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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

The litter tray

why does the kitten pee on my tv wires!!!

16 replies

WelshCat · 06/06/2012 09:58

I am going mad trying to stop my kitten peeing in various places around my house.

He is litter trained, never poops anywhere but the tray, but often he will pee: on the bottom of my (NEW) bedroom curtains; under my tv stand on all the wires; on my effing bed!

Why?? Why does he do this?? Sometimes I am watching tv in the evening and he comes in from the kitchen, where the litter tray is, and pees on the bloody wires under the tv bench! Its driving me nuts. I am on a constant hunt for kitty pee and i worry that DS will crawl through it before i can catch it.

Is there a way I can make him stop it? I don't get why he does it if he is supposedly litter trained. My mum says he will defo stop it but im starting to doubt it...

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Incaminka · 06/06/2012 10:06

How old was he when you got him?

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Incaminka · 06/06/2012 10:36

If he was 10 weeks or less, he was too young really, and his mum had not finished training him and giving him his confidence. Weeing like this is stress related. You will have to start again.
Start him off in one room with a covered littervtray, a climbing tree, and use feliway spray arpund the places he has sprayed for reassurance, after thorough cleaning. Don't use bleach or ammonia products, use bio washing powder ascthis "eats" the smell. If you leave the smell there it will encourage him to go where he has marked the spot. Lots of reassurance and supervise any contact with toddler. After a week or so, expand to another room and add another litter tray
This should sort things out.
If he was older, something is worrying him, is he frightened of toddler? Same approach, but another kitten might help for reassurance. If he is allowed out, another cat cpuld be bullying him.
If he is near neutering age, he cpuld be spraying, but this sounds like nerves to me. Might also be worth a vet check in case he has cystitis.

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sashh · 06/06/2012 12:10

Sometimes they pee on your bed to show yiuo how much they love you.

wash anywhere you don't want him to pee with biological washing powder ad get a feliway inhaler.

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Incaminka · 06/06/2012 12:22

Not quite true re bed - they mingle their smell with comfort smells when feeling insecure, and your bed smells strongly of you. So it does mean he loves you, but it also means he is insecure.

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WelshCat · 06/06/2012 15:31

oh. bless him! he was very small when i got him, i posted about it on here, i think he was about 5/6 weeks old.

i have been cleaning the places he has peed with bleach, this is bad then yes?

you say clean with bio washing powder, you mean mixed with water to make like a cleaning fluid?

INcaminka, not really possible to confine him to one room as my downstairs is all open plan and my upstairs doors dont close so he can get in the bedrooms (much to my annnoyance). seems mean keeping him in the bathroom!

i feel bad if he is stressed/worried. he mostly does this peeing when im in the room with him alone though, so ill notice he has done it and then go put him in the litter tray.

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Incaminka · 06/06/2012 17:49

Hi Welshcat
Yes a lot of breeders let them go too early - I let mine go after 14 weeks!
The confinement is really for security, to help him feel "his"place is safe and then widen it. Has he a bed or den of his own? He would probably do very well with another kitten to snuggle, too, if that helps. Feliway will help and lots of reassurance. He also needs to know he has a safe place to go where he won't get picked up of he doesn't want. Maybe a cat carrier with a hot water bottle? Good luck.

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Incaminka · 06/06/2012 17:53

He does feel safer with you there, which is why he marks territory in front of you and on your bed etc, so he trusts you.
Just a very big environment for a little kitten, and he may be unhappy with your dc, if they are at the grabby stage.

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WelshCat · 06/06/2012 19:08

Yeah DS is horrible to Kitty (kittens name is Kitty, I let DS name him...)

At first DS was gentle with him, as he has been with my mothers cat since he was teeny. But now he knows Kitty is his cat he is always grabbing/squishing him. I tell him off obvs but until he gets the message its a little rough on Kitty, and DS only does it because he loves Kitty :(

I dont think my landlord would be too pleased if I got another kitten! So thats out. He does have a bed in the corner of the stairs where DS cant get to but he has never been in it to my knowledge. I just put it there coz he is not allowed in my carpeted rooms of front room at night due to the peeing!

I feel terrible for poor Kitty, and other than keeping an eye out for DS behaviour toward him Im not sure how to make him feel better!

Does Feliway really work then?

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Incaminka · 06/06/2012 19:48

Feliway won't make up for kitten's experiences with DS, I'm afraid, especially as you seem to feel you can't stop DS effectively. I honestly think you may need to rehome. Just think of the endless pee....
I am sorry I can't give you better news, but it doesn't sound like things are going to change so peeing will continue. Get an older kitten when DS is older and more able to moderate grabbiness. :-)

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sashh · 07/06/2012 03:16

you say clean with bio washing powder, you mean mixed with water to make like a cleaning fluid?

Yes - the biological enzymes break down the smell, well the bits that casue the smell (sorry this time in the morning I'm a bit fuzzy) but anything else cleans to human standards but cats can still smell the pee so they think that's where they should go.

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WelshCat · 07/06/2012 11:57

ok.

thats bad news Incaminka. I guess I think DS will stop being so rough with him soon when the novelty wears off. You think thats the reason he is peeing then? DS? Kitty just peed in DS's pushchair.... grrr.

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Incaminka · 07/06/2012 12:46

Sorry, but yes.
Kitty is frightened and will continue to pee because he is frightened.
I suggest rehome, because I don't think from your posts that you feel able to ensure DS does not handle Kitty, and you obviously care about Kitty or you wouldn't have posted. Buy DS a teddy kitty the day of the rehome, and he can squeeze that all he wants. Say that Kitty was missing his mummy and has gone home, as this is easy for DS to understand.
Alternatively you could be very clear with DS'behaviour with Kitty, but I think you have tried that and it isn't working well enough. Hence the endless pee. Even when DS is older, it won't get better because it will be a habit. Besides, I'm sure you don't want to live with a kitten who is frightened of your DS, it's a bit sad.Try preloved for rehoming.

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SparkyTGD · 07/06/2012 18:35

This is very hard habit to break, I had a peeing kitten 16 yrs ago who turned into a peeing cat, it got better but was always a problem.

Would advise trying everything to deal with it asap.

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WelshCat · 08/06/2012 09:14

I will try the bio thing under the tv stand, and try to keep him out of my bedroom so he cant pee on the bed.

Im not at the stage where I would rehome Kitty yet, because I hope I can solve the problem.

Incaminka, I guess its not that I dont think DS will stop, I just cant watch him 24/7. And I think he is just copying me picking up Kitty eg removing him from windowsill when he is playing with my curtains etc. I will continue to stop DS picking him up ,and hope the messgae gets through.

I have not had Kitty all too long, maybe 5 weeks? So I'lll give him a chance to settle and see how it goes.

Thanks for the help everyone!

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MOSagain · 12/06/2012 17:20

I have the same problem. Got two kittens 4 weeks ago when they were 8 weeks old. They poo in the litter tray but from day 1 kept weeing behind and at the side of our tv. It got so bad we had to throw out one of the speakers which was literally saturated.

Have tried loads of things and keep cleaning up but they keep doing it. Spoke to a very helpful lady this morning in a pet shop and she said not to use the disinfectant I was using and sold me some other spray to use. She said they shouldn't go back and also recommended putting tin foil down as they hate treading on it. I spent ages cleaning and spraying and drying and put the tin foil down and literally 2 minutes later they both went and weed on it

Am at my wits end now, they have completely ruined the wooden flooring which as started coming up in a few places. Not sure how much longer we can cope

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suzi2 · 14/06/2012 22:49

Incaminka gives good advice to the OP and the PP. If a kitten is having a lot of 'accidents' then try limiting them to one room until they're feeling secure and managing to be accident free, then slowly expanding the territory. Keeping him in the bathroom isn't a bad plan - but keep the loo seat down. At first he'll wonder why he's not getting elsewhere, but he'll soon establish it as his space and build confidence. It's also easy for mess cleanups. You could then allow your DS supervised playtime with him in the bathroom and if you felt he was relaxing, then allow supervised playtime in the rest of the house.

My own 'kitten' (almost a year now) still has her 'room' (utility room) where I put her if there's anything too exciting/scary going on. If she chooses to go to her bed there then the rule is that the kids don't bother her. It's her sanctuary.