Kitten pees on the bed daily

[juniper84]

My fiance brought home a male kitten a few weeks ago to our little studio apartment. He peed/pooped on the bed a couple of times, wasn't playful and he wouldn't eat or drink for two days. We took him to the vet to get hydrated and to treat an infection and he is good as new now.

He uses his litter box a LOT, both #1 and #2, but once or twice a day, every day, he pees on the bed next to my fiance! He rarely does this while I am home though it has happened.

If it was a UTI, the antibiotics should have fixed it, so it really seems behavioral. For example, yesterday he was sitting on the floor playing. Then he looked up at my fiance on the bed, jumped up and peed next to her, and jumped back down.

He seems to like both of us, he tends to sleep by my head or on her back, purrs when either of us hold him, and plays with us both. I don't get it!

Anyone have a clue why he's doing this? He's about 12-14 weeks old now I'd guess. What is the best way to convince him our bed is not a litter box??

 

[pawsonyourheart]

Hello!

Do you clean his litter box every day? If not, this would be the first thing I'd correct because although it may seem okay to clean it a few times a week, he may not agree, and he will therefore urinate outside of the litter box.

If you can rule the litter box out, this could be a territorial issue since he is a male. Male cats like to mark their territory, and this could be exactly what he is doing when he is peeing on the bed. (Maybe when he jumps up beside your fiance he is trying to mark her as his 'territory'). In addition, he may be spraying because he has not been neutered yet. Usually cats can be neutered at about 4 months old, and the spraying will stop afterwards.

Don't punish him when he pees on the bed (or elsewhere), as this will only cause him to become frightened of you, and the behaviour will only worsen. Instead, when cleaning the areas he has sprayed, make sure you do not use an ammonia cleaning product as this mimics the scent of cat urine, and he will be more attracted to the area. You can buy urine cleaning products at the pet store that will remove the smell, that will also deter the cat from using the area again (try to find an orange or citrus scented product). As well, there is a product you can buy called "Feliway" that comes in both a spray and a scented wall plug in. This is supposed to emit pheromones that calms cats down, and stops them from spraying in the area the product is used in.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck!

 

[ldg]

Well, I would ensure the UTI is all cleared up. Someone on TCS had a cat that had a UTI, was treated with antibiotics, and they assumed the continuing pee problem was behavioral, and it turned out the cat still had the UTI problem - poor thing suffered for two months while they tried to solve the "behavior problem." So that's a thought.

Otherwise, PawsOnYourHeart is right.

If you haven't cleaned the bedding (and mattress, if necessary) with an ENZYME cleaner, that is a must.

Bedding washed in the laundry can smell clean to our nose - but still smells like pee to kitty's nose. And if any of it wicked into/soaked into the mattress, again, if you haven't gotten the area with an enzyme cleaner, he'll still smell it. That scent alone will encourage him to continue to pee there/around there.

He now thinks it's a place like his litterbox.

In addition to a GOOD enzyme cleaner - like Nok Out or Anti-Icky Poo (not all enzyme cleaners are created equal, and those two are definitely the best. Just google them and order online). I would invest in Kitten Attract litter (Dr. Elsley Precious Cat), even if just for a few weeks, while you break the behavior, even if induced by a UTI.

Hope this helps!

 

[ldg]

Oh - the proper way to use an enzyme cleaner.

For stuff that goes in the wash, soak (SOAK!) the affected area with enzyme cleaner. Let it sit at least 10-15 minutes before putting it in the wash (longer won't hurt at all, doesn't even matter if it dries). Add enzyme cleaner to the wash like you would bleach.

For "stuff" - like the mattress, carpet, a sofa, whatever.... you must soak (SOAK) the area - not spray the surface - with the enzyme cleaner. Cat pee wicks, and if the enzyme cleaner doesn't "engulf" the affected area, it won't work. Let it sit for 15 minutes, blot up as much as you can, then just let it air dry. For the mattress, we just covered the area we had to treat (after blotting) with a folded up towel we changed daily until the mattress area was dry, and made the bed over that.