Kittens peeing on things

johang

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My fiance and I just got two brothers about a month ago (they were 2.5 months, now 3.5) and this week I've noticed they are peeing on various items. It started with me noticing they had peed on a cat bed we had got them from petco. They never slept on it, even though we moved it around to their favorite sleeping places. A few days ago I went to move it again and it was soaked in urine. I thought maybe it had been returned to the store and they could smell another cat so that's why they did it, but I checked a cat sack we got there too and it was wet as well. Then I remembered that while I was doing laundry the day before, it was very damp. I thought at the time my fiance had thrown a wet towel in the hamper or wet gym shirts. I was also washing a blanket we use a lot in the living room that I suspected had been peed on, but couldn't really tell. 

Yesterday I got my proof by catching one of them in the act. He jumped into our hamper right in front of me; I picked him up and he was peeing. Then, later in the evening I moved a few dirty clothes from the bed that had only been there for a few hours and someone had peed on those. I also suspect the blanket was peed on again. I know they didn't do this for litter box reasons because when I caught the one in the hamper I had just cleaned the box an hour prior.

I've since removed the hamper from the room and put it in the extra bedroom  with the door shut, but how inconvenient. I think the only reason the bed was peed on is because the laundry was on it and it was gym clothes, so extra smelly. But the blanket and petco items stump me. And why just dirty laundry?

Is this a common problem? I've grown up with cats and never experienced this issue. Since I've removed temptation, will they just go on to peeing on clean clothes or other household items? I hate locking them out of the bedroom and having to put away blankets and pillows all the time. 
 

emandjee

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johang,

I believe kittens and cats often have medical reasons when they urinate outside the box, so it's possible that one or both of them may have developed a UTI and have associated pain during eliminations whenever they go in the box and prefer a soft item to relieve on instead. The first thing to do is to get them both vet-checked if you haven't already. Make sure the vet does a cystocentesis (needle draw directly from their bladder) to do a urinalysis. Kittens/cats are often stressed when in a new environment, which lowers their immune systems, making them more prone to lower urinary tract diseases. 

In the meantime, you'll need to purchase a gallon of enzyme cleaners such as Nature's Miracle and completely soak all soiled items overnight to fully break down the urine. Just washing in regular laundry detergent will not rid of the smell. A feline's nose is much stronger than ours (14 times stronger), so even though you may be unable to detect an odor, if they do, they'll likely eliminate those spots again.

If your kitties come out clean, the issue is behavioral, but I'm more inclined to suspect the medical issue right now. I hope you do get the suspect(s) checked out and let us know how it went. Well wishes to you and your kitties! 
 
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johang

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Update

It's been a week since I noticed the behavior and no accidents so far. I've removed as much temptation from their environment as I can. Dirty laundry is up higher and so far they've ignored it. I also got another large litter box and put it where the hamper used to be. They aren't using it very much, but they aren't in the bedroom as much cause they hang around the living room and kitchen most of the day. I am also using a new litter in that box to see if it was the original stuff they didn't like using, so I've pretty much ruled that out as the problem.

I went to Petco to find an enzyme cleaner and the lady there recommended a laundry booster from the dog isle.  It is Nature's Miracle and it does say its Bio-Enzymatic, so I hope she knows what she is talking about. I'm supposed to use 1/4-1/2 cup per load of laundry and pre-treat anything I know is soiled. I have yet to actually wash anything with it.

They haven't been vet checked yet, but they have a regular vaccination apt. tomorrow and I'll ask about UTIs then and if they do have something I'll mention it. 
 
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johang

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Vet checked yesterday and she didn't even want to do a UTI check because she was pretty sure it was only behavioral. If there are more problems I'm to take them in, but so far so good. 
 

frida

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Looks like you are doing all your homework. My thoughts here are that even just having two boxes may make a difference as two male cats may not want to eliminate in the same place. Also if they are not neutered yet it could be that they are just reaching maturity and are marking things? This can happen at different ages for different cats.
 
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