Cats peeing on furniture is never pleasant and, if you don’t know how to clean the items and have to replace them, it can quickly expensive. While your metal, wooden and glass items may be relatively easy to get odor out of, more absorbent furniture like sofas, armchairs and beds soak up nearly all the pee the cat leaves on them. The urine stays there, deep in the padding, where it precedes to smell up the house. The smell is not only disgusting, the ammonia content in the urine won’t do your lungs any favors, either. In the worst case scenario, the moisture in the pee can even cause the padding to rot, ruining the furniture.
Stress and Furniture Marking
As with any inappropriate urination behavior, though, there’s always a reason cats urinate on furniture. Any change in environment or routine can stress a cat and cause behavioral problems like urinating and scratching on furniture. Naturally, most cats don’t freak out over every little thing, but you can never be sure what an individual cat will react to. For some, new furniture is a threat. If you’ve recently brought in new or second-hand furniture, naturally it doesn’t smell just like your home. It still carries the odor of wherever it last was, be that the furniture store or your friend’s living room. You may not smell anything unusual about it, but your cat’s sensitive nose picks up these “foreign” odors. The cat may urinate on the item to make it smell more like her own territory, thus claiming the item. Besides this, other changes the cat’s noticed can also cause her to mark her territory in order to feel more secure in her environment.
Separation Anxiety
Our cats may seem like they prefer to ignore us, but in reality most get quite attached to their “pet humans.” When one of those people moves out or isn’t around at the usual time, the cat may become unnerved. Simply changing your daily schedule is enough to worry some cats. The same thing may happen after you’ve left the cat alone for a day or two. She may become afraid you’ll leave again and never come back. After all, you can’t explain to her why you were gone.
One way cats experiencing separation anxiety soothe themselves is by getting close to anything that smells like you. Some kitties are content to curl up with that sweater you left on the bed. Others take it a little farther and attempt to create a soothing combination of your smell and theirs by peeing on anything that smells like you. The usual victim in this case is your bed, which carries your smell more than anything in the house. The sofa, your favorite armchair or anywhere else you spend a lot of time may also attract your cat’s attention.
Kitty Stress Relief
Whether your cat’s peeing on furniture due to territorial feelings or seperation anxiety, the basic cause is the same: stress. The first thing you can do to help your cat feel less stressed and more secure is to create a special hideout nook for her. This might be in a cabinet, a closet, a box or on top of a shelf–anywhere that’s secluded, but that your cat can easily get in and out of. Place a blanket or bed, some toys and a little food and water there so your cat can relax their a while.
Feline pheromone diffusers may also help. These give off scent that marks the whole territory as “cat safe,” although this scent is too faint for people to detect. Another option for very stress cats is Bach flower remedies. These are natural plant-based remedies designed to help with emotional issues like anxiety and grief. You can administer drops directly into your cat’s mouth, but you can also add them to your kitty’s water, food or even put some on toys. For safety’s sake, consult your vet before using these remedies to get advice on the formula and dosage appropriate for your cat.
Stress isn’t the only potential cause of cats peeing on furniture, though. Your cat may have a health problem, there may be something about the litter box that’s putting her off, or a number of other issues. You can solve your cat’s inappropriate urination problems and get your home completely free of cat urine odors, but the solutions may not always be obvious. Instead of wasting time learning by trial and error, read the book Cat Urine Problems Eliminated to discover proven-effective ways to retrain your cat and regain your home.
