We’ve had this cat for about 3 yrs. Got him from a shelter at 6 months. For first year we had him, every few months he’d pee on something. Eventually it stopped. Have had no problem for years.
And now, as of a few mins ago, he hopped into bed with us (we were asleep), got on my wife’s pillow – where he sleeps every night with her – and peed on her head.
We’ve given him plenty of attention that day. He hadn’t been scolded for anything. No signs of anything wrong.
WTF?!
I swear, I’m ready to throw this cat out a tall building. We finally get to the point where we’re willing to trust him again and this happens.
Take the cat to the vet. It might be a UTI. Inappropriate peeing, can be a sign of sickness, (kidney problems etc.) especially a UTI. Or, did you recently move his litterbox, or change kitty litter brands, or move to a different home? Are there un-neutered males around and females in heat? Maybe some of the Doper vets or veterinary nurses will come in to offer advice? Don’t beat up on the cat yet though, get his health checked out. As a last resort, you might also try aFeliway diffuser to see if that alleviates things. It’s meant to help with problem behaviors, though since it came up again suddenly I’d wager it’s a sickness of some kind.
They normally don’t pee where they sleep - though sometimes a new smell can cause this to happen - a different detergent, even, or new blankets, etc. Checking with a vet can be a good idea, definitely, but also good to realise is that cats sleep, and he may have dreamt about going to the litterbox or something similar. It sounds weird, but it’s really true.
I will second this. Last Monday, one of my male cats all of a sudden decided to pee on the bed, on my shirt on the floor, on some sheets in the closet, on my gym bag. Extremely unusual - he has never in 2.5 years peed anywhere except the litter box. While I was on the phone with my vet my cat walked over and peed on my coat. Male cats are prone to UTIs, and worse, blockages, which if not treated immediately can cause death within a few hours, so I was very worried. It turns out he has crystals in his urine (something like having kidney stones) but not a complete blockage, thankfully, and did not require immediate surgery.
I would definitely see the vet. Just to check. It could be something else but it could be a blockage, UTI, or FUS (Feline Urologic Syndrome). If it’s not, then possibly something such as a change in the litter, change in the household, etc.
Is there any possibility whatsoever that your wife might be pregnant? Or ovulating? Or recently changed hormonal birth control? All of those things can change her smell, and pissing on some weird new smell in his sleeping area seems about normal for a cat. This can also hold for changing shampoo or face cleanser or detergent used on the sheets.
Or maybe she pissed him off in some way neither of you realizes. Cats are weird. Mine used to smother me so I’d move off the pillow and leave it all for her.
Well after we woke up and discussed it again this morning, she pointed out that he has a history of wanting his litter box to be extremely clean. So we got him a self-cleaning one which seems to have done the trick. Occasionally, when it’s not to the cat’s liking, he meows constantly until we get the picture.
This time, he just hopped on the bed and peed immediately.
Litter box wasn’t bad – just a tiny bit messy – but he was in one of his “moods.”
Nothing else has changed. Not detergent, birth control pills, she ain’t pregnant or obvulating, the other cats are spayed and have been here for years, etc. It was clear he was sending us a message, but isn’t “peeing on mommy” clearly an unpleasant message for a cat to send? Don’t they realize how negative it is? Or am I assigning too many human emotions to him?
Lastly, it seems our only real solution is to permanently keep him off the bed, but we don’t want to have to keep the other cats off. Is this an impossible dream?
I will third it. We lost one of our cats almost a year ago to chronic UTI and what may have been a blockage (we think). We had treated him several times for UTIs, and always knew when he had one because he’d begin to “spray” despite having been neutered more than three years before.
Infection of the lower urinary tract is one likely differential. I have always assumed cats do things like this to give veterinarians stories to tell at parties.
To me it sounds more like showing possession of you to your other cats rather than a UTI . When a cat specificly aims at something that carries your scent (gym bags, sheets, shirts, etc.), he is claiming you. My experience is rather than sending a negative message, it is a very possessive one - “This is my human”.
I am willing to bet that something has happened within the pecking order of your cats to bring this on or possibly your wife has been in contact with another animal which your cat is smelling and thus has its possession of you is threatened. In that case the other animal need not be a cat.
Often even excessive petting, holding and the like toward this cat can trigger that possessive response - basically telling the others that he is top cat with this individual.
I would also recommend a trip to the vet as this happened with my (neutered) male. He’s a bit of a pisser when he’s in “Jerk Mode” but sleeps by my head every night. One day he pissed on my pillow…while I was using it. We took him to the vet and it turned out he had an infection. Some antibiotics later, he was fine.
Of course there could be other issues as mentioned above but a trip to the vet should be your number one priority.
Now – is that just for spraying? Because this was full throttle “gotta pee empty my bladder” time, not spray time. Would your above interpretation still hold there?
And yes, we’ll take him to the vet to see what is going on also.