Peeing on clothes

[Bri1976]

I wasn’t sure if it’d go under health or behavior but

My 4yr old cat, Callie, won’t stop peeing on piles of laundry. She pees in laundry baskets and on the stuff on the floor. It’s been going on for a very long time now. I haven’t been to the vet yet but I wanted to try on here before dropping hundreds. I’ve tried changing the cat litter brands & types to the types below. It does not seem to work. She’s progressively doing it more and more often. I posted her on the pictures too. Any advice would be great!
i have 3 litter box.

 

[Furballsmom]

She’s progressively doing it more and more often

Hi!
What does she do if none of those soft items are on the floor for her? I realize she's possibly young for arthritis but is she able to enter her boxes without experiencing ouchiness?

Bottom line though, in my opinion she needs to be seen by a vet.

 

[ArtNJ]

Clothing piles are a known target. They are soft and can be kneaded beneath the paws, which is enough like burying waste that it stimulates them. So now you have a habit. So you need to make sure there are no accessible loose clothing, at least for a good while. I know that might be a tall order given family situation and habits, but its necessary.

You may end up needing to make adjustments as to other frequent targets like the bed, bathmats and other soft kneadable things.

 

[Kflowers]

A ArtNJ is absolutely right, piles of clothe are targets even for older cats who have never done such before being presented with such a pile of clothes/towels/whatever. (In the never peed around the house before the pile of cloth, never did it after the cloth removed.) It's a cozy safe place and the cat is marking the pile as theirs.

The solution keep piles of fabric off the floor. Get a hamper with a lid and keep the lid on it. Rubbermaid makes tall thin containers that are perfect for this job. There are hampers of all sorts and shapes perfect for dirty clothes. It's almost as if the makers of hampers have cats and know what they'll do.

If you don't have a linen closet a chest of drawers will work for your linens.

 

[Bri1976]

it seems like she goes in the boxes if the clothes aren’t on the floor but if any sort of clothes/towels hit the floor she’s going to use the bathroom in those. I washed a load of laundry a few days ago & rolled it back to the room & left for maybe 20 minutes & I came back they were already peed on.
and as far as trying to keep all the clothes off the floor, it is going to be nearly impossible! It’s 3 people in one bedroom. We have laundry baskets but she’ll get in the baskets and pee too if she doesn’t have to jump. We have a couple baskets on a shelf & she’s never used those but if it’s on the ground then she has.

 

[Furballsmom]

seems like she goes in the boxes if the clothes aren’t on the floor

Can you obtain hampers with lids?

 

[Bri1976]

I can! However I can’t speak for the other two people…even if I bought them they’d still take them off.

 

[Kflowers]

In that case, I suggest after the washer rinses your clothes, you pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white vinegar in for a second and final rinse. You will also need to wipe down the area where the clothes she peed on were with either white vinegar or an enzyme cleaner, the latter is better. This is because the scent of pee, that you can't smell will draw her back to the same spot to pee again.

For those who have trouble replacing the lids on hampers - Instead of regular hampers you might try using tall kitchen trash cans with a foot peddle to open the top, the top will close automatically.

My suggestions are based on the idea that everyone in your household likes the cat and wants to help her succeed.

 

[FeebysOwner]

To try to draw her away from hampers, or whatever else you choose to try - in addition to removing all clothing/bedding/etc. off the floor - try a litter box or cardboard box lid with puppy pee pads in them. That might even work better if you can absorb some of her pee from either a litter box or a piece of clothing she has peed on and place that in with the pee pads. Anything to attract her to an easier place to pee that is simpler to clean up.

While she may need to be seen by a vet for a checkup, if this has been going on for months, months, and months, it is a habit that you can only break be denying her access to the inappropriate places and perhaps getting her to use an alternative source via the pee pads.

EDIT: Oops, didn't initially understand that you are dealing with some household members that might not be as accommodating as you. Have you set them down and asked for their help?

 

[ArtNJ]

I can! However I can’t speak for the other two people…even if I bought them they’d still take them off.

If your doing the laundry, you have power here. If their clothes get pee'd on, put them on their pillow (on a plastic bag or something) and explain that they didn't cooperate/took the lid off, etc. so if they want clean clothes, they can wash them.

I got to college a messy spoiled little *&^! Our roommate second year would take the dishes out of the sink and put them on pillows. It made a lasting impression. So I'm being serious here. If they aren't cooperating, this isn't the cat's problem, its the people your living with.