Cats w/ humans health concerns

Hello -

This post comes after a post that I did yesterday regarding a tough time I am having with one of my cats opting to not urinate in the litterbox.

I realize the title of this particular forum is Cat Health but my question is more concerned with the owners health; I wasn't sure where else to place this question.

As my car is urinating more and more outside the litter box, the smell of the urine is very thick is my house despite attempts to get rid of it. I greatly worry about my own health in what I am breathing in every single day. I know cat urine has ammonia in it and I worry that my cat"s problem is potentially going to create short or even longterm health problems for me.

Should I have concern for my health breathing in the "fumes" of the cat urine day in and day out? Any risks of cancer or other long term effects of this? I used to live in a very small apartment where it was hard to get air circulating. Because of this, the accidents my cats has outside the litter box (one cat in particular) became very potent. Despite attempts to better the air quality I still felt like I was breathing poor air.

I live in a more spacious house now but the concern is still there as I try to address this problem with my cat.

Any insight on this is so much appreciated!

Thank you!

Well, first you need to get to the root of why kittie is not using the litterbox.  There are a lot of threads in the Behavior Forum that deal with that issue.

Yes, I think you should be concerned about breathing these fumes all the time.  Keep in mind that bleach and ammonia create a very toxic and dangerous combination.  Bleach will also attract cats, so if you are using that, you must stop immediately.

Once you address the issue of why your cat is not using the litterbox, which they would prefer to use, then you will need an enzymatic cleaner to remove all traces of urine odor.

Welcome to TCS Good luck and keep us posted!

The best thing to clean up with is biological (enzyme) laundry power or liquid.  The cheapest you can get is fine, make a solution and clean everywhere the cat has or might have peed.  Some cats are attracted to bleach, so it's a very poor choice, ditto cleaning compounds containing amonia.

If you have carpets the cat has used, using a wet/dry vacumn cleaner might help. 

Thank you both for your replies. My question doesn't so much have to do with cleaning the soiled areas. I already know to stay away from bleach type products. I have an actual carpet cleaner that I use to pick up the stains with just a water treatment and then I use F.O.N. spray on the spots to break down the enzymes.

I am also already addressing why my cat does this. I posted a long thread yesterday about his history and some of the reasons why I think he urinates outside the litterbox.

I am more looking for insight on what effects all of this has on my health. I love my cat and all my cats dearly, as we all do and I feel I am taking great measures to figure this problem out with my one cat. As I work through this with him I just want assurance that I am not putting my own health at risk. If I am, then I may need to re-evaluate the situation. This is something that him and I have been working through for years unfortunately and I'm starting to get to the end of my rope. The primary reason is because of my concern for how this has affected my health. If it wasn't for that concern then I would stay working on this with him until the day he dies.

Well, you have taken on a commitment to stay working with him until the day he dies, and I hope you honor that commitment.  Either that or find someone who will love him and will take the time to get to the root of the problem.

Cats almost always prefer a clean litterbox to peeing outside it.  That behavior is telling you something is wrong, either health wise or behavior wise.  Has he been to the vet recently?  Sorry I have not read your thread.

In order to stop breathing noxious fumes in your house, you will also need to address the cleaning issue. That was why I and OrientalSlave cautioned about the bleach.

Think about how you would feel if you had some kind of bathroom issue as a kid, say bed wetting, and your mom was considering abandoning YOU because she couldn't deal with your problems!

I don't know how much ammonia is in the air in your house or what's considered acceptable exposure :dk:. The safe exposure numbers could probably be found on the OSHA or other workplace safety sites, and I think you can buy ammonia meters but I don't know how much they cost.

OK, so I got curious. . .
Ammonia monitors: http://www.metermall.com/meter_catalog/litmus-ammonia-monitor.htm
OSHA guidelines: http://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_218300.html

You can also increase ventilation in your house to replace the ammonia-y air with fresh air. Harrd to do in the winter, though!

Willowy - the sites that you provided are extremely helpful! Thank you so much! I didn't know these guidelines and outline for ammonia exposure even existed. Thank you! This is very much information that I was in search for.

TobyTyler - I think we might be misunderstanding each other and the intent of my posts. It is my fault as I don't think I properly explained myself and it is also simply that you don't know me, which is ok! You are correct, I did make a commitment to my cat. I love him like my own child. I only want the best for him and this post and my post yesterday are all about achieving that for him. I would never abandon him. If it did come down to needing to re-home him (which would take very drastic measures), anyone who knows me knows that I would only re-home him to a place that would love him as much as I do. In your example with the child, no I wouldnt abandon my child for having a bed wetting problem but humans don't produce potential harmful toxins our urine as cats do. At some point I do have to step back and evaluate my health and my family's health. Before doing that though I am taking a lot of care and time in seeing if this problem can be fixed. I have everything you have asked... He has been checked out by a vet and is healthy as can be. This is purely behavioral. I recognize that and I recognize some of the reasons he is doing it. I am approaching this with a respect to him in that I'm not giving up on him. With the right advice and the right resources to make sure my human family and I are safe, we will work through it. Anyone who knows me knows my love for animals and my respect for what they bring to our lives. This particular cat has brought a lot into my life and I'm not one to just give up and let that go.

So please... Before questioning someone's commitment to their pets please consider that there is an entire story that you may not be hearing. Also consider that through these forums you don't get my tone of voice. Had you been able to have that you would know just how distraught I am about this and how much it hurts me to know I feel like I can't seem to fix this. Also consider that you don't know that person... I have a degree in Animal Science and so I know a heck of a lot about cats and other animals. I don't know everything though and that's why I'm here... To learn more and get peoples experiences with some of the things I'm facing. Experience is more valuable than a textbook so I'm here to learn.

This conversation went in a direction I wasn't expecting. I have another question for the forum population - has this ever been a concern for you if you have a cat that has a problem urinating outside the litter box? (The concern of your health of breathing and air quality in your home). Thank you all for your input!

Thank you very much for providing that clarification, it does change everything.   I was just going on what you posted here so no, I didn't know the whole story

 

In answer to your question that is a very valid concern, one that I am almost sure you can resolve without the need for drastic measures. There are many threads under the Behavior Forum that have great insight on the topic.   I have never been faced with the problem myself so that is not a health concern in my house, but I think it is very wise for you to ask the question.

That is something you may want to check into, are you sure human urine (or feces)  is less harmful to you or your family's health than cat pee? 

Human urine will produce ammonia, too, if not cleaned promptly. This is why people with incontinence problems frequently get urine burns if not kept clean (and the odor isn't any better either---trust me; the neighbor kids used to pee in the elevator in the building we lived in when I was a kid---ugh!). I guess the key is prompt cleaning, which might be harder with cats since they usually pee somewhere secret instead of in one place like humans might. But other than that, no, there really isn't any difference between human urine and cat urine :dk:.

I would say that if you ARE properly cleaning the areas your cat (or cats) is peeing, that you simply wouldn't be smelling the strong ammonia smell, period.     It seems to me that if YOU can still smell the strong ammonia smell, then that means there is still urine soiled areas throughout your home (or wherever it is that your cat frequenly pees) and that being the case, your cat will of course continue to pee in these areas.   The fact that you are concerned about whether the ammonia smell/levels are such that you're worried they could be impacting your health, that says to me (and I mean no disrespect) that you're not effectively cleaning the urine soiled areas.    If urine soiled areas are properly cleaned with the proper enzymatic cleaners, there should be NO ammonia smell remaining to those areas.....period.

Are the areas your cat is peeing carpeted areas?  If so, a person needs to thoroughly clean the UNDERLAY as well as the carpet....and in lots of cases, the urine soaks right through the carpet AND underlay and soaks into the actual wooden subfloor so in extreme cases like this, not only do the carpet and underlay have to be removed, so does the wood subfloor.  

If I were you, if you haven't already, I would buy (pet supply stores sell them) a Black Light and go over your entire home, even beneath carpets, to check for areas that illuminate thereby indicating the presence of urine.