Cat wetting the bed

Question
I have a purebred Cornish Rex male, one year old.  He is fixed. When I first got him, he urinated only on my bed about three times before I thought to deter him by putting a plastic table cloth over the bed.  He stopped doing it.  I also have two kitty litter boxes that I keep very clean and change frequently, and he does use these all the time.  My cat is very attached to me and seems to need a lot of attention.  Recently, I started taking my cat outside for walks with me.  Now he howls to go out and started wetting only the bed again and only when I am standing right by the bed to see him do it.  I caught him in the act twice in a row and scolded him and put him in the kitty litter box.  Even with the plastic covering over the bed, he still urinates on it.  He seems to do it only when I am there to see it.  Also, I am not home much because I have to work, but he has a companion.  Please advise.

Answer
Rachel,

It sounds as if this cat has developed the same technique as human toddlers, i.e., using bathroom habits to try to control you.  He knows what he is doing is not right and no amount of scolding is going to matter.  Cornish Rex is a high energy breed of cat.  They are very bright and find ways of getting their own way no matter what!

I am sending you a link on feline house soiling problems which may be of some help:

http://www.netcat.org/housesoiling.html

Also, to clean the area where the untoward urination is occurring, you need to use an enzyme based product specifically for pet stains and pet odors (available at most pet supermarkets or farm stores).

Another option you could try is a Feliway diffuser in your bedroom.  Feliway is a pheromone based product that is supposed to calm agitated cats in a given area.

Another possibility is a behavior modification technique called clicker training.  It has been very successful in a number of situations.  You can visit Karen Pryor's web page:

http://www.clickertraining.com

A very simple solution may be closing your bedroom door.

Good luck and best regards... Norm.