Help! My cat is peeing on my clothes!

United States
May 16, 2007 5:35pm CST
I have a beautiful year-old cat who is usually well behaved. She is spayed and to my knowledge has never used anything other than her litter box, but today I left some dirty clothes laying in the bathroom floor instead of putting them in the hamper and she peed on them! I yelled at her and punished her, but she didn't seem to understand why I was upset. She even tried to bury her spot, just like she does in the litter box. For the record, the litter box was cleaned this morning, so I don't think that was it. Has anyone else ahd this problem? What do I do about it?
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8 responses
• United States
17 May 07
Hate to say this, but one of the things that I remember reading when we had cats is that if a cat starts peeing in an unusual / unacceptable location, it can be a sign of them having some sort of bladder or urinary problem. I know Rain just got over a bladder infection, so I wonder if it didn't entirely clear up. :( Hopefully this was just an isolated incident, but if it happens again, you may want to talk to the vet.
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@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
17 May 07
I was thinking this as well. Our male cats poops in my sons sink when he doesn't feel well (even if he just gets a cold). If the cranberry juice doesn't work (BTW I didn't know you could give that to cats) I would at least call the vet.
1 person likes this
• United States
18 May 07
Rain just saw the vet, like two weeks ago, for a bladder infection and the vet said to give her distilled water and cranberry juice if she would drink it. She doesn't have the other symptoms back, like walking funny and a tummy sore to the touch, but I am definitely watching her.
• United States
17 May 07
I already put her back on cranberry juice :) And, just for good measure, I hid some craisins in her tuna...haven't checked et to see if she ate them, but I figured it was worth a shot. If it happens again, back to the vet she goes.
• United States
17 May 07
I have actually had this same problem with two of my cats. One cat is male and the other one is female and they are both fixed. I wish I knew what the problem was. I keep the litter boxes clean, too, but I don't think it matters. I can't put any clothes on the floor or even in the laundry basket unless I put something on top of the clothes so they can't get into it. Another problem is with those small throw rugs. They pee on those, too! I read somewhere that a cat will do this if it has been traumatized or if there is a new pet or baby in the house, but none of those things apply to my cats. Does anyone out there know what's going on?
• United States
17 May 07
A friend offline told me tonight that she thinks it is another way of the cat claiming you as hers. It's like a warning to other animals, "hey this is my people, back off" and while I like the idea that my cat loves me, I do not want to smell like that! Cute avatar by the way!
• United States
18 May 07
She uses Swheat Scoop...I love it because it is biodegradable and flushable and clumping...but it also causes some dust, so i may try Yesterday's News. The vet had her use that after she was spayed to keep dust out of her incision, so she's not unfamiliar with it.
@dlkuku (1935)
• United States
17 May 07
I had a cat who did that suddenly and it was because she had a urinary tract infection. Another cat I had did that and was diagnosed with crystal disease, when crystals form in the urinary tract. You might want to get the cat checked just to be on the safe side.
1 person likes this
• United States
18 May 07
Since she just saw the vet two weeks ago, I just called to ask if it might be that she didn't get fully healed and they tol me to go back to the cranberry juice and water. Unfortunately, I'm a little concerned that she might be getting repeat infections and that would be a very bad thing.
• Denmark
17 May 07
My sister's cat went through a strange period at one time when we were kids. It would pee in her bed! Not very nice at all. It was very attached to her and we read it as some sign of affection, desire to be where my sister's smell was or something. Anyway she - the cat - finally grew out of it, it was just a phase. Hope it's the same with your cat.
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• United States
18 May 07
Well, she hasn't done it again and she does insist of marking everything with her scent...she rubs against people and furniture and everything in sight with her scent glands and even paws the floor around her dishes to make sure that her scent is there, so it's possible she just really wanted me to smell like her. Still, ewwwwww!
@nicolecab (923)
• United States
17 May 07
my female cat use to go anywhere and every where and it started somewhat like that. One day she just decided she did not want to use the litter box. this is what i had to do. take an old shirt but some vingar on it (cats hate this smell) put it on the floor in the same exact spot. If she happens to do it again in other spot get her before you clean the mess up put her nose in it tell her no, bad girl something like that, then take her right to her litter box and show it to her,next you have to take her back to the spot of vingar and let her smell that and then punish her. Do the same thing find a cotton ball or old rag put the vingar on it and put it in the spot. I only had to put the vingar out 3 times before she stoped!! Hope it works for you to!! Good luck!!
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• United States
17 May 07
Thanks for the suggestion. Someone once told me that when a cat begins going somewhere if you don't get the scent out, they will continue to think of it as a toilet. I bet the vinegar masks the smell. If it happens again, I'll try it s I prefer the smell of vinegar to cat urine.
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• United States
17 May 07
yes!! cat urine is a horrible smell!! Good luck!! Hopefully it was just a one time thing for your kitty!!
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• Norway
16 May 07
You should give it a lesson because cats respnds when they are speaked harsh to or something like that and if ther eis a special place it like to pee lay out some aluminium foile there because then it wont pee there anymore.
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• United States
17 May 07
Thankfully, I caught her in the act and told her "NO!" right then, so she knew what she was being punished for. Thanks for the suggestion of the aluminum foil. I'll try it!
• India
17 May 07
lol well i dont know the solution sorry :(
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• United States
16 May 07
Yep, I have a year-old cat who's done the same thing. Any clothes left out on the dresser, on the hamper, or on the floor get peed on. My mother had a worse problem - a cat who poops out of vindictiveness, and another cat who will pee on any clothes left out. My nearest guess is that they wish to mark anything that is out of place, and our only hope is to put everything away or hang it up out-of-reach. Some suggest bitter apple spray - put it down where they peed after you clean it up. I've not had any success with bitter apple spray. The cats sniff it and then ignore it. Accidents happen, and the best way to stop it is to avoid it altogether. ;(
• United States
17 May 07
I sprayed the area under the clothes (even though it wasn't wet) with Febreeze and then put the clothes directly into the laundry. And, I caught her in the act and yelled at her for it, so at least I think she knows it was unacceptable. Hopefully it was a one time thing...I hope.