Do Cats Ruin Hardwood Floors – Tips To Protect Your Floor

Apartment owners know the struggle best. When looking for apartments, you see that so many do not allow pets, even small cats, because cats ruin hardwood floors. If you’re also looking to adopt a cat when you settle into your new place, you may find yourself wondering this: do cats ruin hardwood floors?

Cats generally do not ruin hardwood floors. However, cats with sharp nails who scratch aggressively and leave urine stains may eventually ruin hardwood floors. Hardwood floors may show wear faster than in an animal-free household.

Cats and hardwood floors have the opportunity to be a perfect disaster if you are not careful. Between nails and pee, your hardwood floors could quickly show wear and tear. But never fear! Just read this article to learn how to protect your hardwood floors before your cat can ruin them. 

Do Cats Damage Floorboards

Cats do damage floorboards.

This is not to say that every cat will damage floorboards, but the opportunity is always there.

Cats love to sharpen their claws. Even when your cat has a scratching post that he loves, he may scratch his nails on other things: the couch, the walls, and even the floorboards.

If your cat does scratch the floorboards, you will most likely find that he favors certain parts of the floors.

Your cat won’t scratch the floors in the middle of the room. Instead, he may like to scratch his nails in the corner or in a place where the floorboards don’t sit completely flat. 

Smaller spots are easier to cover or fix than scratches across your whole floor, but it is still damage that could quickly become costly. 

Will Cats Damage Hardwood Floors

Your cat probably won’t damage your hardwood floors on purpose, but your cat’s nails could damage hardwood floors.

Let’s think about one difference between cats and dogs—picture nails on a cat and dog.

Most dogs have thick nails. Thick nails can indeed damage hardwood floors too (perhaps at times faster than cats), but cats have razor-sharp, thin nails.

Your cat’s daily walking around the house has the opportunity to damage hardwood floors, but not in the way you might expect.

A dog’s nails may leave thick, long strokes across the floorboards.

On the other hand, Cats will have smaller, thinner scratch marks across the floor. You might not even notice these scratches unless the light hits it just right or if you go to wash your hardwood floors. 

How Do You Stop Cats From Scratching Hardwood Floors

If you see your cat scratching hardwood floors, it is imperative that you stop the behavior as soon as possible. 

Active scratching is easier to solve than normal wear and tear on your hardwood floors when you have a cat.

When you see your cat scratching hardwood floors, you need to redirect your cat and stop him from scratching the floors.

Here are some ways that you can stop your cat’s scratching:

• Play with your cat. The scratching may be because he’s bored.
• Put something where your cat is scratching. He won’t be able to reach the area anymore.
• Use a spray that deters him. Scratching won’t be fun if he doesn’t like the smell of the area.
• Use sticky tape. Your cat’s claws will stick to it, which means he won’t want to scratch. 

How Do You Protect Hardwood Floors From Pets

There are several ways to protect your hardwood floors from pets, but let’s focus on two of the best methods.

Use Carpets

You may not want to cover up your beautiful hardwood floors, but you should think about using carpets in your house.

You do not need to use carpets everywhere.

Consider a carpet in high traffic areas in your house or a carpet runner on your stairs because they are heavily used.

Again, you do not need to hide your floors, but this will stop the wear on the places in your house that you use most.

If your cat has a specific play area, you can also put a carpet or mat down there to avoid direct contact with your hardwood floors. 

Wax Your Floors

Waxing your hardwood floors will add a layer of protection that could save them.

Your hardwood floors need to be cared for, and wax is one of the best ways to keep them beautiful.

Waxing is not something that needs to be done often, but it will bring the shine back to your floors.

Find hardwood floor wax next time you do your shopping and use it as directed. There may even be heavy-duty waxes explicitly designed for households that have animals. 

Waxing your floors may be a little more complicated when you have kids and animals around, but it is an essential step to protecting your hardwood floors. 

Can Cat Urine Ruin Hardwood Floors

Yes, cat urine can ruin hardwood floors.

Cat urine, like dog pee, can do a number on hardwood floors, even if your cat doesn’t have accidents around the house.

Cat pee is still water, which is a nightmare for anyone with hardwood floors.

Cat urine can warp and quickly ruin hardwood floors. When the hardwood floor is wet, it can also splinter or fade.

As I said, your cat doesn’t have to have an accident to ruin the floors. Your cat may overspray in a litter box that is on a hardwood floor. Eventually, this will cause the floorboards to warp.

Additionally, cat urine is different than a dog’s because it has a pungent scent. Cat urine can soak into the floorboards, which will trap the smell. 

How To Protect Hardwood Floors From Cat Urine

Cat urine can do a number on hardwood floors, so you should protect them from it.

Wax and carpets will somewhat help protect your floors from cat urine. 

Carpets can be picked up and washed if your cat has an accident.

Wax will also cause the urine to bead up and not soak into the floorboards. A nice, heavy-duty wax will keep the moisture at bay. 

Repeated accidents will wear down the wax, though, so your problem is not entirely solved. 

If you have a litter box on hardwood floors, you should think about keeping a pee pad under the box to catch any stray urine. 

A pee pad will create another important layer between your cat’s urine and your susceptible hardwood floors. 

I don’t think I need to tell you this, but you should also try to clean up any and all accidents from your cat as soon as possible. Do not let any cat urine sit or soak into your floorboards.