Help!! My cats, Tinsel and Garland are 7 years old and completely declawed and neutered and I otherwise LOVE them to death, but they pee everywhere in the basement.
About a month ago we had our sewer back up and we had to really get back in and clean and we found they had been pooping behind the staircase that leads to the main floor and it was disgusting.
There litter box is changed weekly but due to the sewer issue we had to move the box about 2 feet from where it originally was and they are still peeing on the floor where the litter box was. They literally have to walk past the box to get to where the box used to be.
We had to tear up a bunch of tiles in the basement when it flooded, so now it's just basic cement floor so when I go down there it's just puddles everywhere, they have even started to go in the room next door OUR LAUNDRY ROOM! I am at my wits end. The smell is so bad I literally started to gag when I came in the back door yesterday. We mop and mop but we need to find a solution to get them to stop doing this.
My husband is standing strong that we get rid of them. Please help with any suggestions to get them to stop doing this and get the odor, not the box, but in the entire basement to smell normal again. I literally think its permeating the walls. HELP!
you need a litter box for each cat, and they need to be cleaned at least every other day. Cats don't like sharing litter boxes too well esp. dirty litter boxes
My cats did the same thing. I took them to the vet and it turned out they had a urinary tract infection. I would get them to see the vet ASAP.
I don't really have any idea how to make them stop peeing, but I think that it would be a good idea to get them to the vet. We have 2 cats (and also have a peeing problem - one of them pees in our dirty clothes if we leave the bathroom door open! grrr) Well it turns out that one of them had a bladder infection and was causing her to pee outside of the litter box. I don't understand the thinking of "get rid of them"!! I don't know how attached you are, but to me our kitties are a part of our family. My hubby also mentions getting rid of our kitties. I tell him over my dead body. Sorry, but it's not happening here. I hope you can find some answers.
S.
My husband has a cat and we had the same problem. Unfortunately ours did it upstairs in the carpet. We've had to remove the carpet and subflooring to get the odor out. After years of struggling with this problem my husband would never get rid of this cat. (I would have no problem though), anyway to parrot other advisors, we have found that cleaning the litter box everyday helps. Cats are funny, they don't like change. If we tried a different litter she would pee in the house. If there is any kind of change in the household situation, she will pee. If she wants attention and doesn't get it or wants to go outside and we don't let her out, guess what...yup.
Well, I'm not sure how to get them to stop going outside the box, except for figuring out why there are, what caused it. I had a cat once that refused to use the auto litter box so I had to put the regular one out again. To try to get the smell out try using OdoBan. It's worked for me. Good Luck.
Hi Jodi,
I understand your (and your husband's) frustration, but as someone else said, they are members of your family, so I don't think getting rid of them should be the first answer to your problem. I have 3 cats (2 males, one female), they are all "fixed" front de-clawed indoor cats. We have 2 litter boxes, both in the basement, and I clean them EVERY day(sometimes twice)! Cats are very festidious, and if their box is not clean enough for them, they will go somewhere else. Try adding another box, and make sure you use a good hard clumping litter(the extra expense is worth it), they are much easier to clean ,and help keep the odor down. I have found a great odor/stain remover that I use on my furniture/carpet, it's called "Kids'n Pets". You can get it from Meijer, Target or Wal-Mart (Target is a little cheaper) where the carpet cleaners are sold. It is all natural and works very well. I think you could put it directly on the cement floor (after you clean up the urine) and let it sit for a couple minutes before mopping it up. Once the floor is clean, you could probably put a cup into your mop water and mop the entire floor with it. I hope this helps, don't give up the fight until you have exhausted all other possibilities, or I am sure that you will feel guilty about it. Good luck!
S.
Our cats went through a similar stage. They urinated everywhere in the basement and pooped in the laundry room sink. When I took them to the vet, I was told that they were healthy and that sometimes cats just do these things. The vet also told me that once they start urinating in the house that getting them to use the litter box again is almost impossible. I was told to get rid of them. I couldn't bring myself to do it. So, I tried my own solution, I put them outside for a month (they are indoor cats, fixed and declawed). I made sure they were fed and taken care of and when I brought them back into the house there were no more problems. It's been 3+ years now. Whatever you decide to do, I hope it works for you. Good luck!
take them to the vet and see if they have a kidney problem
I have to agree with the hubby here. There might be a reason one of the cats started doing this, old age etc.... then the other cat followed. Ya never know. It is extremely hard to get that smell out! I LOVE Cats, thankfully our cat goes potty outside and comes back in. It is odd that he does that, we think that he was a dog in his past life lol... anyhow, I know from personal experience in my old home that the cat I had made it smell very bad and nothing i did helped. I had to get rid of him, I am sure it was his age as well.
NOTHING smells worse than cat urine and no matter how clean you think you were able to get the floor, somebody will be able to detect it! What will probably happen is that you will get used to it, but anybody who walks in will smell it. I doubt you'll be able to stop them from peeing there. I also am a cat lover (although allergic) but I would not have one in my house! You might be lucky that the floors are cement, but eventually it will even seep into that and be a permanent odor. I would first try the TV sprays that claim to remove the urine smell (keep the guarantee info in case it doesn't work) but I have to echo your husbands advice....the cats' gotta go! It's not worth the embarrassment your kid(s) will feel when it spreads to the clothing, toys, furniture, etc!
~L.
Vinegar sometimes helps with the pee smell, and then the smell of vinegar fads as it dries. I agree to try the vet and get seperate litter boxes.
Hello, I have had this problem before. You can spray the area where they are peeing with a diluted amonia solution or they have no no spray at your local pet place like petsmart... also if they are pooping just outside the litter box what we did for that was a litter box cover so they know that this is the only area to go sometimes when they cover they're stuff the spray litter everywhere and get confused where the box begins and ends. If this does not work maybe take them to the vet they may have bladder infections and can't make it to the box in time...
Hope this was helpful.
You literally think that it's permeating the walls... Now, if you say that, and you live there, imagine what someone who DIDN'T have cats would think.
Lose the cats.
