C. S. wrote:
My husband and bought a 20 year old townhome a month ago--our first
house. Worried that one of my less well trained cats would start
marking his new territory, I bought a black light and checked all
corners a few days ago to see if my fears materialized.

My cat was exonerated. However, the old wallpaper around one of the
toilets had evidence of a human marking their territory (or missing
the target) on many occasions.

There is probably not a toilet on the planet that doesn't have dried
urine that seeped under it. Not a big deal, IMO. I would change the
wallpaper, but only because I don't like urine on my wallpaper.

Unless a human has an infection, urine is considered sterile.


Do I have to replace the wallpaper (it superficially looks fine, so I
would rather not bother), or is there a way of sanitizing/cleaning the
wallpaper? The thought of invisible bacteria hiding in the wallpaper
grosses me out and worries me since I have my first child on the way
in January.

Wipe it down with soapy water with some bleach in it. You won't be
breathing anything worse than you do when you empty the (yuck) cat box,
which can spread disease. I convinced hubby to get an exterminator by
telling him how roaches run though the cat box, snack on contents, and
then run across the dishes in the kitchen cupboard. Yes, they really do
do that. His cat would not have survived as long as it did if he had
not stopped walking on my kitchen counters and dining room table. Sweet
cat, and very trainable. Didn't like to be scolded.

Did you know people have mites living in their eyelashes? You inhale
bug parts when you sleep? Max. allowable rodent parts in a sack of flour?