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This forum needs a new topic! Let me help. Our cat had a bladder infection and marked in the bedrooms. He seems to be better now but I've put him outside for the summer anyway.
I've gotten everything cleaned except a few places on the carpets. I can still faintly smell it and it grosses me out. What can I do? I sprinkled baking soda all over the carpets a couple days ago and will vaccuum tomorrow. Any other ideas?
Thanks
A
There are cleaners made specially for pet stains that have enzymes in them, those should work well to get rid of the odor. Sorry I don't remember brands off the top of my head but I'm sure someone else will remember them.
White vinegar will neutralize the urine. Splash some on the spot allow to penetrate and then blot it up with clean cloths. Test your carpet first in an inconcpicuous spot. We have an older dog that has frequent accidents and the vinegar works better than any commercial formula I've found.
Vinegar will not take it out...Not cat urine. It truly won't get rid of the root cause. When we used vinegar for dog and cat urine, our home just ended up smelling like pickles and pee. LOL I think we got used to it and thought it helped, but family was honest with us and told us it smelled. Enzyme solution is the only thing that will truly get rid of it, and you must saturate your carpet thoroughly so the solution goes clear down into the padding. Walk around on it after you pour it on the areas. Bhavana34 is right about Nature's Miracle. Another good enzyme solution is Simple Solution.
If the carpet is clean-able and the padding is the problem; you can have JUST the pad replaced. We in the midwest are getting that info from our TV's now, with all the flooding. They are telling us to put the carpet upside down in the yard to dry and just replace the padding. The sunlight will help kill any lingering odors too.
It would have saved us the expense back in the early 70's when our dog got a kidney infection when we were away and the neighbor never came past the dooway when she let him out. The dining room carpet had been new, and the company we called to clean it couldn't get it clean and we had to buy all new again.
Probably your cheapest and most accessible source for the enzyme is WalMart. They carry over in the pet dept. a product called OUT! the label shows a puppy and cat pinching their noses as though keeping out a bad smell. White bottle, red top, I think. Use this on anything the cat marked with urine. No amount of cleaning will remove the urine smell well enough to foil the deadly combination of super-pungent concentrated feline urine and the cat's super-sensitive nose. You gotta use the enzyme.
What you have to do if the marking/soiling was heavy is lift the carpet, remove and replace the pad, and also paint the underflooring with KILLZ paint to seal in any horrid smells that got into the wood. While the carpet is still loose you can lay it down on the floor with plasitc between it and the padding and shampoo it, then treat it with the enzyme, then flip it back up to dry. A fan will help speed up the drying.
You should also rent or buy a LARGE black light and go around looking for marking spots your cat may have left behind you haven't found yet. when they get bladder problems, they go all around squatting and straining trying to relieve their pain. It's worth it to check upright places like doorways (cat-high, of course) and also around the edges of rooms.
As a final aid to getting the marking thing under control, you might want to buy FELIWAY, a spray that mimicks the 'feel-good; odor cats use to mark places they feel are their territory and places they feel secure in. If you overspray the places the cat marked {AFTER you clean and apply the OUT enzyme, of course,) you will make it double-ly unlikely your cat will repeat the marking thing. By over-spraying the spot with Feliway you'll change the 'message' the cat reads in the odor from something to be anxious about to something that smells assuring and familiar. The stuff is magic and very useful with all kinds of cat problems.
Of course, if the bladder thing comes back (and the cystitis that's associated with ash-heavy cat foods coupled with scarring from neutering in male cats often does come back,) the cat will repeat his unpredictible squatting and straining, but now you're familiar with the drill, and will no doubt recognise the signs if it comes back. I have a cat with this problem myself, which is how I came by the knowledge. Best advice I can give you is keep a bottle of OUT! on hand. If you have pets, you will always have need of it.
Hope you find something useful in this.The above was what I was told to do by a professional carpet cleaner. Hope it helps!
Melis (here's a pic of my little piddler: Bob the Wonder Cat.
