Nothing like cat pee in the closet to make you organize it

[Chris in VA]

A few weeks ago, I discovered Lydia the Cat was peeing in my closet (we had mice, too). I thought it was a one-time deal. I scared her out of there, and picked up the one wet item (it had fallen off a hanger). Yesterday, I thought I smelled pee in my bedroom, and decided to clean the closet once and for all.

 

I discovered she's been using it as a litterbox from time to time--because the door is usually closed, and her urine smell really isn't that strong when dry, I just didn't think she'd been doing it except for that one time. So I pull stuff out (you know, "closet detritus" that can accumulate) and see bare, stained wood floor.

 

I threw away an entire bag of teaching supplies (that couldn't be washed) and older clothes. Sigh.

 

Not the kind of cleaning and sorting I really wanted to do.

 

So--How do I keep her from going back in there? Is there "Cat-B-Gone" in a can? Her box is kept very clean, she uses it, and she always has access to it.

Oh, and the mice are gone.

We think.

[Aunty Social]

...and wound up cutting the flooring out and replacing it. You can sometimes get the odor out with various cleaners (go to home depot/lowes/janitor supply store and see what they have) but in our case, the urine had soaked through the carpet and pad, into the subfloor, and under the joins to the underlayment. We wound up ripping up carpet, cutting out the subfloor, and saturating the area with pet urine cleaner. Then we poured some baking soda on it and let it sit for a while (couple days). After that, we put new underlayment and subfloor down, let the cats back in the bedroom, and made sure they weren't drawn to the area anymore. (We had tried ordinary cleaning, but the smell was still there, so they kept going back). They seemed to be ignoring it, so down went my new laminate floor (yay!). We kept a REALLY close eye on the critters for a month or so after, but things seem to be back to normal.

 

Not to scare you, but if your cat has been doing this for a while it might take some re-training. And the smell might be hard to get out without drastic measures. If after you clean the floor a few times you can still smell something when you get down and sniff that area, you can be sure your cat will smell it and continue to use it.

 

Hopefully just a good deep cleaning with a spot bot or something will take care of the problem!

[asta]

I feel for you. I would have to tear out the floor.

 

Seriously.

 

I think I have cat pee PTSD.

 

 

asta

[vettechmomof2]

They do have some products to keep a cat out of certain areas but mainly retraining.

How many litterboxes does your cat have and how oftern are they cleaned/scooped? What type of litter do you use? What is her age?

Have you had her checked out by the vet to make sure it is not a health issue, it could be a UTI, or she could be developing kidney issues or crystals in her urine.

I would recommend the exam first to make sure of that and then work on the restraining.

So sorry for the not happy kindof cleaning.

[MomLovesClassics]

Are you sure there is no health issue with your cat? Sometimes health issues will cause cats to pee somewhere other than the litter box.

[2cents]

1. Have cat vetted for any urinary issues.

2. Saturate the area with "Nature's Miracle Just For Cats".

3. Consider getting a deterrent such as 'SSScat'. You can see the product demos on Youtube. I used a similar product called 'Stay-Away'.

 

The combination of Nature's Miracle and Stay-Away worked wonders. If you have more than one cat be sure they each have a litterbox and clean it often.

[LaxMom]

I feel for you. I would have to tear out the floor.

 

Seriously.

 

I think I have cat pee PTSD.

 

 

asta

 

Yep, me too. We had one that peed.on.everything - rugs, furniture, drapes!! - and there was nothing medically wrong with him... He was also too lazy to clean himself, so our other cat would groom him (with a disgusted look on his face). I swear I can't pass a juniper without having a flashback... that's really an unfortunate scent for a bush that people like to plant in their entries. :ack2:

 

Anyway, I'd start with the Nature's Miracle and Ssscat (or other deterrent) and keeping the door shut at all times. (And yes, investigate the UTI possibility, but that area has now been designated a litter box by her, so you'll need to address that aspect regardless.)

[Catwoman]

Once you've gotten rid of the odor, is there a way to keep the cat out of the closet? Can you put something heavy in front of the door, or if it's a sliding door, put a stick on the floor so the door won't slide open?

 

Someone once told me that if you put crumpled aluminum foil on a surface, cats won't go there because they don't like the sensation of walking on the foil. I think the recommendation was for keeping cats off the sofa, but I don't see why it wouldn't work on a closet floor.

 

Of course, when I tried it, the cat pulled the foil off the couch and batted it around the room, so clearly this is not the optimal solution all of us. :glare: But it might work for your cat!

 

Cat

[Alice]

One of our cats did this a few times. She would do it for a few weeks after I took her to the vet. I think it was punishment. For us, just cleaning it really well to get rid of the odor and then cutting off her access to the area for a few weeks cured the problem. She went back to using the litterbox and hasn't done it again.

 

Just to give you a little hope....maybe you'll have an easy time like we did.

[Carpe Diem]

to keep the cat from pooping in a plantstand. Maybe that would work in this situation after everything was good and clean.

 

Good luck.