If your cat isn’t consistently using the litter box, it can be both frustrating and very stinky. While cleaning cat pee is a challenge, cleaning cat poop off your floor also isn’t a fun task. If your cat has diarrhea, it can be just as challenging as urine.
Ask me how I know that.
If you have cat poop on the floor, don’t panic! I’ll go over what to do to get your home clean and smelling fresh again.
Start With A Veterinarian Visit
This isn’t directly related to cleaning cat poop, but it’s important: get to your veterinarian if the behavior happens regularly, happens suddenly, or you notice any changes in your cat’s poop. Changes to look for include:
- Smell
- Consistency
- Color
If your cat has a communicable disease, you may need to do more involved cleaning or use a special cleaner. Addressing underlying causes of your cat not using the litter box is also important, especially because pooping outside the litter box is often medical. This prevents the need to continuously clean poop.
Address Behavioral Causes
If your veterinarian can’t find a medical cause, it’s possible it could be a behavioral issue. It could also be a medical issue and a behavioral issue. Ensure you’re using a litter box your cat likes, a litter that is soft and comfortable to walk on, and that it’s easy for your cat to get to the litter box (and get in the litter box). Once again, address the underlying cause so you spend less time cleaning.
Get The Right Cleaner
Not all cleaners will really take care of pet odors so make sure you are using the correct odor eliminator. Poop is somewhat easier to clean compared to cat urine, but you still want to pick a cleaner that really tackles the odor. An enzymatic cleaner can also be used for urine and vomit so it’s a great choice. A few good enzymatic cleaners include Rocco and Roxie, Active, Angry Orange, and Anti-Icky Poo.
An oxy based cleaner or general purpose pet cleaner might be okay for cleaning cat poop so if you have something on hand already, you can use it to at least start the process.
Before using any new cleaner, especially if the surface you need to use it on is something valuable or sentimental, test a small patch in a not easily seen location to ensure the cleaner doesn’t damage your property. If it does, probably a good choice to try something different!
Pick It Up
For solid cat poop, cleaning cat poop is mercifully just picking it up and removing the remaining residue. Use a disposable paper towel so you can just toss it and consider wearing gloves. Even if the poop looks dry, looks can be deceiving. In case the poop is a bit juicier than anticipated (I am so sorry for that mental image) this will prevent accidental contact with the waste.
You can consider using the scooper you use for your litter box as well. If you have mobility challenges, a long scooper or claw scooper are a great options to keep on hand. Pooper scoopers for dogs are a good investment if this is happening regularly, though you really should be trying to figure out why it’s happening so it doesn’t continue.
Apply The Cleaner
After the poop is removed from the area, apply the cleaner to the area even if you think you got all the poop. Even dry poop can have microscopic pieces that fall off or stick to objects and ewwwwww! Get rid of that shit (literally). Follow the directions on the bottle for how long to leave it. Generally, you probably don’t want to use water to pretreat the area if it’s a porous surface (think fabric or rugs) as it may turn solid particles in a liquid without have the sanitizing and odor destroying benefits of the cleaner.
After the cleaner has had a chance to do its magic, blot it up using an inward, circular motion. Think like a whirlpool circling around a drain. This prevents any of the poop that may have been liquified by the cleaner from spreading outward and making a bigger mess.
Repeat If Needed
If you can still see discoloration after cleaning, you probably need to do another round of cleaning. Repeat, ideally letting the cleaner sit a bit longer. You might need to try a cleaner that is specific to pet stains or a heavy duty pet stain cleaner, too.
If you really struggle to get the cat poop stains out, the solution depends on the surface the stains are on:
- Reupholster furniture
- Cover the stained area with a rug or furniture protector
- Replace the item
- In the case of flooring or carpet, consider if you need to replace the flooring or hire a professional cleaner
Diarrhea Is Challenging
Cleaning cat poop is pretty easy, right? Not so fast. Solid cat poop can be easy, but diarrhea… Yikes. Because diarrhea is liquid (or liquid-ish), it is more likely to soak into fabric items. It can damage wood or other surfaces more easy, too.
The key to cleaning up diarrhea is to get to it quickly. If you can prevent the diarrhea from soaking in, you’ll minimize staining. Ideally while it is fresh, apply a pet waste cleaner to the diarrhea per the instructions on the bottle. A wet vacuum is a great tool to use at this point if the diarrhea is on carpet or another large item. If it’s on something you can launder easily, add a pet stain laundry detergent to the wash and quickly get the laundry going.
Personally, I’d wash it separately from other laundry to avoid risking the cat poop from getting into your other laundry.
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
Similar to the suggestions for cleaning solid cat poop, repeat if the stain and/or stink isn’t completely gone. Consider soaking the item longer or trying a different cleaner. When in doubt, replace the item either partially or fully.
One Thing To Avoid
An important thing to avoid: steam or heat. These can set stains so they’re not a great tool to clean cat poop out of carpet, clothing, or other items that you haven’t fully removed the poop from. If you do need to steam something to sanitize or disinfect, wait until the fabric isn’t discolored.
Prevent Cat Poop Stains
For some cats, you might anticipate they will not always make it to the litter box. This might be while you are working with someone to fix the problem or because your cat has a medical condition that occasionally leads to diarrhea or pooping outside the litter box.
In these cases, a few solutions to make your life easier:
- Skip using tinfoil or other deterrents. These will only cause your cat to be stressed out and will just lead to them pooping somewhere else that likely isn’t the litter box. In other words, you’ll have more cleaning to do.
- Cover furniture where your cat is pooping with a waterproof cover, waterproof blanket, or reusable puppy pad for easy clean up. This prevents diarrhea from getting through if your cat has liquid poop.
- Use a water proof, machine washable rug on your floors to prevent stains from soaking damaging your home. These are easily cleaned so less stress for you!
- In some cases, not allowing your cat to have access to certain parts of the home while they are not feeling well is a good temporary solution.
Cleaning Cat Poop Doesn’t Need To Be A Challenge
The challenge of cleaning cat poop (especially diarrhea) can be as tough as cleaning cat pee. You’ll see better results if you know what you’re doing, clean early, and use the right cleaning products. For those who frequently need to clean cat poop, protecting your home and possessions without worsening the problem can help.
The most important step, though, is fixing the underlying issue. Make sure your veterinarian examines your cat and, if a medical explanation can’t be found, it’s time to set up a session with a behavior consultant to figure out why your cat is pooping outside the litter box.
