusted very quickly. I'm working from home at the moment so I spend a lot of time in the apartment. I occasionally go out for a few hours to buy groceries, visit my horse, etc.

The cats love my bed (they sleep on it for, like, 20 hours a day). They always sleep with me on the bed at night. Usually when I come back from errands I find them both curled up at the foot of the bed where I left them.

Both cats have been using the litterbox consistently for these two months with no problems.

I took my first brief trip - I was spending 2 days away from home with friends for the 4th of July - and left my roommate in charge of things. She called me after my first night away to tell me that one of the cats had pooped on my bed. WHAT?? I drove all night, got home this morning to find SEVERAL big spots on my mattress SOAKED in cat pee (they also pooped on the bed AGAIN). I'd left my favorite book on my bed, it also got soaked in pee and had to be thrown away. The litterbox was completely empty, they hadn't used it a single time since I cleaned it and left with my friends. It's like they knew I was going away and didn't even bother getting off the bed to go to the litterbox since I wouldn't be coming back.

After TWO MONTHS of consistent litterbox use with no problems, I leave for ONE night and because I'm not sleeping in my bed, they turn it into a litterbox? I feel like I can't leave the house anymore, the mattress was totally unsoiled, even if I get a new mattress and a plastic mattress cover, how is that going to help if every night my bed is empty, they do this? And THEY sleep there too!

I'm taking a week-long trip in three weeks, I already have the plane ticket. I'm desperate to know why they did this (my roommate is saying "they're mad at you for leaving them" - because they do seem to be very dependent, they follow me wherever I go and I do love on them nonstop and they get upset when no one is paying attention to them - but I don't think cats are capable of processing emotions such as revenge ) and what I can do to ensure it never happens again, besides soaking my entire mattress in enzyme spray and then spraying bleach-water over the top to make it smell (which is what I've just done). The apartment is open, there's no wall/door to lock them out of my room.

Ugh.  I didn't know who else to ask, any advice would be much appreciated.


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## Paine Fury (Jul 5, 2010)

My oldest male did this a few times, always on the side of the bed Nick sleeps on! I think it's a territory thing - marking his piece and what not. He's natrually grown out of it but we did use this special accident cleaner that also releases a scent to stop them from doing it continuously.

I used a spray bottle to discipline him whenever he did it, and he naturally stopped. Our mattress has been pee-free for 8-9 months now.


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## horseluvrelisha (Jul 5, 2010)

Well they're 5 years old, so it can't be something they'd have to grow out of, and I can't discipline them with a spray bottle when I'm not there.  They have NEVER EVER done this while I am home! And it's not like it's been a regularly occurring thing, a spot here, a spot there... I just got home after this one night and suddenly it was EVERYWHERE.

At this point I'm just asking my roommate to keep them locked in the closet with litterbox, food and water if she isn't home to keep an eye on them. I hate to do it because the closet is SO small, but I don't know what else to do. =\


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## Paine Fury (Jul 5, 2010)

If you're willing to have your sheets smell of lemon, try spraying a bit of that around. My cats hate the smell, I use it to stop them going near the bin and it works very effectively!


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## horseluvrelisha (Jul 5, 2010)

^Do you think they'd dislike it more than the smell of bleach? Haha. Lemon would be much preferable to bleach.

That is one thing though (about my spraying diluted bleach all over my bed)... I don't want to totally run them off the bed.  Just make them not pee on it while I'm not sleeping in it. But if I have to make it smell bad to them so they'll stop, so be it, because ultimately me having a place to sleep = more important than being able to sleep with kitties curled up on my feet.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Wow, sorry about your bed! 8O The first thing I'd suggest, will of course be a trip to the vet to rule out UTI. Usually, when cats change their litterbox habits dramatically it is because something is wrong and that is the only way for them to let us know something is wrong. Now, it isn't that they are thinking 'I'm not feeling good so I'll pee/poo here to tell my human' ... they do it because something is wrong and we happen to notice the changed behavior as a *clue* to whatever is wrong.

Until you can get this resolved, read through this link about UTI. It has some suggestions for after-UTI treatment and also discusses some behavioral aspects that could cause inappropriate elimination, like cat-dynamics, types of litter and litterbox location. 
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66865

In the meantime, you may want to purchase a heavy-duty plastic matress protector. Maybe buy two, one for over the matress and the second one to be placed over your made-up bed to protect your bedding.
Best of luck,
h =^..^=


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## horseluvrelisha (Jul 5, 2010)

The thing is though, there's no way UTI could be the root problem because BOTH of them peed and pooped (like crazy) all over the bed at the SAME time, and ONLY when I left for the night, which leads me to believe unfortunately that it's a territorial thing, and they did it when I wasn't there because they know they are supposed to go in the litterbox only. The female has a history of being picky with her litterbox habits, if she's peeing on the carpet or bed (and she did pee on my bed - different bed - once when she was a kitten, 5 years ago) it's always been because the litter isn't clean enough for her, or she doesn't like the brand (we dealt with that a while back, vet clinic said no UTI or anything, tried moving the box around etc; changed the litter brand and presto), or the litterbox is too close to her food, or there isn't ENOUGH litter in the box, etc. But my male has NEVER EVER done anything like this, even when my female did in the past. I'm worried he's picked up on it as a sort of social marking behavior, and now that he's done it once... ugghhh.

I will certainly take them to the vet, but I can guarantee beforehand that neither has a problem with their urinary tract. x.x

"In the meantime, you may want to purchase a heavy-duty plastic matress protector" Thanks, I'm going to do this. :'(


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## horseluvrelisha (Jul 5, 2010)

Update... since I've been back home both cats have been using the litterbox normally. x.x I have a friend who suggests that they felt uneasy because I, the "alpha cat" in the house, was gone, they were marking the bed to reaffirm their place in their (relatively new) home. Who knows. It WAS apparently BECAUSE I was gone, because they don't seem to have a problem using the box while I'm here. =\ I guess I'll just have to have my roommate put them away when she can't supervise them during the week I'm gone. x.x I don't know if I can trust them not to do it again. Eeeek. I'm kind of worried about the fall when classes start back and my roommate and I are both gone all day.


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