Help! How do I stop my 12 week old kitten peeing on my son's bed?!

[Bicnod]

We have a gorgeous 12 week old kitten who is usually very good at using her litter tray.

However, she has formed a habit of peeing on my son's bed - it's happened three times now over the last week.

We are trying to keep the door shut, but she snuck in there this morning and peed on his bed again.

Is there any sort of spray we can buy to deter her? Or any other ideas? We are keeping the doors to the bedrooms shut at the moment, but with three children in the house this is never going to be a long-term solution...

Obligatory photo of sleepy cuddly one attached.

TIA.

Temporarily covering the mattress with kitchen foil might help to deter her. She's a beauty!

Your children should keep their bedroom doors shut. If children know kitten soils on bed why do they not be careful in keeping it shut? Use zoflotra in with washing in machine and clean carpet with it too every time see on carpet. Use good quality cat litter with deodoriser. After cat has been fed place on litter tray.

Peeing on the bed is usually what's called Associative Toileting. The cat feels scared or insecure about something and it pees on the bed because the bed has the strongest scent of its owner. Bonding its own smell with its owner's gives the cat a sense of security. The reason the cat feels insecure can be anything - a new person in the household, new furniture/redecoration, tension/stress in the house, bullying by another cat or dog etc. I once adopted a cat that had been abused and he peed on my bed (sometimes with me in it) every day for months. In his case he'd never been a single cat and had been bonded to another cat that had been rehomed somewhere else. I adopted another younger cat and on the first night I found him curled round the new arrival washing him. From that day my lovely boy never peed on my bed again and the two were inseparable for 17 years. The answer isn't always that instant, but if you can identify anything that might have triggered your kitten to feel scared or insecure you're on the way to solving the problem.
www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/stop-your-cat-spraying-and-soiling-house

@caringcarer they do their best but they're children (youngest is 5) and don't always remember.

@TibetanTerrier that's really interesting. I wonder if she was stressed because we opened up the whole house too quickly. We're now closing all the doors (or trying to) except DS2's and she hasn't peed anywhere but in her tray downstairs. I'm hoping she'll use the upstairs tray soon...

cats do understand the idea of a taboo about peeing/pooping in the wrong place. your kitten thinks that the bed is the right place. for our kitten it was the door mat, but I watched her carefully and when I saw her adopt a squat position clearly about to do it again I swept her up and carried her to the litter tray and said "this is the place" and she got the message quickly.

obviously thoroughly washed the doormat to remove any lingering smell.

I have a cat that would pee on both of my boys beds if she got into their room. They were teenagers at the time and both learnt to shut their doors every time they left the room. She didn’t grow out of it but both boys have left home now so the problem is solved! I never worked out why it was just their beds that she targeted - maybe it was the Lynx affect!

A change in litter solved this kind of problem for a previous kitten on ours. She wanted something soft for her little paws, despite having previously used the pellets

I have absolutely no advice, but I am in love with your kitten 😍 She’s absolutely gorgeous!

Kitten update! 😺 she's used the upstairs litter tray - hooray!

We're still tipping the beds on their side to foil her cunning plans (and I'm keeping my door firmly shut... No waterproof sheet on my bed) but I think she's getting the hang of it. We're definitely not there yet but hopefully a step closer to just having her wander freely round the house (which is now my dream 😆)

We're using the non clumping kitten litter suggested up thread and will switch to clumping stuff when she's 4 months old.

Here's the latest pics for all you kitten lovers...