Cats can’t speak for themselves in a language that humans can understand, so we’re forced to try to figure out why they do what they do. Just as we often make erroneous assumptions about other people, we often make mistakes where cats are concerned. Some people, including vets, will tell you that your cat is peeing on the floor because you brought home a baby or a new pet, and your cat is marking his or her territory or “voicing” his or her unhappiness. Other people, including vets, will tell you that your cat smells urine from a previous tenant’s cat, that your cat has a medical issue or that your cat doesn’t like the litter you’re buying. One of those could very well be the reason you’re cat is peeing outside the litter box. It could also be an accident.
A Prissy Cat’s Litter Box Mishap
My cat shared a litter box with her much older brother-from-another-mother for several years before I had to euthanize him last fall. Every time she exited their litter box, she used one of her front paws to sweep any litter they’d kicked out into a straight line in front of the box. Once while I was at work, she stole the bright yellow flower-shaped beverage coaster I’d left on a coffee table and placed it inside their litter box, apparently thinking it needed a feminine touch. With all of that in mind, I’d have been baffled as to why she peed on the floor a few weeks ago if I hadn’t watched her do it by accident.
Like many cat owners, I live in an apartment that isn’t much bigger than a cardboard box. I have one place I can set a litter box: Wedged between the bathroom sink and the toilet. Also like many cat owners, my cats follow me into the bathroom, sometimes to do exactly what I’m doing. So, there I sat one morning as my cat walked in, stepped into her litter box and squatted in the corner she designates for peeing … but didn’t squat down far enough.
“Hey!😯” I said as urine shot straight over the wall of the litter box.
She turned around to see what the fuss was about and looked just as shocked as I did. Unable to sweep the puddle into a straight line as she does with litter, she looked up at me and ran out of the room.
The Natural Assumption
If I’d come home to a puddle of pee on the linoleum instead of watching my cat pee on the floor, I could have easily assumed she was mad at me for euthanizing her brother. She’d called out for him and searched the bedroom closet for him for days after I came home with an empty cat carrier. So, if you don’t catch your cat peeing on the floor as I did, I recommend setting a $25 Blink camera or some other nanny cam where your cat is peeing instead of making assumptions or, worse, getting rid of your cat (and getting your cat killed).
How to Prevent Litter Box Accidents If Your Cat Isn’t Sick, Territorial or Picky About the Litter You’re Using
Search Google for dish pan tub near me, and you’ll find options like this 12-quart container at Target and the deeper container to its right at Walmart. Put litter in one of these.
Set your dish-pan-tub-turned-litter-box inside a normal (read: wider, longer and taller) litter box. This box will catch urine accidents so you don’t wind up with pee on your floor.
Some people may wonder why I don’t just use an enclosed litter box like the boxes pictured below. The answer is: When you lift the top half of either box, you’re going to have to clean urine from the lip of the box and the latches.
I keep litter box-cleaning as quick and easy-breezy as possible. I buy NON-clumping litter (because clumping litter traps ammonia, making your home smell toxic), and I dump it every day. I buy Walmart’s $1.87/bag litter and only pour in an inch or two at a time, knowing it’s going to be dumped into a grocery bag and tossed in the Dumpster the next day. This takes mere seconds, and I never have to scrape urine-soaked litter from the bottom of the box.
Since I placed the dish-pan-tub-turned-litter-box inside a litter box a month ago, my cat has had two more accidents. I simply cleaned the litter box and the bottom of the dish pan tub with Clorox wipes. There was nothing on the floor.
What to Do If Your Floor Smells Like Cat Pee
Whether you caught your cat peeing on the floor as I did or came home to an accident, your floor needs to be cleaned STAT. That includes nearby cracks and crevices. After wiping up the area with paper towels, I poured white vinegar onto the floor and made sure it seeped into the crack alongside the cabinet beneath the bathroom sink. That link and others suggest diluting the vinegar with water, but I’m a more-is-more person. Undiluted vinegar worked perfectly. You can buy a bottle at Target or Walmart for less than a buck where the condiments and/or olive oil are sold or you can buy a jug for around $5. Target even sells jugs of white vinegar in the household cleaning aisles.
THIS is advocacy. 