What will really get cat urine odor out?

[annekevdbroek]

I am working on the issues as to WHY the cats are peeing where they are. (And they seemed to have stopped for the time being.)

However, the entire house stinks. BAD. Very bad. I've cleaned all the pee spots (three main spots) with the steam cleaner and then enzymatic deorderizers. It still smells. My hosue is very clean and I am at this point embarassed to have anyone over. It smells so bad. I am pretty sure i've found all the pee spots (there really only seemed to be three spots that were being used).

What else can I do? I am at the point of having to replace $2000 worth of carpet and a wool area rug. I think the rug is giong to have to go in the trash. It is quite new but I can't seem to make any progress on the odor.

Will a professional carpet cleaner be able to do more than I am able to with a Rug Doctor? Are there any other products to try?

[bumblecat]

I think you might want to get a black light and do a search around the house with that to see if you are missing any spots. I have one that I do a check with regularly and it shows where the pee is on most surfaces. Some wood surfaces it doesn't show very well on but it will show on any type of fabric in my experience.

I have never tried to have a professional clean it out of anything so I don't know if they would be able to do better than you. I'm sorry you're dealing with this - so am I!

[midnightmommy]

I have always read and after doing it once myself I have to agree that using a steam cleaner is a bad idea. It makes the smell worse. Clean with ezyme cleaner only over and over again. Unfortunately, if it's down to the pad the only thing that really works though is replacement. Some places are willing to pull the carpet up, cleaning the padding and then relay the carpet. I don't think I would be willing to spend the money and then not have it work and have to replace the carpet anyway.

[annekevdbroek]

Thank you both. I will look for a black light. My plan at this point is to take both cats to the vet (though I'm pretty sure this is behavioral). I changed thier litter on one we were using a while back in hopes that helps. I don't think the litter is the source of the problem though. I am locking them in the room with the litterbox at night. I am going to try another food (since I read that can play a role).

I am pretty sure I know which cat is responsible for this. Might rehome her first if I can find a good home for her. Not sure who wants to adopt a cat with a history fo peeing


The wool area is giong out in heavy trash pick=up, next week is earliest available date. It is already in the garage. Cheaper to throw it away and replace it later then try to clean it.

I am going to pull back the carpets and pad and clean.

Most likely will have to get new carpet though. It is berber and from what i've heard that style is resistant to cleaning - it holds too much liquid or something.

I don't know how to clean the wood floor under the area rug. It has dark brown spots (3 or 4 of them) from being wet/urinated. They still smell faintly to me. One of the problems I am having is that I've become less sensitive to the smell. Its hard for me to localize it. However, I have a friend visitin and she told me, bless her, that it is REALLY BAD - and I thank her for it because everyone else is like "oh, its ok"

[springbabes]

Have you tried putting the area rug in the sun for awhile? I have a cat that loves to pee on blankets (and in laundry baskets) and hanging them on the clothes line to dry works wonders for getting the smell out.

[luv-my-boys]

There is a product called Nature's Miracle, it is available at most pet chain stores like petsmart/petco. I have even seen it at walmart (its in a white bottle with red lettering) I would suggest getting a black light as well and literally search all rooms/everywhere even under furniture. If the carpet is a darker color while you are in the dark you can use a piece of chalk to mark the places soiled or use something like a sticky note.

The instructions on nature's miracle are pretty straightforward. You literally soak the entire area and let air dry which may take a few hrs to days depending on the size of the spot. Our vet suggested we use a syringe to get the mixture thru the padding and all the way thru the carpet. If you can pull the carpet back and clean the subfloor that needs to be done (however, if its damaged wood underneath it would eventually need to be fixed if its rotted due to the moisture) If there is a fresh area the cat urinated on make sure you soak up as much as possible and use a carpet cleaner (just water no soap) to suction up as much as possible out of the carpet.

[Carlin]

I've actually found that soaking the pee spot in vinegar works really well. Better than any of the enzyme cleaners actually. But, we also just ripped out a bunch of carpet as the urine was in the underlay and subfloor, so we had to remove it all, bleach the subfloor and paint it with sealant paint.

[annekevdbroek]

Off to petsmart for different food and nature's miracle. A very very generous and kind hearted friend is giving me new carpet for my 40th birthday. So, I just need to stop the problme and clean and it should be good. I'm so happy about the carpet.

Off to Home Depot to place my order (10% off too )

Thank you all. I am going to try to spot refinish the area on the wood floors and leave no rug there for the next 6 months or so.