Last year, my husband and I started playing the super fun game “Does This Smell Like Cat Pee to You?” About 8 months ago, we moved into our newly renovated house which was a stressful experience for Lucy, my cat. She doesn’t like change and she doesn’t like boxes or furniture being moved or out of place. Needless to say, moving is a big change with a lot of boxes and furniture, so … she started peeing on our bed. Then, when we brought home our new twin babies 12 weeks ago, she began peeing on our bed AGAIN because of all the changes around the house with the babies. Lucy is a member of our family and I’m not getting rid of her, so I’ve become somewhat of an expert on how to stop a cat from peeing on the bed and how to get the smell of cat urine out of sheets, pillows, blankets, clothes, etc. 
Obviously, some of these tips also apply if your cat is peeing on your laundry, sofa, or marking another area of your home. Lucy only pees on our bed, so my tips mostly have to do with how to deal with mattresses, sheets, blankets, etc., but I have heard that aluminum foil or double-sided tape will help stop a cat from peeing on the sofa and making sure you put your dirty laundry into a laundry hamper with a lid (or fold your clean laundry and put it away) will stop a cat from peeing on your laundry.
Here are my tips on How to Stop a Cat From Peeing on the Bed:
1. Take Your Cat to the Vet
First and foremost, you need to take your cat to the vet to rule out any medical issues such as kidney problems or a urinary tract infection. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, vet bills are expensive, but sometimes a cat pees on the bed (or the sofa, or laundry) because they’re in pain and peeing on top of a soft surface eases that pain. If the peeing isn’t “medical,” then it’s “behavioral” which is harder to determine. So, by ruling out any medical issues, you can then start to focus on behavioral issues. I took Lucy to the vet, they found nothing wrong with her, so I focused on behavioral issues.
2. Eliminate the Stresser
If you’ve determined the problem to be behavioral, try to eliminate the stresser. In my situation, Lucy was stressed because we had moved and there was furniture out of place and stacks of boxes everywhere, so we moved our furniture into more permanent or semi-permanent spots and removed the moving boxes that were stressing out the cat. Obviously, when she started peeing again because of the babies I couldn’t remove my twins, but I now make sure to play with Lucy more and give her more attention so she knows we still love her. (See tip #7 about toys below.)
I’ve also tried using calming cat scent diffusers and cat scratchers in order to give Lucy some stress outlets. Cats have nervous habits just like humans do – we bite our nails and cats like to scratch with their claws to relieve stress. I don’t know if the calming cat scent diffuser helped us at all (although some reviews swear by the stuff!), but she loves her cat scratchers and I think those have really helped with her behavior!
This is another big thing. Cats are picky about their litter boxes. You may want to experiment with the litter – scented, unscented, the size of the granules, etc. Cats are picky. It’s annoying. I know. Lucy isn’t very particular about the type of litter, but she expects it to be clean. We’ve found that when my husband doesn’t clean out her litter every day, she voices her objections by peeing on the bed. Also, if you have multiple cats, it is recommended that you have at least one litter box per cat plus one extra so that one cat doesn’t guard the litter box so the other can’t use it (which results in that cat urinating elsewhere.)
A reader sent me an email about a particular kitty litter she has used to get her cat to stop peeing in her living room. I have not used/tested this kitty litter (but I just purchased it, so personal review coming soon), but the other reviews look legit and it looks to have helped some people! So, I’d say it’s worth checking out and I’ll definitely be trying it in the future!
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But regardless of what is causing the problem, you have to remove the smell of urine. If the cat continues to smell the pee, they will continue to urinate in that spot. You must remove the smell of the urine from whatever surface the cat has peed on. To do this, I use Nature’s Miracle Just for Cats Urine Destroyer. (I’ve used Clorox Pet Urine Remover in the past, but I prefer Nature’s Miracle now.) According to the manufacturer’s instructions, you can use it on both hard and soft surfaces such as sealed hardwood and tile, upholstered furniture, carpet, bed linens, and mattresses. Obviously, spot test it on an inconspicuous location to make sure it doesn’t stain/discolor your item. It is safe to use around pets, but please do NOT be an asshole and spray it ON your pet. Buy it in the gallon size container (trust me, you’ll need it in the beginning as this process can take several weeks before the cat stops peeing and then you can hopefully size down to a smaller size to just keep on hand once you run out of the larger gallon) along with a spray bottle and the Nature’s Miracle Laundry Boost.
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So that’s my method, whenever we have discovered that Lucy has peed on the bed, we strip the bed and put the sheets, blankets, pillows, etc. in the bathtub with the “pee spot(s)” at the top of the pile. I then spray the pee spots with Nature’s Miracle Just for Cats Urine Destroyer and let it sit. It usually sits overnight because we typically discover her little present right before bed and our washer and dryer are located upstairs (and I don’t want to listen to it all night). So, thanks, Lucy! So in the morning, I spray the pee spots again and then put the laundry in the washing machine along with the Nature’s Miracle Laundry Boost. Before drying, I do the sniff test to make sure it’s clean, if there is any indication that it still smells, I spray it and wash it again with more Nature’s Miracle Laundry Boost.
I’ve also played around with my washing machine settings and sometimes I let the urine-stained item soak in the washing machine with the Nature’s Miracle Laundry Boost for 30 minutes before washing. Check to see if your washing machine has any pre-soak settings. My husband had left his lightweight nylon jacket on the bed (please note, he did NOT follow my Step #6 below and I had warned him about leaving stuff on the bed!) and Lucy used his jacket as her personal litter box. She emptied her bladder on it, it was terrible. My husband thought he would have to throw it away, but I worked my magic, I had to spray it, soak it, and wash it a couple of times, and it’s now like new!
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If your cat is peeing on your bed, buy a mattress protector. Sheets can be washed, but the mattress is harder to clean. A mattress protector will save you money in the long run. I have a mattress protector on every single bed (Master bedroom, Guest bedroom, the twins’ cribs, the twins’ playpen, and even pillow protectors on our pillows) because I am not messing around with this anymore. Luckily, Lucy’s bed peeing habits have been stopped, but there can always a new stressor in the future (or my husband doesn’t clean out her litter box one time) and I worry that she’ll start peeing again, so I’ve protected our investments because I got tired of throwing out and having to buy new pillows.
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SafeRest Pillow Protector
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All that said, I’ve found that removing excess blankets and pillows from the bed (or making the bed) keeps Lucy from peeing on it. She likes to pee on super soft and fluffy surfaces, like if the comforter is balled up or folded over. So, I have to make the bed everyday. She doesn’t pee on the decorative pillows or flat blankets, just when they aren’t laying perfectly flat or if there are extra blankets that are thrown on top. So, now I make sure there are no excess blankets, pillows, or even sweatshirts or jackets on the bed. I don’t know why this works, but it does. Plus, it just looks nicer. 
7. Toys
Make the bed a play spot. I like to buy Lucy new toys every once in awhile to make sure she is mentally stimulated and happy and I make sure we play with them on the bed so she associates the bed with a fun activity and not her own personal litter box! Toys such as the teaser feather on a stick, laser pointer, etc. are all great and you can always spray toys with a bit of catnip spray to get the cat’s initial interest.
8. Close the Door
Obviously, close the door to the room if you can. Cats are notorious for banging on doors and meowing loudly when a door is closed, so I know this isn’t always possible, but if you can close the door until the stressful situation is managed, it may help. Unfortunately, Lucy is a door banger and she is my little shadow, so if I’m in the bedroom, she thinks she needs to be in there, too. Otherwise, she will get her little paw under the door and try to jiggle it open. And at one point, we were doing construction and we didn’t even have a door on the room, so we didn’t have this option, which is how I became such an expert at this cat peeing situation.
We’ve also had to deal with a feral cat spraying the outside of our front door. I actually thought someone had spilled soda on our front door. Around the same time I also noticed that Lucy was inspecting the inside of the front door – I thought maybe she was planning her escape since the babies had just been born because she usually never goes near the front door. But I eventually connected the two and figured out it was a feral cat spraying the front door. I used the Nature’s Miracle Just for Cats Urine Destroyer on the door to remove the urine and the feral cat has stopped spraying.
Also, don’t make my same mistake and purchase a UV flashlight to light up the pee. I bought this one (and I now see in the description that it doesn’t work well on cat pee) and it didn’t work, but if you read the top review of the flashlight, it does light up dog pee and toddler puke and the reviewer states that they used Nature’s Miracle on the stains and then used the flashlight and the Nature’s Miracle had indeed worked to remove the stain because the flashlight no longer lit anything up.
Do you have a cat who pees on your bed? Do they do it at like the worst time ever when you’re exhausted and don’t have time to do a load of laundry, or is that just what my cat, Lucy, does? Also, a quick note: if you’re ever playing the “Does This Smell Like Cat Pee to You?” game, just stop. The answer is always yes. Cat pee stinks! If you even think you smell cat pee, it’s probably cat pee!
Let me know in the comments if have any other ideas on how to stop a cat from peeing on the bed that worked for you!
2019 Update: Since I’ve taken all of the above steps, Lucy has only peed on the bed once! It was a day when my in-laws were at the house playing with my twin toddlers AND my housekeepers were here, so I think there were just too many people in the house and it stressed her out. Plus, my husband still doesn’t listen to me about Tip #6 and removing excess pillows and blankets from the bed. She peed on his extra blanket that he left on top the bed.
I definitely need to get some of that pet urine remover! Our cat is elderly and has problems making it to the litter box, so we’re quite good friends with our carpet cleaners. If we had that on hand and it really worked that would be great! The rest of these tips are great too if you have urine issues in the home!
If he drinks a lot and often doesn’t make it to the litterbox please have your cat checked bij a vet because he can have kidney problems.
Holy moly – you are a cat pee expert! LOL
Right, in my house I’m called the “Piss Monitor” we have the same issue with one cat mainly “spraying” everything, he is fixed but is very sensitive and stresses easily, we currently have five cats in the house all fixed male and female. We just lost one male which was causing alot of stress from health issues. Now we have a “mama to be” in my “she shed” out back to keep stress down inside the house. I’m going to buy those wipes, I kept saying surely someone has come up with a wipe for this issue, and there it was…. thanks for sharing….good luck…and as you I’m TIRED of always doing my bedding because of this issue.
Taf
First of all, Lucy is adorable! Second of all, I cannot agree enough with everything you said! Our cat Ferguson is also a bed pee-er when he’s stressed. He’s had UTIs in the past so we always keep an eye on that, but using a good mattress pad, cleaner, and making the bed make a huge difference! As frustrating as it is, it’s important to remember they don’t do this out of spite but because they’re trying to communicate something to us. You sound like a fantastic cat mom 🙂
Will this work for dogs too? I have a small male dog who always wants to pee on my washing machine ,in the legs of my furniture,against the bottom of the sofa ,wherever!
First off..is he neutered? If not get that taken care of. Have you taken him to a vet? Anything g that has been peed on MUST be cleaned really well to remove all traces. Otherwise the pet will go back again. There are lots of cleaners to choose from
We had a cat we named Tight the pee er. I used lemons, aluminum foil,pet gates. We replaced carpet,padding,tack strips and even sanded and sealed the sub floor. Nothing helped. It became a daily struggle to carpet clean before my husband came home. He has never liked cats.
Vet said she had no physical problems but she was causing marital discord.Since Tiggy was de-clawed we were not able to transition her into being an outside cat. Sadly we had her put to sleep. I didn’t want to foist a badly behaved cat on someone else. I am glad to know that there is a new product available on the market.
Never a good idea to transition an indoor cat outside. That being said….you killed your cat? Wow. Poor kitty! I hope you never get another animal.
Props to the author of this article for treating her kitty like a member of her family and taking care of her, her family, & house.
Wow, I agree. I would NEVER fo this! And I had a cat that did this for 17 yrs, until her nemesis died. She quit soraying that day. So sad. Really, really bad choice on the cat and having her killed. I echo the sentiment that you should not have other animals. The oroblem could have been ur husband not liking cats! They are very aware of people like that. So sad. Shame on you, really, such irresponsibility for pet ownership.
I agree with Laurie, you had your cat put to sleep because it might have been stressed! How do you know your husband not liking cats was the problem. You were an unfit animal owner and maybe you should really think hard if you ever want another. Let’s hope if you have kids they don’t become stressed or cause stress with you and your husband or you might put them down.
Ew, this is deeply disturbing and disgusting. How horrible someone must be to be able to take their pet in to be euthanized for something like this. I feel sorry for your future pets, children, and honestly anyone you come into contact with.
Great ideas. What bout a cat that has bad BAD body Odor? My son cat does and the cat Loves my bed! But she leaves behind such a bad odor
Have you had her anal glands checked? They can be stinky. Is she plus sized? She may not be able to bathe all parts of her body. My vet said I could use baby wipes with no alcohol on my kitty’s “bottom”.
What a beautiful story. So glad you took time to figure out what was wrong with Lucy. We had a similar experience with our Star Baby. When she peed in my lap I immediately took her to the Vet. She had a bladder infection that was irritated by her regular food. She has to have a special food and special litter and her box must be scooped every day. Cats are picky but worth the effort.
I am so glad to know this is a fairly common problem. Our Troppy is a high stress kitty and does not like laundry clean or dirty left anywhere ! I have found the Lysol laundry sanitizer to work wonders as well.
I, too, am glad other people are dealing with this. Our cat is a stress pee-er, and her number one stress is a bigger, male cat that lives with us and belongs to my daughter. If he makes her mad, she finds somewhere to pee or poop. Getting rid of either cat is not an option, so we just try to keep them separated and know that in a few years, my daughter will be off to college WITH her cat! In the meantime, I have tons of old pee spots on the carpets that smell terrible and I have to find a way to get rid of.
Lucy is lovely! We have 2 cats and a large dog. Katy, our diluted Calico began peeing on our bed after I started opening the window above it for fresh air. I stopped opening that window and moved the bed out from the wall about a foot.
Also did like you and minimized pillows and blankets. It worked. I open the side window in the room and they sit in it for hours with no issues.
Thanks for your advice.
I have three big cats…two big boys and one mama cat all fixed but mama she likes to pee on my bed..so I got a big box from our store in town and cut it open when I get up I cover the bed with the open box…the big bigger male uses then card board for his claws I love my cat’s they are areal joy..white vinger we use to get out dog pee and cat .use one cut with your soap works great….
I recently read an article that Prozac works really well for this issue when other things have been tried without improvement.
I know some people might say they would never drug their cat. Which is their choice of course.
OxyClean laundry additive does a GREAT job of getting rid of pee smell and cleans any laundry items, used along with your favorite laundry detergent. My cat has favorite pee spots, no matter how well they’re cleaned and pee smell is gone. He always pees standing up, tail straight up. I use doggie pee pads (extra large, holds 7 cups) and blue painter’s tape (doesn’t leave adhesive residue) to attach them to those spots. Got sick of cleaning up after him. Just take them down and roll them up, throw away. I also line the cat carrier with pee pads. First I line the carrier up to the side seeing-out grates, covering the bottom. Then I fold up an old towel to fit the bottom of the crate, and wrap the towel in a pee pad. With that done, I put another pee pad on top tucking it around the sides of the towel and adhering top sides to the crate. Typically I can just pull off that top pad and the rest of the crate is clean; leaving the other two pads clean and intact. It works really well. All I need to do next time it’s just put in another top pad. (My carrier is a small Veri-Kennel). I always take both my cats to the vet in the same carrier, even though only one may need to see the vet, so there’s no fighting because one was left at home.
Thank you for a good article. I’ll try the Clorox products for areas that can’t be saved from the bad pee cat. He’s 12 years old and I love him dearly, in spite of himself. My other cat is a Stellar Good Boy, also 12 yo. They are my family.