My cat pees in the bedroom (not a girl thread)

Richard_Dastardly

So, my cat Moe has peed in my bedroom starting pretty much a month or so after we had gotten him. He'll pee anywhere in the bedroom. On the bed. On the floor. On a towel by the door. He won't go anywhere else in the house, except for there and in the kitty litter. Any idea what I could do, or what the problem might be? My wife and I have tried spraying him with water, punishing him, putting the litter box in the bedroom for a little while, etc and nothing worked. Instead of not peeing in the bedroom, he's just gotten slick about it.

Here are the facts as I know them:
1) It's not a uti. He was really sick about two months ago and we took him to the vet. He had a battery of tests done, and he was clean (except for a flu virus).

2) We have another cat who's nearly a year older. They get along great, are always spooning and receive equal attention.

3) We have 3 litter boxes, and he does use them occasionally. 1 in the basement, 1 in the kitchen and one in the bathroom upstairs.

4) We got him when he was about 6 months old. Before that, he lived in an apartment with about 9 other cats.

5) Oh yeah, and he's fixed.

Hobbit0815

Well, I can only share my experience.

Me and my husband had just moved to a new apartment, we had two cats, Hazel and Kahluah. Ever since we moved there, Kahluah would piss in either the hall closet, the bedroom (on the bed, yuck.) or infront of our XBox 360. She usually hid inside the closet the entire time she was there.

Previously, we had lived with my sister who had about 8 cats as well..

I was done with it, I gave her back to my sister (since that's where she came from), because she was ruining the apartment's carpet we were living in. (Although it wasn't exactly awesome to begin with. Different story.) All of a sudden, she goes in the litter box no matter what. I think she just didn't like where we lived. I don't know why, but something emotional or whatever was bothering her. Maybe she smelled other cats that had been there before.. (But that makes no sense, she lives in a house with 9 others.. lol.) All I know is, she didn't like it.

I'm not sure if you're the type of person who thinks animals have emotions, thoughts, etc., but that was my experience.. I have no other way to fix it. Cats are smart animals, but there's really no way to 'punish' them to teach them, they just don't respond, and they'll do whatever the hell they want anyway.

Sorry I'm not much help. =/

bowen

I noticed that a lot of cats become really finicky about their litter as they get older, while some will just pile it on. This may or may not apply to you.

Rubick

While I'm not sure what could be causing the behavior, you can try the Cat Attract litter (I think you can get it at PetSmart). It could draw him to the litter box every time.

Smug Duckling

Yes, my cat used to pee anywhere he felt like in the house, and once we got Cat Attract litter the problem almost went away completely (he still had problems, but only around once a month rather than every other day).

JaysonFour

He's marking his territory. If I'm right, the pee in question is really, really pungent- as in, can clear up a stuffy nose from across the room. Your cat considers you his private property- so he's proceeding to mark places and things that you use frequently, to try to keep other cats away from you, and hoping the smell will rub off on you. I have to keep my bookbag in a closet- my cats have already managed to nail it twice this school year.

As to stopping it, well, you can clean up the piddle and disinfect it out the wazoo to clean up the lingering smell, and make sure someone is in the room with him (i.e., he doesn't get a chance to do the deed in someplace important).

Feral

Is the cat declawed?

Denada

•If he's marking his territory, cleaning it up won't remove the mark. Even if you can't smell it or see it, it's still there and the cat can tell. Also, he wouldn't pee in the same place twice.

•Using litter like Cat Attract can help. Try that.

•Try putting his food and water in your bedroom. Cats generally don't like to go to the bathroom where they eat. Combining this with Cat Attract litter for a while might get him out of the habit.

•He may also be bored. I have two cats who randomly started peeing on things until I made the effort to play with them more. They stopped almost immediately.

Houk

Is there any sort of strong perfume or incense in your bedroom? There might be some sort of smell in there he doesn't like that he's trying to cover up.

That and trying different litter is the only thing I can think of...

onceling

You need to use a cleaner that removes the smell of the pee (for the cat, who have better noses). I recommend these products:

http://www.naturemakesitwork.com/home/index.php

Once you've cleaned up the old smells, I agree with the other posts about how to prevent new ones:

1. You've ruled out a medical issue
2. Cat attract litter is great
3. It could be a scent thing, does your cat rub his face/neck on clothes and other items often?

Feral

Urine-Off works much better than Nature's Miracle.

That won't help until you get to the root of the problem, though. I'm still curious to know if he's been declawed.

Richard_Dastardly

Feral wrote: »

Is the cat declawed?

Nah. I'm not an asshole.

I had wondered if he was marking his territory... but the urine isn't really strong smelling. It just smells like piss. And there's a lot of it. I am gonna put his food in the bedroom and see how that pans out. Ain't no way I'm gonna get rid of him, so we'll just have to deal with him peeing.

I am gonna get one of those two products you guys mentioned too...

Thanks for the advice

Trowizilla

Yes, use the enzyme cleaner. Make sure you let it really soak it, because the cat may be smelling his own pee that's soaked down into the padding under the carpet.

Keep him locked out of your bedroom for awhile, too, unless you can actively be watching him. He may just be in the habit of peeing on stuff, and keeping him away from it will help break the habit.

Rhino

my cats pee when they are really stressed out (new person moving into house, new cat moving and/or are in extreme heat).

Eventually they just 'stopped' (with a bit of discipline).

Aurin

Richard_Dastardly wrote: »

Feral wrote: »

Is the cat declawed?

Nah. I'm not an asshole.

I had wondered if he was marking his territory... but the urine isn't really strong smelling. It just smells like piss. And there's a lot of it. I am gonna put his food in the bedroom and see how that pans out. Ain't no way I'm gonna get rid of him, so we'll just have to deal with him peeing.

I am gonna get one of those two products you guys mentioned too...

Thanks for the advice

Has he been neutered? Most neutered cats don't spray. >.>

Feral

Aurin wrote: »

Has he been neutered? Most neutered cats don't spray. >.>

Richard_Dastardly wrote:

5) Oh yeah, and he's fixed.

mts

my intial thought was stress of some sort. the cat is likely thinking it needs to protect something (itself/you/home) and its making its stand on the place that smells most like home (your bed)

there are studies that show this to happen, especially after house burglaries etc. the cat will poop on the bed as a mark of this is our turf.