OT: Help!!! Need to get cat pee out of carpet!!

[jenk99]

My 8-year old kitty started doing this all over the office in our brand new home last year. We did the nature's Miracle thing-- that took the odor out, but he kept going. Come to find out, he didn't like that he had to step over the wall of the box to get into it. We bought him a puppy litter box that has a low entry ramp-- he can just walk in now. Since then, we haven't had any trouble. They come in several sizes, including a small puppy one that's about the size of a regular cat box.

This is our next line of defense. We are purchasing new boxes and also adding "Cat Attract" Litter to the boxes.

I just want to get the carpet smelling better before we even let him out of our room. Right now we have him confined until we know we have the smell out to the best of our ability. I feel like he will just go back if he smells the pee so I am working really hard to get it out.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, btw. Keep them coming!!

Jen

 

[tiggger1]

depending on the color of your carpet, you can try coffee grounds. my cousin bought a car that smelled like cat urine. we got the black light and found a spot in the back seat that glowed.. called the person she got it from and said that they let their cat sleep in it at night in the garage?! she tried everything and someone told me to try coffee grounds. we poured the grounds over the spot and left it there for 3 days. we vaccumed up the spot and put new grounds down. After doing that for another 3 days the car didnt smell ( well it smelled like coffee but it was better than urine!)

the grounds absorb the smell, thats why you need to change the old grounds for new grounds

 

[muffyn]

Has anyone had any luck with a specific type of carpet cleaner that removes cat pee smell?
Jen

try looking up
odorxit.com

this stuff works pretty good on dog urine.

 

[grumpyvet]

Years ago my 22 year old siamese decided to have a litter pan free lifestyle...I went on a urine odor eliminating odyssey. I used a variety of products....but layered them. Not good. I got rid of the smell and completely bleached out my rental home's carpet. So, be very careful what you mix!!!!! Read the labels...some will recommend you treating with baking soda first if you have tried anything else. I did that, but evidentally not as thoroughly as I should have.
I think I was finally successful in eliminating the smell because I brought home a large syringe and large gauge needle from work and injected the product liberally into the pad. Weird, but I think that is what finally did it!!!
Good luck!!!

I've tried Anti-icky poo, Get the Odor Out, and Nature's Miracle. They all seemed to work the same...you just really need to get the product into the pad!!! Good luck!

 

[lovindonald]

Another vote for Nature's Miracle. We used it when we were training our puppy and she had accident after accident. It worked great!! I think Walmart has it but we got our's at Petco.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

I had a cat that peed where ever he felt I guess he figured he was old so it was hi perogative. We tried just about everythng on this list to no avail. I could get the odor to diminish a great deal (sometimes) but nothing ever completely took it away. Especially on humid days it was bad despite how much I cleaned the areas. We ended up tearing up the carpet and putting down laminate flooring. This was the only thing that got rid of the smell completely. The cat has died now but I will never again have wall to wall carpet ever again. Even regular stains (especially with kids) I found it a hassle to have carpeting . Course I realize that not everyone can tear up the carpeting in their house. We had to save for a long time to do it and our house is small. So it is a bit OT about tearing up the carpet just relating my experinece...

 

[Kate and Pete]

Just an FYI - cat urine and dog urine are two different beasts. Dog urine is relatively easy to clean (Nature's Miracle will do the trick, as will baking soda). However, cat urine has an incredibly high concentration of amonia - hence the reason my vet told me to use bleach water. I swear by it.

 

[GC&S]

And here I thought I was the only one with the cat peeing problem! This is an ongoing battle with one of my cats. We got brand new carpet to replace the old carpet due to the urine smell. Two months later we had to cut a section of the brand new carpet and padding out of the corner of the brand new carpet.

I have tried every product on the market - cheap,expensive (still waiting for my refund money from 5 products with money back guarantees). I'm now using the peroxide, baking soda, dish det. method and it seems to be doing better. Definitely get a black light - it will show you places you might have missed.

My vet and several cat experts told me a couple things. Try moving the litter box; maybe the cat doesn't like the location - too dark, too noisy, etc. Don't change litter brands too often (but make sure and clean the litter box daily), wash the litter box at least once a week. Cats are extremely picky about cleaniness and if their box smells they might not use it. But apparently my cat doesn't mind peeing in a smelly corner . Also, they said specificially not to use bleach because it will actually attract cats. Now I see why my cats love to jump in the bathtub after I've cleaned it with a bleach cleanser.

Good luck - I'm off to clean the corner again!

 

[IDoDis]

OP here: I have tried numerous things and I thought I would post an update.

First of all, my cat has no UTI and his kidney levels are actually improving due to the new rx food. So their recommendation was to put him on an antidepressant. That just cracked me up! Does anyone else find it funny that my cat needs prozac??

Ok here is what I've tried:

I tried the vinegar/water combo and then sprinkled baking soda. Unfortunately that did not work. The smell came back.

The next thing I did was to split the spot into 3 equal parts and I tried 3 different products to see which one works the best. Here is what I found:

Nature's Miracle Orange Oxy Power--I thought this was going to work, but as it dries I can still smell a faint smell of pee coming through.

Petzyme Cleaner--This was the least effective. I still really smell the cat pee smell after trying this. This will definitely be going back.

Simple Solution Odor and Stain Remover--I think this one worked the best. I bought a big jug and I plan to try treating the entire spot with this one as well as some other older spots.

I'll keep you posted. I think I may have found another solution as well. I tried it in the upstairs where he went a few weeks ago and it smells pretty good up there. Here is the recipe I used:

1 Quart hot water
1/4 oxy clean
1/4 cup Tide powder (I used liquid as that was all I had)
1/3 cup white vinegar

Mix together in a spray bottle. Shake vigorously. Apply generously to the carpet. Use a scrub brush to really work into the fibers.

I let it dry a bit and then sprinkled some 20 Mule Borax on top. Once that dried I vacuumed it up.

This seemed to work upstairs pretty well. The thing is that upstairs is much more dry so it is hard to tell. The basement stays humid and so the smell keeps coming back.

If the Simple Solution doesn't work in the basement, I'm going to try the above recipe. I'm a woman on a mission!! Check out the photo in my signature.

Jen

Yikes, that's a lot of soap on your carpet!! Soap is very bad for carpets as it attracts dirt very quickly. My carpet guy gets really mad at me when I use soap or spot lifters. He can tell when he sucks it up through the hose. He always gives me a lecture about not using soap products on the carpet. DH and I now call him "The Soap Natzi." NO SOAP FOR YOU!!!

 

[mckinley]

I am not sure you found something that works, but i found this stuff at the Dollar Tree & Dollar Store its called Awesome. I have white carpet and my daughter puppy had just stained the carpet beyond. I had tried everything, but the stains and smell was still there. Until i tried this stuff it works great. I just sprayed the areas that was the worst, then put it in my shampoo cleaner just as you would use the regular cleaner stuff. Maybe this will help you.

 

[jenk99]

Yikes, that's a lot of soap on your carpet!! Soap is very bad for carpets as it attracts dirt very quickly. My carpet guy gets really mad at me when I use soap or spot lifters. He can tell when he sucks it up through the hose. He always gives me a lecture about not using soap products on the carpet. DH and I now call him "The Soap Natzi." NO SOAP FOR YOU!!!

I didn't use all of those products at the same time. After trying the vinegar and baking soda, I tested all three by spraying a little of each in three different spots to see which one worked the best.

I found the Simple Solution was the most effective. It does contain some mild cleansers (soap) and I'm sure that isn't that good for the carpet. However, I'll take a little dirt if I can get the pee smell out. YUCK!!

Jen

 

[Tabetha]

Thanks again to everyone!

My once peeeee-y smelling house now smells fresh again! I've found that hydrogen peroxide works best on the stains, but vinegar is kicking butt, too!

I can't get over it. I'm thrilled. I was getting to the "let's tear out the carpet" phase, and we really can't afford that. I steam cleaned my carpets a couple of weeks ago. I wish I'd found this thread first, and saved myself the $50.

 

[LeslieG]

A few questions about the black light. How close to the carpet do you have to hold it to see it, and what will it look like? Does it detect cat and dog? I suspect my cat/dog had an accident, but I can't find anything with the black light or track down the smell even on my hands and knees. It's not really an amonia smell, so maybe it's not even pee, but I'm trying to rule it out. It's kind of a mystery.

 

[muffyn]

A few questions about the black light. How close to the carpet do you have to hold it to see it, and what will it look like? Does it detect cat and dog? I suspect my cat/dog had an accident, but I can't find anything with the black light or track down the smell even on my hands and knees. It's not really an amonia smell, so maybe it's not even pee, but I'm trying to rule it out. It's kind of a mystery.

ever watch one of those crime shows where they use luminol to search for blood?
it will appear florescent white/yellow. it will glow,, you usually can see lint clearly.
depending on the strength of the black light , I hold mine a few inches above the carpet.

you can probably go outside at night & put it over a spot you know they just pee'd in (or cat litter box???) just to see what it would look like.

( you really want to gross yourself out.. take it to a motel room...... ) <no I didn't,, but have seen tv shows where they do. >