Hi guys,
I have 2 little monsters and just this last week or so they have started peeing on my leather armchair. Its a great big thing that was a gift - the person who owned it before me didnt even have animals in his HOUSE, so I know they arent just being territorial. Right now I have just cleaned it and I am keeping it covered in garbage bags to deter them from jumping on it.. but those cant stay there forever, and I dont want that chair ruined by my cats. :-( (its the only decent piece of furniture I own!)

Any advice? *begs*

they are peeing on the chair to cover the other animal scent of the leather. Try wiping down the chair with a solution of Dr Bronner's castile soap. and load up the chair with sofa pillows to make it awkward for them to get up there or use a small piece of furniture. anything to break the habit. catching them in the act and using a water spray bottle on them would also be a good idea. Good luck

I've only ever had 2 things work:
1. Spay/neuter the cat--works 70% of the time.
2. Get rid of the chair--works 100% of the time.

cheryl

they are peeing on the chair to cover the other animal scent of the leather. Try wiping down the chair with a solution of Dr Bronner's castile soap. and load up the chair with sofa pillows to make it awkward for them to get up there or use a small piece of furniture. anything to break the habit. catching them in the act and using a water spray bottle on them would also be a good idea. Good luck


I think you might be right about the cats just competing with the cow/hide smell. As far as loading the chair with pillows . . . that would make my cat tickled pink . . . or shall I say yellow . . . pee yellow! He'd be soooo thrilled to have such a fancy cat box!! He loves peeing on fabric, pillows, in laundry baskets, etc.


I'd say you need to deter the cats even more. They HATE aluminum foil. Put that on the chair. Know that when you take the foil off, the cats will be back on it. Or you could pay for some of those sensor thingies that keep animals off of furniture. Some make noises, others have a little shock.

Other than that, Euph's second suggestion is what I had to resort to with my reclining chair.

Good luck!

Oh yeah . . . it is also possible the cats have urnary tract infections. Sometimes those will cause a cat to pee in odd places.

Thank you so much for the suggestions!!

Chamogirl - I am going to try the castille soap idea, I think that might help, but one of the cats is seriously attracted to soap smells... As long as it doesnt smell like conditioner I think I will be ok though. Thanks!

Euphrasyne - 1. done! 2. absolute last resort! The couch part of the set I will *inherit* when the guy moves, so I am crossing my fingers they quit this crap soon!

Tbear! - He'd be soooo thrilled to have such a fancy cat box!! He loves peeing on fabric, pillows, in laundry baskets, etc Mine too!! But I will try the aluminum foil, maybe after leaving it on for a long time I can remove it little by little... Maybe they will be so used to having it covered just the little piece will keep them at bay? And I will keep a close eye on their litter habits, a UTI never occured to me. Thank you!!

Has anyone ever tried those bitter orange/cat-away sprays? someone suggested I spray the entire chair with that, but somehow I doubt it is safe for leather. I read in a cat book that they hatehateHATE the smell of rue - now only if I knew what that was...and where to get it!

Thanks you guys!!

They HATE aluminum foil. Put that on the chair. Know that when you take the foil off, the cats will be back on it.

I was thinking about this too, but you would have to leave it on forever.

I have heard of people using mousetraps to keep their dogs off the furniture. They're too big to be really hurt by them, but it does scare them enough that they won't go back.

You might try wiping the chair with vinegar. That smells really bad to cats. We use it if they pee on the rug. They never pee in that spot again.

I had one cat who peed on my bed. She was "special," so this may not work for you, but I had a woven throw that she disliked the texture of. I took to spreading that out on my bed every morning and never ahd trouble again. That would be prettier than aluminum foil, too :lol:

I had one cat who peed on my bed. She was "special," so this may not work for you, but I had a woven throw that she disliked the texture of. I took to spreading that out on my bed every morning and never ahd trouble again. That would be prettier than aluminum foil, too :lol:


hehe. Mine love the texture of woven things and search them out. lol.

cheryl

OK, I have to put my :twocents: in on this, because my cat almost gave me a nervous breakdown peeing on our couch.

We have 2 male cats, both fixed, indoor only. Rousseau, the older one, started peeing on the couch and lots of other places when my fiancee and I moved in together. The problem turned out to be a result Rousseau needing another whole litterbox for himself.

You say you have 2 cats, right? How many litterboxes do you have? Believe it or not, it's actually reccommended to have one more box than you do cats. Yes, we have three litterboxes in our tiny one bedroom apartment. But once I got all 3 boxes, started scooping them daily and changing them all weekly, the peeing has pretty much stopped. I also sprayed the couch with an enzyme cleaner called "kids and pets" which is the only way to get the urine smell completely out but I don't know how that would work with leather.

Rousseau still pees on my DF's laundry if we are even one day overdue on changing the box. He will not use a dirty box.

Things that did NOT work for me included both tin foil and the cat repellant sprays. I put lemon extract on cotton balls and stuffed them into the sofa cushions, this kept Rousseau off the sofa for long enought to get him to break the habit, along with giving him another litterbox. I actually tried using the cat repellant on the wall where Rousseau scratches all the time and unless you use it regularly it does not work. It also smells like mothballs, which would probably work just as well as I hear they are also a cat repellant.

I also keep a blanket draped over and lots of pillows on the sofa now so if he does get crazy at least it won't sink down into the foam cusions which is
really hard to get out. And if any traces of urine amell remain, it will be very hard to keep the cat from marking the same spot again despite any other efforts.

Let me know what ends up working for you, because I'll gladly add any more anti-cat-pee tips to my arsenal! Also I really feel for you, I thought I was going to have to resing myself to having a cat pee scented house. Yo, don't sit there!

sgrace

sgrace - 2 females, both fixed, 2 boxes. you have 3 boxes? wow! I bet mine would like that better though... I will take that into consideration. I have used an enzyme cleaner in the past called Natures Miracle - it really is great, but its a big hassle to use. And in my old place the carpet had been soaked with various animals peeing over and over with all the different tenants, with a floor that ruined it didnt have a chance. I will look into your lemon extract suggestion, I only worry that extracts could be possibly damaging to leather. So far the tin foil is working, but that has to come off eventually, I will certainly update when I figure out what works permanently!
lexy - I have heard of using moustraps to keep them off counters, but I cant see how they wouldnt get their little paws caught and that would break my heart! There are supposed to be noisemakers made for that purpose for pets, but I have never seen them in any store yet.

Thank you for all the suggestions!

If they are *really* picky about the box not being clean, there are automatic little boxes (by LitterMaid) with a motion sensor that has a rake that goes across the box 10 minutes after the cat has left, "scooping" the litter, dumping the clumps into a container, and then goes back to the other end of the box.

They do cost around $100 though. :roll:

Dvips

If they are *really* picky about the box not being clean, there are automatic little boxes (by LitterMaid) with a motion sensor that has a rake that goes across the box 10 minutes after the cat has left, "scooping" the litter, dumping the clumps into a container, and then goes back to the other end of the box.

They do cost around $100 though. :roll:

- Varbalow

You know, Varbalow, you are the second person to suggest this to me so maybe it would not be a bad idea. Do you have to change the litter less often, because if I could save some money on that it would probably pay for itself!! :bluesmile

Sgrace, I almost never change the litter. Maybe once a year? As long as I buy scoopable litter that clumps really well, then adding litter when it runs low and sometimes adding a little baking soda seems to keep it fresh enough for me. I mostly use Tidy Cat; not cheap, but not the most expensive either.
The only think that I don't like is that scoopable litter isn't very environmentally friendly.

HTH!

Dvips

Our female Calico, when she was a tiny kitten, also peed on our brand-new leather Lazy Boy sofa. At first, I had an idea she was doing it, I'd be check-smelling it to confirm my suspicion. One day, I walked thru the den as she was in the middle of peeing. I was so shocked, I involuntarily gasped for air, shrieked and yelled, "No!" She ran off the sofa, and from that time, she never did it again! Thank goodness.

I have 2 cats and 2 litter boxes. One is in the unused spare room (living room) and one is in my master bathroom. During the day, our bedroom is off-limits and the door is closed to them. They share the litter boxes nicely. I use only the Fresh Step scoopable. I scoop both boxes twice a day, morning and evening. I completely change the litter and scrub the boxes once a month.

I had a Litter Maid for my Tortie that had feline aids and had to be euthanized early in her life. It was a hassle to disassemble to wash. What I didn't like was that the rake did not always totally rake out the waste, particularly in the corners. I would end up stirring it again myself. Also, the waste bin would smell putrid after a few days of accumulating waste. I prefer to scoop often into a small trash bag in the waste basket kept next to the litter box and carry it out with the kitchen trash everyday.

I hope you find a solution to the problem so you can salvage your sofa. Leather furniture is so nice, but pets that soil furniture and clothing would certainly not be permitted inside my house if the problem persisted.