I have toilet trained my cat, so he doesn’t have a litter box. Things were going fine for 6 months, but then I was homebound for about 6 weeks and we spent a lot of time bonding. When I returned to work, he was put on a diet, and to show his displeasure, he pooped on two of my area rugs.
I had removed the rugs, and spent more time with him, and he went back to using the toilet.
I brought out the rugs yesterday, cleaned them with some sort of enzyme stuff that is supposed to break down the smell of animal urine, and used a carpet extractor to clean the rugs. The cat promptly pooped on one of the rugs in the same spot.
Any idea on how to get the scent out of the carpet, as obviously, what I tried did not work.
Maybe you’ve got the scent out of the carpet, but instead your cat wants to tell you, that he has unfulfilled natural desires. I think “toilet training a cat” is close to neglection or mistreatment. And I am not alone: Should I toilet train my cat?
If I remove the rugs, the cat behaves just fine. He doesn’t straddle the toilet seat, he simply sits on one side and hangs his butt into the hole. When he is done, he scratches around the toilet seat to cover his doodie with invisible air. (I believe that as the doodie sinks, the smell goes away, and his scratching appears to pay off)
The fact that he only poops in a specific spot on each rug leads me to believe that he is still smelling previous poops.
I do not want him to use a litter box. I should have been more clear in my question.
How do I eliminate the odor of his accident on the rug. If I remove the carpet, his behavior is fine. When the rug is brought back, he starts scratching in the same spot where his accident was, and he wants to poop there again, leading me to believe that he is still smelling his old poop.
Coffee Grounds worked very well for me with the smell of sour milk. My older brother just bought a car with a bad smell in it, I told him to use coffee ground and the smell is gone now. QtM’s explanation on how it works
Sprinkle coffee grounds on the rug where the accident happened, and leave a few dishes of it out in the room. After a couple of days it should absorb the odor.
However that removes the odor as far as human smell goes, I do not know if it will make it so the cat cannot smell it anymore.
Watch what you use to clean. I cleaned my bathroom…floor and all…with this Scrubbing Bubbles generic bathroom cleaner from the dollar store. My cat immediately started using the bathroom as her litterbox.
Apparantly the cleaner has ammonia and leaves an ammonia smell/residue. I went back in there and scrubbed everything down with a neutral cleaner (can’t remember what now…might’ve just been plain water) and the problem stopped.
And it leads me to believe, that your cat’s instincts to scratch in order to cover the poop are stronger than your toilet training. Your cat has now discovered, that the rough rug makes a better replacement for the (wanted) litter box than the toilet.
I assume except for the rugs you have a smooth (wooden or PVC) floor?
Use a litter box, it means much less stress for your cat and only a little inconveniance for you. Alternatively: throw out your rugs, but this will only help until your cat does find out, that your furniture is also a good place to poop on. At that point you have to decide again, wether to use a litter box or throw out your furniture.
I have carpeting throughout the house, and the only place that he scratches and sniffs at are a 3x3 foot section where he pooped before. He doesn’t do anything with the rest of the carpet or other rugs.