Stef Rigby asked:
There are some nasty smells in the world and topping the list would have to be cat urine odor. Really I don’t think there’s much worse than visiting a friend and not being able to enter their house for the foul smell of cat urine, the odor meets you at the door and hits you hard. The stench is in the carpet, the furniture, it’s in the curtains, and it’s up your nose. Someone should really tell this person how to remove cat urine odor.
Cats are creatures of habit. When they find a place to urinate they will return to that same place and continue to urinate there – the fact that it may be your carpet, furniture or curtains really has no relevance to your cat at all. Once your cat finds a place to urinate it is drawn by the smell of its own urine back to that same spot time and again. Cats like the smell of their own urine, they have marked their territory and they’re happy with that.
To stop your cat urinating in the same place you need to remove the smell of cat urine completely, not mask or hide the smell, as it will just come back and so will your cat. It really is simple once you know how and which products to use and more importantly which products not to use. You may think you need a professional remedy for cat urine – but you don’t! You don’t need a cupboard full of cat urine cleaners either. You just need a tried and tested cat urine cleaner
So let’s learn how to get rid of the smell of cat urine.
First We Should Understand the Problem…
• Cats are not big drinkers so the urine is concentrated and very potent and gives the strong cat urine odor.
• Cat urine is made up of several different bacteria strains.
• Urea and Urochrome cause the stains, which can sometimes be invisible.
• Uric acid salts cause the odor by bonding to surfaces.
• Cat urine dries on the carpet and the uric acid forms crystals in the underlay padding. The Crystals are the source of that strong ammonia smelling odor and are also the reason puss returns to that “special place”.
• Cat urine crystals are the hardest part to remove.
• Most household cat urine removers contain ammonia so they are going to make the problem worse not better, your cat will be even more attracted to that same spot to urinate as puss thinks it smells wonderful.
• We need to use a cleaner that will break down the crystals so we can get rid of the cat urine odor.
• Water only spreads the stain and will reactivate the uric acid crystals, reviving old stains and smells.
• Normal cleaners, if they don’t soak the area with ammonia, will mask the odor of cat urine for a short time, but it always returns and so will your cat!
• We need to remove both the stain AND the odor.
How to Clean Cat Urine…
• Soak up the excess cat urine from the area as soon as possible.
• Use a dry cloth or paper towel (I like to use old towels as they are absorbent by nature) – do not wet the area or the urine will spread.
• Blot the area – don’t scrub the carpet – it’s kind of like when you get an ink stain on your clothes, and you scrub it. Does the ink come out or does it spread? Cat urine works the same way in your carpet as the ink. (By the way to get ink out, don’t wet the area or it will set the ink – instead soak it in a bowl of milk – yes I said MILK – and then scrub from the outside of the stain in towards the center, a nail brush is good for this! I just thought I would throw in that tip for you – it comes in very handy when you have kids.)
• Hold the cloth or paper towel over the spot for a while – I find standing on an old towel will absorb a good amount of the cat’s urine quite well.
• Let your cleaning solution soak into the area, again use a dry towel, put it over the urine stain and put some weight on the towel. Put something heavy over the towel and leave it overnight.
• The main objective here is to be eliminating cat urine stains permanently so your cat won’t be tempted back to this spot again.
• You really need to keep your cat away from this area until all trace of the urine odor has gone.
• If your cat keeps going back place some foil over the patch until the smell of the urine has gone.
• You may need to repeat this process until all trace of the urine odor and stains have gone.
What not to use. These are not effective Cat Urine Cleaners…
• Ammonia Might – remove the stains, but it smells too much like cat urine so puss will just keep coming back to the same spot to urinate again and again.
• Water -If used by itself can spread the urine and makes the problem area so much bigger
• Citrus based products – Only masks the smell – doesn’t get rid of it permanently
• Liquid soap – Just doesn’t work – at all
• Bleach – Which smells worse – bleach or cat urine – I think it’s a draw! Plus bleach tends to fade carpet, furniture and curtains
• Carpet shampooing – Only cleans the surface, wont soak down into the underlay padding where the urine crystals are
• Hydrogen peroxide – Only removes the urine odor temporarily – the smell soon returns
• Oxygenated products – Only works on the surface, doesn’t remove the smell from deep down and can cause fading or discoloration in your carpet, furniture and curtains
What to use. How to Choose a Cat Urine Remover…
There are many cat urine cleaners on the market. You’ve probably tried some of them while trying to find how to clean cat urine, and possibly found they don’t work. Why?
The bacterium in cat urine can be very hard to kill, and until you kill the bacterium you won’t be removing an odor. You need an enzymes to remove cat urine. Get rid of the bacteria and you’re one step closer to getting rid of cat urine smell.
There is no big secret on how to select a cat urine remover. You need natural cat urine cleaners. Using a combination of products found in your home. Once you use an all natural cat urine remover, you’ll wonder why didn’t try it sooner.
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