Cat peed on the bed? Soak it, cover it, wait.

Strip it, blot it, soak it, dry it

Get the sheets off, blot up everything you can, then soak the spot with an enzyme cleaner made for cat pee, as deep as the pee went. Dry it fully with a fan. Old spots usually need more than one round.

Don't reach for the steam cleaner or a hot hair dryer. Heat sets the stain, and high heat kills the enzymes in some cleaners.

Why a mattress is the worst place for this

A mattress is a giant sponge with no backing. Pee goes straight down and spreads sideways inside, so the wet zone is wider than the stain you see. And cat pee contains felinine, which breaks down into that sharp sulfur smell as it ages. A spot you missed last week smells worse today, not better.

Fresh accident (found it today)

1. Strip everything. Sheets, mattress pad and protector go in the wash on cold. Pretreat any wet spots on the bedding with enzyme cleaner first.
2. Blot hard. Press paper towels into the spot and lean your weight on them. Swap towels until they come up nearly dry. Don't rub.
3. Soak it. Pour enzyme cleaner on until it reaches as deep as the pee did. A light mist cleans the fabric and leaves the foam smelling.
4. Wait, then blot. Follow the label. Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Plus for cats, our pick here, says soak fully, wait 15 minutes, then blot.
5. Dry it all the way. Point a fan at the spot and leave the mattress bare. Damp foam starts smelling all over again.
6. Smell test. Once it's dry, put your nose right on the spot. Anything left? Do another round.

Old stain (found it by smell)

• Find the edges first. A UV flashlight in a dark room shows you how far it spread.
• Soak a wider circle than the visible stain, since the pee spread inside.
• Plan on two or three rounds, with full drying in between. Rushing the next round just stacks wet on wet.
• Once it's dry and smell-free, sprinkle baking soda on top, leave it for a few hours and vacuum it off.

When to give up on the mattress

• Your cat has hit the same spot again and again.
• You see mold or mildew around the stain.
• Several full rounds, fully dried, and it still smells.

At that point the pee is deep in the core. A new mattress with a waterproof protector on day one is the realistic fix. Painful, but better than a year of sleeping next to it.

Why your cat picked your bed

It's not spite. A cat peeing outside the box is telling you something.

• Health first. New peeing outside the box is a reason to call your vet before anything else. Some medical problems show up exactly like this.
• The box: dirty, the wrong litter, in a noisy spot, or not enough boxes. A common rule of thumb is one per cat plus one.
• Stress: a new pet, a new person, a move, even rearranged furniture.
• Marking: your bed smells most like you. To a stressed cat, that's the spot.

Clean the mattress and fix the cause, or you'll be reading this page again. Start with litter box smell and setup and signs your cat is stressed.

Stop the next one

• A waterproof mattress protector, on now.
• Keep the bedroom door shut until you're sure the habit is broken.
• If stress is the cause, ask your vet whether a pheromone diffuser is worth trying.

FAQ