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View Full Version : Cat urinating on futon, but still uses litterbox sometimes


1MegMeg
03-15-2006, 06:12 AM
We have three cats and our newest/youngest one, Juneau, will sometimes pee on our futon. We got Juneau in December 2004 and the first pee incidient was in August 2005, with intermittent episodes since then. We finally discovered it was him because DH set up the web cam to see which of the three was doing it. Junueau has a clean bill of health from the vet, so it's definitely behavioral. He doesn't pee anywhere else (outside the box), just the futon.

This has been going on intermittently for months. At first it was just once every few months, now it's up to once per week or so. When he first started we would soak the spot on the mattress and the futon cover in nature's miracle and let it dry before putting the futon cover back on. Around a month or so ago we got one of those vinyl mattress covers to put under the funton cover to at least protect the mattress.

We still had the cloth futon cover off from the last pee incident a week or so ago and this morning he peed right on the vinyl cover. We have not changed the litter, food, etc. There are litter boxes in the same room as the futon.

Questions:
1. Would it be helpful to relocated the litter boxes to another room so he (maybe) doesn't associate that room with urinating?

2. DH did some reading online and wants to try spraying feliway on the futon every other day. In addition to this, is there something we can put on the futon to make it unattractive to Juneau (i.e. foil, etc.) - would this, in your experience, be effective?

3. Any other sage wisdom?

Thank you for listening! As any of you know who have dealt with this, it is *very* frustrating.

fuzzy
03-15-2006, 06:57 AM
1MegMeg -- I'd suggestion stopping by greenybunny's thread about inappropriate elimination. Its super helpful.

Foil on the futon might. You may want to put a small dish of food on the spot too (not his main food source, just an extra dish.

http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=12169

greenbunny
03-15-2006, 07:17 AM
How many boxes do you have now, and where are they all located (in relation to each other and in relation to the futon) ?

1MegMeg
03-15-2006, 07:29 AM
Greenbunny - thank you in advance for your help! I really appreciate it!

We have 4 litter boxes. Two were located in the back room (it's an open "den" type room next to the kitchen...no door or anything) where the futon is, probably around 3 or so feet from the futon. One litter box is covered, one uncovered. Then there are two more in the laundry room. Again, one covered one not. The two uncovered boxes are actually rubbermaid storage boxes so they are large and deep. Our house is all one story ~1700 sf. All four boxes have the same type litter, and we have been using the same kind for years...no recent changes or anything.

greenbunny
03-15-2006, 07:33 AM
Hmm. Okay. What is the sex and age of each cat, and are they speutered? And do the cats each always use the same box, or do they switch off?

tlew12778
03-15-2006, 07:43 AM
The feliway spray doesn't work. I tried it when mine were in heat.

You can try the atomizer plug-in for the wall. I have heard better things about that version.

My guess is that regardless of the nature's miracle, the cat still smells something there. Is it always the same exact spot?

keska
03-15-2006, 08:29 AM
My cat started doing this when we got to the piont where there were more than 2 cats in the apartment. She became really, really picky about a clean litterbox. It needed to be scooped all the time and completely changed and scrubbed once a week.

1MegMeg
03-15-2006, 09:31 AM
Thank you all for your advice!

Here's the demographics on the cats:

Sam - neutered male - age 10
Meeko - neutered male - age 4
Juneau - neutered male - age 3

Futon elimination didn't start until 8+ months after we had Juneau and then it was only once every 6-8 weeks. The past 6 or so weeks it's been once every 1-2 weeks. Elimination is in the same general area of the futon. Would it help to get anti icky poo and totally saturate the mattress?

Tonysweetie
03-18-2006, 11:30 PM
My kitty keeps doing this on my rugs and I have no idea why he started doing it either. It's not just the same rugs either.