11 Week Old Kitten Peeing on Human/Bed

[MarriedCrazyCatLady]

Hello!

I was curious to know if any of you experienced a similar problem.

We have two 11-week old kittens (siblings) and the boy kitty has been peeing on us in our bed the past 3 nights.

First 3 days we've had them, both used the litter box like a charm all three days.

Then on day 4, August (the boy kitty) peed on my husband in the morning (around 7:15-7:30 AM). The next day, he peed on me while I was asleep (around 9:00AM), and the following morning, he peed on my husband again around the same time mentioned above. So we called the vet (they have their first vet appointment next Thursday) asking if we should try to get him in sooner. They basically gave us a UTI testing kit (which we will do of course). We will test him/try to collect urine from him this weekend.

The thing is, we've had a cat who had a UTI. Usually it's strained peeing, not a lot of pee comes out, and cleaning their genitals obsessively. August doesn't have any of these symptoms. When he pees, he pees! All of it comes out, and then he acts like nothing happened. Super playful, eats well, uses the litter box again, etc.

Last night, I woke up dry, so I was hopping he might have suddenly gotten over it. Nope. Just received a text from my husband (again, 7:15 AM) that he peed all over him.

Thanks ahead of time for any insight!

 

[ArtNJ]

Is the bedroom still their only room? Hopefully, not as I think you are really going to need to exclude them from the bed for a bit, which likely means excluding them from the bedroom for a bit. Kittens are not always perfect, and beds are the most common spot for problems. Granted, its less common to pee on people on beds, but beds themselves are nothing unusual. Being able to kneed the sheets seems to stimulate something. Anyways, it becomes a habit. To break the habit, you have to deny access.

Worrying about a UTI when its a kitten and one spot seems very premature to me. Now if you deny access to the bedroom, they use the litterboxes elsewhere, but the boy finds a new problem spot somewhere, then I'd start thinking a test is needed.

 

[MarriedCrazyCatLady]

Is the bedroom still their only room? Hopefully, not as I think you are really going to need to exclude them from the bed for a bit, which likely means excluding them from the bedroom for a bit. Kittens are not always perfect, and beds are the most common spot for problems. Granted, its less common to pee on people on beds, but beds themselves are nothing unusual. Being able to kneed the sheets seems to stimulate something. Anyways, it becomes a habit. To break the habit, you have to deny access.

Worrying about a UTI when its a kitten and one spot seems very premature to me. Now if you deny access to the bedroom, they use the litterboxes elsewhere, but the boy finds a new problem spot somewhere, then I'd start thinking a test is needed.

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Because he does it when he's curled up with him, purring away. MAN, that's going to suck as we do have another cat (he's almost 2 years old) that we're slowly doing cat introductions with, hence why the kittens are in our bedroom and he gets the rest of the house. We honestly don't have anywhere else to put them. The spare bedroom is used by our roommate who is allergic to cats, and we have an office that is stock piled full of stuff and they would get lost for days in there. So only bathrooms, which are tiny compared to our bedroom.

And the vet didn't seem concerned that it was actually something (like an UTI), hence not coming in until their appointment. It was simply a "precautionary, let's just rule that out" type of conversation. They are going to see the vet anyway, so I feel like sure, why not. If they didn't have an appointment, I agree with you--ensure it's not a behavioral problem.

 

[ArtNJ]

Well, the good news is that resident cats under 2 seem to do well with kittens, high chance of friendship. Its not a total guarranty like an older kitten would be, but the chances are good. You are not going to need that long of an introduction process unless he is really showing signs of stress. Where are you at there?

Maybe you can flip it and keep the big cat in the bedroom. Room swapping is a step in a lot of the common intro processes anyway. Its not one I usually fuss with if things seem to be going good, but its a commonly recommended step, takes scent swapping to the next level. Just be careful, think about cat proofing, since its not ideal to exclude kittens from their "safe room" while allowing full run of your home. The kittens are currently "set" to that bedroom as their "safe room" so if they get scared and can't flee to the bedroom, they might hide someone more problematic like under/behind an appliance.

 

[danteshuman]

When you first said “ be careful” & “ sage room” my mind went to the trouble little kittens can get themselves into when unsupervised & not in a kitten proof room!

That said I agree with everyone else. If you absolutely have to, you can lick them in the bathroom overnight BUT expect lots of meowing & door rattling. I think room swamping might be your best bet, during the night.

I will add that you need to clean everything with an enzyme cleaner, cat attract litter never hurts when dealing with kitten litter box issues, you can toss a shower curtain liner or plastic table cloths over your bed during the day & lastly if this happens again buy a waterproof mattress liner so you don’t have to soak the pee puddle with enzyme cleaner.

My mom had to put table cloths over her bed for years because she had a cat who peed in her sleep (not her fault, it was a physical thing.) So it could be worse.

 

[MarriedCrazyCatLady]

Yes! That's the plan--the site swapping. I actually purchased a pet pen, a little tent that I can put them in, bring them downstairs and let Resident kitty in. I'm waiting on that to arrive before we really dig into the cat swapping. For now, we are just feeding everyone on the other side of the door. We did bring him in about 2 days ago and he hissed, so back out he went. I do believe he'll get over it quickly as mentioned.

BUTTTT... I'm such a worried wort cat mom! I'm completely terrified of letting them run loose in the whole house because there are a lot of things that they can get into and not come back out. I can cat-proof, but I'm still worried I won't get everything. Kittens are better hiders than we think! Hence, I think I will keep them in the pens in the living room with us for a little bit (at least another month), so they get used to sounds, scents, view, etc. My husband thinks I'm overreacting, lol. I've never had kittens, hence why I'm being extra cautious (always adopted "adult" cats, at least 1 years old +).

 

[danteshuman]

Hissing, avoiding little kitten brats & wacking them on top of the head with a clawless bop are all perfectly acceptable cat responses. They don’t mean the adult cat will harm the kittens or try to kill them. You are shooting for tolerance not bff ..... though treats and play in the same room, never hurt. Next time let it play out & see what your resident cat does after the hiss.

I Would suggest your husband and you be in the room with wand toys (or the cat dancer.) That way you can easily distract annoying kittens. Plus if his favorite human gives him some TLC while the kittens are around, it should help your resident cat accept them sooner. When the 3 baby month old kittens came to live in my mom’s house, we had 3 adult/senior cats. Chester the reformed feral avoided them until they were 6 months old & still mostly avoids them. Salem avoided the brats like the plague & still does. Dante was an uncle to them until he passed. I think he accepted them so he could be near me. So sometimes tolerance is a good result. (I moved out & adopted the crazy hyper half siamese kitten. He visits every weekend & the 2 senior cats still avoid him .... and his 2 siblings.)

Make sure that zipper locks. The minions figured out how to head it/push/wiggle the zipper open on their soft crate by the time they were 6 weeks old. Like you I worried about them crawling under the fridge or dishwasher, escaping outside or getting into the attic. So the door that had closet access to the attic was kept shut, we watched for kittens when entering/leaving & every couple days I would put lemon juice concentrate on paper towels and put them under the appliances. I would suggest orange oil on cotton swabs. You want enough that if they get within 6 inches of it, they wrinkle their noses with disgusts. Once they hit 4 months they are usually to big to get into/under so many dangerous things.

Take tons of pictures & videos! They grow up so fast!!!

 

[ArtNJ]

A month is definitely a long time to keep kittens in a pen. You won't need a month to introduce them to the almost 2 year old. Heck, you might not need a week. Also, there is nothing magic that is going to happen in that month. They will still be kittens capable of getting into lots of trouble, and kitten proofing will still be required. So I don't favor that plan and am with your husband I think.

As noted in the above post, a little hissing is nothing. Since I knew my then 4 year old was a chill cat and am pretty experienced with intros, I did a test meeting with my last kitten and the 4 y.o. He seemed curious, but was hissy when approached. That was it. So I let them interact freely. They were friends within days.

 

[Furballsmom]

I was going to suggest having litter boxes close by wherever they are.
There might be some tips in here even though yours are a little older;
How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box – TheCatSite Articles

 

[MarriedCrazyCatLady]

Hissing, avoiding little kitten brats & wacking them on top of the head with a clawless bop are all perfectly acceptable cat responses. They don’t mean the adult cat will harm the kittens or try to kill them. You are shooting for tolerance not bff ..... though treats and play in the same room, never hurt. Next time let it play out & see what your resident cat does after the hiss.

I Would suggest your husband and you be in the room with wand toys (or the cat dancer.) That way you can easily distract annoying kittens. Plus if his favorite human gives him some TLC while the kittens are around, it should help your resident cat accept them sooner. When the 3 baby month old kittens came to live in my mom’s house, we had 3 adult/senior cats. Chester the reformed feral avoided them until they were 6 months old & still mostly avoids them. Salem avoided the brats like the plague & still does. Dante was an uncle to them until he passed. I think he accepted them so he could be near me. So sometimes tolerance is a good result. (I moved out & adopted the crazy hyper half siamese kitten. He visits every weekend & the 2 senior cats still avoid him .... and his 2 siblings.)

Make sure that zipper locks. The minions figured out how to head it/push/wiggle the zipper open on their soft crate by the time they were 6 weeks old. Like you I worried about them crawling under the fridge or dishwasher, escaping outside or getting into the attic. So the door that had closet access to the attic was kept shut, we watched for kittens when entering/leaving & every couple days I would put lemon juice concentrate on paper towels and put them under the appliances. I would suggest orange oil on cotton swabs. You want enough that if they get within 6 inches of it, they wrinkle their noses with disgusts. Once they hit 4 months they are usually to big to get into/under so many dangerous things.

Take tons of pictures & videos! They grow up so fast!!!

THANK YOU! I just didn't want Enzo (resident cat) to be turned off and avoid them. I do want them to get along. I know he won't do any harm, mainly because he's missing an arm and an eye (my sweet pirate kitty). Thank again for the tips, I really appreciate it.

 

[MarriedCrazyCatLady]

I was going to suggest having litter boxes close by wherever they are.
There might be some tips in here even though yours are a little older;
How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box – TheCatSite Articles

We have tons of litter boxes throughout the house and they use it constantly. The thing with August is when he pees, he's on top of the husband purring away and then it just comes out. Like ARtNJ suggested, I think it's just that he's super comfy and relaxed and then, oops! There he goes emptying his bladder lol.

 

[Furballsmom]

Maybe some unscented puppy pee pads will be helpful, if you don't have those on hand

 

[MarriedCrazyCatLady]

Maybe some unscented puppy pee pads will be helpful, if you don't have those on hand

Oh great idea! Thanks.

 

[Furballsmom]

I just saw this, and thought of you
Petmaker Waterproof Pet Furniture Protector, Brown, Medium - Chewy.com

 

[MarriedCrazyCatLady]

Thank you everyone for the input! Looks like it was a 3-day stint and then he just... stopped. For now at least. I wonder if it was because he still wasn't confident in his new space. Anyhoo, let's hope that's the end of that. Thanks again!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hopefully so, and let us know how things go with you-all !

 

[Bennettac]

I’m having the same issue and read through this post. Sincerely hope this is a short stint as I’m so frustrated.

Katia did/does have a UTI and crystals which she is being treated for. Even with that she used the litter box. She had to use the shower once because she was in pain and couldn’t jump up which is how I noticed she had the UTI. She seemed so embarrassed, and I felt so bad for her. It wasn’t until after treatment, meds, and feeling better that she started peeing on the bed... on ME in the bed. I woke up covered in urine and maybe 4-5 different puddles. This is night 2 of doing this and every morning, I have had to fully strip the bed.There have been some environmental changes. I have a partner and this seems to have started when I brought him over to introduce him to her and the apartment. She peed on him while sleeping too. True test of commitment I guess. My lord. Also have a friend staying from out of town. Concerned if I can’t have anyone but me here, or she gets angry and jealous. She does fine with pet sitters.

 

[Furballsmom]

bed.There have been some environmental changes. I have a partner and this seems to have started when I brought him over to introduce him to her and the apartment. She peed on him while sleeping too. True test of commitment I guess. My lord. Also have a friend staying from out of town.

Not to hijack the thread, but in my opinion, this was all too much at one time for her. Hang in there with her, contain her to a room with several litter boxes at night assuming that's the only time she does this, maybe run a calming diffuser or two, and play some cat music for her.