We were recently adopted by a stray black kitten (literally, it sneaked into the house when we were setting up Halloween decorations last… um, Halloween.) The other 4 cats in the house (2 male, 2 female - all fixed) have been fine with the new addition, to varying degrees.
Merlin is now estimated to be about 7 months old and for the last month, he has decided that the waterbed is his territory. First he marked DeHusband when he was alone, not a wise move in the long run. Merlin then thought his name was No No BadKitty. After that fiasco, Merlin has chosen to mark the center of the mattress every 2 to 3 days. Last week we had him neutered and today, when the bed was left unattended for 15 minutes, Merlin marked it again. :rolleyes:
Since beating him or tossing him out is out of the question, how long until this behavior stops? We’ve never had this problem before and are now at our wits end. Is there hope, or am I doomed to wash sheets 3 times a week for the next 14 years?
Litter box trained very quickly, within a week of him entering the house. And all cats are strictly kept inside. (We live too near a busy street for anything else.)
Ok I saw a thing on tv where it explained some indoor cats can get very territorial over the litter box when there are multiple cats. They had the people set out multiple boxes in different rooms. Also, I would discourage ownership of the bed. Can you turn a fan on full blast for a week or two while you’re not in it?
When I took my then 5 month old kitten to the vet. It was explained to me that when a male cat starts marking his territory it’s a very difficult habit to break them of.
But there is still the possibility that this a medical problem. You may want to have him checked out by a vet. If it’s not that it could be a litter box problem since you have multiple cats. Also when they mark it tends to be a horizontal surface at about a cats nose level. Since he’s marking the bed then it could be a litter box or medical issue.
However if he is just marking territory then you might be stuck with this. I heard that even neutered feral cats mark territory. They just mark a smaller area.
All 3 male cats have been checked out by the vet. Good clear urine, no trouble with the kidney bloodwork.
The only things actually wrong with him is that he seems to be mostly blind in one eye and he farts when startled. Seriously, if it didn’t stink so badly, it would be hilarious.
The vet said to just keep working with him and that he really shouldn’t be allowed to be a yard cat because of the sight problem.
I’d say the reason he’s marking the mattress again is because the smell is still in there. It’s horribly difficult to remove residual odor from car urine so that even cats can’t smell it. And often times, if they can smell urine, they immediately associate that as a spot to do their business. So you may have to get a new mattress but first try doing some hard core cleaning with products designed for cat urine.
Three litter boxes, 1 in the “Cat’s Bathroom” along with 1 food bowl and water dish, 2 off the kitchen (one of which will be moved closer to the bedroom as soon as it’s cleaned.
It’s a waterbed so it’s basically a big vinyl bladder, easily cleaned with spray cleaner. Someone said I should clean with a vinegar based cleaner next time to help break the connection so I’ll try that too.
After thousands of dollars in furniture and carpeting, we finally had ours medicated. She’s been on Prozac for about a year now and hasn’t peed once. Consider it a last resort.
We adopted a pair of male kittens from the same litter about 5 years ago, and when they were about eight or nine months old, they started marking everything. It was a loooooong two weeks waiting for their appointment to get fixed. After their surgery, Max stopped marking pretty much immediately, but his brother Sam continued to do it intermittently for a couple of weeks, to the point that we collected a urine sample to make sure he didn’t have a urinary infection. We continued to clean every spot he marked aggressively, and he eventually stopped.
Recommended number of litter boxes is one per cat plus one. You don’t have enough litter boxes and can’t rule that out as the problem until you do. He’s not marking - male cats marking is done by spraying vertical surfaces while standing, tail up and vibrating, and often with a “marching” of the back legs. Squatting to pee on the bed is likely a litter problem as long as medical has been reliably ruled out.
Put an ample-sized litter box in the bedroom to give him a “safe” place to go. It must be uncovered and across from any doorways or places a small vulnerable predator might be ambushed from. If there’s another kitty or two in the house he tries to stay away from, it’s likely the reason he is also trying to stay away from their litter boxes. Boxes that are covered do not offer opportunity to get away if another cat blocks the entrance, and boxes that a cat may consider vulnerable to ambush (around a corner or in an alcove or small room with one entrance) are often avoided. This is especially true if there is any or even occasional antagonism between cats in the house.
I adopted a female adult cat, maybe a year & a half old, a couple years ago. She was fixed long before I got her, but she began peeing on my bed & my couch not long after I got her (you’re lucky it’s a waterbed so it can be easily cleaned). Long story short it was essentially just a matter of her having a stable living environment. IOW I just had to wait her out until she became confident with her new home. Took about a year for her to finally stop, but she did do it progressively less & less over that time.
I used citrus scented (orange or lemon) air freshener on the areas to discourage her (cats hate citrus smell). I also just bought a couple of cheap shower curtains and would toss them over the bed & couch when I got up or went out. Really wasn’t too big a deal.
Thanks for all the suggestions. We’ve pressure washed the litter boxes and redistributed them. We’ll buy some more tomorrow and the suggestion for the shower curtain was BRILLIANT! Will definitely be doing that.
You might want to check with the humane society and see what they suggest. They’ve dealt with just about every type of problem animal you can imagine and are generally happy to share information if it helps a pet keep a home.
Have you checked the options at your local pet store? I recall seeing several ‘no more marking’ sprays last time I was at petsmart. You could also try rigging up your own cat deterrent around that area. iirc, cats hate the smell of citrus, cloves, and bargain-brand cat food (that last one’s just a guess based on experience).
It’s funny, the shelter where I got my kitty I mentioned above told me that she had been previously adopted by a family, but that they had to bring her back because of “allergies”. I don’t think the shelter was lying, I think the people who had her did. I think they felt a little callous & shallow that they weren’t willing to try and adopt a pet just for the sake of some furniture. People at the shelter told me it was a really bad scene when they brought her back. It was a couple with a young daughter and the mom & little girl (and the shelter people) were all in tears. They were very happy to see me adopt (and keep) her.
There are enzyme based cleaners that will break down the molecules which give pee it’s odour. We use one simply called “Out”, but there are others too. I would use those anywhere he has peed.
