Behavior

We are stumped. The situation is this: Luckie is one of our 3 fur kids. He has always been a bit different than the other 2. We acquired him about 2 years ago. Someone had dumped him (we lived out in the country at that time) and either in the dumping or in a tangle with another animal his tummy skin was torn open. He was starving and in great pain. Since it was night when we found him, we spoon fed him and I held him wrapped in a warm towel until we could get to the vet the next morning. He was cleaned up, sewed up and neutered at the same time. He has alway been a little jumpy since, which is certainly understandable. He didn't really warm up to either my husband or myself but we have loved him much and now, while he still is not overly fond of my husband, he seems to have finally decided that mama is okay. We don't know why he does not care for my husband and he loves Luckie very much and is very patient, gentle and loving with him. He will go for a few days and have very little to do with me and then for days will he will follow me everythere, talk to me, jump up and lay on me when I'm ready to go to bed or get up in the morning and want to be petted, scratched and rubbed. In fact he is now laying on the back of my chair here at the computer. We are always very gentle and soft spoken with him and he gets his share of gentle hugs, strokes and kisses every day even on those days when he's not having anything to do with us. We just make the touches very brief on those days. But about 2 weeks ago he began to do something that is driving us crazy. He began to urinate on our bed, always on my husband's side of the bed. I keep plastic on the mattress now but I've had to wash the bedding every day. We've been careful the whole time we've had him not to raise our voices at him. Yesterday I sat him on the wet spot and while he was sniffing it, without raising my voice, I firmly told him no, no, no. He just looked at me, jumped down and walked away with his tail in the air. The vet says he is healthy. We can't figure out why he began doing this nor what to do about it. Friends say get rid of him but some idiot already got rid of him in a horrible way and we are not about to if I have to wash the bedding everyday from now on. We love him dearly and he is one of our babies. Since I really would rather not continue to wash the bedding every day we would appreciate any idea as to why he's doing this and how we can stop it. We think he is about 2 years old. He reminds me of a foster child who has had a terrible life and needs to be secure and loved a lot. Nothing has changed in the last couple of weeks that we can think of to cause this problem. He gets along well with Nikki and Jessie. Thanks for any advice.

I had a cat who used to do the same thing. It started when a neighbours tom got in and sprayed on the spare bed and after that Ginge used to pee in the same spot and then started to go on ours, always on my husbands side. He even sprayed on my husbands head when we were asleep one night!! Why he targeted him is a mystery.

It seems with your cat, he might have been ill treated by a man in the past which would explain his aversion to your husband. Hopefully he might learn to trust your husband in time as he is obviously very caring and patient.

I found no solution to the problem other than keeping him out of the bedrooms. He didn`t really do it anywhere else. Eventually he just stopped as he got older and we gradually started letting him back into the bedroom with no problems so it isn`t necessarily a permanent habit.

First, it is wonderful that you saved this kitty and are so patient and understanding with him. Cudos to you!

When you wash the bedding, try washing it in 2 cups of vinegar, no detergent. This will completely eliminate the urine odor so if he is continuing to pee there just to refresh his scent, this should help. There are some commercially available products that also work to eliminate the odor in the mattress, such as Simple Solution.

Also, invest in a black light. Turn off the regular lights, and the cat pee will glow in the black light so you can see where it all is.

I'm sure others will pipe in here shortly. I hope this helps a little.

Did your vet specifically check for a urinary tract problem? A typical check-up will not detect infections/blockages. If the vet did not check for these problems, take him back immediately. Urinary tract problems are the number one reason why cats urinate outside the litter box.

Please see this thread for some great ideas.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...iate+urination

Thanks everyone. We too have assumed that it was a man who abused Luckie. We tried keeping him out of the bedroom but he would just lay in front of the door and look at us so sadly that it broke my heart. Plus it upset Nikki who thinks the top of our dresser is his throne. Will try the vinegar. We are sure its Luckie having caught him several times. Jessie spends very little time in the bedroom. She much prefers to spend her time in the kitchen on one of the padded chairs or the back of the couch. Nikkie has no special preferances except for the top of the dresser and where ever I am. Right now he is the one on the back of my chair here at the computer. It is amusing tho because when I go in the bedroom and find the wet spot on the bed I mutter to myself and if Nikkie is on the dresser he will make this funny little noise, look at me and then glare down at Luckie who is usually laying on the floor in front of the dresser. Luckie will look at him and then cover his face with his paws. I don't know what Nikkie is saying to him but I wish he'd tell Luckie to stop peeing on the bed. Luckie is still going in the litter boxes. We have 3 and I praise him when I see that he is using the litter box. The vet checked for a urinary tract problem as thats the first thing we thought of since this started so abruptly. Vet says no, he's perfectly healthy. Will check the thread suggested. Thanks again everyone. Aren't we lucky to have these sweetlings? I can't understand anyone abusing any animal and I don't want to. I always thought that if I were lucky enough to win a lottery I would start a safe farm for cats and dogs. I love them all. God certainly knew what He was doing when He made them.