Cat Problem

[JVKn'CVO 11]

Since we got pregnant, one of our cats has started peeing on my clothes!

It is not often, I would said it has happened 5 times so far, but I'm so confused as to why she is doing this

She is a 12 year old indoor cat, spayed and most of the times she uses the cat box

Any idea why she would do this? she hasn't peed on Justin's clothes, just mine Other than this, she likes me and is very sweet to me

Saludos,

Caro

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Maybe she's mad at you for having kids? Cat's are very jealous.

[BermyCat 1]

Take her to the vet just in case. Sometimes when cats aren't always getting to the litterbox in time, the cause is a medical issue like a bladder infection.

~ Catherine

[JVKn'CVO 11]

Take her to the vet just in case. Sometimes when cats aren't always getting to the litterbox in time, the cause is a medical issue like a bladder infection.

~ Catherine

This has been going on for 6 months...so I doubt this is a UTI. But thank you for the recommendation.

Saludos,

Caro

[~PalmTreeGurl~ 154]

Sounds just like my female cat! For some reason after we got our male cat last year, she would love to come in our bedroom and find a piece of clothing lying around and pee on it. It was crazy! So I did 2 things... one, I started picking up all clothing off the floor in the bedroom and 2 I shut the bedroom door to keep her out about 99.9% of the time.

[LiszyandKenny 5]

I wonder if it is emotional

my cat peed all over our couch when we went on a 2 week vacation... I wonder if they get jealous, stressed out, feel abandoned or something like that... he hasn;t done it since we came back and I kinda busted his ####

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

send it to consolemaster, he lives for problem cats like this.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

A UTI can last 6 months so first thing is to have the cat checked out by a vet. Secondly, is the cat declawed? Sometimes declawing leaves the paws and pads super sensitive and if the clay in the litter box is a little too rough or big it actually hurts the cats paws so they find somewhere 'soft' to urinate - clothes hanging around is one way. Also, cats - male and female - use urine to mark territory, so if the cat is your cat originally she may be feeling unappreciated or not getting enough of your attention so is marking 'you' as her territory by urinating on your clothes. If the vet visit checks out one option you can try is to get a softer, sandier type of litter (it spreads more but is easier on their paws) and see if that helps. You can also invest in a Feliway pheromone room diffuser. This device is like a glade plug in air freshener except it distills 'friendly and safe' cat pheromones into the area, reassuring the cat that all is well, so if the behaviour is stress related it would probably intervene. The diffusers are totally aromaless - you smell nothing, but the cat does. You can buy them at PetSmart or Petco, although you would get a better price buying them on line at Amazon or a place like "The Pet Guys".

[alienlovechild 75]

She is a 12 year old indoor cat

That's 64 in human years so maybe the cat has a bladder problem?

http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/agechart.htm

[JVKn'CVO 11]

A UTI can last 6 months so first thing is to have the cat checked out by a vet. Secondly, is the cat declawed? Sometimes declawing leaves the paws and pads super sensitive and if the clay in the litter box is a little too rough or big it actually hurts the cats paws so they find somewhere 'soft' to urinate - clothes hanging around is one way. Also, cats - male and female - use urine to mark territory, so if the cat is your cat originally she may be feeling unappreciated or not getting enough of your attention so is marking 'you' as her territory by urinating on your clothes. If the vet visit checks out one option you can try is to get a softer, sandier type of litter (it spreads more but is easier on their paws) and see if that helps. You can also invest in a Feliway pheromone room diffuser. This device is like a glade plug in air freshener except it distills 'friendly and safe' cat pheromones into the area, reassuring the cat that all is well, so if the behaviour is stress related it would probably intervene. The diffusers are totally aromaless - you smell nothing, but the cat does. You can buy them at PetSmart or Petco, although you would get a better price buying them on line at Amazon or a place like "The Pet Guys".

Thanks. She is not declawed. She has done this about once a month, so I think if it were a urinary infection or the cat litter, she would do this more often. It is true that I used to keep the cat box very clean but since we got pregnant Justin has to take care of it and it is not as neat, so maybe that it is. She is originally Justin's cat. Both Justin and I leave clothes on the side of the bed at night ( ) and she only pees on my clothes.

Saludos,

Caro

Edited June 4, 2009 by JVKn'CVO

[jundp 191]

Caro, it sounds like it might be an emotional issue. My cat does this when he's upset at me.

[almaty 19]

She is a 12 year old indoor cat

That's 64 in human years so maybe the cat has a bladder problem?

http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/agechart.htm

good point, i had a cat that did that and it was indeed true

[Susita 175]

Any advice for a cat who after 4 years, decides he wants to sleep on your kitchen table?

It's so strange and I kick him off of it, but when I wake up in the AM, there he is, sprawled out on top of my table.

[Nessa 23]

my cat peed on a few things i bought for Ben, his boppy pillow, his bathtub, all new stuff. I think they can tell we're pregnant and they get jealous.

[caybee 21]

If it's not a health issue, it may indeed be the litter box. We have 1.5-year-old littermates, a male and a female, and the female is MUCH more picky about the litter box than the male is. If it's not scooped out at least once a day, she's likely to pick another spot. I've never owned a cat who was that picky about it, and our male has never sprayed or peed anywhere except for in the box (we have two just in case there was a territorial issue, but they both use both). I do think our female has picked up on the fact that I'm pregnant and feels some stress about it from time to time.

I don't know why she's choosing your clothes, but once they've urinated on something, it's difficult to remove the odor from that item completely (you may not smell it, but they can) so they think it's a suitable place to pee again. So there may a residual scent in some of your clothing. Do you have carpet beside your bed? If so, maybe a little of the urine got into the carpet, and that scent, combined with the softness of the clothes, appeals to her. Also, pregnant women give off different pheromones than before, and although we and our partners may not notice the scent, a cat very well might, so clothing you've just worn could have some of that pheromone in them, and she might be reacting to that. We've had similar issues, and although we've used products with enzymes to get rid of every trace of the smell, I'm thinking of getting one of the black lights to check for certain before the baby comes and things get really hectic around here.

The cats haven't peed on the baby's things yet, but the male has claimed the changing table as the perfect sleeping spot (he's huge, so it cradles him), and I have to keep a cap my sister knitted either in a drawer or sealed in a ziplock bag because they will both go after that -- she used a bamboo yarn which I think must smell delicious to them. The little female started getting on my stomach all the time not long after we found out I was pregnant, and she'll sleep there if I happen to sleep on my back. The other night, the baby must have kicked her because I woke up to her shooting straight up in the air, unfortunately leaving one claw in my stomach during the ascent.