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Post by tinymews on Dec 22, 2009 15:19:05 GMT -5
Hello all! I have a question for those of you with cats and hardwood floors. If any of you have had your floors messed by cat urine, feces, how did you clean them? Were you able to get the smell out? How did you keep the cats from repeatedly ruining the floors after the initial clean? I'm too poor to have professionals come in and refinish or repair the floors and am hoping there's something I can do on my own that's not overly difficult that will fix the problem enough to be able to live in the room without it smelling like a giant litterpan.
Thanks!
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Dec 22, 2009 16:49:04 GMT -5
- Hi tinymews! There is a compilation of various ideas in this thread: Urine Odor/Stain Removal (list of methods):takeonestepatatime.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=8031Don't just read my list at beginning -- read all the other posts on the thread, more than one page. HOWEVER, a great deal of those ideas pertain to carpeting. We need more ideas for hardwood floors !!!Please, anyone, everyone ... ... would love to hear specific ideas for hardwood floors .... and also would love to hear answers to tinymews question above "How did you keep the cats from repeatedly ruining the floors after the initial clean?"
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Post by tinymews on Dec 23, 2009 8:16:50 GMT -5
Thanks for the link. I'm gonna go check that out. I'd really like an answer to the question about keeping them from reruining the floors--I'm fresh out of ideas--short of sewing their little bummies shut!  ! |
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Post by scribbles on Dec 23, 2009 10:40:39 GMT -5
Things that might help prevent repeat behavior, and I stress the *might*, because, as we know, cats can be pretty stubborn: 1. Get the cat checked for any possible medical condition that might cause "inappropriate elimination," as the vets say. 2. Eliminate the odor as much as possible, because the cats will smell it (their noses are better than ours) and think it is an acceptable place to pee. Use an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle. Use lots. And repeat the cleaning a couple of times. 3. Prevent use of the space as a litter box. Move a large, heavy piece of furniture that the cats can't get under to the space. If that's not possible, put something on the floor that the cats don't like to walk on. Suggestions I've heard have been aluminum foil, plastic wrap (which will also protect the floor if the worst happens), sand paper, a metal grate. Anything that they won't want to walk on. 4. If your floor has a shellac finish, instead of a polyurethane finish, you can sand down and refinish just the affected spot. See info on determining the finish and how to refinish here: www.woodfloordoctor.com/_how_tos/articles/cleanpt2.shtml. If the finish is polyurethane, you are pretty much stuck with refinishing the whole floor, if it comes to that. 5. Prevent repeats. Keep the cat box as clean as possible. My cat would prefer that I scoop every time he uses the box, but that's just not going to happen. So I have two boxes for one cat. He pees in one and poops in the other. They both get scooped daily. 6. As a last resort, you can try this, but it may backfire. You can put the litter box on the spot where the cats peed. Hopefully, they will use the box. Then, you gradually move the box an inch or two a day, towards the spot where you want the box to be. I'll admit, I've read about this, but I don't know anyone who has actually tried it. |
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