Peeing on the bed!! How to stop that??

peeps

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My husband usually sleeps in the room across the hall from me due to snoring and for some reason after having our cat, Frankie, for a year now in the last week Frankie has peed on his bed twice. He's never done anything outside his cat box so we're totally confused why he would do that. He doesn't sleep in the bed so it's not like he's having accidents while he's sleeping. The only time he goes in there is in the evening while we're home and the door is open by mistake. We keep the bedroom doors closed while we're gone and at night when we're sleeping. It's almost like he's deliberately making a statement by going in there just to pee on his bed. Any idea why he's doing that and how to stop him from doing that. We're going to try to remember never to leave that door open. Frankie goes in my room all the time and lays on the floor and hasn't done anything on the bed that I sleep in. I also keep his litter box very clean and he uses it. We've never caught him peeing on the bed but don't know what else it could be.
 
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peeps

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I forgot to mention that I scoop out his litter box before I go to work in the morning and this behavior has been taking place in the evening both times. Would it help if I scooped it again after I get home from work? I'm going to be away from my PC in another half hour till Tuesday so I think I'll do 2 scoopings a day over the weekend until I can come back and see your answers. I was thinking we should flip the mattress in that bedroom too.
 

worriedmommy

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If you can, I would take him to the vet to get checked for a possible bladder infection. If this is something he has never had a problem with in the past then he might be trying to tell you he is not feeling well. Hope you can get t figured out.
 

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Whenever a kitty pees outside the box, 85% of the time it's a medical problem. Getting kitty to a vet is the best advice. With male cats, it's extra serious as they have very narrow urethras and they can become blocked. When blocked, it only takes about 24 hours for the urine to back up into the kidney and cause toxicity, which kills kitty. I don't mean to scare you, but we almost lost one of our kitties.

If kitty has crystals in his urine, this could be a cause of pain which would make him pee outside the box. A urinary tract infection or bladder infection causes same. One of our kitties had crystals become embedded in his bladder wall and he needed surgery.

However, all of that said, in order to discourage kitty from peeing on the bed once he has, you MUST use an enzyme cleaner on the mattress to clean it. Nature's Miracle is sold in most supermarkets or pet stores. We use Nok-Out, which can be purchased online at http://www.nokout.com. You must COMPLETELY soak the area (mattress, carpet, whatever) - and I mean completely. Soak up as much of the pee as you can first. Then completely soak it with the enzyme cleaner. Let it soak for 10-15 minutes, then absorb as much as you can with cloths or paper towels or whatever. For a mattress, we then place a towel that's doubled or quartered over the area and remake the bed with clean sheets and blankets. Change the towel covering the affected area for as many days as it takes to dry. The reason we love nok-out is because you can add it to the laundry, so you completely get rid of the pee smell from the sheets and blankets too.

Traditional cleaners don't completely get rid of the pee smell from kitty's perspective - only enzyme cleaners do. So once kitty has peed outside the box, in order to prevent it from happening again you have to get rid of the smell from kitty's perspective, or that place is now like a litter box to kitty.

If the problem isn't medical, there are many other things you can try. But it's best to rule that out first.

Hope your kitty is OK,

Laurie
 

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When my Twinkie came down with struvite crystals, the very first sign I had of it was when he peed on the bed and on the pillow. Your cat certainly is "making a statement." He's saying, "take me to the vet." Frankly, I'd take him in tomorrow morning if at all possible. Urinary obstructions can develop alarmingly fast.
 
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peeps

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I just got back to work today and read your responses. I called the vet and they agreed that I should bring him in to test for UTI. I'm going to drop him off on my way to work tomorrow. She said sometimes it take a while to get a urine sample so I should just leave him there and they will call me after they get the results.

If it's UTI is there a liquid treatment for it that I can put on canned food or tuna? I can't imagine trying to give him a pill. The only people food he will eat is tuna so it's not like I can hide a pill in some human food.

Over the weekend we made sure to keep the door to the guest room closed and I cleaned out his litter box more often and he didn't go pee anywhere else so I hope that's a good sign.
 

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Crystals are treated with a change in diet -- special prescription food. An infection is treated with antibiotics, and there are antibiotics that come as a liquid. Sometimes an anti-inflammatory is also prescribed, and that also comes as a liquid. If you catch it early enough, a UTI is fairly simple and easy to treat. UTIs sometimes recur; it's thought that genetics predispose some cats to get them. I'm sure your vet will cover all that with you. Keep us posted on how your kitty is doing!!
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by peeps

If it's UTI is there a liquid treatment for it that I can put on canned food or tuna? I can't imagine trying to give him a pill. The only people food he will eat is tuna so it's not like I can hide a pill in some human food.
most antibiotics are available in either pill or liquid, altho i wouldn't add it to food - he'd probably just refuse to eat the food. i personally find pills easier to administer than liquids, but that's me & my cats - they do make pill pockets for cats. if yours likes the moist treats that might be a solution.
i just butter my pills & stuff it down the throat of the cat in question with a pill popper.
 
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peeps

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Thanks for all your replies. I'll keep you posted on what the results are. I'll have to ask the vet what a pill popper is. I was a little afraid of the idea of liquid tasting bad and then him not liking his food.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by peeps

Thanks for all your replies. I'll keep you posted on what the results are. I'll have to ask the vet what a pill popper is. I was a little afraid of the idea of liquid tasting bad and then him not liking his food.
here's a pic of one: pill popper. you can get them at pet stores, usually. in a pinch, you can use the tool for inserting vaginal suppositories, too.
 
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peeps

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That pill popper looks a lot safer than trying to stick your fingers in his mouth and possibly getting bit.

He's been at the vet for 5 hours now and they haven't called me. Another half hour and I'm going to call to see what's happening. It's driving me nuts.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by peeps

That pill popper looks a lot safer than trying to stick your fingers in his mouth and possibly getting bit.

He's been at the vet for 5 hours now and they haven't called me. Another half hour and I'm going to call to see what's happening. It's driving me nuts.
yes, it definitely does help. buttering the pill helps, too - makes it slide down better.

let us know when you hear anything.
 
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peeps

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Still waiting. I called them a couple hours ago and they said he must have gone to the bathroom before we left this morning cuz he didn't have a full enough bladder to get a sample. They have him in a crate with water and no litter box. You'd think he'd be ready for a sample soon. I get off in a couple hours and sure hope they can get the sample and results by the time I get off. They're only open till 5:00 so they only have 2 hours, 45 minutes left before they close. This has been a long day.
 
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peeps

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The vet called and he has some crystals in his urine and his Ph is a 6 1/2 and should be more like a 6. No infection so we don't have to worry about getting antibiotics into him. I'm so glad we don't have to do that. She said we caught it in time that it's not too bad and she agreed that that's why he peed on the bed. She's going to put him on a prescription diet "RD" for a couple months and then she wants me to bring him back in to do another urinalysis. I think we'll keep the bedroom doors shut for a few weeks till these crystals pass though and it starts feeling better. If everything is fine in a couple months, she doesn't want me to put him back on the Innova Lite because she said that might be what caused this for him.

When I go pick him up, I'm going to try to remember to ask if we can still give him treats and if tap water is still okay. If you guys know the answers to this, let me know please.

I'm pretty relieved that it's not anything worse.
 

venusgirltrap

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Originally Posted by peeps

The vet called and he has some crystals in his urine and his Ph is a 6 1/2 and should be more like a 6. No infection so we don't have to worry about getting antibiotics into him. I'm so glad we don't have to do that. She said we caught it in time that it's not too bad and she agreed that that's why he peed on the bed. She's going to put him on a prescription diet "RD" for a couple months and then she wants me to bring him back in to do another urinalysis. I think we'll keep the bedroom doors shut for a few weeks till these crystals pass though and it starts feeling better. If everything is fine in a couple months, she doesn't want me to put him back on the Innova Lite because she said that might be what caused this for him.

When I go pick him up, I'm going to try to remember to ask if we can still give him treats and if tap water is still okay. If you guys know the answers to this, let me know please.

I'm pretty relieved that it's not anything worse.
Be careful when he starts getting better. My cat still peed out of the box and in fact will still not urinate in that box (scoop free automatic). I set up a box with feline pine in it and she went in there. You may want to set up an alternate box with an alternate litter because she still might associate her old box with pain.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by peeps

When I go pick him up, I'm going to try to remember to ask if we can still give him treats and if tap water is still okay. If you guys know the answers to this, let me know please.

I'm pretty relieved that it's not anything worse.
sounds like when Chip peed in the box... he had crystals, but no infection, too.

unless your tap water is really mineral heavy, it'll probably be ok. treats - depends on the treat. boys are more 'blockage' prone, due to the length of the ureter, than girls, so you need to be careful with them.

i have a problem with the quality of most 'prescription' diets. Chip at his for a month, & when his crystals were gone [his were oxalate - most cats have struvite] i started adding stuff to his regular food to akalinize his urine instead of using the prescription stuff.

oh, & if he still doesn't wanna use the box, get the Cat Attract litter - it really works!
 
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peeps

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Luckily he only peed outside the box twice and that was over a week ago. He's been using his box ever since we started keeping the bedroom doors closed. The vet said his crystals weren't too bad so hopefully the pain will go away quickly. We're still going to keep the bedrooms closed for a while till we know he's better. The vet only wants him to be on the prescription diet for 2 months and then we'll check him again and if there's no crystals, she said we could put him back on regular food.

Any suggestions of good foods for cats that have had crystals? My vet said surprisingly she sees more cats with crystals that are on the organic foods. We were thinking we were giving him something really good by giving him Inova lite but I guess not. They said not to give him treats for the 2 months so I put a container of the RD food up where I usually have his treats so he thinks he's getting a treat when we give him a few of those. She put him on RD cuz she said he could use losing a little weight.
 
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peeps

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Thanks for the thread. I had to skim through it quickly cuz I'm at work but I did catch someone recommending Pro Plan Urinary Tract Health and that's one that my vet recommended too.
 
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