cleaning cat pee and deterrent strategies

Our cat is easily tempted if we leave a backpack, plastic bag, raincoat or stinky shoes on the floor of the mudroom. He won't usually pee on them day 1 or 2 but by day 3ish, it's fair game (according to Licorice). It happens a few times a year.

It's a tile floor and a farm with lots of animals and manure and athletes so despite my thorough cleanings, it will never be a clean mudroom beyond half a day. He's not sick, and it's better than when he was young but it happens. I have an oil diffuser but don't run it often. He seemed to do better with it going but I know so essential oils are toxic to cats. What cat behavior expert can tell me: does this mean he'd stay out if I used it regularly or would he get slowly poisoned?

Second question: Is there an effective home remedy for cleaning the tile and grout (maybe shoes too)? Nature's Miracle has SLS and fragrance in it so I won't buy that. I've used baking soda, vinegar, various oils...he keeps getting signals crossed though.

Solutions?

Catalase plus Ethyl Hydrogen Peroxide - both are on Amazon

Catalase is an (powder) enzyme (made from bovine liver) that can break down uric acid. It also has a reaction with hydrogen peroxide (liquid) - it converts it into water and oxygen. The reaction may help to pull the problem out of your items you wish to clean.

No guarantees. Cat pee is a tough situation.

Cats think of essential oils as cat repellent. It is toxic to cats if they would lick it up or if too may fumes were in the air, so I would never put it in a diffuser with cats. But you may want to put a drop or two of either lavender or oil of oregano on your items to keep your cats away. My cat gives me a disgusted look and leaves the room if I put an essential oil drop on the bottom of my foot.

Also, let the catalase and hydrogen peroxide do its thing and air dry. It needs that much time to break down the uric acid in the cat pee.

As a kid we had a cat and his mom.  They were outside/inside cats.

We adopted a kitten abt 2 years ago when her mom dropped her off.

It seems to me that the problem is that something is attracting the cat to those items.

Maybe there is a solution to get rid of the attraction.

If after a few days the cat seems to be attracted so why not use something do lessen the attraction, maybe something like dried citrus peels place inside the shoes. Or Activated charcoal or even Diatomaceous earth?

Maybe cleaning the shoes before they come into the house?

I have heard that there is an enzyme that can be mixed with baking soda that is very effective for cleaning cat pee.

If I could buy catalase somewhere locally I'd probably try it but I'm not inclined to mail order a new product. I haven't heard of it and wonder if there's another enzymatic product/something similar that's effective and readily available.

We do well with cleanliness but the mudroom must function like a mudroom, including used shoes.  A simple deterrent like a scent or maybe some other clever, proven solution that has worked for someone could be appropriate here.

Most important is something to clean the tile and grout WELL- have something to use when there is an incident. That may be deterrent enough.

Elanor Gardner wrote:Catalase plus Ethyl Hydrogen Peroxide - both are on Amazon

Do you mean ethyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, by chance? i don't see ethyl hydrogen peroxide, even on Amazon.

Oils I've tried and used most are tea tree, lavender, oregano and/or citrus.

Vet assistant here!
Best things I've found for urine stench in clothes: Peroxide or Bleach and water. Soak for a long time. Shoes should be fine if you put essential oil on them, but don't use it on the tile or areas where the cat will walk, eat, sleep, etc. For the floor, a dilute solution of bleach water works well, if you're not opposed to bleach. We use bleach and dawn dish soap at work and mop everything up (concrete floors), but we also have stronger cleaners that we use to kill parvovirus, kennel cough, and other infectious diseases. Trifecta, I think, but it has a very strong scent.
Edit: AOE spray works great for the odor, too! It's an enzymatic odor eliminator. It works well for getting anal gland stink out of the area as well as male cat urine stench, combined with thorough cleaning.

M Waisman wrote:
Do you mean ethyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, by chance? i don't see ethyl hydrogen peroxide, even on Amazon.

Regular Hydrogen peroxide reacts with catalase. Catalase is needed because it is the enzyme that makes this all tick, and it is all natural. There are two types of hydrogen peroxide: 3% and the stronger 6-10%. Either would be fine. Since the pee is in the grout of your tile, I would make sure to get this catalase (powder) over any area that has been peed on, and then  trickle the hydrogen peroxide (liquid) over that powder. If that saves your floor so you don't have to break out your tile and redo the whole floor it would be worth it.

The cat is naturally going to want to pee wherever she smells another cat, especially if another cat peed there. They mark their territory that way. Your cat knows this is her territory, so she is just making sure to keep out the riff-raff by spraying that area. Once the uric acid is broke down, and hopefully gone, then you stand a chance of your cat no longer feeling the need to mark the spot as her territory.

Thanks folks! I wish I could find catalase, or another enzyme, locally but maybe I'll order some and try this. Hydrogen peroxide is easy.

I understand his antics and I agree that if I can truly rid the space of any residual cat smell, he may just abandon the urge altogether.