If you have experience settling territory disputes between cats, I need your help --- the Minion seems intent on peeing in our bed and it's getting old...
here's the story --
When hubby and I returned from our short vacation by the lake, we found that someone (i.e. either the Queen or the Minion) had peed on our bed.
We thought the problem might be that their box was a little stinky -- so we threw out our feather bed, washed the down comforter at the laundromat and blamed ourselves.
When I got home from Red State a couple of weeks ago, they hadn't been allowed in our bedroom while I was gone -- but, when I got home, someone hit the bed again.
I threw out the back-up feather bed, cleaned the box -- which wasn't bad, but could be better, and thought it was a box issue. I caught it before it hit the down comforter and considered myself lucky.
Last week, after the cleaning person was here, I caught the Minion peeing again. His box was clean, as I've been cleaning it twice a day since the last time. I washed the comforter in the washing machine here and went to Bed Bath and Beyond for a new bed covering.... I ended up with a light but warm king sized blanket and two inexpensive twin comforters. The reasoning being that I could easily wash it all at home...
It's a good thing I did -- because I accidentally left the door open this morning, and by the time I got home at 11:00ish, he'd peed again. The good news is that the blanket seems to be pee-proof, as it didn't soak down and instead seemed to pool so I could soak most of it up -- -of course, I'm washing both the blanket and the comforter he hit.... but, this is getting silly.
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8 comments:
I don't want to scare you, but the first thing I'd do is schedule the Minion for a vet visit. We once had this problem with a new kitty, and it turned out that he was quite ill and simply couldn't control himself. He would do it at night, when he didn't have time to make it to the box, which is slightly different, but still . . . Most cats are super clean and fastidious about where they go. If he's healthy, he must be really "pissed off" (forgive the pun) at something. At any rate, it is not normal behavior.
At the moment, we have four, sharing two boxes, and they have decided among themselves that one box will be used for one function and the other for the second. Never an accident, even when they are left on their own for a few days.
Good luck!
I'd get him checked up at the vet. It's either behavior based or medical based. Since you've ruled out dirty cat box, I'd get him checked out for bladder infection or crystals. After that I'm not sure. Good luck!
I think this is called "litter box aversion." I had one, Calvin, who would pee or poop *near* the box, but not in it. We finally resorted to 4 boxes (one for each cat), but he continued to pee and poop on the floor of the laundry room (where we keep the boxes).
He would also pee on plastic. For example, I had a bag of clothes for donation, but Calvin got to them first.
You may want to check with the vet. He could have crystals in his urine (easily fixed with a special cat food *and* very painful for the cat).
I hope this helps. Feel free to email me if you want more info.
I don't have any experience with this, but I just thought that 1) is he neutered yet? if not, neutering him may go a long way toward fixing this; 2) There may be something medical going on? As far as I know, cats are wired to go in their boxes pretty much.... it might be worth taking him in for a checkup just to be sure this is just an attitude problem.
I've had cats for many years, and currently have three, including the monster kitten. In my experience, this kind of behavior isn't territory - it's displeasure. Minion is clearly not happy that you and BH are not always together, and that you leave him and the queen alone. I think closing the door to keep him out might even make things worse, because he is trying to get a message across, and the closed door will make him more frustrated. The last time one of my cats did this, it was because she was upset that we had moved, and then adopted another cat. Getting mad doesn't help at all; I made a point of giving her a lot of extra cuddling and reassurance, and she stopped after about a week. In the meantime, I also put a fabric shower curtain over the bed during the day - they are pretty pee-proof! Good luck!
Barb
Thanks for all the suggestions!!! Y'all are the best!
I like the shower curtain suggestion... I'll have to try it when I get back in town.
The Minion is fixed, they did that at the shelter.
The two of them share two litter boxes -- and the boxes have different kinds of litter. The automatic one has crystals and the regular one has clumping litter, so he has a choice. Also, when we go away, the automatic one is cleaned after every use -- so he has a clean alternative.
When Blind Kitty was young, he had crystals and a series of bladder infections... The Minion isn't behaving the same way -- Blind Kitty would squat and put out a few drops in front of us --and he'd do it repeatedly.
The anger explanation makes a lot of sense, and is similar to the territory explanation -- because when I'm in bed, I'm more likely to give affection. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it -- he's still a growing boy, afterall :).
Also, he doesn't seem to do it when hubby is home -- maybe because when hubby's home, The Queen isn't allowed in the bedroom at night.
When I get home from my conference, I'll spend he afternoon snuggling him etc.. and then I'll go to Target, get a shower curtain to use as a bed throw and open the door to see what he does.
No advice from me, but sympathy. Our cats have gone through stages where they fight with each other and pee in strange places and it absolutely drives me crazy.
Cats are smart and vengeful.
Is it too late to get a puppy? That would give him something totally different to get angry at, and maybe he'd aim at the puppy's food dish or something. And dog's mostly aren't smart and vengeful enough to take offense.
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