We have discussed a lot about problems before, but occasions when on their owner’s beds, shoes, clothes, and other personal belongings require special attention.
Table of Contents
- Do cats pee out of spite?
- Why does my cat pee on my bed?
- Why is your cat peeing on things and stop the behavior
- How do you stop a cat from peeing on your bed
Do out of spite?
Let’s address the revenge myth first. We won’t discuss whether cats are or are not vengeful creatures, as it would require a separate article to prove that they are not.
The more important fact is that cats do not find their urine disgusting like we do. Also, they have no idea that cat urine can be used as a tool of revenge.
Your cat does not possess the reasoning powers required for spite or revenge. They would have to know that if they peed on your bed, it will upset you. Further, they would have to connect their past action (the inappropriate urination) with your reaction to it in the future. Our cats aren’t vengeful villains, out to even a score with you. They are four legged fur babies. Simple and lovable.
In this article, you are going to learn why cats pee on your beds, shoes, clothes, and personal items. As a loving cat owner, you’ll also learn how to stop your cat from peeing on your things.
?
If it isn’t a revenge thing, then what is it? Let’s assume for the moment that your cat is healthy. As weird as it sounds, when your cat pees on your bed and clothes could be described as them trying to add their scent to your stuff. This is called urine marking where a male cat is more likely to do this. Just like when you lick the frosting on a cupcake. You are saying “I love this, this is mine”. Or maybe that’s just me.
Ironically, your cat peeing on your shoes may be their attempt to improve your relationship. Did it work? Did you love them more when you found your cat peed on your favorite pair of shoes? Probably not. Even if your cat had good intentions, they were misguided. So how can you stop it?
Why is your cat peeing on things and stop the behavior
1. Check your for medical problems.
First, you want to know that your cat is healthy. Urinating outside of the litter box is the most common cat behavior problem caused by medical conditions. Often it is associated with painful urination, urine incontinence, or urinary tract infection.
IMPORTANT: Every cat who experiences litter box problems should be examined by a veterinarian. Please let your veterinarian know if the problem appeared suddenly. Take note of any changes in your cats environment, eating, and elimination.
2. Look for reasons your is avoiding the .
You should also check your to see if there isn’t something undesirable about it.
- Do you have ? If so, do you have more than one ?
- Other common causes of avoidance are an untidy . Our oldest for example is very fussy about her . She wants it cleaned after every use.
- Is the location of the box not to your ‘s liking? Could it be too close to a for example?
- Could you have the wrong type for your ‘s liking? You can learn more about possible causes of problems here.
3. Don’t punish your for on your belongings
It sure can be hard to control your frustration as you step inside a wet slipper early in the morning, or worse, discover wet sheets as you drag yourself into the bed after a tiresome day. However . . .
When you find your on your belongings and you punish them, it is likely to make the situation worse. Why?
As stated above, much of the behavior problem is caused by stress. Physical or verbal punishment only adds more stress. We have found our four legged children respond much more quickly to positive reinforcement for desired behavior. Like praising them and giving them treats for going in their .
4. Recognize and limit your ‘s stress
So you now praise your when they in the . But if that doesn’t fix the problem, look for try strategies that reduce stress. Don’t praise or cuddle them when you find on your bed. Ignore what happened. Clean everything up and use cleaners that remove the smell. While helps, it doesn’t remove all traces of the mess. We find that products with enzymes that remove the smell and waste work best. The product we use in our clinic and at home is Nature’s Miracle. It has enzymes which remove the proteins in your (and dogs) and solid waste.
Next, try to find out what stresses out your . Could it be your new kitten or puppy messing around too much? Could it be your new robot vacuum is terrorizing them? Is it ? This is hard to diagnose without a video camera to see what is happening after you leave. Or your neighbor’s new found love of the trumpet? When you find what changed in your cats environment that may be causing them stress, look for ways to relieve it. Check how your feels from day to day and at what moments they seem to show signs of stress.
How do you stop a from on the bed?
You may love your , but in many cases the problem is because of your relationship. As hard as this may be to accept, please understand this is from their perspective, not yours. Try to improve your relationship with your as much as you can by playing, petting, or just talking to your more.
Limit negative interactions
This means if you get upset at something or yell at the TV your may take this personally. You weren’t directing that energy towards them, but they don’t know that. Perhaps you have been spending time with your new kitten? Perhaps work has been more demanding lately? It’s the rare that comes to us with this problem that plays with their enough.
Does your cat want more playtime?
Take a step back and think about how often and how long you play with them. Create a log in your phone of dates and times (start and stop). After a week, look at it. Whatever it is, does your seem to want more time with you? Try to give them more attention and see what effect it has on the problem.
Look for things that cause your cat stress
Besides your relationship, other things can cause a to be stressed. Common stressors include changes in the environment and/or schedule, your absence, boredom, a tight living space, and their relationships with your other pets. Don’t forget this includes animals that can be seen through a window. Find out what’s going on and you are on your way to free shoes and bedding. You can learn more about causes and solutions to stress here.
However, the most common reason on their owner’s beds, shoes, and other stuff is because of their own relationship. One of the hardest ones to diagnose is . We had to use a video camera to solve issues with both our cats and dogs. As the leaders of the pack, your animals will react differently when you leave. Especially if you’ve been spending a lot more time at home and then leave. We found and recommend to our patients a pet cam like this Petcube Cam. It’s has features like motion detection and tracking so it follows your pet. You can also talk to them from the app on your phone. The sound detection feature helped us figure out when and why our little girl was meowing so loud that our neighbors started to complain. Turns out she had a real problem with the squirrels that were attacking our new bird feeder. Two problems solved ! It works with the 2.4GHz band of WiFi in your house and not the faster 5 GHz WiFi band. We had no problems communicating with it and it really helped us understand what our kitty was going through.
As stated above, they might be doing it in order to improve their bond with you. This of course fails miserably as most owners don’t find the a loving gesture. Playing detective is tough, but, if you work on finding out what’s going on, maybe your won’t feel the need to on your shoes and bed. That will make you happy. Of course, when you are happy, your pet is happy too. Now that makes a happy home.
Note, if your has other behavior problems, you can check for solution to most common ones here.
