Cats weeing on my duvet AGAIN !!

Smithyp1

Ok, we have 2 brothers, jasper and riley who are 10 months old.

Now and again we let them in the bedroom only when we are sleeping, never in the day the door is shut and they are fine for a few nights, but then, only of a morning, one of them will decide to wee on the bed !!!!

This has happened several times and we keep giving them second, third, fourth chances, but we can't afford to keep buying duvet covers !!

The weird thing is, when we had the duvet off because of the warm nights and it was just the sheets they were fine.

If we shut the bedroom door, riley meows and scratches wanting to come in...!

Can anyone suggest where were going wrong, why they do it and what we can do about it?

Many thanks....

emrawkgrrl

Are they neutered? My friend had this problem with her kittens, then once they had the snip it was absolutely fine.

Smithyp1

Yes they are.....it's not as if it's just one of them either, just now and again one of the cheeky monkeys will do it !!! :mad:

And after, you can tell that they know they have done wrong but it's too late then....

suki1964

So they dont wee on just the sheets? Only when the duvet is on the bed?

Have you changed the Duvet itsself? That would be holding the smell perhaps so infact giving them a marker to scent over again

wuno

Are they weeing or spraying?

You can tell the differance usually by the pattern - is it a round, "squat down and do it underneath them" patch or a long, thin, "stand up and squirt away from them" patch.

Are they housecats or do they go out?

I suspect Suki is correct and there is some residual urine on the duvet itself. You need to get rid of this smell, or they will treat this as a toilet area.

We recommend a product called "Urine-Off", which actually breaks down the smelly stuff in cat urine. Apply it to the sheets/duvet before washing them, since washing them alone is not enough to get rid of the smell (to a cat's nose anyway).

Smithyp1

They are both outside cats....

We have had to buy a new duvet each time because even after washing the duvet at home and at the laundrette the smell still exists....

They have never sprayed, it's always a squat position....

Tray is always clean...

And yes when it was just the sheets they never did it.

wuno

OK. Actually it makes it simpler if they are not spraying.

First. Don't keep buying new duvets, you will quickly go bankrupt!

Try the "urine-off" to spray the patches they leave. It will get rid of the smell - which is what you are worried about in the first instance.

Clearly, they are happy using the soft, absorbant duvet as a substitute for weeing in the litter tray. Cats don't like the idea of it splashing their legs.

Also, they may simply be lazy, as walking to find the litter tray in a morning is a really tough task for a sleepy cat.

The rule of thumb for litter trays is one per cat plus one spare.

What sort of cat litter do you use? You might have to change the litter. Perhaps offer them a choice. We have some covered trays and some not covered, some with litter, some without.

Also, stupid as it might sound, a slight slope from front to back of the tray helps them feel that the urine is not going to flow onto their feet.

If they do it in the morning after being in the room with you overnight, then it sounds like they should not be with you over night. A lot of people shut cats in a spare room or the bathroom overnight, with litter trays. Basically, you need to make them accept that weeing in a litter tray is better (i.e. more comfortable) than weeing anywhere else.

Smithyp1

Thankyou for the advice wuno and everybody else.

We do now have to keep them in the kitchen overnight, but after a few nights i feel guilty and give them another chance.

But just as you think all is ok, they go and do it again.

I wonder if leaving another litter tray nearer the bedroom would do the trick?
Don't really want to do that but might be worth a try.

spookylukey

I know somebody who's cat did the same thing, he had a fascination with duvets. She tried to keep him out of the bedrooms as much as possible but also found that spraying feliway spray (odourless by the way!) on the duvet itself really helped.

frivolous_fay

We let out kittens on the bed a bit too hastily and ended up washing two duvets - we got the impression they liked the feel of the duvet under their feet... soft, flexible (as well as being too far away from their tray, which we are now more careful about). They also liked the pile of newspapers in our magazine rack... again, sliding material underfoot... mmm.....

Touch wood, they've been very good lately! But we still shut them out of the bedroom in the day when we're out (and at night, because they're too hyper!)

Sammy_Girl

This reminds me of my dog when he was a pup. One day I was tidying up the bedroom and he jumped on the bed and just peed on it. I shooed him off and changed the covers. Then he jumped staright back on and peed again :rotfl:

2 years on it makes me laugh, but I was most annoyed at the time!! That was the only time he did it though....he must be a quick learner.

What a joy our beloved pets can be