Cat Urinating on Bed

luggypm

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Hello, my wife and I have this frustrating problem with our 5 year old cat Lemmy. He started urinating on the bed in the spare bedroom about a six weeks ago.
I did take him to the vets for a checkup and the vet could not find any medical reason for it and he said that he was almost sure it was behavioural.

We used an enzyme cleaner and felliway spray and that seemed to stop it. Then this morning he urinated on our bed in the main bedroom. This caused a lot of upset for myself and my wife.

Background
He's the youngest of our two cats, the elder Suki is an 11 year old female. We've had both since kittens and both have been fine. However a lot has happened this year (in addition to Covid!). We moved home in March and he found it really stressful (he hid and slept a lot for the first few weeks) and there are two neighbourhood cats he just doesnt get on with. My wife developed anxiety and depression and had a problem that the cats would keep waking her at night, so we took to sleeping with the bedroom door closed. Then this summer the vet said he was overweight and he's been placed on a diet.

So he's shut away from us all night, he's on a diet and I dont think he's ever settled properly into this house . He doesnt go outside much, although he'd happying run around the garden when we were out there in summer.

A couple of months ago, before this started, we wondered if he was upset because he rarely went out (although he didnt go out that much in the old house), so be purchased a felliway difusser and plugged it into the landing .

I'm 99% sure this is stress and happyness issue but I really dont know how to make it better. I'm considering getting one of those cat calming collars from Amazon. Is that the right approach
 

ArtNJ

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I don't know that you need a specific reason. Its something that can become a habit sometimes, and however it started you need to squash the habit.

If you can't exclude the cat from bedrooms for a couple of weeks to break the habit, try putting the bedding in closets during the day. They like to knead the loose bedding, its like burying waste to them. Thats why beds are the #1 spot for problems. Putting the bedding away for a couple of weeks is a PITA but you just need to starve the habit then can go back to normal. Might be able to leave sheets made military style, but anything loose (blankets etc) needs to in the closet.

Alternatively, you could cover the bed with something. Someone had a really good idea for that recently, but I forget what it was...
 

RufusGizmo

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we are dealing with two of our cats urinating on various places. we isolated them from the rest of the house in a spare bedroom that luckily just had a day bed we took apart and kept them in there to "break the habit" our vet also proscribed an eight week regimen of buspar which is anti anxiety meds for cats. just let them out yesterday, so we will see what happens. i know also the feliway spray supposedly helps although we have those plugged in all the time. of course where we kept them had their toys, and a cat tree and litter boxes, etc. good luck believe me i know how terribly stressful it is. we had the cats isolated for a few weeks which was super hard.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. If the vet check-up included a full blood panel and a urinalysis, and nothing showed up in those tests, it would seem that Lemmy might just be one of those cats who can become stressed out. And, he certainly has had enough going on this year to warrant stress/anxiety!!

I suspect given the changes you've described, he is feeling a bit insecure. So, extra attention (and play time, if he likes to play) could help make him feel better. You can try the calming collar, but if he isn't used to wearing a collar, it might actually have the opposite effect. There are other calming products on the market you could try (just do an internet search for 'cat calming products'). And, some of the members on this site use cat music to help relax their cats - Cat In My Arms on Spotify (and elsewhere), You-tube has compilations of relaxing cat music, and there's also RelaxMyCat and MusicForCats to name a few offered by others.

When is Lemmy seeing these neighborhood cats? Just when he goes outside, or are they coming up close to your house? Either way, if he doesn't get along with them, it could be setting him off enough to use the bed to pee on. Does he also use his litterbox? If so, I would start to chart what is going on around the time he has these accidents - there is a good chance it is being triggered by events that are occurring intermittently. Doing so will help to narrow down the types of things that trigger his anxiety, and give you some places to start in terms of avoiding those triggers.

You can use plastic shower curtains (or tarps) to cover the beds, when they are not in use. If you buy new ones, just be sure to air them out first as they tend to carry a strong odor right out of the packaging. Most cats will avoid the plastic, and it precludes them from being able to knead/cuddle up to the soft bed coverings, which can be an enticer. It will also help with clean up, should he decide he still wants to get up on the beds.
 

CatladyJan

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Hello, my wife and I have this frustrating problem with our 5 year old cat Lemmy. He started urinating on the bed in the spare bedroom about a six weeks ago.
I did take him to the vets for a checkup and the vet could not find any medical reason for it and he said that he was almost sure it was behavioural.

We used an enzyme cleaner and felliway spray and that seemed to stop it. Then this morning he urinated on our bed in the main bedroom. This caused a lot of upset for myself and my wife.

Background
He's the youngest of our two cats, the elder Suki is an 11 year old female. We've had both since kittens and both have been fine. However a lot has happened this year (in addition to Covid!). We moved home in March and he found it really stressful (he hid and slept a lot for the first few weeks) and there are two neighbourhood cats he just doesnt get on with. My wife developed anxiety and depression and had a problem that the cats would keep waking her at night, so we took to sleeping with the bedroom door closed. Then this summer the vet said he was overweight and he's been placed on a diet.

So he's shut away from us all night, he's on a diet and I dont think he's ever settled properly into this house . He doesnt go outside much, although he'd happying run around the garden when we were out there in summer.

A couple of months ago, before this started, we wondered if he was upset because he rarely went out (although he didnt go out that much in the old house), so be purchased a felliway difusser and plugged it into the landing .

I'm 99% sure this is stress and happyness issue but I really dont know how to make it better. I'm considering getting one of those cat calming collars from Amazon. Is that the right approach
It does sound behavioral ruling out any medical issues.

Please don't let him out, it's just not safe especially if you say there are a couple of outdoor cats he doesn't like.

Sometimes those enzymatic cleaners just don't do the job. Have you tried using a carpet cleaner with attachments on the mattress?

Like others have said, keep your bedroom closed off, put a shower curtain over things and I would seriously retreat and clean the bed in the spare bedroom. There may be other areas he has urinated on so if you have a black light check the room. Close curtains, blinds etc where he might be able to see the outside cats.

You can try a calming collar in addition to these things and some behavior modification such as trying to give him more attention, providing a sanctuary for him. I bought the Comfort Zone calming collar and it seemed to make my oldest cat a little less of a pismire.
Good luck and keep us posted.
 
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