# How does our cat know to pee in the bathroom **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 28, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047 "2007-11-28T16:35:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/1 "2007-11-28T16:35:45Z")
Our cat, Midnight, who I was convinced recently was dying, has pulled out of it again, and is now climbing up onto furniture, and this morning asked to play with me. I SWEAR this cat is up to its 36th life. Our vet was convinced she would be dead before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving 2006. She has kidney failure and is incontinent. She tries to use the cat box (which is in the den, now, to make it easier to get to), but can’t always get there is time. She has taken to sleeping in the bathroom – something she never did before. We put down a towel for her, after we noticed her sleeping on (and frequently wetting) the bathmat or the rug. Certainly it’s warm in there, but it’s warm elsewhere, too. But if she has an “accident” it’s easy to clean up. I’d say this was thoughtful of her, and be humorous and consecending about it (she’s a CAT, fer cryin’ out loud – she can’t be thinking about this), but the only places she has these accidents are on non-porous surfaces – the linoleum in the kitchen, the den, or the tile in the bathroom. We certainly haven’t trained her to do this – not even unintentionally, with audible complaints, anger, or happy sounds – as far as I know. So why does she sleep in the convenent bathroom, instead of the cat bed near the hot air (where I ca’t recall her ever sleeping), and not pee on the wood floors or the carpeting (something she had done in the past)? ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/2 "2007-11-28T16:39:14Z")
As with most of the feline persuasion, she’s up to something. She’s biding her time. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But some day. Soon. You thinkin’ of getting a suede couch for X-mas? Maybe a berber carpet for the den? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/3 "2007-11-28T17:37:22Z")
Well, _you_ pee in the bathroom, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/4 "2007-11-28T17:46:27Z")
It’s possible, just maybe, that you have found the one good cat in the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/5 "2007-11-28T18:38:28Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] It’s possible, just maybe, that you have found the one good cat in the universe. [/QUOTE] …nah. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/6 "2007-11-28T18:45:40Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] It’s possible, just maybe, that you have found the one good cat in the universe. [/QUOTE] Doesn’t exist. “One Good Cat” is purely the stuff of fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/7 "2007-11-28T19:07:56Z")
We had a cat that would only throw up his hairballs in the litterbox. But at the same time we had another cat (female), that would pee on anything that was left lying on the floor, including my infant son. Did your cat have accidents before she got sick, even as a kitten? She could still remember that she got into trouble for peeing in other parts of the house. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/8 "2007-11-28T19:16:01Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > : > > Originally Posted by Pullet > > It’s possible, just maybe, that you have found the one good cat in the universe. > > …nah. Definitely not – there’s too much evidence to the contrary besides the peeing. But she does seem to be behaving wonderfully in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/9 "2007-11-29T01:10:33Z")
i have one cat that will pee in the bathtub… i don’t know why. the main litter box is in the bathroom and i reckon she thinks the tub is just a bigger version. she will only pee in the box or tub. now… reguritating… that is a whole different story. i’m just thankful she hasn’t gotten the idea to do it on any pieces of furniture. there are no rugs in this house. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/10 "2007-11-29T03:31:54Z")
> [@](#): > > now… reguritating… that is a whole different story. When I got home tonight Pepper Mill told me that Midnight was very considerate – she threw up and peed in the litter box. I was skeptical. "How do you know she didn’t just suddenly have to throw up while she was peeing? "Because she backed up so that it landed in the sand box,’ she replied. That’s…weird, if true. But I noticed that I stll had to clean up cat vomit on the wooden floor later. Musta been one of the _other_ cats. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-our-cat-know-to-pee-in-the-bathroom/428047/11 "2007-11-29T03:46:38Z")
One of my cats likes to join me for my morning pee. I get the toilet and he gets the sink. I don’t mind him using the sink because it’s easy to clean up. Sometimes I wonder if this wasn’t a learned behavior, “well, mom pees in a porcelain bowl so it must be okay”.