How do I stop my cat from peeing on the couch?
My cat is a rescue and she is fixed. She is currently about 13 years old and I rescued her when she was 5 yrs old back in early 2017.
She has always had this odd issue where she will pee where she lays. I noticed this because I used to put a white pillow on a chair by the window so she could sit in the sun and the pillow would have a yellow stain on it after about a week (there was also the urine smell). She would do this even though the litter box was less than 3ft from where she was laying.
I stopped putting pillows down for her and she started sleeping on top of the couch and would pee there. I eventually put down a cover for animals and it covers the whole top of the couch.
She loves to cuddle (which is all she has ever liked to do, but I have come to expect that from all black cats), and she has peed on me twice but has not done it since. A few months ago she was cuddling but got up off me and went over to the couch with the cover and peed right on it in the middle, then tried coming back to me but I got up at that point to wash the cover. A few days later she did it again but this time started licking her own pee. I stopped her from doing that and took her to the vet, but the only thing they found was that she was dehydrated and they gave her some fluids. I got rid of the water fountain bowl and went to a basic water bowl. I clean out the water bowl every day and put fresh water in it. That was the last time I noticed her peeing on the couch with the cover until the other day. I did not notice a smell either. I use the Messy Pet Cat stain and odor remover and it's literally the only thing that works (for me) to completely get rid of a cat pee smell.
She has been checked for issues many many times and none of the vets can't find any issues that could be causing her to continually urinate like that. I asked if it might be just laziness because all she does and all she has ever done and the vet said that is probably what it is.
She has one littler box and I do not have any other space to put another one anywhere else than the one I have. It is an extra extra large box with a cover on it (it's a modified storage bin and it works quite well). She uses the litter box all the time except for when she gets up from resting or sleeping (which is also all the time).
I am looking at anti peeing sprays to spray that cover after I clean it but not sure if they will work on an adult cat like her. I prefer a spray that will not keep her from the couch but something that will just keep her from peeing on it. Though I am not entirely sure if that exists.
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Posted Dec 30, 2025, 9:00 PM UTC