Ok cat lovers, I need some input. Our cat seems to be jealous of our 18 month daughter. In the last 6 months he has started to urinate on her bean bag chair. We first thought it was he could smell my in-laws cats since it was at their house. We bought another chair and he did his thing in there too. We then thought the beans reminded him of his litter box so we opted for a different style, a foam one. Well, he did it again yesterday in the new chair.

We don't know what it is but he seems to just urinate on this specific item of hers. He gets lots of attention from us and he does like when she pets him (he doesn't run anyways). Any ideas on how we can try to correct this before we find him a new home???

Has he been neutered? I was always told that when a cat sprays or urinates in that manner they are marking their territory.

Can you close the door to her room when you are not around to watch him? You could also try spraying the chair with Pet Boundary, but I'm not sure about doing that with a toddler's furniture. She might chew on it.

Yes he is neutered and we do put the chair away when she is not using it. Yesterday, we left the room for 2 minutes and he did it.

We have a 2 yr old cat that just recently urinated on a bean bag chair. She's kind of strange, but she had never gone anywhere other than her litter box before, then out of the blue, we find a wet-spot on the bean-bag chair???

I suppose this is a good/news bad news post. The good news is could be just ticked off and it will stop or you really need a urine test at the vet to rule out infections pain ect. After all the physical items are ruled out then the bad news. This may never stop. I had one cat do it because I got a dog, I got rid of the dog cat stopped. I had one cat do it due to a bladder infection or a new cat litter. changed both and behavior stopped. I also had one cat that I tried everything including moving myself to a new place to get him to quit peeing on things, never did.

I would give one of the deterrant treatments a try before rehoming the cat. Sometimes just breaking the habit is enough and then you can quit using the product. There are several products out there - Pet Boundary is just the only one I've ever used.

Is the product safe for children? I would be spraying her chair.

Not sure, but it probably says so on the label. I used it to discourage my dogs from digging up a gardenia bush that they seemed to take particular issue with and just happened to notice that the cats began avoiding it like the plague, as well.

AHK, when I had my son a million years ago (or so it seems), my cat got very ill, to the point he hadnt eaten for days and would just cry, even when I cuddled him (which he liked). Several hundred dollars of tests later, his health was determined to be fine. He was simply jealous of being the only cat "child" for 7 years before my son came along. He used to jump into the crib and sleep with our son. As paranoid new parents, we put up a screen door in my son's room and kept it shut when my son was in his crib.

Ironically, whenever that door was left open for any amount of time, the cat would snuggle in the crib as if it were his.

Strange things... I still miss that cat, he was the best.

Just a thought, male cats tend to have urinary problems, have you had him checked out?

If you're worried about spraying the chair, try spraying the floor around it with the deterrent instead. And ruling out physical issues is a good idea, too.

It must be something about bean bag chairs. We had a cat that had no problems. Got a bean bag chair, and the we heard the kids scream, "Eewwww, its wet!" and sure enough the cat had gone in it. We had got it from a garage sale, so we figured, maybe they had a cat.

So, we went to the store and bought a new one. Sure enough, the cat went in it too.

Got rid of the bean bag chair and got the kids gaming chairs. No more problem.

In between the 2nd chair and the game chairs we had the cat tested for urinary infection. Negative. I think it was just a cat thing.

Thanks for all the advice. We have switched from the bean bag to a foam chair (he did go on it on Monday). The new one was delivered last night so we shall see. He goes in for his annual visit this month.

I had to take my cat to the vet this year for the same problem. Nothing physically was wrong with the cat, other than he was a little over weight. He recommended adding an extra litter box. We have also been cleaning the boxes daily. My daughter LOVES the cat and pretty much attacks him. The vet recommended that we intervene so she doesn't make the cat mad. Since the vet visit things have gone surprisingly well. He is not spraying but he is definitely not happy about the diet.

I have to agree that you need to eliminate any physical problems before moving to the next step. Cats and dogs and very possessive of their owners and when someone new comes into the picture they can completely change their normal behavior. I guess bad attention is better than not getting the attention they think they need!