Cat has started using our bed instead of the litter tray

[ER1212]

We have a 3 year old Tom, full of life, usually uses litter tray fine, is precious about it being clean so it's scooped twice a day and fully cleaned every 3 days. In the last week he has done a poo on our bed Wednesday morning, only about 5 mins after doing a wee in his litter tray. I have since read online that if they ever need to wee and poo in quick succession they are not keen on the smells overlapping and go elsewhere so we wrote it off as a one off, washed the bedding and got a new duvet. This afternoon however he's done a wee on the bed! Litter tray was reasonably clean, no poos in there. Dh is going crazy and most of my suggestions are more frequent cleaning / shuffling of the litter after wees but at 13 weeks pregnant this is all his job unfortunately. The litter is positioned quite close to his food and water but obviously hasn't been an issue before and we haven't changed box or litter.
Any suggestions?!

Two suggestions: get a second litter tray, see if he'll use that as the alternative. And ban him from your bedroom until you're sure you've got a solution.

The obvious suggestion is to confine him to a room downstairs and absolutely ban him from being upstairs

Could he have a UTI?
When you say Tom do you mean unneutered? He could be marking.

I’d move the tray, get a second tray & try ultra clumping litter. The small granules are softer on paws.

A cat toileting inappropriately is trying to tell you something.

He's an indoor cat so I don't like to limit his rooms as I think it's a bit harsh. Two trays is definitely an option.

He's neutered, we use catsan as I've found the cheaper ones are a bit dusty when he's digging round.

Cats hate foil.
Get a space blanket to cover your bed and maybe put a 2nd litter tray in the bathroom?

Like this
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004O793JY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_YwfaBbDT6V82P?tag=mumsnetforum-21

Has anything changed in his routine, dont let him in the bedrooms, put a tray in the bathroom and move the other one away from his food and water bowls. Congratulations on your pregnancy.

Litter trays should be number of cats + 1. So get another tray, particularly as you already know he's fussy about his tray.

Get some Feliway plugins in case he's stressed and trying to tell you something by going in your bed - mine have done this before, often when they are missing me.

Does he like your choice of litter? Cat's preference and human preference are not the same. They generally will go for soft on the paws.

And urinary probs definitately on the cards, esp in an indoors neutered tom. Trip to the vet in order if not settling.

I've had terrible problems with my female cat who's 9 and has used my bed as a toilet occasionally for several years. Once it was so bad the wee soaked through all my bedding into my quite new mattress which I can't afford to replace and I still sometimes get a stale cat wee smell in my bed. She's also weed on clean laundry, bags of things, in a suitcase once and pood on some halloween clothes I left lying around. Another favourite is bathmats in both my bathrooms. I've even bought a washing machine with an extra large drum to cope with all this. I have a waterproof mattress protector now and just keep the door shut if I'm not in my bedroom. Keeping the litter tray really clean has helped but it's all about avoiding letting the cat get back where it's soiled before as they remember the smell and repeat. It really puts me off ever getting another cat and I feel your pain!

Yes I think we'll have to get another tray, and move the water and food.
Which type of litter would be soft on the paws? Like wood pellet type?
He's at the vets in a week for his yearly boosters so I'll mention this and hopefully she'll check for urinary problems.

Shut the bedroom door!! Not surprised DH is pissed off.

So what if it's an indoor cat. Stopping it going in one room won't make any difference and will stop it shitting on your bed.

The cat will have to get used to not being allowed in certain rooms anyway, assuming you won't allow it in baby's room or if you have baby in your room for a while?

It really isn't a ' bit harsh' to stop a cat pissing all over your bed by simply closing a door, but if it doesnt overly bother you then crack on

Just make sure you've cleaned properly with an enzyme busting cleaner because he will be drawn back to it time and time again

Lizzy - you're sleeping in a bed that stinks of stale cats piss?

People amaze me sometimes. Just shut your bloody doors! Of course rule out issues with a vet but much of this is behavioural a lot of the time. Do t give a cat an opportunity to use your bedroom like some sort of giant cat litter tray,

First port of call is to take a sample of urine to the vets to check for a UTI.

I clean my trays daily, as one cat won’t use a tray that has been used already. Your cat seems fussy about his trays, so worth trying that too.

Try wilko ultra clumping. Wood pellets are really big.

take a to the vet it might be ill

If it is a UTI it can't wait a week!

One of my cats is very fussy about his litter tray, only likes certain litter and it must be very clean. At one point he started weeing on our bed, so we kept him out of the bedroom but the moment he could sneak in there he’d do it again. We had covered litter trays, but when we left the top off one he suddenly stopped trying to wee on the bed. I have no idea why he suddenly took against the litter trays he’d been using happily.