How do you stop a cat from peeing on clean laundry! She is over a year old! What can I do?? Help please!!?

Question

I need to know how to stop a cat from peeing on clean laundry! She has done this 2 times already. She is over a year old and I want this to stop! We clean her litter box every week! I don't know if we need to start cleaning her litter box twice a week or what! But my mom said next time it happens we are getting rid of her!! What can I do to stop this??

The laundry she is going in is in the laundry basket in my moms room.. once she is done with laundry she takes it upstairs and puts it away that night.. so we do put out laundry away.. and we clean our kitties litter box wednesday and sunday and change the litter every week.. we love our cat.. no new changes in the house.. idk what is causing this.. shes a girl and has been spayed or neutered or whatever that is called

Answer 1

I have a male cat who recently has taken to doing the same thing. Our family veterinarian has ruled out a urinary tract infection (UTI), however she did mention that cats have a tendency to "act out" when they are under stress. Has anything changed or happened recently at home that your kitty could be responding to? A new pet, significant other, sibling, piece of furniture, a change in your work/school schedule, or something that seems minor to us such as a change in litter, food, or relocation of her litter box?

My kitty Bazi was piddling and marking my husband and my sheets and clothing in response to my husband's new job, which puts him away for 6 days, home for 1 (and luckily he's since decided the job isn't for him!). Additionally, shortly before that, we'd bought him a covered litter box which he's only now begun to adjust to. He was stressed out, and was at the point of bursting, but couldn't figure out a way to tell us something was wrong other than acting out. He's a very vocal kitty as is, so meowing all the time is the norm for him!

I'd recommend giving your lil girl a bit of extra attention and avoid punishing her. After all, her behavior is PROBABLY her way of telling you something is wrong. The only way punishment results in something productive is if you are able to stop her right before she does it (when you see her squat, but not begin to pee). Otherwise, you may just end up "teaching" her to be afraid of you.

I can't say I'd recommend this for everyone or every cat, but my husband and I adopted a 7 week old female kitten this past weekend and Bazi is completely enthralled with her. She keeps him on his toes so he doesn't have time to piddle where he's not supposed to!

Until you can find out what the stressors are in your lil kitty's life, I'd say keep your clean laundry off of the floor and inaccessible to your kitty. Out of sight, out of mind. Before we resolved Bazi's issues, we had to be sure our dresser drawers were closed, our closet doors were closed, the bathroom doors were closed, and that our bedsheets and blankets were folded and put up in the closet when we weren't home. Our shoes had to be upside down or he'd pee in them, and if we left the throw blankets on our furniture, he'd give them a hose down for us. :-S

Answer 2

Have you taken her to the vet? It could be the detergent and/or fabric softener that she doesn't like or there could be a physical problem.

The first thing I would do is to change the detergent I am using. See if that makes a difference. Then change the fabric softener. That's the cheapest.

But really, the first thing you should do is to make an appointment with the vet to see if it's a physical problem that is showing up. Maybe the cat has a urine infection.

You need to be cleaning her litter box at least once a day or every other day at the least!!!!

Once a week is ridiculous and not enough. No wonder she's going to the bathroom on the laundry. That's disgusting.
You are setting the cat up for infections as well.
Clean the box every day. That's the best way to handle this problem.

Answer 3

Some soaps smell like pee to a cat, so they commonly do use laundry - it's not unusual.

The easiest thing to do would be to lay a plastic cover over the basket, OR just put the laundry away as it's pulled from the dryer. There's no need to let it sit there if the stuff is dry.

I'd clean the litter box more than once a week--we have 4 cats and I sift through it three times a day, to keep it clean. It never takes more than 45 seconds total for the day.

Answer 4

CLEAN HER LITTER BOX EVERY DAY!!! Twice a day if you can muster it! Think about it, cats are typically clean animals, right? Now, think about if you only flushed your toilet once a week....starting to get the picture? Look, I have had many cats, and while yes, there is a small chance that she has a UTI, it is MUCH more likely that she just doesn't like going in a dirty litter box. A proper litter box should be big enough for the cat to manuver in and get comfortable, and you should only cover the bottom with about an inch of litter. You should clean it EVERY DAY. I use a sealable 5 gal bucket to put my used litter in, and then dispose of that when it gets full. I can almost promise you that this will work. Cats LOVE clean litter boxes (the way some people have to flush before going....) and she will show her affection towards you a bit more too. The clean laundry thing, is just becuase she is trying to tell you she needs a CLEAN box. Do this for a few days, and you should see an improvement. Please do this for you AND your cat, you'll both be rewarded!!

Answer 5

If she was reliably litter box trained and never did this before until now, I'd have a vet check her for a urinary tract infection.

Otherwise, I'd suspect that she needs the box changed more frequently or does not like the type of litter you're using.

Sometimes some cats will also do this if there is a major disruption in the household, such as a new person or a new animal moving in.

Answer 6

Last year my beautiful Manx cat Theodore went out for the evening and never came back. I love cats and the house didn't feel the same without one, so I picked up Lola from a rescue centre. She was very frightened and would pee all over the house. I found Cat Spraying No More� on the internet and the techniques worked almost immediately. I haven't had a problem with Lola since. Amazing!

Can't stop your cat peeing in the house? Then worry no more...

Answer 7

Cats going outside of the litterbox is often a sign of health issues.

It's very possible your kitty is suffering from a UTI. Easy to test for, easy to treat, but it needs to be looked into.

You can have the vet test or most large pet store chains carry a UTI detecting cat litter. It's inexpensive. $5-$7 usually.

Once you've ruled out health issues, then you can start dealing with the fact that it may be behavioral.

**edited to add**
Cleaning the litterbox once a week is NOT often enough. Cats will often find somewhere else to go if they feel their box is too dirty. Try scooping once a day, or once every other day.

Answer 8

I agree, the litter box should be cleaned daily. I scoop out dirty litter/poop in the morning and in the evening, and I replace all the litter every Saturday morning. If this doesn't help and she is still going to the bathroom on clean laundry, take her to the vet--she probably has an infection.

Answer 9

Then put your damn laundry away instead of leaving it lying around!

You clean her litterbox every week???!!!! No wonder! You should be cleaning her litterbox every DAY! Or even several times a day. Cats are fastidious and will not step in their own pee or poop. Once my cat has used his box, he will not use it again unless it is cleaned. Would you want to use a toilet that was filled with pee or poop? It sounds as though she is a LOT cleaner than you people in the house! You don't clean her box, you don't put away your laundry.... sheesh!

And if you'd done your homework you'd know that frequently cats will go outside their litterbox when they have a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection). Check with your vet! It is her RIGHT by law to receive proper care including medical care. But in the meantime CLEAN HER BOX!!!

Answer 10

Yeah, you definately need to clean the box more. I have 2 cats with 2 litter boxes and I clean their 2-3 times a week.

Also you might want to switch detergents. Maybe the scent is attracting her.

I agree with the UTI suggestions, have her checked out at the vet.

If worse comes to worse, your local pet store should carry a cat deterrant spray. You cant smell it but your cat does. I had to use it on my bathmats with my younger cat. We figured she liked the texture of the mats because she didnt pee on any carpet in the house, just the mats. After a couple spraying and washing, she stopped. :)

Good luck!