With tile you have to seal the grout or the urine could get into the grount.
Generally people only seal outdoor tile, not indoor but ask for it.  With wood
laminate any type of fluid will damage it. It will warp, buckle, discolor. Then
you have to cut a section out and repair it and it never looks as good. Real
wood can sometimes warp a little if it gets wet. Linoleum does well. If you get
carpet, get regular medium pile. Low pile shows stains, berber can get shaggy
because of their claws and it shows stains.

Im not sure exactly what the stuff i have is called, it looks like fake
tile, but is like plastic, with no seams, and at urine, puke etc, doesn't
damage it at all.

Just curious, have you determined why your cats claw and pee
inappropriately?

Changing the flooring won't resolve the issue.

Have you spent any time with your cats when it comes to clawing? Have they
seen by a vet in attempt to determine why they pee on the floor? If not, it
might behove you to do so.

I have hardwood floors - oak, but installing that now would be mega pricey
(this house was built in '20, so I lucked out in that regard).  The cats
don't even begin to make any impression in any way on the hardwood, though.
Granted, no peeing probs here, but the sealant would probably pretty much
take care of that if there were, I assume.  Have no clue if Pergo - or
similar - would work as well, re: cats.  (Otoh, if a salesman says cat urine
would wreck it, then it most likely would - considering they're out to make
a sale, not prevent a sale!)

Cathy

Cats are a consideration, of course, but your own health is too. Get rid
of the carpets. They collect dirt, dander, pollens, cigarette tars,
molds, and anything harmful to your lungs. The trouble is, the harm is
pernicious. You're not aware of it, and it doesn't show up for years.
There isn't a lung doctor I've been to who isn't relieved when I tell
him we replaced all our carpeting with tile.

By the same token, these lung irritants may be harmful to your pets. I'm
not sure of that because I've only just begun keeping a cat, so I'm not
up on it.

--
Dick

-> Hello,
->
-> Do you all have opinions on types of flooring that work well with cats?  My
-> carpet is wearing out (it's old anyway), and I would like to replace it with
-> something different that my cats won't harm (either by clawing or peeing).
-> Obviously, tile would be a practical solution but it's cold in winter.
-> Linoleum appearance has improved a lot so that could be a choice, but I'm
-> not sure I would like it.  I really love the way the laminants look
-> (imitation hardwood) like Pergo, but a salesman at Lowe's discouraged me
-> from installing it if I have cats.  He said cat urine would ruin it.
->
-> Anyway, what are your experiences with different types of flooring?  Has
-> anyone had good luck with laminants?

No experience to relate, but I have been thinking a lot about
floor coverings and pets lately. I've pretty much decided on
vinyl floor covering with area carpets. The vinyl will withstand
the damage you mention while the area carpets, if damaged too
severly, can be replaced.

(I will get vinyl that looks like wood or stone so that it looks
good in the bedrooms and living room. And people will have to look
closely to see that it's not real wood or stone.)

I have a pergo floor in my upstairs hallway.  It gets plenty of
hairball action and has not been affected.  This floor has not been
peed on,but my hardwood floor has.  No problem if you wipe it up
quickly.  But, if you wait or just don't know it was there, it can
mess up the floor pretty badly.

Parents have it (Prego).  It is very nosiy in that you can hear a dog or cat
walk on it from another room.  Sort of like a snare drum with their nails.

The dogs they had never did damage to the floor other than shedding but a
Swifter took quick care of that.  As they passed on, they replaced their
dogs with a supposedly lower-maintenance (?!?) pair of kittens.  They
managed to wet the corners and the particle board beneath the laminate
swelled and buckled the floor around the edges.  The wooden edge molding was
pretty much discolored too.  It may be a water-based glue in the particle
board that was attacked.  They were told "not to wet-mop the floor, only
dust and spot clean it" by the installers.  Seems their kitties had another
idea as to what it should look like....

Still, I wouldn't have it as it was "very" noisey - even without animals!
They installed throw rugs all over the floor to quiet it down too.  It was
installed over some plastic vapor barrier and felt material, but it still
wasn't a quiet floor.  Nice that it could be Swiftered quickly though.

Mack