What where my cats thinking??!!

Hi there, I am hoping that someone can shed some light on how I should approach this problem...
I have 2 cats, Kevin a lovely but grumpy, stubborn, "thinks he rules the roost" 6 year old neuted tom and Pig a ditsy, kind hearted 3 year old neuted female.
We have just returned home from a 4 day break to find that one or both of the cats has not just had a slight accident but blatently peed and poohed all over one of the beds in the house.
I dont understand why they would do this? we left lights on for them, music playing, food and water, an open window and an open cat flap so they could get in and out. Plus a neigbour checking in on them each day.
Another strange thing is that it was in the spare room that we use for paying guests and a room that we never go in apart from when cleaning it.
Neither of the cats has ever messed inside the house (apart from once when they were accidently shut in a room ...and then they were very distressed about the fact)
I am not quite sure what to do next and am afraid that this behaviour will continue now.
Any ideas ??
(also anyone have any ideas how to get cat wee out of a mattress or do I have to throw it away?)

Becs

Anything that happens out the ordinary like that i would take them to their vet for a checkup.

Yes, we normally go away 2 or 3 times a year, but always have someone check up on them each day.
Kevin the elder one is normally extra grumpy for the first couple of days when we get back and completly ignores us but has never done anything like this... could he really just be mad?

Originally Posted by becs1963

Yes, we normally go away 2 or 3 times a year, but always have someone check up on them each day.
Kevin the elder one is normally extra grumpy for the first couple of days when we get back and completly ignores us but has never done anything like this... could he really just be mad?

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I had a cat years ago who was very vindictive when we left her But if this is so out of the ordinary I would definitely check with your vet.

I would recommend a vet check, but my first thought is that maybe there has been a tomcat hanging around who took advantage of your absence and came visiting - his smell near or in the house could cause your two cats to pee and poo to remark the territory as 'theirs' once he had gone, or just as likely they may have been afraid to come out of that room or go outside to go to the toilet as they would normally if there was an intact male hanging around and maybe looking for a fight... this can be a very scary experience for neutered pets!

I hope everything sorts itself out ok.

I'm a pet sitter and I often hear from clients and meet cats who defecate and urinate on beds as a means of "informing" their owners that they are unhappy about their absence. How much time was your neighbor able to spend with them? Sometimes good interaction is all it takes to prevent this . Have you left before and if so how did they act then? A vet check is never a bad idea.

Well, I have read that when you go away, or pay less attention to your cat than normal, it can use your bed as a litter box as a way to strengthen the bond between the two of you. Seems strange to us (and horribly annoying) but in the cat's mind, because the bed is the place in the house which smells most strongly of you, it is mixing the two of your scents and therefore bonding you more closely to them. This theory doesn't really hold with your story though, as you've said the bed they've chosen isn't the one you sleep in, or even in a room you often spend time in. Is there perhaps something in there that would strongly remind the cats of you and prompt the behaviour I described above?

How long have you been home for now? How have they been behaving, and has the inappropriate bed-use continued? Like everyone else has said though, a visit to the vet can't be a bad idea.

As for getting your mattress clean, I'm not sure if this works for cat messes, but I have rented a steam/carpet cleaner before and used it to clean my mattress. It wasn't too expensive to rent (I got one at my local grocery) and was easy enough to use, though really loud, so it might be an option to try.

if you left the cat flap open, could another cat have come in and marked the bed as its territory? It's just a suggestion, but I would think the problem is that for some reason they didn't like that you left. 2 of mine poop in the bathroom every time I come home from vacation...but its just once, and they make sure that I am in there when they do it, then they flip their tails and flaunt off like they own the place...oh wait, they do.

I had a cat, years ago, who always left a present under my cover in the bed if I spent a night away. I also had a cat who moved to the neighbour for a week every time our family had been on vacation. The neighbour took care of the cat in our home when we were gone but the second we were back she moved in with their family for a few days as if to show us how rude it was to leave a family member behind. She always moved back again though.

Thank you so much for all the advice.

Things have settled down now, no more little accidents!