If your cat is healthy, you probably don’t think much about their pee, other than when the litter box needs changing. But your cat’s urine can actually tell you a lot about their health, including showing signs of infection or a medical condition like urinary stones or cancer.
In this article we cover all things cat pee and answer some common questions pet parents have about their cat’s urine, including the very popular how to get rid of cat pee smell. First, let’s go over some facts about cat urine.
What Does Cat Pee Smell Like?
If your cat pees in the house, there’s no doubt what the pungent smell is. What causes cat urine to be soooo smelly compared to dog urine?
Normal cat urine is mostly water (about 95%), but it also contains the natural waste products of protein breakdown that contribute to its distinctive, acidic smell. Urea in the urine is broken down into ammonia by bacteria in the environment, which is why it’s important to scoop your cat’s litter box daily to avoid a strong ammonia stench coming from the box. Cats tend to have more concentrated urine than dogs, which contributes to the stronger smelling urine. But that’s not the only difference.
Pee from Male Cats Is the Worst!
Another reason cat urine smells different to dog urine is the felinine factor. Felinine is a sulfur-containing amino acid that is only found in the urine of domestic cats and their close relatives (e.g., bobcats and lynx). You can’t actually smell felinine (it’s odorless) but it’s highly volatile and readily breaks down into stinky compounds. Unneutered male cats have much higher concentrations of felinine which, along with testosterone, typically makes their pee the stinkiest.
When the Urine Smell Is Different
You probably try to avoid smelling your cat’s pee, but it’s important to pay attention (particularly if they also went outside the litter box) because a change in smell could be due to a problem with your cat’s health. An abnormal urine odor could be from an infection, cystitis, dehydration or diabetes. So it’s a good idea to contact your veterinarian if your cat’s urine smells different than usual.
What Color Should Cat Pee Be?
Normal urine from a healthy cat is a light yellow to amber color. A red color may indicate blood in the urine, and orange urine may be caused by bilirubin (a possible sign of liver disease). The urine should be clear to slightly cloudy. It will appear cloudy or turbid if it contains cells, urinary crystals or bacteria. Cat urine doesn’t contain bacteria unless your cat has an infection.
What is a Normal Cat Pee Clump Size?
If you’re using clumping litter, you should see pee clumps that range from golf ball to tennis ball size. Again, this depends on your cat’s water consumption and their health. If you notice that the cat litter clumps have changed size or the number of clumps has increased or decreased, contact your vet.
How Often Should Cats Pee?
A healthy, adult indoor cat will urinate twice a day on average. But the number of times they pee each day can change depending on their water intake, the heat and humidity and the moisture content of their cat food. It’s a good idea to pay attention to your cat’s normal daily urination habits so that any change from normal can be spotted. If your cat urinates less or more than usual, contact your vet, as less or more frequent urination could indicate a health condition such as kidney disease or a bladder infection.
Why Does My Cat Pee Everywhere?
If your cat is peeing outside the litter box, you may want to take them for a checkup as inappropriate urination can be a sign of illness. Other reasons adult cats pee everywhere but the litter box include:
- A dirty cat litter tray – daily scooping is recommended
- Not enough litter boxes for multiple cats – one per cat plus one is ideal
- Stress – ensure their environmental needs are met
Help Your Cat Avoid a Urinary Tract Infection or Other Urinary Problems
If your cat has had urinary issues, the goal is to minimize stress and reduce the severity and frequency of these episodes. Here are nine ways to help support urinary health and keep your cat peeing inside the litter box.
- Increase water intake to help dilute urine and flush out toxins — Providing easy access to fresh water (like fountains) and feeding wet food or adding water to food can make a significant difference to your cat’s urinary health.
- Keep your cat at a healthy weight — Overweight cats are more likely to experience feline idiopathic cystitis.
- Provide a sanctuary — Cats need a quiet place where they can escape like elevated nooks, shelves or cat trees.
- Make sure there are plenty of resources — Cats in multi-pet households can compete for resources such as food bowls, water stations, cat litter boxes and resting places, which can create stress.
- Provide environmental enrichment to prevent boredom — Provide opportunities to climb, scratch, play and interact. Food puzzles can engage your cat’s mind and promote exercise.
- Let your cat express their natural prey drive — Use toys (e.g., feather wands or wind-up mice) that bring out the predator in your cat. Split your cat’s meal up into small portions and hide it around the house, so they have to “hunt” for it. Make a perch near a window so they can watch birds and squirrels in the yard.
- Feed a diet that promotes urinary tract health — Ideally, your cat’s diet should help produce dilute urine with a neutral pH.
- Provide daily, one-on-one human interaction — Cats are creatures of habit, and they prefer routine, consistent interactions rather than unpredictable schedules. Take time to love on your cat each day.
- Tend to the litter box — Make sure you have one litter box for every cat in the household, plus one more. Place boxes in easy-to-access but low traffic areas. The cat litter should be scooped at least once a day.
How to Clean Up Cat Pee That’s Outside the Litter Box
The first and best thing to do is clean up the cat pee as soon as you see (or smell) it. The stain will be harder to remove and the smell will become more concentrated the longer the urine is there. Also, most cats will continue to use that spot if they can still smell urine there. So if you see it, clean it.
The Ohio State University Indoor Pet Initiative has some great tips on getting different floor surfaces clean and making sure your cat doesn’t start a new habit. Here’s a summary of OSU’s cleaning tips.
Carpet: Blot the area with paper towels, then stand on a towel or stack of paper towels to continue soaking it up. Use a carpet cleaner or a few drops of dish detergent and water to saturate the area, and let it sit for one or two hours. Rinse by gently blotting and using a sponge with tap water, then soak the area with club soda for 10 minutes. Blot with paper towel again, then use a pile of paper towels or a towel weighed down with something heavy overnight. Finally, spray the area with an enzymatic cleaner — don’t use ammonia or ammonia-based products as this may attract your cat to the area and they may do it again.
Linoleum: Wipe up the urine with a paper towel or a mop soaked in soapy water. Rinse with warm water, then wipe with a sponge moistened with white vinegar and let the floor air dry.
Hardwood: Blot the urine, then use an enzymatic cleaner (that’s safe for hardwood floors). If the stain/smell stays, you may need to sand, bleach and refinish the floor.
Laundry: Wash using one cup of white vinegar only then run the washing machine again with detergent.
Minimizing stress and enriching your cat’s environment will promote healthy urine and help stop your cat from peeing outside their litter box. And that should make you and your kitty very happy!
