How to stop a Burmese from peeing in the wrong place

Question
I have a Sable Burmese who has taken to peeing on my bed, in
spite of the presence of two litter trays in the house that are
kept pretty clean (one is a LitterMaid that cleans itself).

She is 8 years old, neutered, and kept indoors. There's a second
cat in the house, another neutered female Ruddy Abyssinian,
also 8, an indoor cat, acquired at about the same time as the
Burmese, both when they were about 8 weeks old, from
breeders.

I have no clue how I would keep her out of my bedroom if she
wanted in; any time a door they want to go through is open,
they're through it, and they know when I'm trying to corral them
and effectively avoid me in places I can't reach. I tried safety-
pinning a disposable bed pad over the place she had been
peeing, and she just moved to another spot on the comforter. I
tried putting balloons on the bed, and that hasn't stopped her. I
tried spraying the area with Nature's Miracle, and that didn't
help.

I get the feeling she's punishing me for being gone a lot, but, of
course, I have no way of knowing. I owned another Sable
Burmese years ago who took to peeing on the carpet in the
bathroom, so I guess I should be grateful at least that this one
has chosen something I can easily clean, but it's still driving me
nuts. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks in
advance.

Regards,

Dan Henderson
Sunnyvale, CA

Answer
I had a Littermaid myself for years and just replaced it with a Purrforma when it died (easier to clean and better odor control but requires a lot more attention). I notice that the literature for the Purrforma says that occasionally a cat can develop a fear of the electric boxes but that this is more usual with kittens then adult cats. Probably only a remote possibility, but inappropriate peeing is usually sparked by one of three things: 1) change in the environment producing stress and the need to mark territory  2) some sort of health issue that has created discomfort for the cat in the litter box. The cat associates the discomfort with the box rather than with the natural function it was performing at the time and so looks around for other places where it might not "hurt to go."  3) you switched litter brands or otherwise did something different to the box which makes it less attractive.

Anytime you are dealing with a cat that is over 2-3 years old that develops urination problems, you need to rule out possibility no. 2 before doing anything else. In an 8-year-old cat, this could be a sign that she is having kidney problems or other issues that make using the box uncomfortable. So if she hasn't seen a vet in the last 6 months, I'd start by taking her in for a thorough checkup.

If your vet cannot find anything wrong, then go to your nearest PetSmart (or petsmart.com if they don't have it in stock) and order some Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter. This is a specially treated scented litter that cats usually find irressistible. I have used it effectively myself to treat some kittens that decided rugs felt nicer to poop on then a litter box!  It's expensive but worth it and there are detailed instructions in the package. If your vet hasn't heard of it, tell him about it -- it might be a big help to him. I learned about it from a cat-only vet in Houston who's a friend of mine and this advice is, I think, basically what she would tell you.

I have not seen this stuff at Petco but it does show up at other pet chains on occasion. I always recommend Petsmart, thought, because they always either have it in stock or will arrange to get some for you. (Full disclosure:I own stock in Petsmart :-)

Hope this helps

iris