Kitten pees on our bed

So we have a new male kitten. He's about 11 weeks now. He's a normal cat, loves to play, good appetiite and has adjusted well.

He's got one nasty habit. 99% of the time he will use the litterbox. Sometimes, right at bedtime for myself and my wife, he will jump on the bed and pee.

I'm reasonably certain this is not a medical issue, he was checked out at the vet 3 days before I picked him up from the SPCA.

Anyone have an idea how to stop this?

Jim.

p.s. one thing, the litter box I'm using is from out previous cat which has been gone about 14 months. It had been washed well before being put back into action. I read here you may want to start off with a new litterbox. Any thoughts?

Start with a brand new box. Can you confine him to a room with his box so he can be retrained or before bed, pick him up and put him in the box and not let him leave the room before he goes?

I know you said he was vet checked, but they do not reguarly test for a UTI. My suggestion is to test your kitten for a UTI first. Yes, they can get them that young and it can cause "out of the box" experiences. Once that is ruled out, I suggest confining him to a small room(as suggest above) with a brand new litterbox.

My girls did this a number of times when they were tiny. All it took was adding a second litter box and some extra training and diligence on our part and it cleared up.

OK, picked up a new litter box. We'll see how that goes over the next day or so. I got talked into some oat based litter too when I first picked him up. I wonder if he doesn't like that?

I'm assuming you keep the litter box clean too? Some cats (or kittens too, I guess) won't use the box if it gets too dirty.

I know this is going to sound strange (it *really* dumbfounded me when my kitten did it...) but a.) do you have a litter box in the bedroom ... (and here's the strange one) what kind of bedspread or covering do you have on your bed?

You could almost eat out of the litterbox it's so clean. Trust me, no issue there.

Two different kids of beadspreads. One handmade quilt (shhh, don't tell my mom the cat did this) and the other one is a knitted one my wife made.

He seems to like the quilt better but I think that's a coincidence as it's on more than the other one.

And no... there's no litter box in the bedroom.

Well, solution number one is put a litterbox in the bedroom, at least temporarily, until the kitten is older.

Take both bedspreads that you currently have on there off, and put something different on there that has a completely different feel, texture and sound to it.. (I don't understand this... dunno if its the sound their claws make, or the feel of it under their feet, but had this happening with my kitten a while back, and this was how we solved it). You might have to just simply use a blanket for a few weeks. Completely wash (and perhaps use an enzyme additive if theres one available for laundry) the stuff that the kitten has gone potty on. Now.. and this is the part that was difficult for me. I had to remove Joyeux from my room for a week, to give her time to "forget" the behavior. Once she's/he's not in the habit of it.. then bring the kitty back in, with the litter box in place, and a completely different feel to the "surface" of the bed, and see how that goes. Make sure to show the kitten the litter box too.

Honestly, I'd never heard of this until I got a "list" of things that kittens potty on from the breeder that I got Joyeux from. In all my life I'd never had a cat do that.. and .. I was like... what???? That's the solution the breeder gave me, and it worked. She never tried to potty on it again (and I was desperate after we "argued" about it for forty minutes one night, which involved me putting her in her litterbox, and then her dusting off her feet, getting on the bed, and trying to potty on it.) I've since put a down comforter back on my bed, and have had no more issues... problem finally solved, with a fairly simple solution (except I had to buy a blanket, and replace my original down comforter..)

Also, can the kitten get up and down off the bed without trouble?

Oh ya, he gets up on the bed just fine.

Wondering what you used as a replacement bed cover?

I got... well, my sister had a cotton quilt that I used instead of the down comforter. I bought a fuzzy blanket (total different feel) and then put the quilt down over top of it (also a total different feel to it, and it didn't make the same scritch scritch noises that she was so fascinated with).

I think the key is just to make sure that the noise it makes when you scratch it is completely different, and the feel is different.. so that they don't associate one with the other. And, your kitty is about the same age Joyeux was when she did this too.. maybe even a week younger. I was told that they haven't completely developed their potty habits yet, since they're so young, so it was likely to be fairly simple (with a little effort) to break because it hadn't become a habit yet.

Let me know how it progresses. Or feel free to ask more questions.. you can PM me too if you need to.

I have an 11 week bengal that just started doing this too. I logged on here and found your advice, so now we have another test subject. Keep me updated.

He is UTI negative, and I just changed the blanket, used an enzyme cleaner and gave him an extra litter box in the bedroom. I though he might be doing this because of the other spayed female in the house, but the mention of the blanket is spot on. He uses the bed in the morning, and I caught him this time pawing the comforter as he does in the litter box.

Hopefully this will take care of the issue!

Joyeux, my previously problem kitty, is a Bengal.. but yeah, it worked for me, THANK GOD.

Well I added the second litter box in our bedroom. Without any word of a lie, I put it down on the floor and within 90 seconds, the cat (Sox) was in there doing his thing.

I sure hope it keeps up.

I'll keep updating this thread as to the progress. Thanks to all for their input!!

Jim.

Yay, Sox!!! Keep up the good work, little kitty!

Well... to give a report. So far, so good. Since the addition of the litter box in the bedroom, there have been no more problems. It's been 36 hours. <knocking on wood>

Oh, good! It sounds like that's just what the lil darling was waiting for!

Also on the blankets your kitty peed on- if you notice that he pees again (I hope not!!) check and see if it is one of the ones he used before. Sometimes the smell is still there for the cats, so they are associating the place with the smell and you will have to stop using it on the bed, at least long enough for him to forget he ever used it.

The current bedspread is one he's peed on a few times. He's not done it once since the introduction of the new litterbox. The bedspread was taken from the bed to the washing machine instantly every time when the offense was noticed.

Anyway, things still going well here. No more accidents to report and he is still using the alternate litter box as well as the main one we set up for him.

OK folks. I'd say we have this beat. Not a single problem since introducing the second litterbox.

Thanks to all for the advise.

Jim.