My 8 month old cat, is perfectly well litter trainer, however in the last week he has wee'd 3 times on our bed, resulting in trips to the dry cleaner with the duvet. He does it when we arent in or when we are asleep for no reason.

Any ideas why he is suddenly doing this & how do I stop it, apart from shutting him out of the room, which is where he sleeps.

Have you had any upheavals in the house (new furniture, lots of visitors etc), or has a new cat come into the local area that he regards as his teritory?

Cats can start weeing as scent-marking to re-establish himself in the house and get his feeling of security back. Has he been neutered? I was told that male cats who've been neutered at an appropriate age don't spray, but instead resort to weeing to establish territory (as well as the usual scenting with their cheek and chin glands etc). Those cats who do spray can also use weeing for territory marking, though they more often spray, apparently.

Alternatively, it could be a means of getting your attention if he's feeling lonely. It could also be indicative of urinary problems, so watch his weeing behaviour in his litter tray too. Is he straining to wee but only producing a little bit? Is he weeing copiously? Is there any sign of blood in his wee?

If you're in any doubt at all, get him checked by the vet.

He has been neutered. I cant think of anything that has changed recently.

He did do it a couple of times when he was a bit younger, but not done it for a while til recently.

Sometimes this is a stress thing- he might be distressed about something that's changed in the house or in your lives...or, he could be suffering from a urinary infection- often, to draw attention to cystitis or similar complaints, cats will wee in inappropriate places. Check if he's weeing more or less than usual, is he straining, licking himself more? If yes, try the vets- might need antibiotics or something to clear it up.

The only time we had the weeing on the bed thing was when we inherited my late mum's young cat Minty - she had never been properly socialised, was not used to other cats, had never been outside and was obviously distressed at being taken from my mum's house - and she probably sensed something was not right - my mum had died at home with only her cats keeping her company...

From what I can remember, we had her checked out at the vets, found nothing medically wrong with her, but a Feliway diffuser was suggested and we gave her her own quiet space in the house to get her confidence back- the weeing quickly stopped.

Hope this helps- ps if you use disinfectant to clean up watch out- there's something in the smell that encourages cats to wee even more in that same spot. Use specialist cleaning products, biological washing powder and/ or surgical spirit, depending on the surface being cleaned- but do a test first to make sure surfaces are colour-fast.

Medusa also recommends steam cleaning to remove the last traces of scent :thumbsup:

oh yes- definetely the steam cleaning- I'd forgotten that - and that's the reason I bought a polti steamer in the first place! Brilliant