Why are my dogs and/or cats peeing on the bathroom rugs?

Question

I have two doxies and two cats. I know that one of the dogs has peed on every bathroom rug in the house. Yes, they get washed afterwards.

I think one of the cats (male but fixed and new to the family) is doing it too. I think this because cat pee smells worse but I can't be sure.

I have caught none of them.

I have washed the floors with Nature's Miracle. I have treated the rugs, set them out in the sun (kills urine bacteria) then washed them in the machine.

Nothing seems to work.

I keep the bathroom doors closed, but they always manage to get in (we have kids).

Any ideas?

Oh.. I figured the smell might be lingering so I have tried both treating the rugs first AND actually put a new rug in the downstairs bath (where the problem is nearly daily). I washed the floor first (because tile is porous and maybe the smell is in the floor) AND used the Nature's Miracle on the floor!

My bathroom is spotless! No boys peeing on the floor....

Oh.. I figured the smell might be lingering so I have tried both treating the rugs first AND actually put a new rug in the downstairs bath (where the problem is nearly daily). I washed the floor first (because tile is porous and maybe the smell is in the floor) AND used the Nature's Miracle on the floor!

My bathroom is spotless! No boys peeing on the floor....

And they've already peed on the new rug 3 times!

More details:
We have a dog door so the dogs can always go out..and I work from home so they aren't lonely.

I like the onion idea and that's next on my "try" list. I have been spraying the rug with "pet off" spray which smells like cilantro. It worked for two days but today we got a surprise. This time it smells like one of the dogs did it.

I think the repellent to train them all to stay out of the bathroom may do the trick..now if I can just find the right one...sigh..

Answer 1

Possibly marking territory, it is where you and your family go and they may be trying to mark it after smelling yours (very, very strong sense of smell). I don't know if this works or not but leaving an onion slice where they went should work. Onion smells strong enough to convince them a larger dog is doing the marking.

Answer 2

Last year my beautiful Manx cat Theodore went out for the evening and never came back. I love cats and the house didn't feel the same without one, so I picked up Lola from a rescue centre. She was very frightened and would pee all over the house. I found Cat Spraying No More� on the internet and the techniques worked almost immediately. I haven't had a problem with Lola since. Amazing!

Can't stop your cat peeing in the house? Then worry no more...

Answer 3

They know that this is the room you use to pee in, so they figure it is okay. You will probably have to teach the kids to keep the doors closed since you cannot watch all four animals every second of the day and night.

You might want to try just teaching the dogs to stay out of the bathroom entirely...but cats are a different story. They tend to do whatever they want...sneaky little things!

Answer 4

If it is the cat it may have a uti. That causes cats to go outside the box.

Even though you wash the rugs, the pets can still smell the urine. You need to use an enzyme cleaner to remove the odor.

Answer 5

I have a similar problem with my female cat. I have found that if we keep her litter box clean, and scoop out the poo everyday, she wont, but if there is even a tiny bit of poo or pee in there she gets prissy and wont go in there. We also have another female cat, and sometimes they do not like to use the same box, so we have 2 boxes in two separate rooms to keep them from having to use the same one. Foil will keep them off of the areas that you don't want them to go on, they don't like how it feels, and the sound of the foil scares them. If that doesn't work, try talking to your vet, because it may be a sign of something more serious, or he/she can assist you if it turns out to be behavior problems.

Answer 6

maybe one of your animals peed in the soap or it is made when something that has a similar smell to urine to them and they marked their territory. Try using a different soap for the rugs


Or put all the rugs in the litter box. (:

Answer 7

Thanks for answering my question....And for yours...We have a small dog who does the same thing . I think that it could be one or two things. 1) your dog does equate the bathroom as an alternative place to go because of the smell and it may need to go . or 2) the dog HATES to see mama leave off to work or school and is doing that out of anger that you left him/her home to wait for you. After all they are just like little kids ya know.

Answer 8

I know you are washing them, but the dogs and cats can still smell the scent left behind and that is why they keep peeing on it to mark their territory.

Answer 9

If it is an indoor cat it could be that you are not changing its litter tray often enough. We found this with one of ours. Or it could just be marking it's terratory. Suggest you spray the area with essential ORANGE oil diluted in water. Cats hate citrus smells.

Answer 10

if one of the cats is a girl, it could be coming in heat. its kidn of unusual to have them come in heat that often,but not un heard of. my cat, sally, was in heat the day after she got out of heat. try getting the girl fixed.the dogs may just need a place to go. try puttign a litter box there and see what happens. also they could be marking territory.