cat urinating on chair???

sambuka41

Hi i have a problem with my male cat peeing on a futon i own. He has been neutered,he's not spraying and the urine doesnt smell strong. He has been to the vets recently and doesnt have an infection. His litter tray is about 1 ft from where he urinates.
He usually does this if i am cleaning or tidying up or if my attention is intensly focused on something else. He will go straight in and piss on the chair. I have tried to not fall into the negative attention thing. I am more experienced with dogs so i am a bit unsure how to proceed?

I try to put him out when i am cleaning,but it doesnt always work. does anyone have any advice on how to stop this behaviour before he completely ruin this chair!!!!!

Rancid

sambuka41 wrote: »

...He usually does this if i am cleaning or tidying up ...

First thought is that it's territorial marking.
You're moving/tidying stuff which he sees as HIS territory changing so he's just laying claim to it and re-marking it.

If you're hoovering at the same time, there could be a bit of stress involved for him, too, maybe he just hates the noise.

Try keeping him in a different room while you clean up, then let him back in 20 mins later and watch him to see if he tries to mark that futon when everything in the room is calm.

And you need to clean the futon totally as this has just become one of his regular scent marking spots now.

Can you move the litter tray into a corner and a bit further away from your futon? Just move it a couple of inches per day until you have it where you want it. Very gradually.

No major changes ...that's what he's trying to teach you!

sambuka41

Hey thanks i'll give that a try! He's a very pampered little guy and get stressed out easily! I've kept the futon covered with boxes to stop him getting at it!! So far it helped. Ill try move the litter tray slowly and hopefully he'll get used to it. thanks for the advice!

Arcadian

If he's squatting then he's urinating rather than marking. I'd have him back to the vet to double check for a UTI. If that's clear you'll need to break what has now become a habit. Remove all traces of smell from the futon with a good enzyme cleaner and then prevent him from accessing it, either by keeping him out of the room entirely or placing something on top of it to keep him off, until he's back to using his box full time. If he's a generally stressed cat then you could try a feliway plug in also.

sambuka41

Excellent,i might try that plug in. I work shifts and i think he finds it hard to adjust. He was a stray that i rescued when he was quite young so he tends to be nervous around other ppl or loud noises. He's great with me just not anyone else!!! He's had a lot of change in last few months and i thought it might be due to that.So that might help him all round. Thanks again for all the advice.

chrisdr

Here are my thoughts on this. As a cat owner of 5 I have had problems of the very same nature with one particular cat that is now 16. I had a futon and for some reason he did the same thing he went to the bathroom in it.

I would buy a new futon pad or remove as much of the odor as possible but he still did it. I removed the futon and the problem was removed as well.

Now you may want to look and make sure his litter box is clean. Cats are VERY picky about the cleanliness. Also have you changed litter lately? If you have you might need to go back to what you used previously. Some cats hate change. Also a trip to the vet and speak with one that specializes in behavioral problems they have great advice as well.

I also found a great website that has info you might want to look at..

http://www.catchannel.com/behavior/default.aspx