I'm over my cat peeing on the bed. Help!

srope

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I have 2 cats and a dog, an 11 year old daughter and myself in an apartment.

Background (feel free to skip this bit): 5 year old Burmese boy, Charlie, is the boss. He tolerates the dog, and can be a grump, especially when his little human bestie is at her fathers. Daisy, the black and white 3 year old girl has never had any health issues, never any behavioural concerns. She came from a hoarder situation, I adopted her at 6 months old, and she's a bit skittish, but very loving. Mia, the 16 month old British bulldog will chase Daisy when she's on the ground, but other times loves on her, and the two of them will snuggle on my bed and groom each other.

Problem: Since before Christmas Daisy had been peeing on beds. Charlie occasionally has little angry sprays when he's unhappy about life, but Daisy is doing full bladder emptying. She curls up on my bed, relaxes and BOOM, everything is wet. She's been to the vet for urine and blood, there were some white cells, but otherwise unremarkable. She had a course out metacam ,+ antibiotics to no effect.

She's been back to the vet, and is now on Gabapentin and metacam as relaxers. One theory is either grumpy cat or excited dog have surprised her in the litter box and now she's too scared to go there, so waits till she's relaxed on the bed. But she's done it in the middle of the night and everyone is sleeping and there's not chance of being surprised in the litter box.

I've moved a litterbox so it has a couch fortress around it so the dog can't get anywhere near it. The other litter box had a screen in front of it for privacy.

I've had feliway diffusers running. I've stayed feliway on mattresses, which have been protected by mattress protectors.

Nothing else has changed,, and the household dynamics had been pretty good.

I'm lying on my bare mattress because I have no more clean sheets.

Nearly three weeks off full bladder emptying on our beds most days. I'm over it, and desperately need help please!
 

di and bob

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I'm so sorry you are having this problem. Most problems like these are caused by a urinary tract infection, but since you have had her checked it seems the other reason for incontinence must be checked out. Anxiety and/or stress. First of all, remove the screen in front of the litter box, cats like to see what's coming and not be surprised. Has ANYTHING changed? Did you have more company before and during Christmas, any litter box/litter changes? Since she is from a hoarding situation she may be just more anxious in general. You might try some Bach's Rescue Remedy, call your vet first and make sure it can be added to her meds. I would add her meds to a bit of lickable treat, she may take them better. Does she refuse to cooperate with taking meds? Does she fight you? Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors are wonderful for stress-free med administration. Some times antianxiety meds take a long time to really take effect. In humans, it can take months for depression meds to start working. So keep up on her meds. I would cover the TOP of my bed with a mattress pad made for incontinence, it would sure save changing your sheets so much. Maybe get two so you have one to replace the one that is wet. Get some puppy pee pads to lay on her favorite sleeping places.
The main thing is to find out WHY she is doing this. I really think it is a big change in her routine. She is peeing when she relaxes which means she is holding it for some reason.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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One thing I wonder about is if the smell of her urine is deep within your mattress. Even if you can't smell it, she will be able to, and she will continue to urinate there until the smell is complete eradicated. So, if her urine actually penetrated into the mattress, you may need saturate that area with an enzymatic cleaner to get rid of the smell. Next, see if there is anything in this article that helps: How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles

Does she still poop in a litterbox? If so, then she obviously doesn't have complete litterbox avoidance, which is good. How often do you clean out the boxes (scoop them)? I agree that she needs to be able to see everything around her when she is in them so there won't b any surprise attacks.

My concern here is that it sounds like she is doing this while she is lying down. (you said she curls up and is relaxed) Does she actually get urine on herself when this happens? If so, then I feel this is definitely a health issue and not behavioral, and you need to discuss this further with your Vet. And the Gabapentin could actually be dulling her senses and making it worse. Have you noticed it getting worse since she's been on it?
 
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srope

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I've had mattress protectors on because of it, and both my daughter's and my mattresses got steam cleaned, and sprayed with an enzyme cleaner to be absolutely sure. Everything has been cleaned with an enzyme cleaner (I'm a crazy cat Lady from way back, I actually used to be a mod on this site :p ).

She's not pooping inappropriately, so she is still using the litter tray.

She's peeing while curled up, she's not scratching around beforehand, and she seems to settle and then be incontinent. Last week she snuggled into my back just after I went to bed, then I felt a wet warmth on my back. Sigh.

So I don't think it's a smell of urine, or a UTI, or litter box avoidance - although the other cat and the dog may well have surprised her in the litter box, making her nervous in there and holding it in until she's comfortable. The screen was to keep the dog away from the area, but I'm in the process of getting a dog play pen to put around the litter tray so she can see what's happening, but still feel secure. The other litter tray is secure away from the dog. I'm trying not to make too many changes at once, because that'll stress her too.

She does have a cracked canine tooth, and the Gabapentin + Meloxicam was to also help with pain from that to see if tooth pain was contributing. She's been on gaba + Meloxicam for 3 days now, and she went one day without peeing inappropriately, then peed on the bed again last night.

Next steps are kidney ultrasound + dental, which I've been quoted at $2,000, which I don't have lying around, so I'm hoping to rule everything else out first.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Wow! Well at this point I've got nothing. Maybe the meds will help with a little more time, as di and bob di and bob suggested. One can only hope.
 

LunaandNala

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I have 2 cats and a dog, an 11 year old daughter and myself in an apartment.

Background (feel free to skip this bit): 5 year old Burmese boy, Charlie, is the boss. He tolerates the dog, and can be a grump, especially when his little human bestie is at her fathers. Daisy, the black and white 3 year old girl has never had any health issues, never any behavioural concerns. She came from a hoarder situation, I adopted her at 6 months old, and she's a bit skittish, but very loving. Mia, the 16 month old British bulldog will chase Daisy when she's on the ground, but other times loves on her, and the two of them will snuggle on my bed and groom each other.

Problem: Since before Christmas Daisy had been peeing on beds. Charlie occasionally has little angry sprays when he's unhappy about life, but Daisy is doing full bladder emptying. She curls up on my bed, relaxes and BOOM, everything is wet. She's been to the vet for urine and blood, there were some white cells, but otherwise unremarkable. She had a course out metacam ,+ antibiotics to no effect.

She's been back to the vet, and is now on Gabapentin and metacam as relaxers. One theory is either grumpy cat or excited dog have surprised her in the litter box and now she's too scared to go there, so waits till she's relaxed on the bed. But she's done it in the middle of the night and everyone is sleeping and there's not chance of being surprised in the litter box.

I've moved a litterbox so it has a couch fortress around it so the dog can't get anywhere near it. The other litter box had a screen in front of it for privacy.

I've had feliway diffusers running. I've stayed feliway on mattresses, which have been protected by mattress protectors.

Nothing else has changed,, and the household dynamics had been pretty good.

I'm lying on my bare mattress because I have no more clean sheets.

Nearly three weeks off full bladder emptying on our beds most days. I'm over it, and desperately need help please!

Im going through the same issue did you manage to solve the issue, any advice is welcomed🙏🙏
 
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