weird cat question

[tripletsmama]

For whatever reason, our cat decided to pee on a chair in the living room. His litter box hasn't been moved, it's still changed on a regular basis, nothing is different in his life. I'm not sure why he made this decision other than he's a cat! I took the slipcover off the chair and ran it and the cushion through the washing machine. Looked/smelled perfectly clean so I moved on. Well, he just did it again! Same chair. Is there some reason cats do this? Will he just keep going to the bathroom on this same chair? I'm about to just get rid of the chair...

 

[StacyMarie]

He might be trying to tell you he has a bladder infection or he might be trying to tell you he doesn't like something that has changed in your household such as a new pet, a baby, new food for him, etc.

I have 4 cats. They usually don't behave out of the ordinary unless something is bothering them.

 

[Mermaid02]

Who usually sits in that chair?

 

[BGK]

I'm about to just get rid of the chair...

The cat's sense of smell is much better than yours. Even though it smells clean to you, he (?) can still smell it. Now that it has his territorial scent, he's going to return to that spot. If you want to keep the chair, you should place something on it that will discourage him from sitting there. Something flat which makes noise on contact, like aluminum foil can work. Something also with an unpleasant texture, such as double-sided tape. If you can keep him off it for a month or so, it will likely break the territorial link with that spot.

Is the chair near a window? If so, this could be displaced aggression against a cat or dog he sees outside. You should check with a vet to rule out a UTI or crystals. I had one cat who always had perfect litterbox habits until he started urinating in a cardboard box I left for them to play in. I caught him and saw the urine was blood-tinted, and the vet found he had a good case of struvite crystals. He now gets a urinary health diet and has had no issues for years.

 

[kamik86]

Its also possible that although YOU can't smell it he still can so goes there again... May want to get one of those enzyme pet cleaners to help with that...

I would also take the cat to the vet to be sure there isn't a medical issue.

 

[mom2travel]

For whatever reason, our cat decided to pee on a chair in the living room. His litter box hasn't been moved, it's still changed on a regular basis, nothing is different in his life. I'm not sure why he made this decision other than he's a cat! I took the slipcover off the chair and ran it and the cushion through the washing machine. Looked/smelled perfectly clean so I moved on. Well, he just did it again! Same chair. Is there some reason cats do this? Will he just keep going to the bathroom on this same chair? I'm about to just get rid of the chair...

I agree with PP that cat could be trying to tell you something. We have one cat that always goes in the box, and another that does "protest pees" if she's annoyed - like if the litter isn't changed fast enough for her liking.

As far as the chair goes, mine's only gone on the floor that I treat with vinegar right away to attempt scent elimination. I'm not an expert but I think the scent is probably in the chair now, so your cat may continue to smell it and pee there if the scent hasn't been completely eliminated.
One thing I've tried (that has worked so far) is to feed the cat treats in the spot where she's peed - she never goes back there again, won't pee where she's eaten (I've done this with new rugs & furniture too as preventative measure)

 

[tripletsmama]

Thanks for all the input. Honestly, we really don't use the chair much. It wouldn't be the end of the world to get rid of it. I guess we'll start with a trip to the vet and putting something on the seat cushion and go from there. There's no new baby yet, but there will be soon, so maybe he can sense that!

 

[TashaRVT]

You should check with a vet to rule out a UTI or crystals.

I second that! Make an appt with his veterinarian and get a urinalysis done; more often than not, it's a medical issue more so than a behavioural one. The only way to really and truly completely get rid of the urine smell is to use an enzyme based cleaner (I use something called Urine Erase) to get rid of the bacteria that causes the odour.

 

[tripletsmama]

Does anyone know how safe these enzyme cleaners are? Being pregnant, I just like to double check things.

 

[chipsgirl1030]

My cat recently did the same thing. She "went" on the chair even though the clean litter box was right on the floor. It turns out she had a urinary tracht infection. We found this out when she went to the vet for something totally unrelated. I never would have guessed it.

 

[Sabrefan]

Our cat started havign litter problems when I was pregnant too so who knows, but we did find an excellent cleaner at Pet Smart I think it was, it was in a white bottled with red lettering, I mean it really took a lot of applications but it did stop.

If you get rid of the chair be prepared for the cat to go else where. My cat continued to go in one corner, someone told me to put tin foil there, so then she peed in the other corner.

 

[denisem]

I'll help confuse the issue further.

In addition to the above suggestions, I belong to a breed specific forum and it's been suggested that some laundry detergents/fabric softeners contain scents that mimic scented cat litter. Or even innocuous things like plastic bags smell like plastic litter boxes. You might want to run that slipcover/cushion through the wash again with a vinegar rinse.

Yes, the doofus in my avatar would see ANYTHING plastic (from laundry basket to DH assembling a garden wagon in the great room) as "Cool! Big litter box!".

 

[StacyMarie]

I'll help confuse the issue further.

In addition to the above suggestions, I belong to a breed specific forum and it's been suggested that some laundry detergents/fabric softeners contain scents that mimic scented cat litter. Or even innocuous things like plastic bags smell like plastic litter boxes. You might want to run that slipcover/cushion through the wash again with a vinegar rinse.

Yes, the doofus in my avatar would see ANYTHING plastic (from laundry basket to DH assembling a garden wagon in the great room) as "Cool! Big litter box!".

OMG, I have a kitty who loves to piddle on anything plastic! Makes perfect sense now, lol! Strange!

 

[babyrich]

Male cats are more prone to urinary issues. So a visit to the vet isnt a bad idea just to be safe.

I have 3 males, if I try to change the type of litter, one of them will pee and poop in the corner of my living room. We changed the litter back and he would still go in the corner; but not every time. I used the tin foil trick and it worked but it took some time and I did have to lay tin foil in a few corners.

Seems once they get used to something they continue to do it.

This kitty also had bladder stones and needed surgery so his potty habits are always monitored.

 

[pixiewings71]

My cat has urinary issues so she will do this if she's feeling bad. Not on the furniture actually, she hops in a potted plant and goes there. I definitely think you should call the vet first. After that, when you clean the chair again, maybe consider using peroxide, we had a cat that was peeing in the garage so to treat the area we poured 3% hydrogen peroxide on it, it seems to have worked, she has not peed there for at least a week now. I'm so glad about that!! Of course test the chair first to make sure it won't discolor the fabric, but it does work. Otherwise, the stuff in the white bottle with red lettering is Nature's Miracle, it will work as well but it is more expensive then the peroxide.
Good luck!

 

[purplegirl247]

If he's still using the litter box regularly and he's just gone in this one spot, it's likely territorial, as someone mentioned. Our cat recently started doing the same thing. We tried everything to remove/cover the scent so he wouldn't return there (cleaner, baking powder and vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, citrus peels, chili powder, you name it). The only thing that worked was blocking off the area so he couldn't access it (well, first we blocked off one corner of the doorway, which made him decide to use the other corner, lol, so we had to block off the entire area).

It's worked so far, but we can't use our back door! Silly kitty. He went to the vet today (unrelated to this issue), who agreed that it was territorial based on the specific set of behaviors.

 

[Princess_Meghan <3]

My sister's cat did this when he had a UTI- only he kept peeing on the clean clothes in the laundry room!

I would definitely check with your vet- my sister's cat is on a special diet, and hasn't had any problems since starting it.

 

[dakcp2001]

When my boyfriend (now husband) moved in my cat started peeing on his pillow. That was an obvious statement. lol. They are now friends! It took awhile though. Haha.

 

[TashaRVT]

Does anyone know how safe these enzyme cleaners are? Being pregnant, I just like to double check things.

Oh my gosh, I can totally relate! I double checked absolutely EVERYTHING I used each time I was pregnant!
I read the ingredients pretty thoroughly, and the main liquid ingredient is usually hydrogen peroxide - safe to come into contact with when you're pregnant.

 

[tripletsmama]

Oh my gosh, I can totally relate! I double checked absolutely EVERYTHING I used each time I was pregnant!
I read the ingredients pretty thoroughly, and the main liquid ingredient is usually hydrogen peroxide - safe to come into contact with when you're pregnant.

Awesome...thanks!

I just sorted several piles of laundry on the laundry room floor and when I came back a few minutes later, the cat had peed on one of the piles. Good thing it was dirty laundry, but still, YUCK!!!! I will get him into the vet tomorrow or Monday.