Why Is The Cat Peeing On My Bed?

[lisalu]

Why would a young, healthy, seemingly well-adjusted cat suddenly pee on my bed? I got out of the shower and there is Kitty, squatting on my bed with "that" look on her face. Sure enough, I shooed her away and there was a puddle of urine. Her litter boxes are clean - I clean them daily - and nothing stressful has happened in our home. Could a cat barely a year old have UTI? Why else would she do this?

The more I try to figure out about cats, the less I understand them!

 

[ArtNJ]

She could have a UTI. That said, the bed attracts a lot of the random "accidents". It can also become a habit.

What I would do is exclude from the bedroom for a week or two and see if accidents happen anywhere else. If so, take to the vet. If this was just a random thing, excluding will hopefully starve the behavior so it doesn't become a habit. On allowing access again, make the bed military style, as the ability to knead the covers seems to trigger them.

 

[Krienze]

Why would a young, healthy, seemingly well-adjusted cat suddenly pee on my bed? I got out of the shower and there is Kitty, squatting on my bed with "that" look on her face. Sure enough, I shooed her away and there was a puddle of urine. Her litter boxes are clean - I clean them daily - and nothing stressful has happened in our home. Could a cat barely a year old have UTI? Why else would she do this?

The more I try to figure out about cats, the less I understand them!

Jasper is a little over a year old and healthy aside from allergies and we just dealt with a UTI, so it could be. I'd take to the vet to be sure.

That said, cats usually only go out of the box if they have a medical reason, so I'd take her to the vet but also make sure to get a bottle of enzyme cleaner for that spot so that she doesn't smell and keep trying to go there!

 

[lisalu]

Right now I'm hoping the vet is not necessary. We've been through so much trauma - and EXPENSE - in the past two months that we've had her. After we took in this stray cat, I've have forked out over $1000 to have her examined, tested, vaxxed, wormed, and spayed. (That included nearly two weeks boarding at the vet along with two follow up procedures to close the spay incision that opened up twice.) This was a lot of trauma for me AND the cat. If there is any way to avoid a vet visit, I'd sure like to know how to determine whether she has a UTI before taking her in. Sigh...

 

[John Perram]

The cat is telling you that it has a problem.

 

[lisalu]

The cat is telling you that it has a problem.

But WHAT problem? She seems healthy - eats well, drinks plenty of water, uses the litter box regularly and grooms herself. She scampers and plays, gets feisty and then curls up in my lap and purrs. She follows me room to room all day and "helps" me with whatever I'm doing. She jumps and climbs on her cat tree, and chases her toys. No one has come in the house recently, so there has been nothing to upset her routine.

I can't imagine what the problem is.

 

[ArtNJ]

I've already outlined my thoughts, but learning this cat is new to the house, I'm even more confident. There doesn't need to be a reason for this other than that its a young cat new to your home, and the bed is a favorite spot for issues. Just keep the cat out of the bedrooms for a week or two, use an enzyme cleaner, and that will likely solve the issue.

I've had several cats go through this sort of thing. Its definitely not true that one always needs a medical or behavioral reason. Sometimes, they just do it, especially when young or new to the home. Beds are tempting, as are bathmats, laundry left on the floor and anything else that they can knead beneath the paws. Make sure it doesnt become a habit by preventing access for a bit and you'll hopefully solve the issue. I'd never take a cat to the vet just for a single instance of peeing on a bed. If its really a UTI, you'll see evidence of that soon enough when you exclude from the bedroom.

 

[John Perram]

Make sure the litter box is spotless. Do you have any other felines in the house?

 

[lisalu]

Make sure the litter box is spotless. Do you have any other felines in the house?

No, just the one. I scoop every day - sometimes TWICE everyday!

 

[John Perram]

Then close the bedroom, treat the spot with angry orange to get completely rid of the smell. And see if the cat starts peeing elsewhere.

angry orange

It might be turf marking.

 

[lisalu]

Will do! We have a pretty large house, and it is possible I wouldn't even notice if she peed randomly somewhere else. In fact, I probably wouldn't have even noticed she did it on my bed if I hadn't caught her in the act! (that little puddle would have soaked in before I noticed it, and probably dried before we went to bed tonight.)

 

[ArtNJ]

You could always buy a blacklight then. Amazon has many too chose from. The false positives can be somewhat horrifying, but it is a useful tool for a cat owner and not very expensive.