Cats peeing on sitter's things - never done this before.

Hi, so I've been away for a week and a half and I got a live-in housesitter in to look after my babies. This is the first time I've been away for this long since I've had Pierre. With Fuzzy, I've either paid someone to check in on him daily, or left him in the vet's cattery.

My cats are both very shy and I knew it would take some time for them to adjust to the sitter. On the plus side, she tells me they are now confident enough to be around her most of the day, and Fuzzy is seeking cuddles from her - which is a great achievement for him.

On the down side, one or both of them is peeing on her stuff (suitcase, shoes). This is not typical behaviour for them, in fact they've never done anything like this.

I know when a cat starts peeing in the wrong place it is usually a UTI but could they also be doing it out of stress due to the new person in the home?  And if so, is it likely to stop when I come back (on Monday) or will it continue after that?

And any tips for avoiding this in the future?  I did put a Feliway dispenser in their favourite room, but obviously that wasn't enough.

Oh one other thing, she was housesitting for someone else's cat immediately before she came to mine, so they probably also smell Unfamiliar Cat on her stuff. Although, I've taken in temporary foster cats and they never had any such problem with them.

Sounds like they are trying to mark over the scent of other cats in their territory. It just happens that the foreign scent is on the sitter's stuff. Once her stuff is gone, I can't imagine that it will continue. If it does however, you will want to rule out UTI.

Based on my experience, looks like how cats behave towards other cats vs. foreign cat scent may not be comparable. 

To give you an example, both my cats exhibited the typical behavior (hiss for a while before getting used to each other) when first introduced to my bf's cat.

However when I moved to a new place, both cats were very hostile towards each other for the 1st week. I later realize that the previous owner had a cat and the carpet must have smelled like it (even though I had cleaned it in advance of moving in). Somehow both cats had picked up the scent and every time they smell each other, all they can smell is a foreign cat.