How to get the smell of cat pee out of carpet?

[wytchywoman]

Hi all,
I have 2 male tabby cats, both neutered. One of them, and I can't tell which, makes a habit of peeing on the carpet in the vicinity of the litter box ( litter box is on a wood floor, carpet is roughly 1 1/2 - 2 feet away from the litter box). I think I solved the problem by covering the area they were peeing on with a small rubbermaid tub. It still stinks to high heaven though. I have tried the arm and hammer baking soda carpet sprinkle for pets but it doesn't do much. Any other suggestions?

[North_Of_60]

I would suggest an enzymatic cleaner. However, I do NOT recommend that you use it per the instructions on the bottle. For example, Natures Miracle says to saturate the carpet and to let dry, but a friend of ours who owns a carpet cleaning company has warned us against this. He really likes enzymatic cleaners for pet messes, but says if you use them gradually from a spray bottle they work better.

He recommends you soak up as much of the original mess as possible. Then spray a light coating of Natures Miracle over the area and beyond, 10 minutes later blot up with a microfiber towel, and repeat in a day or so once the carpet is COMPLETELY dry. He says that mold from saturated wet carpets, even from enzymatic cleaners, is far worse that urine. And can actually make the urine smell worse. Any residual cleaner, after being blotted up, will still penetrate the carpet and help to eliminate odors but will still be light enough to dry completely.

I had a spot on my carpet by the back door that took about a week of doing this, and it's totally fine now.

If you can, pulling the carpet back and letting it dry that way is better. It also allows you get to the under lay and padding, which no doubt have urine in them.

As for peeing outside of the box, for two cats, you really should have two boxes. Otherwise you need to keep them METICULOUS. Cats don't like to shared their boxes. Some do (mine do), but really, the rule of thumb is one box per cat, and in some cases, plus one.

[shesaidboom]

Are they spraying the carpet from inside the box, or are they just going outside the box? Our cat was doing the former. She'd stick her butt outside of the box while she sat inside and did her business on the floor. What really helped was changing the litter box. We got this. It is HUGE and has a lip around the entrance so even when she'd stick her butt out the entrance the lip would catch all the urine. If they're just going outside the box, this obviously wouldn't help you though!

A vinegar and warm water solution is a good cleaner to use on pet stains because the vinegar breaks down the enzymes in the urine so it will no longer smell. It works well for us. If the stain is still wet when you find it, it's best to soak up as much of the urine as you can with a cloth and then use the vinegar solution. We had a spot bot that worked very well on pet stains, but I could not stand using the chemicals.

[wytchywoman]

Thanks for responding. They are actually peeing outside the box. They are close to it, only a few feet away, but it's not something they can do accidentally. One of them also has a bad habit of peeing in the bath tub, but at least with that all I have to do is turn the water on and rinse it. I think I may try the separate litter boxes. I'm not sure that's what's going on, because I've caught the one peeing in the tub shortly after I've cleaned out the litter box ( which happens at least 3-4 times a day) but it's worth a shot.
I have sprayed the warm vinegar water on it, but the carpet is so saturated with pee I'm not convinced it's going to do any good. I will try to find the enzymatic cleaner and use it over a period of time to see if that helps.
Thanks ladies!!!!

[mattemma04]

I second the enzymes. Can you replace the carpet with linolium(sp),or with carpet squares? I have found wood really soaks up the pee,so I want to protect mine if I ever let animals back in the house.All our cats and dogs got booted out due to inappropriate voiding. For litter boxes we now use the plastic rubbermaid totes. High and big. I have 2-3 totes for the 3 cats in their new garage side room.

Yes,the peeing in the tub is nice.I would rather deal with that than the carpet pee.