Peeing in my bed?!

First off let me say I have read through all the other articles about inappropriate potty behavior.. and this one falls outside of those areas I think.

Secondly, I am not 100% positive which cat is doing this, but I'm 99.9% sure it's Louie, my 13 week old kitten.

I have been working overnight shifts at work all this week, which means I'm sleeping from about 8am - 6pm roughly. Also, earlier this week I took my little guys to the vet (that was another headache all together)

Just in the last 2 days, I have woken up in the middle of my nap to find my bed soaked in urine.

The first day (yesterday) It was up by my arm.. two very large spots (larger than my hand each, and right next to each other) It was on my bed itself and soaked into my blanket.

This morning, after I switched out all of my bedding to wash it, I pulled out a blanket that has been sitting in my closet for the last 4 months and smells very musty now (so much so, that my older cat refused to lay on it with me)
Yet again, half way through my nap I find a large spot of urine near my leg (the blanket was laying over the edge of the bed)

What is causing my little guy to do this?
(the reason I excluded my older kitty is because she would show evidence of urinating on her hind legs due to excessively long hair she will not let me cut)

I am contemplating purchasing some citrus scented fabric softeners to get him to stop.. but I dont want to deter them from my bed all together.

Help would be appreciated.

Kittens peeing on the bed next to the owner has been covered in a thread before, though it's probably several pages back by now.

First, you'll need to completely remove the urine smell from your bedding and mattress. To do this you'll need to get an enzyme cleaner for it. You'll find these pet sections.

As to why a kitten would do this, for much the same reasons toddlers still need diapers. They don't always remember to get up and go to the litter box, or will hold it too long. The end result is a kitten peeing near it's "nest". It could also be possible that the kitten has a harder time getting down and back up again than you think it might.
One solution is to simply not sleep with your kitten till it's a few weeks older. Another may be to make sure a litter box is very close to the bed and always put your kitten in it before bed.
The last reason is much the same reason that other cats pee on beds, it's a familiar area and it's merely a marking behavior.

Just FYI - even at 13 weeks he could have UTI, causing him to pee outside the box. We just had an approximately 10 week old kitten with a massive UTI, he almost blocked completely.

you know that is a very good point... I have noticed that he will go into the litter box to use the potty and nothing will happen.. then he will go back and poop.. but that's it.. it was a LOT of urine in my bed too which surprised me..

back to the vet I go then

So.. to continue this question...

I have noticed that he is indeed not having any discomfort or problem urinating in his litter box. My boyfriend and I noticed that he is doing this whenever he is being ignored, while asking for attention. What can I do to change this??

Well, he's too old for it to be a "I want mother to take care of this" behavior and it's happening while you're sleeping - and he should be napping. If awake, I suggest you put him in his litter box just in case.

How far is the litter box from the bed? You never mentioned this. I keep one in my bedroom, though it is rarely used, because I don't want my adult cats to have to hold it if they need to go.

do you have down bedding? it's come up several times on another forum im on --for some reason it kitten's seem to liken the feel of down to litter when they're sleepy.

Well two things... One is that my apartment is only 510sqft. They are less than 10 feet from food & potty in either direction. If my place was larger I would deffinately put a box in my room.
Also, because of my sketchy schedule, a lot of times Louies is wide awake and playing while I'm asleep. (this has caused a need for sleeping aids on my part)
lastly, my bedroom does not have solid doors so there is no way to keep my cats out of my bedroom

If you can fit a bed in your room you can fit a small litter box. Kittens really can have problems holding it and shouldn't be expected to travel very far to find a box. If it's not even directly in sight of the bed it might even be too far away until your kitten gets a little older. This is more of a memory issue with kittens, and some are more forgetful than others.

More simply put, if you think you can make space for two cats then it means you need to make space for their needs, even extra litter boxes.

Try a small box near your bed. It's a small compromise and better than being peed on.


As for the schedule, cats can adjust some. Give your kitten more play time when you are awake and hope that tires him out enough to sleep more.