Dog Food Secrets

Cat urine. One of the less appealing odors one can ever have in the house… And trying to get cat urine out of carpet is for some people in the same category as having a root canal.Yes, it is distressing and it is easy to get angry with the cat. Who wants a smelly house?

Cat urine can be a challenge to remove,the key is to use the proper cleaners. When the urine is allowed to dry into the rug it forms strong chemical bonds with the material of the carpet.

Not only do amino acids bind with the carpet, so do salts. Salts cause a bond with an ionic charge that is increasingly difficult to dissolve the longer the urine has been on the carpet. Steam cleaning, or home made cleaners will not dissolve these strong bonds, actually steam cleaning the carpet may make the problem worse.

Some cleaners available at the store are nothing but “odor maskers”. Other products attempt to absorb the foul smell.

These products, along with the home made remedies, may have short term results, but in order to completely eliminate the odor, (and to not encourage your cat to soil in the same place) every trace of the urine needs to be removed by cleaners that can undo the strong bonds between the fibers of your rug and the urine.

So, you have a wet spot, what do you do first?

1. Remove as much urine you possibly can by using absorbent towels. The spot may have seeped through into the padding of the carpet, so blot a larger area than what is visible. Do not add too much water to the spot, it may make it spread into a larger spot in the padding.

2. Use a cleaner that can be injected into the padding underneath the spot. Inject to cover about half a foot in diameter. Spray the surface of the rug liberally.

3. When using a proper cleaner, that is all you need to do. No rinsing needed. Keep your cat away from the area until it is completely dry which can take a few days.

Remember, even though it may be easy when you are “in the moment”, do not scold your cat. Cats are fastidious about cleanliness and do not want to eliminate where they eat, sleep or play.

Inappropriate urination is a symptom that something is not OK. You may need to investigate what caused your cat to not use the box along with some enticement to use the box again. Not correcting the reason your cat is not going in the box may keep you cleaning your carpets and furniture over and over again.

Cleaning the area properly, eliminating all traces of urine along with understanding the cause, and maybe using an attractant like the very popular Dr Elsey’s Cat Attract, will soon see a kitty using her box and a sweet smelling home.