Hi all
I have a problem with my 18 month old cat who has been peeing on my bed.
It occurs when I am away for an extended amount of time - such as when I went to Perth for Xmas and when I recently went overseas for a week. I come back to find my bed saturated in pee. After cleaning everything up, a few nights later he did it again (on both occasions) - this time I caught him in the act and gave him a telling off.
I don't understand why he's doing this. My housemate regularly feeds him and cleans out his litter tray when I'm away.
Do you think it's because he's mad at me for going away? If this is the case, how can I encourage him to stop it?
Thanks!
I'm not an expert, but I don't think he is doing it to punish you.
A vet trip maybe in order.
Medical problems are one possibility like urinary tract infection.
Linda is right - you might want to have him checked for a urinary tract infection first. You also have to be sure that you clean and wash everything thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner. Just regular washing won't do it. You may not smell it, but your cat can and will mark it again. May be a problem if it has gone through to the mattress too. Hopefully JanH will post the link he has for things to try too (I am going to have to bookmark that link sometime!!)
The first step is a vet check and a course of antibiotics for a UTI are a good idea even if this is the only symptom. With a bed as the target, the second consideration is high loft bedding like quilts or down comforters. Everything must be cleaned with bleach or enzymatic cleaners. While this is a risk, you may want to use all white cotton bedding, including blankets, since they can be bleached - and double the mattress pad to avoid staining of the mattress, which can be impossible to clean.
The best links with ideas of things to try - and do not try too many things too quickly, since you need to give each a chance to work, are at tallyville.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Point...xhelp.html
Be careful about any punishment. If you actually catch him in the act, then startling him or using a water pistol can help, but showing him the stain and punishing, for example, is counterproductive.
PLEASE...take the cat to the vet as we went through the same thing and one of the associates we got at that time told us nothing was wrong just behavioral. Well we tried everything they had suggested and then I told her it is my cat and this is not him. Well to make this story short I asked for our regualar vet who is not there every day so we went and we told him something was wrong and he found it but too late to save him. I am not telling you this to scare you but to maybe save a life.
I have all there is to stop the piddling on things from the vets and we purchased the feliway and on and on and nothing worked. So go as soon as you can just so you know and you can begin to do what needs to be done whether it is medical or behavioral.
Sorry so long..