Cat Marking Bed

[Ebsyn]

Hey everyone,

I am so frustrated. I have a 2 year old cat who is marking my bed repeatedly. He has been checked out by the vet and no signs of a UTI. (She did remark his bladder was small.)

I feel like I am doing all the “right” things and this still continues. I am really not sure what I am doing to make him mad. I have heard this is more common in multi-pet households? (I have one older dog and 6 cats). We have 6 huge litter XL modkat boxes that are cleaned daily for all of them.

I’ve got a couple of theories for his behavior:
- 1) he’s angry I’m not waking up at 4:30am when he wants to be fed. I’m standing firm on my 5:30 wake up time. (He’s got food sitting out but he wants wet food.)
- 2) I thought it might be separation anxiety?
- 3) issues with my other male cat? But they get along. I see them play. But, I have noticed in the morning when Nimbus is begging me for food that he will swat his brother off the bed.

Looking for any and all ideas.

I am already using enzyme sprays and laundry booster. I am allowing the sheets to air dry. I even tossed baking soda on the mattress itself just to be safe. I have gone as far as to cover the bed with crate mats during the day.

Things I haven’t done are: calming sprays, calming collars or marking deterrent sprays (was unsure about these)

Thank y’all in advance!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. So, is he marking your bed while you are in it? Wasn't clear on that. Where does your theory of separation anxiety come into play? I didn't understand that option based on what you said.

Nonetheless, I don't know if it would work in your case or not, given the number of cats you have, but have you considered a timed feeder for his food so that he doesn't need to wait on you? They have them for wet food too. Feeding him later at night in case it is because he is going too long without food?

I never advocate for this, but you will hear others tell you to lock him out of your room when you are sleeping.

Maybe some more details/specifics might help!!

 

[sunny578]

Hello!

A couple of things:

Where are all the litter boxes? Ideally you want them spread out throughout the house. You want at least some of them to be hoodless, and you want all of them to have multiple points of exit and entry so that cats don't feel like they can be ambushed or surprised by another cat or a dog while doing their business.

Have you tried putting a litter box in your room?

Are your litter boxes located in a dog free space?

One thing that was key to getting my cat (a fellow bed urinator) back to using her box was a cat tree placed right by the bed. This accomplished a variety of things--it gave her a place that smelled like her and felt safe very close to me/our bed, it gave her a place to scratch (one way for cats to spread their scent is to urinate; another is to scratch) and it increased her territory by giving her a high up space to call her own.

If you decide to add a cat tree/change up your litter box set up, I would still put a tarp or shower curtain on your bed for a couple of weeks when it's not in use to help discourage urination.

Please keep us posted! Bed marking is so frustrating but so common and totally solvable. If these suggestions don't work, I have many many other ideas!

 

[sunny578]

oh-you mention crate mats on the bed. Does he go on top of these?

 

[Ebsyn]

Hi. So, is he marking your bed while you are in it? Wasn't clear on that. Where does your theory of separation anxiety come into play? I didn't understand that option based on what you said.

Nonetheless, I don't know if it would work in your case or not, given the number of cats you have, but have you considered a timed feeder for his food so that he doesn't need to wait on you? They have them for wet food too. Feeding him later at night in case it is because he is going too long without food?

I never advocate for this, but you will hear others tell you to lock him out of your room when you are sleeping.

Maybe some more details/specifics might help!!

He’s done it while I’m on the bed and not.
When I’m not on the bed, he pees exactly where I lay. It’s like he’s sending a message.

I only thought separation anxiety because there were a couple days I was home and then returned to work. While, I was home everything was fine. Then he started back up. It’s never consistent. Very random. So, it’s always really hard to figure out what’s upsetting him.

currently, we have a bunch of microchip feeders that are accessible in a different room to only the cats. I thought about timed feeders but with 6 cats, I just didn’t know how to make it work.

 

[Ebsyn]

Hello!

A couple of things:

Where are all the litter boxes? Ideally you want them spread out throughout the house. You want at least some of them to be hoodless, and you want all of them to have multiple points of exit and entry so that cats don't feel like they can be ambushed or surprised by another cat or a dog while doing their business.

Have you tried putting a litter box in your room?

Are your litter boxes located in a dog free space?

One thing that was key to getting my cat (a fellow bed urinator) back to using her box was a cat tree placed right by the bed. This accomplished a variety of things--it gave her a place that smelled like her and felt safe very close to me/our bed, it gave her a place to scratch (one way for cats to spread their scent is to urinate; another is to scratch) and it increased her territory by giving her a high up space to call her own.

If you decide to add a cat tree/change up your litter box set up, I would still put a tarp or shower curtain on your bed for a couple of weeks when it's not in use to help discourage urination.

Please keep us posted! Bed marking is so frustrating but so common and totally solvable. If these suggestions don't work, I have many many other ideas!

hey! Yes.The litter boxes are all top entry and in different rooms. One is in line sight of the bed in my bathroom. A couple in the guest bedroom with their food. There is a gate so my dog is restricted from that room. It’s only for the cats. And a couple more in our other bathroom.

I have one of those huge wall cat trees in my bedroom so he has access to places high up and there is another cat tree in the cat room. These cats are truly spoiled haha. I’ve attached a picture of the wall cat tree. The cat in question is top left.

 

[Ebsyn]

oh-you mention crate mats on the bed. Does he go on top of these?

so far, he respects the crate mats.

 

[sunny578]

Wow that wall tree is so cool. They are all so beautiful

Ok, good on the crate mats!

It sounds like there's a litter box close enough to your bed, although you could always try putting one right next to it and seeing what happens.

Does this guy sleep on your bed too? I'm wondering if there's a way to make him feel special and like he has a unique spot in the room. Maybe by increasing the amount of high up spaces he has access to, he could claim one for his own?

Another thought involves creating a new association with the bed, depending on his current relationship with it. You could make an extra effort to play with him there, brush him, treat him, move a cat scratcher up there when you aren't sleeping so he can scratch that, put some catnip on the bed, or some cat grass. Maybe even feed him a meal right where he likes to urinate. If he doesn't usually sleep with you, you could bring him in the bed when you are just hanging out to increase his scent in that place.

 

[Ebsyn]

Wow that wall tree is so cool. They are all so beautiful

Ok, good on the crate mats!

It sounds like there's a litter box close enough to your bed, although you could always try putting one right next to it and seeing what happens.

Does this guy sleep on your bed too? I'm wondering if there's a way to make him feel special and like he has a unique spot in the room. Maybe by increasing the amount of high up spaces he has access to, he could claim one for his own?

Another thought involves creating a new association with the bed, depending on his current relationship with it. You could make an extra effort to play with him there, brush him, treat him, move a cat scratcher up there when you aren't sleeping so he can scratch that, put some catnip on the bed, or some cat grass. Maybe even feed him a meal right where he likes to urinate. If he doesn't usually sleep with you, you could bring him in the bed when you are just hanging out to increase his scent in that place.

That’s a good idea! He doesn’t sleep on the bed at night. But, he does come lay with me. He likes to sleep under my legs if I’m watching a movie.

I’ve been researching waterproof blankets today as well. Thought about getting a cover to protect my sheets.