Thread: Help my maine coon has started urinating on the bed!

Wow. I feel for you. We went through "inappropriate elimination" issues with one of our females when she was a kitten. It is hard to recall exactly, but I think it was around the same age. We thought for a while that we were going to have to get rid of her (return her to the breeder), which would have been particularly heartbreaking as we had gotten her after a two year old had died from a rare problem. It also coincided at least somewhat with taking in a retiree from the same breeder, so we were never sure what role that played. She started peeing on the rug in one spot in the living room, in a leather chair, and in sinks.

So what did we do? Obviously the first thing is to make certain she doesn't have a medical issue like a bladder infection. Try to think if anything has changed in your house or her routine or your routine. Any possible stressors. We increased the number and location of litter pans, and experimented with a number of litters (although such experimentation may have played a role in starting the problem). We got a pheromone spray to try to help if it were some stress (never saw that have *any* effect frankly). All spots that she had peed in were cleaned very, very thoroughly with products that have enzymes to kill urine smell. This is extremely critical, as once there is a urine smell in an area they tend to think it OK to go there. In living room where she was peeing, I heavily cleaned/treated the carpet, lay a sheet of plastic over the entire area so she couldn't get at the rug, and put a litter box smack dab on top of all this where she had gone. We got various sprays that were designed to repel cats and used them daily on the other areas where she had gone, plus got devices to block various of these areas. We did lots of reading about cat behaviors, and noticed that this cat really likes to dig/scratch on smooth surfaces--such as the leather chair and the sinks. Turns out this is not unusual, but for such cats if their litter is too coarse or too deep, etc., they will refuse to use it! So tried various litters--including the one with a scent that is "guaranteed to attract cats." Hmm. We praised her when she used her litter, and scolded her if we happened to catch her in the act doing something bad.

Little by little over a few weeks she stopped the rug and chair episodes. She will still sometimes do something in a bathroom sink, so we often keep upside down plastic bowls in the sinks (in a way this is really smart behavior--she watches us wash our hands and the water disappears down the drain--so why not the pee she thinks). We still have to be careful about things like litter. Wanted to switch to the unscented version of the Fresh Step that we use, but if the fraction of scented drops below a certain point, she will stop using that box. A clear warning.

There is lots of material online about this problem and steps you can try. I remember when we went through this that inappropriate elimination was cited as the number one reason that people get rid of cats. I know that one of the more drastic suggestions that we considered was to get a large crate and simply confine the cat in the crate all the time so that it has to use the litter in the crate. I would definitely put something on the bed to dissuade her from going there again--something she doesn't like the feel/sound of. Perhaps a sheet of plastic or a sheet of aluminum foil maybe (our cats hate the sound that makes). Of course make certain you have cleaned it as well as possible. You can use a black light to find urine spots on fabrics/carpets to see if there are places you do not know about in the house that she is going.

As for the factor of not being spayed, I don't know about females. Certainly it makes a huge difference with males, but I wouldn't think it would be a factor with females. We were trying to think back on timing with ours, but am not certain of her status during the trying times.

Good luck--hope you can get her through this!

My daughter had same problem with her girl at about eight months of age & after trying everything she was lucky to find a very simple solution ,the trays had lids
on & she wanted to change the filters in the lids,took them down to the garage to do it started doing something else,like you do,forgot about the lids & thought she would sort them the next day noticed that night there had been no problem so left it for the week & then tried them again & cat went back to urinating where she shouldn't,sometimes even on the lid so for last six years lids off & no problem. If only they could all be sorted that easy.We had one cat come into work & vet always used to think it was stress urination but a more laid back cat you couldn't meet & we noted it happened regular every 6 weeks so he asked what happened at about that interval each time & it coincided with the wife spending one night away for work but because cat was fine the the first couple of days afterwards they never connected it,cat is happy in cattery so now put her in there for the night when wife away,no more problems & cheaper than the vets...cats & their minds,we will never weigh them up.I do hope you can sort out your problem .

Thanks for the advice, im taking the lid off in a min! she hasnt done anything since, and I have been busier in the day for the last few days, so maybe it is because shes lonely, although all 3 cats have more toys than our son did when he was a toddler!


Thanks, any help appreciated,

Lyn

Thanks for your help, any advice is great, I like the one about putting foil on the bed! sure she will be fine, hopefully just a temporary thing,

Lyn

Originally Posted by jckkerrison

My daughter had same problem with her girl at about eight months of age & after trying everything she was lucky to find a very simple solution ,the trays had lids
on & she wanted to change the filters in the lids,took them down to the garage to do it started doing something else,like you do,forgot about the lids & thought she would sort them the next day noticed that night there had been no problem so left it for the week & then tried them again & cat went back to urinating where she shouldn't,sometimes even on the lid so for last six years lids off & no problem..

Ah, I didn't think to ask about lids/covers on the litter boxes! Like I said in another thread on litter boxes, we had no luck with these, and they are all in the garage. We tried introducing the lidded boxes at one point (but still had one without), and the cats completely refused to use them. Definitely try having a box without a lid for her. Cats may like going into little dark/tight spaces for play/sleep, but I have never seen the slightest bit of evidence that they like such places for doing their business.

My breeder had three hooded litter trays all in a line (she had a lot of cats). All her cats use them without a problem and the kittens had already started using them when we visited three weeks ago. Our little kitten was in one of them once when an adult came in and peed on him apparently! So he had to have a bath! She recommended I get the same as her as this is what he was used to which I have done. It does have a deep bottom though so if it is a problem I could leave the top off and the swing door can be hitched up too so they don't have to cope with that straight away.

Originally Posted by Karena

My breeder had three hooded litter trays all in a line (she had a lot of cats). All her cats use them without a problem and the kittens had already started using them when we visited three weeks ago.

Obviously some cats will use them without any problems. My mother-in-law's will. On the other hand, I have never seen any evidence from our cats that they *desire* a covered/closed-in litter area. For example, our cat that was outside never ever went under our porch or similar secluded places to go, and when we tried adding covered boxes along with uncovered the cats actively avoided the covered. What I do see is that cats do not like feeling trapped when they are going. For instance, if our other cats show up and block all the escape routes I have seen a cat give up and go to another box. A covered box would seem to make that even worse, though, since it has just one exit. I understand why *owners* want covered boxes--we hoped to use them. I am just saying that I believe people have to be prepared for some cats to simply refuse to use covered boxes. All it would take is one unusual box incident that scared the cat and it might completely avoid the box for a while. I would always have at least one uncovered box someplace in the house.

Hi, I bought some spray to deter my cat from pooing on the floor./ I know it isn't ideal for a bed but it is called Wash and Get Off by VAPET. I bought it from Pets at Home.