How to stop cats from peeing on carpet, furniture or floors

Is your cat or kitten peeing on carpets, furniture, floors, bed, clothes, and other home surfaces or items? You are living in every cat owner’s nightmare. Cat urine has a very foul smell, which is hard to eliminate.

But what if you could get your cat to stop peeing everywhere except the designated litter box? Below are tips on preventing your cat from urinating in undesired areas.

What causes your cat to urinate in the house?

Before looking at solutions, it is a good idea to understand why your cat is overlooking the litter box and peeing elsewhere. Below are some of the top causes for this behavior:

  • Medical issues –medical issues such as urinary tract infections, kidney and liver problems can cause your cat to start to pee outside the litter box
  • Stress – cats deal with stress caused by changes in their environment by marking (with pee) various areas in the house
  • Changes in the litter box – a cat will avoid a litter box if you change it from how it is accustomed to, for example, by introducing a new brand of litter
  • Mating behavior – cats mark territories as part of their mating behavior.
  • Territorial marking – cats are very territorial and will mark their environment by peeing when another cat or pet is introduced.

How to stop your cat from peeing on everything?

Having your feline pee outside the litter box can be a very frustrating experience. However, it is possible to stop such behavior.

Below is a look at some top solutions to stop cats from peeing on your carpet, floors or furniture:

1. Clean cat pee using enzymatic cleaners

Once your cat has peed in an area, it will return to the same spot as long as it smells its urine. Removing the smell completely will thus discourage it from peeing in the spot again.

Enzymatic cleaners are great for removing urine odor, as they break down the bacteria in the pee, getting rid of the foul smell.

Therefore, if your feline friend habitually pees on areas such as the seats, you can protect your couch from cat pee with a good enzyme cleaner for cat urine.

While using these cleaners, note that some of them may work well on floors but not on carpets or upholstery. To fight pet accidents on carpets, you might need a special cleaner for pet stains on carpets.

2. Use essential oils to deter cats from peeing outside the litter box

Cats are very sensitive to smell and detest other types of smells, especially those from plants. Therefore, you can use essential oils to repel your it from peeing on areas outside the litter box.

Mix a few drops of essential oil with water and spray on areas it has marked. Here are some of the best options that you can find for odor elimination.

3. Use home-made vinegar cat pee solution

Vinegar is another scent repellent that will stop your cat from peeing outside the litter box. Dilute vinegar in water and spray the solutions on spots your it has peed at, after cleaning them.

If it pees on washable items, for example, carpets, rugs, clothes, among others, clean them properly with detergents and vinegar.

4. Use a citrus solution to repel your cat

Citrus is another smell that cats don’t like. To make a citrus solution, add orange, lemon, lime, or tangerine peels to boiling water and let it simmer for a few minutes. Allow the solution to cool down, then spray it in urine spots.

NOTE: Citrus will not get rid of the odor. It will just repel the cat. Therefore, you need to first clean the area thoroughly before spraying the solution.

5. Use cat repellent sprays

There are many repellent sprays in the market today, and most of them do a great job when it comes to preventing cats from peeing or scratching certain areas.

However, when choosing a spray to stop cats from peeing, go for one with friendly ingredients. We created a list of the best cat-repellent sprays to make your work easier.

Being constantly bombarded by the pungent odor of cat urine is not a nice experience. However, with the above solutions, you can be able to stop your cats from peeing on spots outside your cat litter box.

Therefore, if your cat has medical issues, be sure to take him or her to a vet. Also, remove any stress inducers in its environment, or take measures to make it feel more comfortable.

You should also remove the litter it dislikes and replace it with one that doesn’t irritate or harm your furry friend.

On top of that, ensure there are enough litter boxes, which should be clean and in an accessible, well-lit area.

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