displace Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 We have 3 indoor cats. Well, two got moved to the screened-in patio after urination issues were unable to be resolved (behavioral per vet). I'd like this to be temporary and bring them back inside full time. They currently come inside during the day when I'm around. All three occasionally either vomit or have furballs. Maybe one per month per cat. Our problem is the carpeting where the urination occurred is ruined and the whole flooring needs replacing. I love carpeting, how it feels on my sore feet, how it looks, etc. It's also upstairs so carpeting would be much quieter than a solid floor. I would hate to replace the floor with carpeting and have a need to replace it in a year. Even if the outdoor cats stop urinating inside, there's still furballs/vomit to contend with. Is it ever possible to have indoor cats with carpeting or is this a fantasy unless I want trashed carpets? Should I keep this dream for when I have no more cats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Growing up we had a cat and never had issues with the carpeting. Of course that cat never had behavioral issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadieMarie Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I have had cats and carpet and never a problem. We did have one cat who was a frequent hairball puker and the vet gave us a medicine for him. It squeezed out of a tube and I had to put it on my finger and wipe it on the roof of his mouth. He was a very sweet cat so it was worth it. I also didn't have kids lol. I don't know if I would be up for that now. I had to do it once a week. But it did help. You could also get a furminator (or furminater?). I use that on the cat we have now and it really helps with the shedding so I am thinking it would help with the hairballs too and she likes it a LOT lol. I have no idea how to stop a cat urinating in the house other than vinegar maybe. Ours have always been fine to use the litter box. I am thinking that is a tough one but hopefully someone else can help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I have two cats and carpeted bedrooms and it hasn't been a problem. My recliner, on the other hand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 We have two indoor cats and our house is fully carpeted except for the kitchen and bathrooms. No problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 When we still had some carpeting in the house, we never had any problems, either, unless you count the occasional horked-up hairball. :ack2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 Hmmm, sounds like we're in the minority with this one. Still don't think I should risk it with the urination though if we want to bring the cats inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I never had any problems with our cats. And the one with hairballs tended to hack them on hard flooring in the house for some reason. That said, urinating outside the box was never a problem with our cats. This can be a very difficult problem to fix, so I too would be leery in your case. What are you going to put down, though, the the pee won't soak in and damage? Tile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 A cat with urination issues is having specific problems. It isn't related to the carpet, but the carpet will get trashed from the urination. I had a cat with issue but no carpet. Just a messy floor. I could get the cat to pee in an empty box that I put on the spot she used. I just had to clean the box out as soon as it was used. But that was worth no pee or poop on the floor. It can be a matter of finding out what the cat will use and then transitioning/acclimating the cat to that instead of what it has been doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 2 cats with carpet in living room and bedrooms with no issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 No problems with urination, but my cat ALWAYS heads for the carpet to puke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I grew up with cats. We didn't have any carpet issues until the cat got very old - like 15 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennay Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I don't think any flooring is safe from cat urine. Hairballs and such can be dealt with, but I wouldn't get a light beige carpet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bensmom Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 When my cats were young it would not have been a problem. With my old cats, I am happy to have wood and tile. Now if I didn't have to cover all the furniture, that would be nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I never had problems with four cats and carpeting. One of my cats gets UTIs from certain food, so sometimes he'd have urinary issues, but I kept a carpet cleaner and enzyme cleaner on hand and stayed on top of it. I actually prefer carpets to hard flooring for cats-keeps the dust bunnies in check! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 This really depends on the cat. I have had cats that stopped peeing once we replaced the flooring. I have had cats that did not. And I currently have a cat that throws up on a regular basis and the vet can't figure out why. Thankfully, we mostly have tile now because of allergies, but if we still had carpet that would be an issue. Basically, there isn't any way to know ahead of time. Hugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 What are you going to put down, though, the the pee won't soak in and damage? Tile? We're considering vinyl plank flooring, maybe hardwood. They both stopped urinating once they were on the patio. Vet suggested hard floors sometimes prevent the urination. ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Of the numerous (well over a dozen) cats that I've had in my world, I have only ever had two that urinated somewhere other then the litter box, past the first couple weeks of litter box training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGHEALTHYMOM Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Our cat is indoor/ outdoor... she fit in a teacup when dh brought her home one winter... when she slept in the kitchen she kept going behind the computer desk... so when the weather was nicer, we made her go to the outdoors... we live in the country. She had a litter of kittens and we kept one. He was amazing! He always went to the door when he needed to go. She has been sneaking in at every whim and we just found a pile of poop behind the desk again... so I am trying to keep her out again. I did try a litter box but she always made a huge mess of it so that is out. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I've had cats all my life, but only ever had one cat that peed on the carpet. I don't think it's something all cats do. Unfortunately you ended up with cats who do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSmomof2 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I've also had cats all my life. Only one had a peeing issue when he was very old (16 yrs old). I've also always had indoor/outdoor cats, so our litter box is rarely used.....and we have a lot of carpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 And the one with hairballs tended to hack them on hard flooring in the house for some reason. We had one who used to hack up hairballs a lot. Fortunately he let out a very specific meow when he was about to barf. When we heard him we'd scramble and run to see where he was. If he was on the carpet whoever got to him first would pick him up and bring him to the closest tiled room. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 We had one who used to hack up hairballs a lot. Fortunately he let out a very specific meow when he was about to barf. When we heard him we'd scramble and run to see where he was. If he was on the carpet whoever got to him first would pick him up and bring him to the closest tiled room. :D We do the same thing with our hairball hacker! We're always tuned in for the "I'm gonna hurl" meow. ;) :D (I've even been known to jump up from a sound sleep and grab him.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 The only time I've ever had a cat pee on carpet was when she was in kidney failure. Wait, that's not fair. One cat peed on the (hard) floor when I tried to relocate the box. Otherwise, they've all used the box without incident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Of our two cats, one pees and poops on carpet and one sharpens his claws on carpet. I'm glad we don't have carpet anymore. (The peeing cat still has issues though, so we crate her at night.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 For 20+ years I've cats and carpets, and it is has never been a problem. They were indoor only from the very beginning. Maybe that made a difference. The only cat I had that had hairballs or vomited more than once per year, always ran to the bath mat to do it. So, cleanup was super easy. But, I don't think un-trashed carpets are in your future. I would get area rugs for the feet feel. There are places that can do a thorough clean on them. i.e. They aren't cleaned on the floor, but sent through a machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 but my cat ALWAYS heads for the carpet to puke. My little jerks do the same thing!! They'll be on hard floor and run from the hard floor to the carpet while they're gagging! But if they're already on carpet, they won't move an inch, just hunch down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I've had cats for most of my life and carpet was only a problem for one. And it was awful. The curtains that tougher the floor and the carpeting had to go. And so did the cat. He became an outdoor only kitty bc seriously, dumbest psycho cat ever. He used to just walk up to the middle of the wall, not a corner scratching post or anything, just went to the middle of the wall and start clawing and chewing on my drywall?! Wth? Yep. Welcome to the great outdoors kitty. He was very happy out there. It's not been an issue with my others. No scratching. No pee. We did get out cats front declawed 2 years ago bc they would not stop clawing out brand new furniture no matter what we did. Didn't like doing it, but it was that or get rid of the cats bc we need to be able to own furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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