In this article we will understand why a cat shits on the bed and how to correct this behavior of your pet.
- Check your pet's health
They say about cats that they walk on their own, hinting at their special character. A cat is not as easy to win over as a dog. Representatives of cats are more independent. Because of this, they are often attributed character traits that do not exist. For example, if a pet begins to shit in the wrong place, the owners may attribute it to harm. But animals do not know how to make plans for revenge; such behavior is associated either with stress or with health problems. Pay special attention to your pet’s health if your cat starts peeing on the bed and sofa unexpectedly and has never done anything like this before. Our experts examined the reasons in detail and also made recommendations on how to stop a cat from peeing on the bed.
What can you spray on the sofa?
If you decide to clean your sofa of cat urine in order to get rid of the nasty smell forever, then after drying it, you need to spray it with one of the following products:
- vinegar or potassium permanganate (weak solution);
- hydrogen peroxide;
- weak iodine solution;
- alcohol;
- water with lemon.
After cleaning the sofa on which the pet is peeing, citrus peels, pieces of onion or garlic placed in the corners are also used. Representatives of the cat family do not like the smell of essential oils (mint, rosemary, lavender), perfumes, construction chemicals, and detergents that have a strong odor.
Read also: What to do if your shoulders are wider than your hips
Attention!
If you managed to clean the sofa well at home, then to prevent your pet from using it as a toilet, you can use special veterinary products.
Industrial detergents for odor removal
If all the methods described above are powerless, products specially designed for this will help remove the persistent smell of cat urine from the sofa.
You can find it in places where household goods are sold or in large pet stores. A feature of these drugs is their selective effect on organic pollutants, which, as a rule, are the main source of stench. Specially designed odor remover – video review:
The best effect of neutralizing the smell of urine is observed from those mixtures that include proprietary developments of manufacturers - special groups of enzymes (enzymes). Under the influence of these substances, uric acid crystals are destroyed, which almost completely neutralizes the foul-smelling fraction in traces of cat litter.
Before using them, you must carefully study the instructions. In addition, these products have one important feature: the effect of their use will be noticeable no earlier than 2-3 days after treating the stains.
How to stop a cat from peeing on the sofa?
If you don’t like cleaning the sofa after cat marks or don’t have time to clean the sofa at home, then the cat needs to be weaned from peeing on the furniture.
Expert opinion
Sofia Kovalevskaya
Experienced housewife.
Ask me a question
Under no circumstances should you use physical methods on your pet!
There is no need to intimidate the animal, chase it with a slipper, broom or other object; most often, it will also shit on the furniture, but this will be done in a more sophisticated way so that the owner does not notice the puddle for as long as possible. This state of affairs complicates cleaning the sofa, since urine has time to be absorbed into the upholstery material and crystallize.
How to save a sofa or bed from smell
Cat feces have a very pungent odor. If you do not remove it immediately after detection, then the cat will return to your bed for a very long time, guided by the marks left there.
What to wash clothes with
Remove the soiled laundry and wash it under the tap, thoroughly soaping it with laundry soap. Then put it in the washing machine, filling the corresponding compartments with powder, conditioner and odorant - a special product for eliminating unpleasant odors.
Remember to avoid using bleach and chlorine powders when washing. If you inhale these products, your cat may get a burn to the respiratory tract.
How to remove stains
To remove stains, use special products that remove uric acid. These include:
- alcohol and vodka;
- lemon juice or citric acid dissolved in boiled water;
- diluted vinegar;
- a solution of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda (suitable only for hard surfaces);
- a weak solution of potassium permanganate (suitable for dark, delicate fabrics).
Please note that perfume and cologne will not help here. They contain a very small amount of alcohol, so you will simply be wasting your favorite eau de toilette.
Help from essential oils
Representatives of the cat family cannot tolerate the aroma of citrus fruits, eucalyptus, lavender and fir. Essential oils from these plants are excellent for repelling baleen pests and do not require much consumption. For a lasting aroma, it is enough to apply just a couple of drops of the selected product to your bed linen.
Products from a pet store
In addition to household chemicals and folk remedies, special preparations from a pet store or veterinary pharmacy will be useful. Depending on their purpose, they have a repellent or attractive effect. The first option is suitable for keeping the cat away from your bed, and the second is for training him to use the litter box.
When you can't do without dry cleaning
If your pet is not neutered, then you will need a powerful professional dry cleaner. Also, you cannot do without it if pillows, blankets or mattresses are damaged. It is not recommended to wash all these items in a regular washing machine, as their filling can quickly become unusable.
Kittens
Small kittens do not immediately get accustomed to the litter box, so during the process of getting used to it they may walk in the wrong places. The owner must help the pet get rid of a bad habit. To do this, you need to seriously start training your kitten if you don’t want to endure puddles and feces on the sofa throughout its entire life. As a rule, for many pets a few days or weeks are enough for the situation to improve.
How to quickly stop a kitten from peeing on the bed
After a small pet appears in the apartment, you should immediately place a tray. The kitten needs to be shown where it should go to the toilet. Let your pet sniff the sand, dig in it, and maybe even taste it. Some kittens go to the litter box the first time, so they don’t cause problems for their owners. If on the first day the kitten defecated on the bed, then you should not immediately abandon it. You need to be patient and not get too angry.
You should not constantly change the location of the tray, as well as the fillers. The kitten must get used to one thing, otherwise he will continue to go to the sofa. If an animal urinates in the wrong place, you should scold it and then take it to the tray. As a rule, a few times are enough for the problem to disappear.
Prevention measures
To avoid an unpleasant situation, it is necessary to accustom your pet to the litter box from the first day it arrives in the house. You need to take it there often, especially after sleeping or eating, and try to hold it until the animal does its business. After this, the pet must be praised. If the kitten has soiled itself, it should also be taken to the litter box, but without praise. You need to be patient and persistent, not to scare the baby or yell at him when he is about to go to the toilet.
It is not always possible to constantly be near the kitten to take it to the toilet. Then you can lock your pet in the same room with a tray and bowl while the owners are away until it gets used to it.
To prevent puddles and piles on the bed, you need to follow several rules for caring for an adult cat:
- choose a convenient tray and keep it clean;
- choose a litter that your cat likes. To choose the right one, it is recommended to put 3-4 trays with different types;
- when changing the type of filler, this should be done gradually;
- the pet needs to be given enough attention and protected from stress;
- monitor your health, regularly see a doctor, give medications for parasites;
- provide the cat with a balanced diet;
- In the absence of the owners, block the pet’s access to the bedroom; you can also cover the bed with a rustling film or paste it with double-sided tape.
Cats need care and affection, they are often very demanding. If the owner behaves incorrectly, animals can leave unpleasant “gifts” on the bed. This situation can be avoided if you create comfortable conditions for your pet.
Choose a suitable tray and filler
Pay attention to the cat and protect it from stress
Regularly show the animal to the doctor to monitor its health
Provide balanced nutrition
Main reasons
Even an obedient and problem-free pet can at some point “delight” its owner. You can often hear owners complaining that their pet is defecating in the wrong place. Sometimes they use a sofa or bed, since pets choose a comfortable area for them as a toilet.
Both cats and cats are prone to this, and both sexes have similar reasons. First of all, we can assume that the animal is stressed. He may have been taken to the vet, taken to a new home, or otherwise stressed. The reasons do not end there, so in the absence of stress, it is worth considering other provoking factors.
Why does a cat shit on the sofa and bed?
If the pet previously behaved well, then its behavior changed for a certain reason. The owner must first find out what led to the problem and then correct the situation.
Possible reasons:
- Diseases. If it is painful for your cat to defecate, she can choose a more comfortable place instead of the litter tray. For example, the owner’s soft and warm bed.
- Dirty tray. Some animals prefer to walk only on clean sand. If it gets even a little dirty, then the cat will go look for another place. By the way, the same reaction occurs when changing the filler.
- Mating season. Many animals begin to mark the entire house, including the sofa. Some owners sterilize their pets because of this.
- Young age. Kittens do not immediately get used to the litter box. They should forgive their mistakes and help them quickly get used to the house, and also learn to walk only in a special place.
- Old age. Over the years, urinary incontinence occurs, making it difficult for animals to get to the toilet.
If a cat shits on the bed, the owner must correct its behavior. Once you close your eyes to the situation several times, the animal will get used to defecating on the sofa.
Problems with the tray
Domestic cats and cats relieve themselves in a special tray with filler. Kittens are accustomed to it at an early age. Even if the training process goes quickly and smoothly, there is no guarantee that the animal will go to the litter box regularly throughout its life. Refusal from the usual “toilet” provokes:
- unsanitary condition of the tray, which is caused by improper and irregular care;
- the presence of foreign odors - even if a cat catches a barely perceptible smell of its own feces, it will go to relieve itself in another place, this is inherent in it at the genetic level;
- change of filler or its absence - unusual sensations can turn the animal away from the usual tray and force it to look for another place to discharge its natural needs;
- a new tray or a change in the location of the old “toilet” causes confusion in the cat - the animal does not know how to behave in the current situation.
If you are wondering why the cat peed on the bed , check whether her access to the litter tray was blocked; perhaps the door to the bathroom, where the cat litter is usually located, was accidentally tightly closed by someone in the household.
Proven ways to wean yourself from a bad habit
As an option, you can cover your favorite spot with double-sided tape or cover it with a rough-pile blanket—cats don’t like being uncomfortable.
The pet will not be able to do any mischief if it does not have access to the room.
So that a single mistake does not become permanent and the cat does not decide to spoil upholstered furniture regularly, it is important to instill in the animal the desire to go to its potty. You can stop a kitten or adult pet from shitting on the sofa using the following methods:
- Spraying furniture. For this, water tinctures on citrus peels, lavender-scented perfumes, special cat repellents from pet stores or essential oils are used.
- Organization of a personal toilet. If the cat is too clean and there is no way to constantly clean, you can put a second tray or change the filler, for example, to silica gel. At the same time, the box must be placed away from food, drafts and extraneous noise. The shape and size must match the parameters of the cat itself.
- Limitation. To keep your fluffy away from the sofa, it is enough to block access to the room where this piece of furniture is located.
Tray inaccessible
Sometimes people themselves are to blame for the fact that the pet does not go to the litter box. Perhaps your pet cannot get to the toilet because the door is closed. It also happens that the tray was put in a new place and was not shown to the cat. As a result, you can find puddles in the old place of the cat litter box, on the floor and even on your bed.
Another possible explanation is a change in filler. For example, a pet got used to stones, and then wood capsules were poured into it. The cat may simply not understand that now he needs to walk on them, which is why he will go looking for a more suitable place. If your cat craps on the bed after changing the litter box, you should help her get used to the changes.
Tendency to leave puddles and marks
Some particularly capricious breeds, kittens, unneutered and older cats are prone to leaving puddles and marks. Each of them has its own motives, so the approach to solving the problem should be selected individually.
Capricious breeds
The most capricious breeds include Siamese cats and their closest relatives from the Siamese-Oriental group. Such cats have a very fine mental organization. They are easily offended or stressed. Because of this, the reason for their bad behavior is usually attributed to psycho-emotional factors.
Physiological features
Age plays a big role. A kitten that is not toilet trained will make mistakes for quite a long time. Raising him will take a long time, so you just need to be patient.
“Accidents” in older cats occur due to morbid incontinence or memory impairment. As they age, they forget the location of the litter box, often get lost in a familiar apartment due to deteriorating vision, and do not always have time to run to the toilet.
Constant hormonal surges in unsterilized pets can only be suppressed through castration. Without surgery, they will constantly mark the bed and other objects in an attempt to attract a partner to them.
Which cats are more likely to shit on the sofa?
How to stop a cat from tearing up furniture: reasons and what you can spray on the sofa.
Older animals have their own body characteristics. Often, as a cat ages, those reflexes that have been developed during life are suppressed. This is due to lower metabolic processes and gradual degeneration of nervous tissue. Also, permanent changes in the body of old cats occur with the genitourinary system. Older cats are more likely to have incontinence problems due to weakened pelvic muscles. Therefore, older animals can shit on the sofa due to health problems.
Old cats may forget where to relieve themselves
Non-sterile animals have more unbalanced hormonal levels. And this behavior is due to changes in the levels of various sex hormones. In addition, when a cat is not sterilized, he has a physiological attraction to the opposite sex. This includes both the mating season and the estrus period.
Note! In such an excited state, the animal simply has no time to think about where it is right to relieve itself and where it is not.
Old animals
Long-lived cats often walk in the wrong places due to urinary incontinence. They are not always able to run to the toilet, which is why puddles appear in the places where the animal sleeps. Some owners decide not to let their pet on the bed so that they don’t have to constantly clean up puddles. As already mentioned, you can place a bed separately, which will have to be washed. It is useless to scold and punish an old cat, since he is not to blame for his behavior.
Owners must understand in detail why their pet shits on their bed. After this, you can, based on recommendations, correct bad behavior. It is worth remembering that it is often not the pet’s fault that it defecates on the owner’s bed. It is quite possible that he feels bad or does not understand that this should not be done. A good owner will definitely be patient and help the animal get rid of a negative habit.
Methods for teaching a kitten to shit in the right place
In order for the kitten to get used to its new location and get used to it a little, it is necessary to place it in a small room that can be isolated with a door. It is necessary to place a litter tray in the selected room, prepare a sleeping place, a container for food and drink, and toys.
Your pet will need about a week to master the territory and get used to the new environment. After this period, you can move on to getting acquainted with the remaining rooms.
The main thing is not to do it too quickly and abruptly. This transition period is characterized by the fact that during the process of getting to know a cat, a habit may arise of shitting in any convenient place, therefore, at the first bowel movement, it is necessary to immediately remove excrement, no matter how much the smell attracts the animal.
A very effective solution to this problem is containers with cat food, which must be placed in those places where the kitten is accustomed to shitting. On an instinctive level, he will not go to the toilet in the place where he eats.
In a pre-purchased tray, it is recommended to put paper that needs to be soaked in cat urine, in the place where he is used to shitting, preferably placing paper with his favorite food.
It is very important for cats to learn and remember the real smell of a new home, which is characteristic of it. For this reason, during the adaptation period of the animal, it is not recommended to use artificial means to freshen and purify the air.
In addition, cats are very sensitive to the chemical composition of most household detergents and cleaners. In this case, you should not be surprised if the kitten begins to shit on the floor that has just been washed using a similar product.
Very often, such a manifestation acts as a protective function when sharp and unfamiliar aromas predominate in the living room; the cat thus tries to drown out the irritating factor with its aroma.
If the kitten has chosen a place under the sofa for relaxation, there is no need to drive him away from there, otherwise he will start shitting there in order to designate this place for himself.
To eliminate psychological irritants, it is recommended to arrange a small, cozy house for the animal. For these purposes, it is not necessary to purchase special designs from a pet store; just take a cardboard box, put soft fabric in it and place it in a warm, cozy place.
The main thing is to treat the problem with understanding and arrange a good place for the cat to live, then the cat will fulfill all the conditions and create additional problems.
Stress and strong emotional tension
Cats are susceptible to stress caused by fear, excitement, jealousy, changes in their usual daily routine, trips to the veterinarian, or moving to a new place of residence. A strong emotional shock can cause unwanted behavior in an animal, in which it forgets its “toilet” skills and begins to shit anywhere, even on the owner’s bed. This is how the cat expresses its emotions and calls on its owner for help. It is impossible to strongly scold or physically punish a pet for this offense; on the contrary, you need to show maximum attention to it. We recommend showing more affection, care and communication to the animal in anticipation of possible stressful situations, which include:
- change of place of residence;
- traveling by car or public transport;
- journey;
- arrival of guests;
- the appearance of a small child in the house;
- the appearance of another pet, etc.
If a puddle on the bed is caused by a stressful situation, it is important to prevent the animal’s unwanted behavior from becoming established.
