cat peeing on down blanket

Question
Hello!  My cat has peed on my down blanket and feather bed for the second
time (first time was when I first bought the blanket and feather bed two
months ago - she never peed in my bed prior).  I'm getting the feather bed
dry cleaned and I'll wash everything else with Oxy and laundry detergent.  My
question is:  How can I prevent this from happening aside from keeping my
cat out of my bedroom?  She loves to hang out there and to sleep in my bed.  
One thought I had was to cover my down blanket with my old blanket that
she never peed on before.  What are your thoughts?  Thanks!

Answer
Amy,

Since the peeing outside the box is a new behavior your kitty needs to see a vet to have urine and blood tests done. Make sure that the staff at the dry cleaners know that a cat has peed on the down comforter and ask that they use an enzymatic agent to remove the smell. For the moment I am inclined to suggest that you cover the new bedding with the old blanket, but I would also suggest that you try to get a heavy plastic sheet to go between the old blanket and the new stuff so that her pee doesn't soak through to the new stuff as it is expensive and a pain to continue cleaning repeatedly. My other thought is that you can try to not allow your kitty in the room when you aren't home or you can place a bowl of food on the bed, cats are fastidious and usually will not urinate where there is food. Your cat may be trying to tell you that the smell of your new bedding is causing some anxiety because it smells differently. You can try using a homeopathic remedy called Rescue Remedy. Rescue Remedy is a Bach Flower Essence that you can purchase in most health food/natural health stores. It works reasonably well in cases of anxiety to help soothe animals. I would suggest that you put 6-8 drops in a fresh bowl of water every day for her. Some folks suggest putting the Rescue Remedy directly in the mouth which is fine, however I generally try to avoid that because it is in a grape alcohol base and cats aren't terribly fond of alcohol. You can also try spending quality time with your kitty on your new bedding where you know she is comfortable, such as her favorite sunning spot or the living room. The more comfortable that she becomes with the bedding as well as the smell of you and her increasing over time should help this issue. I would also like to suggest purchasing another litter box and placing it in the bedroom temporarily. Once the peeing stops then I would suggest that you gradually move it about a foot at a time to a more suitable location near your bedroom. So to sum up I am recommending the following:

- Take kitty to the vet and have her assessed for any medical problems that she may be trying to communicate

- Cover the new bedding with the old blanket with a heavy plastic sheet in between the two when you are not there to supervise so that urine doesn't seep down into your new bedding making expensive dry cleaning a more frequent practice.

- You can try placing a bowl of food over the spot on your bed where she generally pees, be aware though that she may decide to pick another spot

- Try adding 6-8 drops of Rescue Remedy to a fresh bowl of water each morning

- Make the new comforter a comfortable place for your kitty by doing activities she likes while the new comforter tags along

- Purchase at least one more litter box for temporary placement into your bedroom until the inappropriate peeing stops and then gradually relocate it to a more desirable spot. You should have a litter box on every floor of your home anyhow. My personal rule of thumb is one litter box per cat plus one, sometimes it may seem excessive but provided they are kept clean this rule generally works fairly well.

Hopefully I was able to help offer some insight to why she is doing this (cats hate change, and yours could potentially have some sort of a long standing infection or other medical problem with her elimination). If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again. I will do my best to offer answers, be aware that I may add to this one as I am going to bring your issue up with my vet tomorrow night when I go in for an appointment with my own cats.