Cat Peeing on Everything Now That Baby Is Here!

She is probably just jealous. My male cat started doing that when I got a female. I don't know why, because he really loved her. Then when I let another cat have kittens in my daughter's room, he started peeing all over my daughter's things. He was also really mean. He is almost 7 years old, and was a house cat, but before my baby was born, I made him stay outside. I don't trust him around her. He hates living outside, but it has made him have a total personality change. Now he is very sweet. He has been outside since August, and it was hard for me to do, but better for everyone.

I've heard there is a spray you can spary on objects to keep a pet from wanting to pee on it, don't know if this would work for a cat as independant as they are.

Oh my gosh! the same thing happened with my cat. He was the best and sweetest cat. I had my 1st boy 1 year and a half ago. He started peeing on all my husband's shoes and clothes. (it was his cat before). We busted his butt and it got better. Then we had a second boy 6 months ago. It started again. He started peeing, and he became very withdrawn and anti-social. We gave him away 2 months ago and he is happier than ever now. He gets plenty of attention now.

Your cat is trying to tell you in an obvious way that she is jealous. Cats are very emotional and this may be a problem you can fix and it may not. I would first try different litter boxes in different areas of the house. I would use closed top and open top and different litters. I would try to increase attention given to the cat by you as well. Your cat probably doesn't dislike your child, but dislikes the lack of attention from you. Another thing that works well is feliway. It is a cat pheramone that is dispensed as an aersol spray or a plug in diffuser. I would probably use the spray and spray the areas, or close to them that you can. It is just a calming affect for the cats. I think most vet clinics sell them, ours does. (I am a veterinarian). Let me know if this helps.

K.
Sounds like you have gotten yourself a territorial cat.She is only territorial to the babies things. As long as she don't start peeing on him, marking him as hers also. You might try giving her her own kitten. not a real one, can be something she will sleep with. keep eye on her..

Ok this is what you need to do to stop this behavior:
Put your cat in a confined area with a little box, water and food. I am talking about a small area, maybe a medium size dog cage. Do not place anything like a bed in there. This way the cat will be retrained to using the box again. The longer you allow this behavior to continue the harder it will be to stop. After a week of using the box every time I would allow the cat to have a larger area as a test run (again with box, food and water). Maybe a laundry room or spare bedroom. If she is still using the box for a few days I would then allow free roam again. Making sure you show her the location of the box. Which should be very private and away from traffic. Also you need to discard the items peed on or get a odor neutralizer from your local vet to get the odor out. You also might want to place a "baby scented" item close to her in the cage and let her see and hear the baby while in the cage. Just curious, did your baby just start becoming mobile? By marking this is a way that your cat is showing a sign of dominance towards you child.
Hope this helps,
C.

Have you checked with your vet? We had a cat who marked all the kids beds. We made him an outside cat, but he still scurried into the house at every opportunity and was too fast for me to catch before he had marked the beds. We couldn't move him when we changed jobs.

I had the same thing happen to me - I had 2 cats that I had had for 8+ years before my first child came along, and one left me a "surprise" in my favorite pair of shoes, which I didn't notice until I was putting them on.....Sadly, I did have to find a home for them - eventhough those were my original babies, my little girl was more important. I feel for your situation. Best of luck to you and your little kitty!

wow sounds like she is not happy with you!! or the baby!! well not much you can really do has the baby interacted with the cat all maybe have the baby pet the cat show her that he is nice and part of the human family. i would hate to say get rid of the cat because she is part of the family as well i would also talk to the vet they might have some behavriol suggestions for you try!! thats about all i could tell you!! good luck and god bless!

Get rid of the cat! They don't stop doing this!

First of all to all those that keep responding "check with your vet first," I would think that would be the obvious first step. Give people a little more credit. I have the same problem. I did take my cat to the vet and she is perfectly fine. Absolutely nothing wrong with her but her behavior. We have four cats who have lived together for eight years and nothing like has ever happened before, until my daughter came along, who is now three years old. The problem keeps getting worse. This cat has always kept to herself and only wants attention on her terms. So it is not a lack of attention. She only pees in the playroom on my daughters toys. My daughter pretty much stays away from her, so she hasn't had the chance to scare or hurt her. I just had another baby and can't keep doing this. I am at a loss at this point. I have tried everything and am at the point of having to give her away to keep my house clean and stay sane. So good luck to you, hopefully you will find a solution, but sometimes there isn't always one.

We HAD a cat that started to pee on things when our first son was born. This was the perfect cat until the peeing started. At first it was tolerable because I figured she was jeolous. It started w/ our door mats, the bathroom mats, in the hallway. I was constantly cleaning after her-not my son. As we were preparing the nursery for the arrival of our second son, she peed under his crib...you know the smell! Then started peeing on our couch! We couldn't take it anymore, so I took her to vet worried something was wrong, because it had been about an 18-month span at this point. She was in perfect health. The smell and cleaning w/ a 2 yr. old and newborn were too much for me-so she quickly found a new home. We loved her, so we didn't just give her away. We took the time to make sure we matched her w/ the right person...it was a win-win for all of us. Hope you find a solution soon. :)

Hi K.!
This happened to me. Within days of having my daughter one of my cats (I have two) started peeing on things. It wasn't always a baby related thing - sometime baby clothes or sometimes just something that was on the floor. It went on for about a year. I thought I was going to go insane. Sometimes I would just lose it and start chasing her around the house like a crazy person. BUT, it did stop. No specific event made her stop the peeing she just stopped doing it. My cats do go outside sometimes, so I would make her go outside more often than she liked and then every time I passed her in the house I would make a point to bend over and give her a little love a couple of times throughout the day. It sounds like purely a jealousy issue. I would just keep giving her love (which was hard to do when I was mad at her). One time I saw her using the litter box and I was so happy - you would have thought my child had used the potty for the first time! It will get better - but it is OH SO frustrating in the meantime. A vet once told me that cats are very clean animals and do not like to smell urine or have any kind of mess outside the litterbox so for them to have this kind of behavior definitely means there is something greatly upsetting them in the house. Sigh!! good luck!

we had a cat that did that. after our first son was born and brought home. that cat started spraying and peeing on everything that was down low that was the babies and would pee or spray only my side of our bed. it was gross and a lot of extra work for a new mom. i tried everthing to get the cat to stop but nothing worked. we had to get rid of the cat. sorry to say you might have to also. i was also worried if the cat was that jealous what else would it do? so he went to live with a nice elderly lady that had no kids around. hope you get it figured out. good luck
L.

Wow! I don't know how you've been able to handle your cat peeing on things especially your baby's things for 7 months! Once they start peeing on things they never stop unfortunately it's only going to get worse. If it were me I would get rid of her or I would throw her butt outside (if I couldn't bear getting rid of her.) She is showing agression towards your baby. At 6-7 years old she is old enough to know better. It sounds like she is a one person cat and babies to her are not a part of that. I know you love your cat but is it really worth all the agrivation? It seems like you are having to take extra steps in your day to look for what she's peed on next...GROSS!!!...you have better things to do with your time than clean up cat pee and throw your baby's things away that the cat has peed on.
Good Luck!
A.

im a vet tech and when this happens its usally his way of telling you that he has a problem like maybe a urinary infection you should have him check at the vet for a infection all they need is a fresh urine sample to check and possible antibiotics! if thats not the problem there are great behaviorist that would gladly give you the right things to do to correct this problem! THIS IS FIXABLE

I am NOT a cat person so take my advice with a grain of salt. Make it an outdoor cat or give it away. Cat urine is very stinky and hard to get rid of the odor.

Our cat did the same thing - peed on everything! It was a nightmare. And our pets are family, so getting rid of her was not an option. What worked for us was putting in a doggie door so the cat could come and go as she pleases. Actually, we put the doggie door in for our dogs, but Gracie quickly started using it too. Ever since she became an indoor/outdoor cat, she has been perfectly happy. We were hesitant to let her be in/out for her health and safety, but she is so much happier. We had her vaccinated for feline leukemia/AIDS, and we try to keep a collar on her (she's pretty good at "losing" them). It really has made her happier, sweeter, and more like her old self. She still spends most of her time indoors, but when our little boy and/or dogs get loud/rough/rowdy, she can escape and relax outside.

Good luck with all your babies - furry and otherwise!

it could be due to jealousy...but have you had the cat checked for any bladder/urinary tract problems?
if the cat is healthy, i suggest a urine scent removal and urine stop combo product. petsmart carries several different brands of this type product.

AAAhhh-I can definitely relate. I have 2 male cats and the younger one which was a stray when we brought him home would potty on everything! I finally got both of my male cats fixed and unfortunately waited a little late on getting it done and they could still have this learned behavior. They really haven't done it in a long time. Cats want their scent all over the place....you especially. Your kitty loves your family and wants every animal know that you are hers only. I just bought "Urine Be Gone" at Lowe's last night. The kit comes with a black light and bottle of spray that breaks down the enzymes and eliminates the stain and odor. You can use the light in the dark to see where the potty spots are. This will help with what has already been pottied on. Is your cat fixed? I would consult with your veteranian to see what could be done to avoid it in the future.

I had a friend with the very same problem, it turned out that the cat had a urinary tract infection. Have her checked out, if that's not the case, keep a spray bottle of water handy, and when you catch her, give her a squirt. It works great for my two dogs.

I have to agree with one of the other postings, in that you need to first take your cat to the vet to see if there are any physical problems behind her behavior. Judging by her choice of 'spots' I would think it's behavioral, but you never know. We just lost our 5 yo cat to a illness that could have been the reason behind his spraying. He began when we started preparing our 2nd daughters room for her arrival. He sprayed for about 3-4 months before he started showing signs that he was sick. The vet said that there's no way to know if the spraying was behaviorial, or due to the illness. The thought of all the 'punishment' he received because of his spraying really upsets me, because there's a possibility it was because he was sick and we didn't know. The whole ordeal was just horrible, so get you kitty checked out before you take the next step.

You might want to check with your vet.
GL

K., I have a German Short-Hair Pointer and ever since I brought both my boys home from the hospital, he pees on thier toys, chews thier toys and books up. Oddly enough, he seems to love both boys to death, even been protective of them. I have since put my 7month olds walker on the table and I make sure every night that all the toys and books are put away. I hate to say it, but is there a place like a utility room or a bath room you can put her in at night? We had to get a pet carrier for our dog when a friend with a baby slept over and had to use the play pen for her baby. I hope this helps! :)

I am a veterinarian and recently had a baby too. During the 3rd month of our pregnancy one of my cats completey ruined our living room furniture by urinating on it. I sought a behaviorists advice and here it is:
1.Talk to your vet about putting your cat on Prozac once a day
2.Get a fish tank and window mounted bird feeders for enrichment.
3.Get toys you know (or think) your cat will enjoy
4.Clean the litter box daily and have multiple litter boxes available
5.Keep the regular feeding schedule for the cat that you had before the baby arrived
6. Spend 15 minutes twice a day playing with and petting your cat.
I have done these things and we have not had any problems in 8 months. The prozac make the other steps easier. I think it is the key. Also, Feliway makes a diffuser (like a glade plug-in) that releases "happy cat" pheromones that can also help and you can get that at the petstore.

Good-Luck!

Wow, I'm saddened at the lack of responsibility and commitment of many of these owners. Please talk to your vet for starters and explain what is going on. There are MANY options you can try to remedy this problem and you owe your cat to at least try them. It's possible the cat has a urinary or kidney problem, so I'd start there with the vet. Usually when cats start doing this, it's not necessarily behavioral, but they are trying to tell you they are sick and something is wrong. GL!

We have yet to see how our cat responds when our first child arrives in September, BUT, our cat had a pretty bad reaction when we brought one of our dogs home from the shelter. She had grown up with a sweet, calm Cocker Spaniel, and the new addition was not welcomed by her. She peed everywhere. Ultimately, she ended up getting her own room for about a month where she could hide out and take her time getting used to her new "brother". Eventually, they became great friends. The best product, in the meantime, that I can recommend, is a cleaner called Kids'N'Pets, which we generally get at Walmart. It is safe for use around pets and kids, and seems to get the cat pee smell out (which many products that claim to don't). If you're ripping up any peed-on carpet, bleach works well on concrete (you'll need to ventilate well), but the KNP doesn't have that bad after-odor. As far as keeping her from continuing this behavior, it's probably just a matter of time. Cats don't like change and get annoyed, and it seems to take some of them a while to adjust...
Good luck!

Hey K.,Is your cats litter trained?3 cats in one box is alot in itself to keep up with.Sometimes if urine is too strong in box sometimes they will look for else where to go.Once they start going some place else the smell stays there beyond what we are able to smell as humans even after clean up.There is a product called Natures Miracle that is an excellent product.It completely eliminates urine odor with no perfume cover up.Nature enzymes.non toxic.You can use on furniture,carpet(wet down to pad)litter boxes,cat bed,laundry (great stain remover)ect.There is also another brand out there that is concentrated 10 to 1 mix which is more cost effective.