my male cat pee'ed on my new slate floor.

[OrpingtonManor]

My 4-yr-old male cat, who is a sweetie, decided to pee on my freshly-laid slate floor. I just finished installing it late last night. I haven't even grouted it yet. Before I installed it, the tiles were stored outside. I thought I smelled a hint of cat urine when I was sorting them to bring inside, but I am a Zicam sufferer, so I don't smell much or often. My plan was to NOT install anything that smelled like urine, but never smelled it again. I'm guessing my cat can smell it.

I know he wants to mark his territory, but he never pees outside of the litter box otherwise.

Now, what can I do to keep this from happening? I immediately wiped up the urine, since he did it right in front of me. It probably soaked in some, but wasn't soaking all night. Then, I poured Windex on it, since I didn't have any ammonia. Eventually I will be covering it with a stone sealer, but would like to solve this problem before I seal it. I would rather not have to break that tile out of there and replace it. It's in the middle of a 9'X16' room. Plus, if one tile smelled, probably there are others. I just can't tell.

Any suggestions, short of getting rid of my cat?

 

[JewellFarm]

I would get some ammonia and mop them. I hate ammonia, but I hate the smell of cat pee more. I don't think he would be able to smell it after using ammonia.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

That's what I had heard. I guess I will get some this morning before he has a chance to do this twice. Thanks!

 

[Mahonri]

Male cat's mark their territory. He smelled something new without his scent on it.

 

[b.hromada]

You know something, we have tried the ammonia, and it never worked for us. My cats like to pee right near our front door, even though there is a litter box right there!

It seems the smell NEVER goes away. I sure wish you luck on removing it from your slate floor. Why do cats do these things to us?

 

[FaithAnn]

You never want to use ammonia to clean up urine from a dog or cat. The ammonia smells like urine to them and even if you can't smell it anymore, they can and will continue to use that spot. There are a couple of products out there, I use "OUT". You can get it at Wal-mart (at least down here). There are other products at pet stores that contain enzymes which remove the urine smell so the animal won't smell it. I don't know about using these products on slate, but I have used them on just about everything else, including wood floors. Hope this helps.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

He has never done this before, and he came to me as a kitten. He used to be an indoor-outdoor cat, but then caught feline herpes from the rescue cat I brought home to be his companion.

Now they both are on permanent quarantine. I installed slate in my bathroom from the same pile last year. He never had a problem with it. I am sure I smelled cat urine when I picked up a tile outside. That would have been the time to throw it out.

What was I thinking?

So now, I will have to find a way to stop this. I can't just make him an outside cat, and I won't live with cats peeing in the house. I will try the ammonia. I hope he responds well. I know there are other products out there to get rid of urine smell. Hmm... that gives me an idea. Three years ago the city sewer backed up into my basement. The city paid to have a company clean everything. They used a product on the concrete to remove all urine scent. It worked like a charm. My cat has been in the basement and never pee'ed there. I'll have to see if I can dig that up.

 

[Kansaseq]

Natures Miracle is a product that seems to work pretty well. Maybe you could mop the whole floor with it before sealing it. Ps we want to see a pic of the floor now!

 

[OrpingtonManor]

Quote:
I'm sure the product that the "haz-mat" team used on my house was enzyme-based. It's starting to sound like the best option.

 

[Cara]

Ammonia will ENCOURAGE them to pee in that spot, since pee contains a high level of ammonia. It's basically like putting another cat's pee down! Try a baking soda paste (not toothpaste! baking soda and water), put it down, leave it overnight to dry then sweep it up. We sprinkle a lot of it in the kitty litter box, and it removes the smell very well. Vinegar might be another option.