Peeing on the Bed?

whittwhitt

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So I just adopted my kitten, Cooper, about a month ago. I've noticed he's been peeing on his bed on/off - any suggestions or insight into why he's doing this?

Coop's room did belong to my previous cat, who was very sick before he died and did have bouts of diarrhea and wasn't cleaning himself too well. I'm sure some of the scent of my previous baby is in the room/bed and I was thinking that might be the reason or some of it? Coop uses the litterbox - I'm going to keep an eye on it but it looks like he only pees on the bed at night? Maybe he needs a nightlight or something at night to guide him to the box? No clue! I've been keeping his litter box extra clean, I clean it throughout the day just in case he's one of those super picky litterbox cats.

Another observation is he doesn't clean his butt - there's always poop on his butt. This might just be a kitten thing, my previous baby lived to be 12 so I haven't been around a kitten in a very long time. Other than that he's a happy, healthy kitty! He's going on 4 months now, eats and drinks great, has his vaccinations and is scheduled to be neutered on the 13th. Let me know what you guys think!
 

daftcat75

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He pees on his bed and not yours? Is that correct?

I got Krista a couple of cat beds. She turned them both into litterboxes at some point. I stopped getting her cat beds and that was the end of that problem. I have no idea why she decided to pee in a bed she was perfectly comfortable with the day before. But when the solution was that simple, I didn't question it.

She preferred to sleep with me anyway. And during the day, she slept in a number of different cat trees. Or the floor. She wasn't picky when it came to sleep.

Your little man could also be spraying because he's still intact. If that's the case, hopefully that will clear up within a month of his neutering.

No idea about the poop butt. It's been two cats' lifetimes since I had a kitten underfoot.
 

daftcat75

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I would also make certain you are cleaning his pee up with an enzymatic cleaner every time. Once that scent sets in, it becomes a lot harder to convince a cat that that isn't the place to pee.
 
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whittwhitt

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He pees on his bed and not yours? Is that correct?

I got Krista a couple of cat beds. She turned them both into litterboxes at some point. I stopped getting her cat beds and that was the end of that problem. I have no idea why she decided to pee in a bed she was perfectly comfortable with the day before. But when the solution was that simple, I didn't question it.

She preferred to sleep with me anyway. And during the day, she slept in a number of different cat trees. Or the floor. She wasn't picky when it came to sleep.

Your little man could also be spraying because he's still intact. If that's the case, hopefully that will clear up within a month of his neutering.

No idea about the poop butt. It's been two cats' lifetimes since I had a kitten underfoot.
Yes! So his room is upstairs and he has his own full bed. He's peed on it 3x now, 2x about a week ago and I washed all the sheets but forgot to spray the mattress, this third time was last night. I'm guessing he's just marking his territory? Then again is peeing on the bed still considered 'spraying'? It was a puddle on the bed this morning, not on the side of the mattress or anything. The bed is the only place I've found him doing it because I did go looking/sniffing for pee spots! I'll work on cleaning those spots he's made on his bed and go from there.
 

daftcat75

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Oh. It's not a cat bed. It's a full-size person bed. I don't know then. Not that I know why cats will sometimes turn cat beds into litterboxes either. 🤷‍♂️

Sometimes an inappropriate urination issue has nothing to do with the litter box. My Krista was peeing the walls for a month or two just before her 13th birthday. I was trying everything to discourage her and keep up with the cleaning. I finally had to take her into the vet for an unrelated reason. I mentioned it to the vet though. He popped her mouth open and said, "Thought so. It's a cry for help. Her teeth are going bad and she's trying to get your attention." We got the problem teeth removed and the problem behavior resolved too. In her final week, she started peeing the bed. Just a couple of times. But I knew from the previous episode to take her to the vet to rule out health reasons before I tackled the behavioral ones. Sadly, she had a bladder infection that proved too much for her cancer-weakened body. And she had been on immune-suppressing drugs (steroids and chemotherapy) for many months. 😿

If his peeing outside the box isn't too frequent, maybe he can wait a couple of weeks until his neuter appointment to rule out health reasons. Although, if he has a bladder or urinary tract infection, they may want to push back the neuter. It may be worth it to take him in before that appointment to rule that out.

Also, most pet supply stores that sell the cat urine enzyme cleaner will also have UV lights for purchase. You can use these to find pee spots that you maybe can't see or smell.
 
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whittwhitt

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Just an update - so after covering the bed with enzymatic cleaner he's still peed on the bed twice, BUT that was after I added his sheets and comforter back. So I'm guessing I need the clean his sheets more thoroughly or he's mistaking the sheets for 'litter', because with no sheets on the bed he hasn't had an accident yet. Thing is I've bleached the sheets and sprayed them with enzyme cleaner... might need to just buy him a new bed set.

So he gets to pee his mattress and he gets a new bed set while he's at it... sneaky thing :lol: White must not be his color. Think I'll experiment tonight and sacrifice a new blanket on the bed and see how that goes before that. But hey, at least the peeing has stopped!
 
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