Help! My cat is leaving presents on my treadmill

[BamaTanya]

and is spraying my rolled up yoga mat.

Sigh.

Per the vet's recommendations, we're changing his diet and administering meds.

My questions are:

1. How do I clean the treadmill tread area without doing any damage? (I can wash my yoga mat in the bathtub but it takes forever to dry.)

2. Is there anything I can do to make my workout area less attractive to my cats?

[adawn]

2. Is there anything I can do to make my workout area less attractive to my cats?

I believe many cats have a great aversion to tinfoil. My cat definitely doesn't even like the sound tinfoil makes coming off the roll so I doubt he would step on anything that had tinfoil on it.

Regarding spraying, I had good luck with feliway plug-ins around the house to reduce my senior cat's stress (we had just adopted him and he was returned by another adopter for "spraying" outside the box...though prior adopter had multiple cats so that can add to kitty's stress level depending on the number of litterboxes available for use in the home). So when the shelter adopted him out to me, it was on the promise that he would be an "only child" which was what I was looking for anyway.

After feliway plug-ins, the vet said the next step would have been daily liquid prozac but luckily the passage of time and feliway plug-ins by his litterboxes and in a couple other rooms did the trick since it was a stress-related behavioral thing and not a UTI or an issue with stress over sharing a box with other cats. (He even sprayed right in front of the vet one time in the exam room so it was crystal clear it was stress. Cats get into a certain position to spray vs. just peeing.)

I am also meticulous about keeping the litterbox areas clean to make them as desirable as possible (I have one cat and two large litterboxes). One time in 3 years kitty pooped next to the litterbox and I'm pretty sure it was because it was the one time I didn't scoop the poop from the prior day so he already had a poop and a couple pee clumps in there. Also I keep the litterboxes in relatively "safe" areas of the house (i.e. not in the basement mechanical room with the water softener, well tank hissing, and furnace turning on/off at random...I feel bad that I used to keep my prior cats' litterboxes in the mechanical room since apparently that adds to their stress level). Near doorways is not ideal either apparently. My kitty's favorite is the one in the corner of the living room we never use.

FWIW, I use no covering over the litterbox (I read that cats generally don't like hooded litterboxes) and I use unscented clumping/scoopable litter. This is the litterbox I use from Home Depot (it's a cement mixing tub but a lot of people use it or the even larger version for a litterbox): https://www.homedepot.com/p/Medium-M...6100/301943161

Only $5.75 and makes a perfect litterbox IMO since there aren't any right angle corners. It's a little hard to dump out the litter from every few weeks when I put in fresh stuff but the tray does just barely fit into the opening of a regular tall kitchen garbage bag for dumping purposes.

Sorry to go on about my litterbox stuff.

[cyana]

Perhaps chat, email or call the manufacturer of your treadmill to get their recommendations on what products would be safe and effective to use on your particular treadmill and any strategies for making sure no cleaning products or water get into the motor and cause problems.

adawn had some good suggestions on trouble-shooting potential causes of stress in kitties. It's amazing how things that seem so benign to us can totally freak out our feline companions. I've never used Feliway, but would definitely try it if I had a stressed-out cat. I use the same strategies as far as the litterbox is concerned - fragrance free/scoopable litter, open box, scoop multiple times a day (I work from home, which helps), quiet box location, etc.

adawn - Thanks for the link to the mixing tub. I'll keep that in mind next time I need to purchase a new litter box.

BamaTanya - Keep us posted on how things go. You have lots of fellow sympathetic cat parents here.

[Rivercat]

Oh, I feel your frustration. I had a domineering female tortie who liked to mark things, including somehow peeing horizontally into the tape slot of the VCR in my workout space. She was very much afraid of aluminum foil so when I moved into a new apartment and she got a little too interested in a certain area of the baseboard near my bedroom door, a couple of 6 x 12" strips of foil kept her away.

She was always trying to intimidate my other female, but when it turned into actually attacking her, she was diagnosed with hyperthyroid. The Feliway diffuser was a huge help as well.

[Hazel Porter]

I've used a product that is called (literally) Anti-Icky Poo and it works very well for getting rid of pet odors (which in turn discourages pets from going back to the same spot). The friend who recommended it had a spot where her cat had peed on the hardwood floor and it got that out (she actually called the company and spoke to the owner who gave her recs on how to best use the product).

I would think it would be fine for the treadmill belt but the urine might have soaked through to the bedboard underneath as well, so you might have to treat that too. I agree with the suggestion to call the treadmill manufacturer to see what they recommend as well. As a last resort, both the belt and the bed can be replaced.

There is also a product you can mix in with the litter that helps make the box more attractive to cats. I'm sorry I'm blanking on the name right now.

Our male cat take fluxotine (Prozac) for "inappropriate urination" and it has been a godsend. I was about to surrender him, is marking had become so bad and none of our other modifications worked.

[Pat58]

Originally Posted by Rivercat

Oh, I feel your frustration. I had a domineering female tortie who liked to mark things, including somehow peeing horizontally into the tape slot of the VCR in my workout space. She was very much afraid of aluminum foil so when I moved into a new apartment and she got a little too interested in a certain area of the baseboard near my bedroom door, a couple of 6 x 12" strips of foil kept her away.

She was always trying to intimidate my other female, but when it turned into actually attacking her, she was diagnosed with hyperthyroid. The Feliway diffuser was a huge help as well.

That is a profound talent!