Please stop peeing on my couch.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The Kitty does not have urinary tract troubles, sez the Vet.

The Kitty has a clean litterbox, with acres and acres of rich, litter-y goodness in which to do the Kitty’s business.

The Kitty is friendly, affectionate, and has been living here for years, was in fact raised from kittenhood here, and has had no threats to her supreme dominance that I, as a mere human, can perceive.

The Kitty has apparently decided that the litterbox is too low-brow for her tastes. She does not befoul the couch with Kitty Roca, but when the urge strikes, she relieves herself upon it with a stinky, impossible-to-ever-remove, surgical strike of liquid yellow evil. Furthermore, she knows she is not supposed to do this – or, alternatively, is incredible bashful about performing in front of us – as she does not do it when someone is awake. It’s only when we’re gone or asleep at night that Kitty releases the iron control she’s held on her bladder all day long (or so it seems).

So what. THE HELL. Gives? I’m at my wits end. We’ve got a relatively new couch sitting in the garage, just waiting to be moved in, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her anoint the new furniture like she has the current generation. I’m getting tired of changing slipcovers every other day (or more often); I’m rapidly approaching the point where I’m going to conceal mousetraps under the cover just as a deterrent. I’ll probably forget I’ve done it, too, which means I’ll be looking for a cat to strangle while nursing a sore butt myself. sigh

Dopers, have any of you dealt with this? Is there a KittyCork™ on the market I can use? That stupid pet deterrent spray you can buy at the store didn’t do squat, and stunk very much bad itself anyway, so it’s kinda pointless.

Help! My couch is drowning in a river of kitty pee! :frowning:

2

You know, I was about to come in here and apologize, but I find your story more compelling.

Does kitty also poop where the sun does, unfortunately, shine?

3

Can you shut her up somewhere overnight? The kitchen or a bathroom?

4

No. She deposits her, ah, more structurally sound waste products in the litter box, where they belong.

Or at least, I assume she does. Our house does not smell like kitty crap (and MAN that stuff stinks, so I don’t imagine I’d miss noticing it), and we’re not finding little presents in nooks and crannies while cleaning or anything like that. We’ve occasionally found a log or two on the linoleum outside the litter box, when we’ve been particularly remiss about cleaning it, but that’s hardly a regular thing.

The couch seems to have become her personal piss-magnet, and I’m getting sick of it. :frowning:

5

Er… possibly, but it’s hardly an ideal solution. For one, it would require actually finding her every night. She’s fond of vanishing for extended periods and only reappearing when it suits her. Yes, we could turn the house inside-out looking for her, but that’s a pain in the butt that I’d rather avoid. Plus, she’s a screamer when confined, and has a voice that will wake the damned (through sheer persistence, if nothing else).

If it’s the ONLY way to keep her from peeing on the couch, maybe then, but otherwise no. :frowning:

6

For what it’s worth, my daughter went through a bout with her cat watering the apartment. When she moved the litterbox to another location, the problem resolved itself. I have no idea why, but it’s worth a try, eh?

7

I know absolutely nothing about cats, but I was just reading a thread here recently about how male unfixed cats mark their territory by doing what you’re describing. And since you’re a Sofaspud, maybe the cat wants to make sure the he/she know who’s boss on the couch. If I recall in the other thread, the solution was to get the cat fixed. Have you done this already?

8

Hmph. Of course know who the boss is. She hardly needs to demonstrate it.

(And yes, she’s fixed. :))

9

I hate to break this to you, but you’re going to have to get rid of the couch. Once something is peed on, it triggers further pee incidents in the same location.

If I were you I would:
a) remove the couch
b) provide another litterbox in another location
c) carefully sanitize the entire couchal region with “Nature’s Miracle” or similare enzyme based product (go ahead & buy the gallon jug)

10

Not to worry you but when Picachu started doing this a year ago the vet thought it was liver problems. She rapidly went downhill b/c we had our heads up our asses about this. She died.
Move the box and follow thru with the vet. Either something is wrong physically or enviromentaly.
Do not continue to let it slide-keep on top of it. If you are lucky and it is medical you may be able to start treatment and save your sweetie.

11

Maybe get an extra litterbox and put it on the floor right in front of the couch? That’s what’s helping with my kitten with regards to his scratching - he didn’t think marking a post in the corner was good enough, so now I’ve taped the corner of the sofa and put out a post right in the middle of the damned floor.

12

Try moving the boxes and/or add another box. Something has gotten it into kitty’s head that the litterbox is a bad place to pee, so now your task is to convince kitty that this new box is the be all and end all of litterboxes. Good luck!

13

The vet has seen her twice and has basically told us, “She’s peeing on your couch because she wants to, not for some physical reason.” Thanks a lot, doc. :slight_smile: Which I suppose suggests environmental reasons.

I’m going to try the new litterbox location. Does it have to be another room, or will ten feet do the trick? I’ve never realized that placement of the litterbox could be a factor in where the kitty chooses to do their business.

Hello Again, we’ve got a new couch all lined up, but I want to break this behavior before I bring it in so we don’t end up having another couch destroyed. :frowning:

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks… stupid cat. :slight_smile:

14

Cover your couch in plastic for a while. It will be hateful to sit on, but kitty won’t enjoy getting herself all wet.

Put the litterbox exactly where she goes. When you see she’s used the box, move it bit by bit back to its proper spot. Or put a new box on the couch - just be sure that there’s a box covering the spot she uses.

Another issue could be that she’d like two litterboxes; one for each type of elimination. I’ve not had cats that did but I’ve heard of it.

15

Also, tin foil on the couch helps keep them off it.

16

I’ve seen ads for pet deterrent things. I think it’s some kind of disc that you put on the couch that has a motion detector and when kitty jumps up it emits a high pitched sound which only the cat can hear, and will continue to sound until the cat jumps off.

As long as you put it on the couch every night and before you leave for work it could do the trick.

17

You could try the Scat Mat. Having a slip cover over it will keep The Kitty from spotting it, all you have to do is remember it’s there and turn it off when you want to use the couch.

18

Also, be sure the litter is cleaned every day. This, assuming you use clumping litter.
One of our darlings would pee in off-limits places if the box wasn’t pristine.

19

You’re lucky…In Soviet Russia, cat pee on you

20

Did the vet do actual tests? Blood tests and urine tests?

It is possible for your cat to be sick and for it not to show up on tests. My brother’s cat is running a fever and losing weight. All tests came back normal. Since she’s running a fever they put her on anti-biotics and she seems to be improving.

Personally, I would insist on the vet giving my cat some medicine. I would even go to another vet if I had to.

Of course, it could just be behavioral. In that case I echo the advice to get rid of the old couch. Here’s another suggestion for cat proofing the new couch. Get huge garbage bags and put each couch cushion in one. This will protect them and the cat won’t like the texture.