Jealousy problems?

Question

Ok..I need to give some background information before I can ask the question... My 19 year old cousin had a baby at the end of July. She has been having my mother watch her, my mom is a stay at home wife/mother. The only people in my moms house are her, my step father and my 18 year old brother, so no children. Well she also has 2 cats, one that stays in all the the and the other is always outside and she has 2 dogs. Well lately she has been noticing a pee smell in the living room, where she has the babys bed at. Well this morning she was cleaning up, hasn't had the baby in a few days, and noticed that the babys bed smelt of pee, really bad and that the couch too smelt badly of pee, the other place the baby is frequently at. Now the question, could my moms 3 year old cat, male-but fixed, or the 2 dogs, both fixed one 1 1/2 and the other 8, but dogs aren't allowed on furniture, could they be peeing in the babies bed because they are jealous? Why and which one could it be?

Answer 1

I doubt it's either of the dogs. The most likely culprit is the cat. And yes, he's probably jealous. The other problem is that cats are very territorial. He may not understand what the baby IS....all he knows is that the smelly, crying thing is invading his turf.

First thing's first, try to get all the urine smell out of both areas. There are enzymatic sprays designed specifically to eliminate cat urine odors. You'll probably have to soak the areas pretty good since cat pee goes down and out pretty far.

I doubt your mom can be around to keep track of the cat in the living room ALL the time, so a deterent would be a good idea. SSSCat Spray, the Tattle Tale Alarm, Feliway spray, and Cat Stop are all possibilities. You can find them all here;
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2002+2017

If your mom ever DOES catch him "in the act" a quick spray of water from a bottle or squirt gun should deter him. Just tell her to make sure he doesn't see her squirting him. If he does, he'll know that she did it...and also know that he's safe as long as she's not around. And don't punish the cat after the fact because he won't know why he's being punished.

Also, your mom needs to make sure that she's paying the cat enough attention when the baby's around. In fact, she may want to pay him MORE attention than usual for a little while.

Answer 2

It's not likely to be the dog, I'm sorry to say. Cat urine is pungent and unmistakable. Dog urine is not nearly as foul, so that's one way you can rule out the dogs. Also, it's much easier for a cat to get into a baby's crib than a dog. The cat that goes outside is not likely to be the culprit for obvious reasons. The indoor cat is probably the guilty party. The cat could very well be jealous or feel its terrritory has been threatened. This behavior has to stop, however. It's going to be important for your mom to give her cat as much attention as possible both when the baby is around and when the baby is not around. It would be nice if she could sit with both the cat and the baby and let the cat sniff the baby and be properly introduced. Unless you can catch the cat in the act of urinating, there isn't much you can do to reprimand the cat. Instead, I suggest focusing on what's bothering the cat. And of course, never rule out the possibility of a medical condition if it continues. Good luck.

Answer 3

Its probably the cat. I know this is gonna sound whacko but my Mom had the same type of issue with one of her cats peeing on lamp. She took the cat to the vet who reccomended a kitty shrink ( no im not even joking) the kitty shrink told her to introduce the cat to all new objects that are brought into the house before and after placing them. It actually worked. The cat stopped peeing on the lamp. Your mom could try this.
The cat is probably scared and upset and jealous. Spending time with the cat and the baby at the same time may help. Introduce the baby to the cat otherwise get a screen to put over the crib to keep the cat out of it. I dont know what she can do about the couch though.....cat pee stays and will ruin stuff fast.
When my moms cat passed she got new carpet ...the pee soaked all the way to the hardwood floor it and ruined it.

Answer 4

Animals are a lot like people: When you tick them off, they’ll do something to get you back. The easiest thing for pets to do, besides ignore you, is to pee on things… Hey that’s what you get for “pissing them off”, right? So, yeah, I think the animal is peeing on those things because he/she is jealous.

I’ve had a lot of experience with cats and dogs so know this for a fact:
*I've had a dog that, whenever we left him alone in the house, would pee on the couch. He hated being left alone and this was his way of getting back at us for leaving him... From then on, when we left the house (not for a long period of time), we had to keep him tied up.
*One of my cats stays in my bedroom a lot. She’s convinced it’s her room and she’s just nice enough to let me stay in there with her. When a few of my other cats adopted the room and started laying in her personal spots, she was so ticked off she ended up peeing in her spots. I guess she figured if she couldn’t be in her spots, no one should be there! From then on, I had to make sure she had alone time in “her” room.

It could either be your cat or one of your dogs. I know you said your dogs aren’t allowed on the furniture but if they’re mad enough they aren’t gonna care about that. Since the pee is in the baby’s bed, I’m assuming it’s the cat since it would be a lot easier for a cat to climb into the bed than a dog.
Cat and dog pee smells very different so that would be the easiest way for me to figure out which one was doing it. The only problem is I can’t describe the smell to you… All I can say is it is very, very hard to get rid of the cat pee smell unlike dog pee.

You should try to give the animal more attention when the baby is around. Hopefully this will stop the jealousy and the bad behavior.

Answer 5

im thinking that the animals believe they are the alphas of the household , are they obedient? or are they usually spoilt? if you spoil them then they think they are the alpha over everyone in the house including the baby, its like they are trying to let the baby no that they are better than him, you can kinda tell the difference between cat pee & dog pee, cats pee is like an imonia and really stinks, dog pee is a weeker smell (and incase your wondering lol. i have a cat & have breed dogs so it makes sence that i can tell the difference in the smell of pee, incase you were thinking that its a fetish of mine). im affraid that all you can do is slowley introduce the baby to them and make sure that the animals are still getting there love and attention but its best to keep the baby away from the animals when not supervised just incase the cat lyes on the babies face or something, i hope this helps xx leanne

Answer 6

I'm going to have to agree with the others, it is probably the inside cat. And it is probably jealous, so she should spend more time with it when the baby is there and when the baby is gone. But I don't think that's the whole reason. Cat's are extremely territorial and wont everyone else to know exactly what is there property!!! It is probably feeling threatened by this "intruder" and is doing this to show him that this is his territory and that he is in charge. What to do about it I'm not sure. I wish I knew what to do. But I think that spending time with your mom and the baby will help the most!!! Best of luck!!!

Answer 7

No, no longer truly! at the same time as i changed into youthful I did, yet that changed into as end results of the what I realized from others. As I grew older, I stated the heck with all that and why be jealous for the most section? If a guy is flirting with my female, that's a praise, if he needs a dance such as her, i ought to tell her to bypass ahead. i'm Taurus, won't be able to undergo in ideas my growing, solar and moon any further, yet i will figure it out sometime and help you recognize. i do not difficulty putting any faith interior the end results of the planets on me, I make my personal judgements and bypass my personal strategies. even although i'm a Christian, each so often I even bypass off of what God needs to have slightly version and word what issues are like. each so often, I merely word others. i imagine i'm gemini growing although, confusing to undergo in ideas.

Answer 8

It's probably the cat but it's not necessarily jealousy. The cat might be marking the baby as his property or if jealousy he could might be marking to keep the baby away as he would to keep other cats away.

Answer 9

It's highly likely that it is the cat. All she can do is try to pay more attention to the cat when baby is around. I bet she ignores the indoor cat when the baby is around.

Answer 10

Cats also go where the smell urine. It might be smelling the baby's and thinking it is just a giant litter box.