My cat pees on my bed

[NightSymphony]

I've had my cat, Velvet for 10 years, ever since she was a kitten. She never used to pee on anything except in her litter box, until about 6 years ago. A friend had moved in with her little dog and ever since then she has been peeing on my bed and any clothes that I leave on the floor. That friend and her dog has long since moved away, and I have also moved. I've gotten a new bed and still she does it. She seems to do it more often when I'm not at home so I've had to take the blankets, sheets and mattress off my bed and put them away so she can not pee on them. The last time she was at the vet she did not have a bladder infection or any health issues. It's like she is punishing me for leaving her alone at home, but she does do it right in front of me sometimes, and has even done it at night while I was sleeping in the bed. I don't want to spray anything on my bed to keep her off of it since she sleeps on it with me.

[Jennifer Mathis, D.V.M.]

85% OF INAPPROPRIATE URINATION PROBLEMS IN CATS ARE MEDICAL. Rarely is it behavioral.  Please see a veterinarian again.  FLUTD (Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease) is common in cats and causes crystals to occur.  The pH is changed when crystals are present, but you cannot smell a pH change.  You can sometimes smell a bacterial infection or concentrated urine, but that is not diagnostic of a specific problem.

The most common things that cause problems in urine are: crystals, bacteria, pH.  They're all sort of inter-related.  Bacteria can ascend into the bladder from many sources and just have a bladder infection.  Bacteria can shower to the kidneys and get into the urine from the kidneys that originated elsewhere ( most commonly in the mouth) in the body.  Bacteria cause a pH change.  Or the pH change could be primary as a result of FLUTD -- just a spontaneous condition.  Different crystals form in different pHs.  There is also a link to crystal formation and magnesium content of diet as well as relative super saturation of the urine due to diet ingested. ie crystals can form from diet as a primary cause.  Also crystals can form and dissolve and reform and trap bacteria in them and then release them to have an infection recurr.  ie there are many reasons or a combination of reasons problems can happen in urine.  Another reason is inflammed bladder lining which may not even show up as a problem in urine.  ie any irritation in the bladder causes pain and if pain is associated with the litter box, then the cat seeks out something soft  - with the thought it may hurt less, then try different areas of soft things to go on -  thinking it may hurt less this time.  Also if the cat it doing it in front of you - it's often a call for attention -- ie help me, I don't feel right!

So diet may be part of the answer, but be aware -- non prescription urinary health foods contain low magnesium, but do nothing to change the pH or relative super saturation (RSS) of the urine.  Those pills mentioned try to change the pH, but they don't change the RSS.  And - a prolonged pH in diet has been linked to early onset of renal (kidney) failure in later life - so changing pH without knowing it's needed may actually make other problems occur.  Prescription Urinary SO diet changes all of those things with a more moderate pH, so secondary kidney issues are less or not at all likely.  ie using grocery store food with a known problem does not solve the issue.

Please also re-evaluate urine after being better on a routine regular basis.  I had a patient present with a bladder infection (bacteria in urine on analysis), treated with antibiotics, re-evaluated 17-21 days after starting antibiotics and it was clear, then urine re-evaluated 3 months later with no symptoms present and crystals were present.  ie crystals were the cause of the recurrance, and may be the primary cause or secondary to bacteria from any source.  Without the Urinary SO to keep the crystals away, the problem would have been recurrant.

Please be aware that once a problem has been found and cleared, that it can become a behavioral problem.  The pet smells its own urine and it was okay to go there before, so it can go there again.  The only product I know that actually destroys urea crystals and smell is Urine Off -- you can see with a black light the urea crystals (smell), then after Urine Off treatment, the crystals are no longer visible with the black light.  Behavioral issues can also be helped by placing water and food bowls around the house.  It's okay to have 20+ water and food dishes - maybe only 3-5 pieces of kibble per dish  - around the house.  The cat doesn't want to urinate where they eat or drink so would go find an alternate location - hopefully the litter box once all medical issues are handled/being controlled.  As the days go by move the food/water dishes by an inch or so a day until a few get consolidated and you eventually move to very few and only one dish in the house - essentially training your cat to relearn where to use the bathroom.

There are lots of issues out there and lots of help -- and remember cats are fastidious animals -- they like things clean.  The sooner you work on this, the better the results and the easier your life will be.
Feel free to read an abbreviated version of this topic in January issue of West Des Moines Living Magazine p22: http://www.iowalivingmagazines.com/westdesmoines/

Good luck!

[Judy Karnia, D.V.M.]

Cats do not hold grudges or urinate out of retaliation or because they are mad.  Sometimes we try to figure out what our cats are doing by thinking what reasons a human might have for doing the same thing.  But they do not think the same way we do.

I agree with Dr. Mathis that many of these problems are due to medical problems which are often made worse with stress.  If it is behavioral, usually it is due to some problem which causes her to not want to use the litter box - it may be the type or depth of litter, the cleanliness, where the litter box is located.  You should discuss this with your veterinarian and work toward making the litter box more desirable to her and the location where she is urinating undesirable.

[nala1957]

I recently fostered a shephard/chow mix.She was abandoned,i would love to keep her she is beautiful except the seperation anxiety is really bad.She is distructive if i leave her alone.I have tried crates she destroyed them both?

[NightSymphony]

I've never noticed anything wrong in her urine, but it does seem she is trying to get even with me for leaving her alone at home. She's always been the only cat and she pretty much gets what ever she wants. Maybe I spoil her too much.

[kaylamcknz]

I have a cat that does a similar thing. She will pee on any clothes I have on the floor or a random for say shoprite bag that gets to the floor. She has even done it on my like bookbags. We always punished her for ruining many of our items but we realized these would occur at very strange times, such as if her litter box wasn't to her standards, she has also done it to show us she needs help because it turned out she only has one kidney so we feed her urinary tract food and we mix a "over the counter" urinary pill with her wet food which also helps her. It seems as if your cat is doing this out of retaliation and lonelyness. If she is a only only especially an only cat. She could be doing it infront of you to show you that she is holding a grudge or that something is wrong. Next time she does it I would suggest maybe self inspecting it just by looking to make sure there is no blood in her urine or the ph. isn't too high by smelling it. Hope I was of some help. cat owner of 16 years or so