Hi, I’m Dr. Karyn! Read my introduction to learn more about me and meet my five funny cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.
Living with five dogs and five cats involves a fair amount of cleaning, and my husband and I are especially proud of the fact that people are often surprised when they find out how many pets we have. That comes from a combination of housework, lack of human children, and maintaining a (relatively) stress-free household (when it comes to animals, at least!).
Aside from the obvious overload of pet hair, a big factor that will influence the type of olfactory impression your home makes is pheromone levels. More specifically, cat pee. One of the most common complaints from multicat households is inappropriate urination, due to spraying and territory marking or cats urinating outside the litter box as a result of stress-induced cystitis. As a general rule, cats living together will try to avoid physical attacks, favoring more subtle methods of chemical warfare. Cats also don’t like to release when they feel threatened or distressed, so the pressures of this type of conflict flow through the bladder wall.
What does this have to do with home improvement? Well, not to brag (and I know I’m tempting fate by writing this), but in a small house with five unrelated cats, we’ve never had a case of cystitis or territorial urination. And I think it’s largely due to some of the little home improvements we’ve made over the years. True, not all of them are small things, like a cat cage, for example, but they are mostly cheap and easy to implement changes and additions that almost everyone can do.
Height and Concealment Areas
One thing that will stress your indoor cat more is feeling like they can’t get away, from each other, from people, or, in our case, from dogs. We have lots of different shelves, cupboards, and scratching posts that our cats can use to get out of the way, and we allow them on our kitchen countertops — unless we’re cooking, of course.
We have beds placed in various places, including my wardrobe, on the window sills, and in the catio, so there are always plenty of quiet spots for making biscuits or having a quick snooze. The cats are lucky that the Wife is pretty handy (being the owner of a handyman business!) and built a brilliant outdoor enclosure for them, with artificial grass, shelves, and a secret entrance at home, located behind the sofa. It’s fun watching the Chihuahuas, Ned and Fred, trying to figure out where cats come from!
Place for Claws and Head Rubs
If you live with cats, expect your carpet and furniture to take some damage, because it’s unrealistic to think otherwise. Some feel that keeping their soft furnishings is enough to justify the destruction of their pets, but declawing is not something any cat should have to endure. By providing alternative scratching surfaces of different types, textures, heights, and locations, you can hope to minimize this damage.
These wall posts are my favorite; they are cheap and unobtrusive, and our cats absolutely love them. We have several of these placed around the house so the cats have lots of different places to scratch, and they all show signs of a lot of use.
Another pitfall of having multiple cats is the greasy marks that tend to accumulate on the sides of walls and door frames, where our cats love to rub their heads. They do this because it feels good and allows them to leave a little pheromone calling card. Again, it’s not something we can stop, but by installing some of these little door frame brushes, we’ve been able to provide a more attractive option that cats really love to use.
Dog Free Zones
We are incredibly lucky that, in general, there is little conflict between cats and dogs, but Kodah, our Malinois x Shepherd, likes to chase them every now and then. It’s important that cats have a place where they know they won’t be disturbed by any canine interference, which is why my office doubles as the ‘cat room’ (or maybe it’s the cat’s room that doubles as my office).
We installed a baby gate, another really cheap item (especially if you can pick one up from the FB Marketplace!) that allows the cats to have a completely dog-free space, with the freedom to come and go as they please . please
Since Kodah still likes to use her crate as her chillout zone, we occasionally lock her in to give the cats some time without herders around the house.
Pheromones and Cleaning
Another important (and affordable) part of keeping our home smelling good is using the right cleaners. Since we allow cats on the countertops, we always keep a strong antibacterial cleaner under the sink, one strong enough to keep things clean but also safe for use around pets. Two other items we try not to run out of are Febreze pet odor eliminator and an enzymatic cleaner like Hepper’s Bio-Enzyme Stain & Odor Remover. One of the biggest mistakes pet owners make is using a regular detergent to clean up pet mess, which often just masks the smell. If you are dealing with any kind of pet odor, especially around litter boxes, or if you have a Chihuahua that has proven to be very difficult to toilet train, you need to use an enzymatic cleaner that will really break down the particles. This will prevent your pet from feeling the urge to use the same area and help prevent pet odors from building up over time.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like an infomercial!
Having a house full of pets can be wonderful, but it can also be difficult. If you share your home with cats, take some time to see your home through their eyes. Are there places to hide and jump? Do they have plenty of places to scratch their nails, or are they expected to find a cat tree? Do they have a place where they can be away from people, children, dogs, or other cats?
And if you’re worried about your home smelling bad, I recommend investing in a few bottles of enzymatic cleaner to give the place a thorough deodorization. Your nose, and your guests, will thank me.
This article is part of a series by Dr. Karyn with her five funny cats.
