My eleven year old cat Ted has started peeing behind the tv and I'm running out of ideas.

I know it is the TV that is affecting her, in eleven years she's never had an accident and this only started when i got the LCD telly. She goes right behind it and has pooed once too. Apart from finding it vile, the inconvenience of tidying up, I'm also scared she's going to electrocute herself!

She started this when i got the tv back last September but i managed to stop her at christmas.

About a month ago she started doing it again and i am now getting to the end of my tether so all tips gratefully accepted.

Although i've got two cats i know it's definitely her as my other one, Basil makes a big song and dance about doing her business. They have a covered litter tray in a cubby hole which i change about three times a week. i am using the same litter i always have.

She's been to the vets and he's checked her out - she's physically ok. He agreed with me it was probably the telly and recommended me a special 'plug in' but it sounded like it was going to cost £40 a month or so to run! However I'm thinking it might be worth it!

I've tried tin foil, tinsel, plastic with nodules on, (which i've got down at the mo for ease of cleaning!) I've cut up the carpet and underlay where it is happening as I can't stand smells and poor hygiene so have a great big hole in my carpet! But now obviously she's had the odd accident where it's gone onto the floorboards - and chipboard is probably harder to clean than carpet. I intended laying laminate flooring this summer but don't want to until she stops.

My only thought now is to get rid of the tv but is it habit more than the tv now? It's also a pain having to move or clamber over the tv stand every day to clean up and embarrassing if people come to your house to be greeted by the smell of cat wee. I've also had to throw out the video cabinet i had next to it as some had gone on that and i'd missed it for a few days (eurgh i know), the videos she peed on, a bed of hers i put over it and her toys. Sometimes she sprays up the wall as well!

I've used non biological washing powder to clean up and specifically designed products as I know the bleach smells like the cat urine to cats but I'm really running out of ideas!!!!

Ted and Basil are and always have been indoor cats, they get on well and they are sisters so have always been together.

My friend had a similar problem when an alsatian moved into the house next door. Her cat had been fine until that point. He too used to wee on the television and video and once, when he was sitting on the back of the settee, wee'd down my friend's back!!

She tried all sorts of things, but he continued to deteriorate. The vet put it down to the stress of having the GSD barking next door. My friend persevered for almost 2 years, but in the end, heartbroken,had to take him to a cat shelter where he is apparently very happy and no longer spraying everywhere. Her other two cats were not affected in any way by the dog.

Sorry that's no help to you, but I hope you get your cat sorted as the situation must also be very stressful for you.

I wonder if the TV is producing a high frequencey hum that only Ted can hear and which she finds disturbing? If so, you'd expect Basil to be similarly affected :huh: .

Have you tried using lemon bleach / detergent - cats don't like the smell of lemon - the other thing which apparently is good is moving their food into the area - cats won't pee where they eat. I'm sure there are lots of other things people can suggest. Good luck and hope that she relaxes a little.

Yeah lemon juice. Cats despise that, so put some jif lemon juice there.

I have to agree with the vets about the Feliway plug in. We use them at the Shelter with very good effects. Another way that this is helpful is that the best way for it to work is to restrict her to one room where the Feliway is plugged in (so the pheremones have a chance to build up in that area) and you can make that somewhere other than the room with the TV in for her overnights. You can make the plug in last longer if you use it overnight and turn it off during the day too. Hopefully a couple of months is all you'd be committing yourself to, so that may be worth a try.

We also use Rescue Remedy in the drinking water of cats that are having problems with being nervy. Just a couple of drops in their drinking bowl is as much as you need.

Biological washing powder works better than non-bio for removing smells BTW, and steam cleaners work even better than that, while also sanitising the surfaces.

There are also a few behavioural things that we'd recommend trying. You could remove the cables to somewhere safe (tape them up on the walls possibly) and put a litter tray behind the TV, or clean the area very thoroughly and then feed her there. If you combine this sort of thing with having distraction tactics (catching her doing it and using a water pistol or a very noisy shaker to shock her) and lots of praise and play when she's doing things right, then you have a good chance of getting her out of it.

I wonder if the TV is producing a high frequencey hum that only Ted can hear and which she finds disturbing? If so, you'd expect Basil to be similarly affected :huh: .


I know I agree! As I've been off work the last two weeks obviously i've been able to keep a close eye and i've caught Ted twice heading behind the telly and stopped her. Once when i got up in the night to get some water came out of the kitchen and caught her in mid act! I've also had Basil sat next to me and then got up and gone in the lounge and it's happened.

I've been watching Basil's toilet habits and she spends ages kicking over the litter to cover up her mess and insists on going the moment i change the tray, before I've even got the hood on it, I think she gets some sort of kick out of me watching!

Might be worth getting some cable protectors if you are really worried about the cat chewing / peeing on them - just look up cable tidy stuff on internet and you['ll find loads - might not be waterproof but may give a little more protection. Oh and of course worth unplugging the tv / dvd / vcr at night!

I have to agree with the vets about the Feliway plug in. We use them at the Shelter with very good effects. Another way that this is helpful is that the best way for it to work is to restrict her to one room where the Feliway is plugged in (so the pheremones have a chance to build up in that area) and you can make that somewhere other than the room with the TV in for her overnights. You can make the plug in last longer if you use it overnight and turn it off during the day too. Hopefully a couple of months is all you'd be committing yourself to, so that may be worth a try.

We also use Rescue Remedy in the drinking water of cats that are having problems with being nervy. Just a couple of drops in their drinking bowl is as much as you need.

Biological washing powder works better than non-bio for removing smells BTW, and steam cleaners work even better than that, while also sanitising the surfaces.

There are also a few behavioural things that we'd recommend trying. You could remove the cables to somewhere safe (tape them up on the walls possibly) and put a litter tray behind the TV, or clean the area very thoroughly and then feed her there. If you combine this sort of thing with having distraction tactics (catching her doing it and using a water pistol or a very noisy shaker to shock her) and lots of praise and play when she's doing things right, then you have a good chance of getting her out of it.


Thanks Medusa and everyone else esp for the washing powder! Trust me to get the wrong one.

Medusa, the Feliway - do I put it in the place where the litter tray is? As in is it meant to attract her rather than disuade her? And am i exaggerating the price? I just heard the vet quote large amounts and switched off as at the time i was paying out £80 for annual injections etc

As I live in a maisonette flat, the lounge is the through room to all the other rooms so keeping her out of the room where it's happening is difficult. The tray is in the cubby hole next to the door (designed for coats and shoes but in my case is my cat toilet!) It's at the bottom of the stairs and then the rest of the flat is up some stairs.

I'll try the food tip today even though really i don't want her clambering behind that area full stop and I'll put a cable tidy on the cables. And I've got some rescue remedy and a steam cleaner so i'll try that again on the area.

Thanks Medusa and everyone else esp for the washing powder! Trust me to get the wrong one.

Medusa, the Feliway - do I put it in the place where the litter tray is? As in is it meant to attract her rather than disuade her? And am i exaggerating the price? I just heard the vet quote large amounts and switched off as at the time i was paying out £80 for annual injections etc

As I live in a maisonette flat, the lounge is the through room to all the other rooms so keeping her out of the room where it's happening is difficult. The tray is in the cubby hole next to the door (designed for coats and shoes but in my case is my cat toilet!) It's at the bottom of the stairs and then the rest of the flat is up some stairs.

I'll try the food tip today even though really i don't want her clambering behind that area full stop and I'll put a cable tidy on the cables. And I've got some rescue remedy and a steam cleaner so i'll try that again on the area.


Feliway is a strange thing to get your head round. It's a pheremone analogue, so it neither attracts nor repels cats really. It's helpful with cats that are scent marking because if the Feliway is giving out the pheremones it smells to the cat like they've already scent marked the area, and so makes them feel more secure- everywhere smells reassuringly of 'them' so they don't have to spray any more.

That's one of the reasons that the best way to use it is an enclosed space- the fumes build up better in a little room. Cats that are having a bit of a crisis also cope better if they are restricted to a small comfortable space, so there's a double benefit there. Ideally a small spare bedroom with comfortable space for bed and litter tray, and bathed in the comforting smell of Feliway should lead to chilled cat during the day (I know that's not always possible).

Thanks! I'll go get one tomorrow from the vets, I'll try it in the cubby hole/entrance hall at the bottom of the stairs as that's quite enclosed and is where I want her to go. As it's been warm she's been sitting down there a lot recently. I'll move one of her beds down there - although she tends to favour schoolwork to lie on over a comfy bed. As I type this, she's pawing at my head to give her some attention - she's such a lovely cat apart from this!
If i lock her in a room at night she goes mental scratching to get out (they both like to sleep with me- i know mad old cat lady) and apart from my kitchen, bathroom, lounge own bedroom and second bedroom which is my office/schooljunkroom there is nowhere else.

And before anyone else gets in there - yes she does drill behind the sofa for oil too but that's a different thread!!:hihi:

Don't worry about it- my lot sleep with me too (including one under the covers).

I may be way off the mark here, but we did have a dog who favoured the spot behind the telly many years ago....

If she's anything like our dog, the corner behind the telly is a private sheltered space... Given that it's an LCD screen, and you've already had to throw out one tv stand, could you have it wall mounted, thereby leaving the floor which was behind the telly very exposed?

You could test the 'humming' theory by turning the TV off at the wall when not in use. As you have suggested though, it's probably now a habit, but it sounds like you and Medusa have that in hand ;)

PS - if you're buying washing powder specifically for cleaning up after your cat - try washing liquid rather than powder ;)

This sounds like a typical 'stress act'. My cat, when shes feels like shes being neglected (not being fed ten times a day and not being fussed 20 times a day) will pee on the kitchen surfaces, up the bread board, bread bin, spice rack etc. Its cost me so much money replacing stuff. She still uses the litter tray but only if its completely clean (shes the only one using it). She is 16 years old but looks like a kitten. She will happily go outside for a couple of hours and then come in a use the litter tray, but if left without any attention she will undoubtedly pee anywhere, even on my step-daughters clothes if left on the floor (what an incentive for her to clear her clothes of the floor). She will also pee on the dog towel or bed if she can. Thats cats for you! but I still love her.