Question:
I have another kitten problem, and thought some advice is in order. Our 3 month old kitten is, almost daily, peeing on my daughter's bed. Last evening it happened with her in it! Some of the other times I am not sure if she was in the bed or when it happend. This is a real frustration as I am having to strip sheets and disinfect and wash everything, including the bedspread, almost daily. I think, and this is where I am not sure, that she is actually just marking her territory as there are 2 cats and she is the new addition. Each time I wash the sheets I am removing the scent she has just placed. I have put a plastic mattress cover on the bed to protect the mattress, as that was my biggest concern, but how do I get this to stop? Oddly enough, she has never peed anywhere else inappropriate since she came home. She is my daughter's "baby", her birthday present, so all of her things are in her room, and my daughter definitely is her main caregiver. Would she be trying to mark my daughter too? I have heard cats are very territorial.
Answer:
Where is her litter box? Is she declawed?
Katie &
"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow" -- Mark Twain
Answer:
Is this behavior new or has she done it since you got her? Has she been checked by vet to rule out a urinary tract infection?
Answer:
chloe's mom wrote: My daughter definitely is her main caregiver. Would she be trying to mark my daughter too? I have heard cats are very territorial.
I agree, it is important to have her checked oiut by a vet to make sure she doesn't have a urinary infectoin. But once that is done and ruled out ...
Most absolutely she is marking your daughter, especially if the only palce she is doing this is the bed. She's letting the rest of the family and the other cats know that this is her person and they need to respect that.
Do the other cats have access to her room at night and do they tend to sleep in the bed with her too? If so, keeping the away for now might be a way of curbing the problem for now. Hopefully as she gets old, the need will disappear.
The other alternative is to not let her sleep with your daughter, and keep the door closed through the night. You could get her a nice, soft cat bed, and put one of your daughter smellier t-shirts (before washing) into the cat bed to give the kittten security and have her get used to not sleeping with your daughter right now. From what you've said, I'm sure your daughter has no problem giving her lots of love and attention during the day, so she'll survive If your daughter didn't lover her so much, she woudn't be as close and have the need to protect her territory LOL
So I don't think having the kitten sleep elsewhere will traumatize it because it sounds like she will get all she needs from your daughter during the day. I would also just recommend you don't let the other cats sleep with her during this time either, because that might cause a lot of stress.
I'll bet eventually she grows out of it.
How old was she when she was adopted?
Answer:
This has nothing to do with marking territory. She is still very young and the bed probably feels a lot like a litter box.
When we got our first kitten, he was very young, and had been kept outside. He always used his litter box, but one morning he decided that the bed was closer, and seemed to be a great place to pee...
He did this twice. We curbed this by not allowing him to sleep with us for a couple weeks, treated the mattress (VERY IMPORTANT!!!) with tons of Nature's Miracle and then flipped it. Since he couldn't smell his urine, he didn't remember peeing there, and we never had that problem again.
My first impression would be that your kitten peed there once, and can still vaguely smell her own urine. This would cause her to think that it would be okay to go there again. Evem though you have covered the mattress with plastic, the actual mattress probably still smells. (Maybe not to us, but definitely to her). Be sure and treat the mattress with an enzymatic cleaner. Also, pre-treat the sheets/comforter, etc. with the cleaner before washing them, sometimes our detergent doesn't completely eliminate the smells.
She is too young to be marking territory. Cats do not begin marking until they reach sexual maturity (6-12 mos). She is only 12 weeks old, still a baby - and is learning the ropes. Definitely keep her from sleeping with your daughter for a week or so, completely clean the bed, and see if the problem goes away.
As others have mentioned, it could be due to a UTI, but I have never seen infections in such young animals. It wouldn't hurt to get her checked out!! Hope this helps!
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Answer:
Another thing you might consider trying is putting another litterbox near your daughter's bed and leaving one poop in there to let the kitten know what it's for. See if she'll make the short trip to that.
Answer:
Thanks everyone for the helpful feedback. She did not do this on the weekend and, oddly enough, my daughter was away with her friend. In answer to your queries, no the other cat sleeps with us, and we had been leaving Chloe in my daughter's room with her "things" and the door closed only because she is so tiny and we didn't want her to get hurt roaming around at night. We have slowly started leaving her out during the day now, too, since she is now friends with the other cat and knows the house better. So, we will slowly start letting her roam the house at night too, and think she will just want to be where Jack is which is, of course, in our bed. (I woke up at 4am this morning with pins and needles in my hand and a kitten curled up around my fingers). She is too cute! She has really settled in nicely in the house, the older cat has started licking her and letting her sleep with him instead of constant wrestling as they had been doing, so I think they have settled their territory issues and perhaps this will put an end to the bedwetting (and child wetting). So, all is good for now on that front. Thanks again!