[Scarlett_Letters]

I'll give you all a bit of background info before I begin.
We've never had a problem with cats weeing on beds until about 11 years ago, when one of our cats, Moley (born in the house) began weeing on everyone's bed. (not all at the same time)
It turned out she had anxiety disorder, as she got older she stopped and became more confident in herself.

Since that time we have had at least 3 more cats come into our home, Tiger-Lily, Halo and Tully are the three current culprits for weeing on beds.

Now, Tully seems to of done it by accident, having just freshly been weaned off his litter tray, he used to come crying after me whenever he needed to go. (He had a bit of an upset stomach the first few weeks we got him)

As for Tiger-Lily and Halo, I can't decide if they are weeing because they are upset there is a new cat in the house or it's just a bad habit. (In the early days we where fairly amateur at dealing with cat wee) I know it's not Moley as she unfortunately died after being knocked down by a car in March this year.

So it's either Halo or Tiger-Lily.
Halo is a quiet temperamental cat who doesn't go out much and prefers to spend her days on the windowsill.
Tiger-Lily is a very large tabby, she puts up the the other cats and keeps herself to herself, she loves getting attention from my mum.
They're currently all spending their nights shut in the back-room with excess to the kitchen and cat-flap.

I want to solve the problem for good, but I'm not sure where to start!
(I'm sorry this is so long, we've had this problem for a while now)

 

[Carmel]

I think they mean the cats are all excepted to go outside... which a lot of cats don't have a problem with, but sometimes they just really have to go, or it's cold outside... having a litter box in the house is important, even if it's rarely used. I have one downstairs for Blacky that's accumulated about 5 pees in it in as double the number of years it's sat there, I still won't remove it.

Anyway, if you haven't used an enzyme cleaner, the cats still smell the pee. At this point you'll need to replace the mattress as it's been going on so long. I think one of the only ways you're going to even attempt getting this solved is to use a lot of enzyme cleaner everywhere the cat has gone, replace anything that's too soiled, and possibly shut the problem cats away in seperate rooms with a litter box and hopefully no carpet or anything else really soft, to try retraining them, there's articles online about this...

Here's a short article: How to Retrain a Cat to Use the Litter Box | eHow.com

 

[LaurulFeatherCat]

I agree with Hoofmaiden. No wonder they are marking your bed with urine. They have to GO!

 

[Scarlett_Letters]

We have a cat flap that's always open. So they can go out whenever they please.

Tully had been having a problem pooing for the first 2 weeks I had him, he cried whenever he went so I'd try to reassure him by giving him a pat and stroke. (this is all I meant by him crying when he needed to go, I would have to get up in the morning and lead him outside to go to the toilet, so I think he just thought I needed to be with him, he's stopped now, and is happy to go out on his own)

Unfortunately there are 5 members of my family, with 5 cats in a 3 bedroomed house, as one of those members is a 4 year old my mum wouldn't consent to having a permanent litter tray down as she feels this will promote laziness and the cats will not bother going out at all- rainy or not.
As I say we've had cats all my life and never had this problem before.

I should also mention the weeing is intermittent.
My parents are getting a new mattress, but I can't afford to replace mine and my sisters.

 

[Scarlett_Letters]

I am getting some enzyme solution, as it seems this is the best way to eradicate the scent.
Does anyone know if the cat wee can still be detected with a blacklight after being washed?

 

[3furbabies]

I have never heard of training a cat to go to the washroom outside before. Strange. You should have 1 litter box per cat plus one extra. Cats should be using the litter box, not going outside. If you don't get at least a few litter boxes then your pee problem will never stop.

 

[goombella]

I don't say this to be rude really, but I hope you live in the country. If you don't, I have a lot of sympathy for your neighbour.

 

[Carmel]

As far as going outside goes, I don't think it's a big deal... when a cat has outdoor access all the time, they tend to go outside.

Plus, there's entire feral colonies in cities, they all go outside too, and ferals are wandering the streets everywhere - my city has the largest cat sanctuary in North America and I still am feeding two ferals. Often cats will have a spot outside out of the way that they go. Blacky usually goes underneath a little trailer we have in the backyard... at least, I think that's where she goes, she's very secretive about the whole thing. We've given her a litter box but she only uses it as a total last resort when she's shut inside.

But this is sort of off topic. Something is obviously not working for the OP with this scenario, and getting a litter box is number one on the list of things that will need to happen.

 

[Carmel]

Oh... and in my experience unless neighbours complain, I'm going to assume it's all fine.

Blacky would've been another feral wandering and doing her business wherever unless we'd tamed her. Everyone knows where she lives and all the neighbors like her. She's the illusive cat they point at and who will never approach. From what I've seen in other places, it's usually the same, people like the local outdoor cats. There was a segment on the news last night about a twenty year old outdoor kitty that the whole neighborhood loved. When he died, people were signing a memorial book talking about their stories with him...

 

[LaurulFeatherCat]

When I had dogs, I kept my litter pans on tables in the catroom to keep the dogs from using the pans as a smorgasbord. It also was convenient when my back became really painful as the pans were at waist height and easy to scoop and clean. I still keep my pans on top of a table with only one on the floor for the older cats who do not like to jump up on the table. There is also a small two step ladder which sits beside the litter table to allow the cats to walk up it and onto the table if they wish.

 

[Scarlett_Letters]

I live in the UK, it's pretty normal for an outside cat to go outside here.
It's a fairly natural instinct for most cats I'd assume.
Ours go in amongst the huge hedge at the back of our garden, 2 of our cats spend 70% of there time outside the other 2 and even 50/50.

 

[doodlebug]

A cat peeing in inappropriate places is trying to tell you something...whether he doesn't like going outside or has a medical condition is the question you need to figure out. I'm not sure what having a 4 year old in the house has to do with the cats getting lazy and not going outside...or even why having a 4 year old would preclude having a litterbox.

On a side note...I'd be concerned about not knowing what's going on with their elimination. If they only go outside you have no idea if they have diarrhea, are peeing excessively etc. If you're not able to see what's going on in a litterbox, you could be missing early indicators of medical issues that could ended up reaching crisis level before you know there's a problem.

 

[spookers]

my oldest pees on the bed too! It stopped for awhile after I got another litterbox but he just did it tonight. I soaked up what I could and doused the spot in nature's miracle... waiting for it to dry enough to go to sleep

 

[Jacq]

If your mom is concerned about the safety of having a LB in the same house as a four-year-old, I suggest that you gently remind her that having cat feces and urine in unknown, undetected, or undesired places (e.g. the four year old's bed) is much more dangerous.

I'd be concerned about not knowing what's going on with their elimination. If they only go outside you have no idea if they have diarrhea, are peeing excessively etc. If you're not able to see what's going on in a litterbox, you could be missing early indicators of medical issues that could ended up reaching crisis level before you know there's a problem.

This is an excellent point.

 

[kty78]

My 5 yr old doesn't mess with the litter box. I have it (actually 2 side by side) in a spot where it's not in the way of walking through the house, or the kids would surely step in it or trip over it. I have another one in the basement. There are 6 people and 2 cats living in our house. I would say get at least one litter box and put it somewhere the cats can get to it. Maybe they like to poop outside and pee inside. My cats often poop in one litter box and pee in another. My parents had a cat that would not use a litter box, he would cry and cry at the door until someone let him out, so even though he was intended to be an inside cat he became indoor outdoor by default. They live in the country and they still had a litterbox in the house though. But that was him initiating it, I don't know how one would successfully train a cat to go exclusively outside.

I would also suggest closing the doors to the bedrooms so the cats can't get to the beds and have the litter box maybe near where the bedrooms are.