It’s been a difficult day, you’re stressed and tired, and all you want to do is get a good night’s sleep. But when you crawl into bed, you encounter a wet spot that smells like urine, and you cringe because you know you have to deal with this before you can go to sleep. Why is your cat suddenly peeing on your bed?
Cats will pee on things, including your bed, because they are stressed with new changes or their litter box needs cleaning. Your cat might also have medical issues that prevent it from using the litter box. Your cat might have issues with the litter you’re using.
A cat peeing on your bed might be frustrating, but it’s not abnormal behavior for them. Let’s get going to see how you can discourage this behavior in the future.
Table of Contents
Your Cat Might Be Threatened With New Changes
New changes in your cat’s routine or environment can threaten your cat and make it feel scared and anxious. The anxiety may prompt your cat to pee in other areas besides the litter box in a way to communicate with you. A move, a new baby, or a new family member could cause your cat’s world to turn upside down, making your cat feel threatened with new changes.
Your cat might also be jealous of the attention you give to a new cat you recently adopted.
One way to curb this behavior is to give your cat your undivided attention and keep changes to a minimum. Try feeding your cat at the same time every day or cleaning the litter box around the same time daily as well. By keeping the same routine for your cat, you show it that everything is okay and that they can count on their basic needs being met.
Your Cat Could be Stressed
A stressed kitty means that they will pee wherever they feel comfortable. There could be several reasons why your cat is stressed.
- Your cat feels threatened by a new household member, such as a new significant other or a new baby.
- You brought a new cat into your house, and your other cat is frustrated, jealous, and threatened.
- You moved recently, and your cat doesn’t feel comfortable with where the litter box is located.
- Your cat might be ill and is trying to deal with it without help from you.
- Your cat could be anxious due to increased tension or stress in your house and is mirroring that tension.
All of these reasons will cause your kitty to lash out and pee on your bed. Since it smells like you, and your cat trusts you, it is safe to pee on that spot. But, since it makes your bed smell bad and you don’t want to sleep in your cat’s toilet, you will need to address the issues rather quickly.
One thing you can do, especially if your cat is elderly and has a difficult time navigating the stairs, is to place the litter box in the bathroom or some other place on the same floor level your cat eats on. That way, it doesn’t have to climb stairs.
Spend some extra time with your cat by giving it attention and cuddles, or even playing cat games with it. That will show that you love your buddy, and this action might reduce your cat’s occurrence going on your bed.
Check Your Litter Box For Cleanliness
Cats like a tidy litter box, and if it is not as tidy as your cat would like, you’ll know about it when they pee on your bed. Litter boxes need to be scooped out at least two times per day, if not more.
Think about the last time you went to a gas station restroom and found that all of the toilets needed serious attention because they weren’t flushed. Would you want to go there? Cats are very similar in this respect and would rather go in a tidy box. If it’s not kept tidy, they will go where it is tidy–like your bed, for example.
Once or twice per month, you will need to dump all the old litter in a large trash bag, scrub the box, and place fresh litter in the box. When a litter box is cleaned thoroughly, they will be more likely to use it more often.
You will also want to make sure that the type of litter you use is suitable for your cat. Cats need to know where they pee so they can go back to that spot. If the litter you use is fragrant like flowers, they will not use the litter box.
Ruling Out Medical Issues, Check With An Animal Psychologist
Your cat might have certain medical issues that cause your cat to pee on your bed or other items, such as your clothing. They might have a urinary tract infection, kidney disease, or feline diabetes–all of which can cause your cat to pee outside of their litter box.
Stress can also lead to a medical condition known as “Idiopathic Cystitis,” otherwise known as an inflammation of the bladder with an unknown cause. This condition is likely caused by hormonal imbalances, stress, or something else entirely. A cat with this condition is more likely to go more often, and if they can’t make it to the litter box, they will pee on your bed.
Bladder issues, urinary tract issues, and other medical issues need to be ruled out by your vet before you continue tracking down the root of the problem. And while you might want your cat to stop peeing on your bed immediately, this might be a problem that will take a while to solve.
An animal psychologist or behaviorist can help you determine other reasons that your cat is not using the litter box instead of going outside of it. They will look at how your home is set up, where the litter box is, how clean and tidy it is, and how much activity goes on in your house daily.
They will also work with you to help de-stress your cat so that it feels comfortable using the litter box once more.
You Might Need More Litter Boxes If You Have More Than One Cat
Cats can feel intimidated by more than one cat using the litter box. Since cats are so territorial, one bully in the mix might make your other cats scared to use the box. Because they trust you, and your bedding smells like you, they use your bed.
Experts say that you need to have at least one box per cat in your home so that they can have their litter box. But if you don’t have that much space, you might need to get a bit creative on where to put the extra boxes.
If you can’t have more than one litter box for multiple cats, at least try to use a clumping litter with baking soda that will neutralize other cats’ scents.
Conclusion
While these tips can help prevent your cat from peeing on your bed in the future, what about your bed now? Wash your bedding using a bit of Borax powder and lemon juice in addition to your regular laundry soap. That will help get the urine smell out and discourage your cat from peeing on your bed again.
If the pee got down into the mattress, you will need to get some specialty urine remover spray formulated for cat urine from a pet store and use it according to directions. Doing this should help remove any traces of cat urine.
Sources
- Soft Paws: Why Do Cats Pee On Their Human’s Bed?
- Pet Central: Why Is My Cat Peeing On the Bed?
- The Dodo: Help! My Cat Won’t Stop Peeing On My Bed!
- Pet MD: 5 Reasons Your Cat Is Peeing On The Bed
- Vet Street: Why Does My Cat Pee On My Bed?
Pam is a self-confessed cat lover and has experience of working with cats and owning cats for as long as she can remember. This website is where she gets to share her knowledge and interact with other cat lovers.