How to Go Rid of Cat Pee Smell: A Guide

Or, if we're being polite, eliminating that "inappropriate elimination" odor.

It's all fun and games until the cat pees in your house. Kitty tinkle is one of the about unique and pungent smells on the planet, peradventure rivaled but past the notorious durian fruit.

Cleaning cat pee isn't very intuitive either – information technology's really sort of like a science experiment. Whereas you'd instinctively use warm or hot water to make clean basically anything else, using hot water on cat pee is merely going to prepare and dilate the stench. So if you're having a true cat pee-mergency, follow our guidelines below to neutralize that stinky urine.

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General cat pee removal guidelines:

  • Eek! Where'southward the pee?! Beginning, track down the source of the smell. And do it quickly. The longer the cat pee sits on your mattress or couch, the worse it'south going to smell.
  • Blot with Cold water. Once y'all've located the cat pee spot, you'll desire to utilise cold water and paper towels or an old rag to blot the spot, absorbing as much every bit the cat pee as possible. If you've got an extracting wet vac on manus, feel gratuitous to use that on the common cold setting. Do not scrub, that will just brand the true cat pee angrier and more resilient, rubbing information technology farther (and more than permanently) into the couch, floor, or garment.
  • Neutralize it! Then you're going to want to douse the spot with an enzymatic cleaner or only make your ain cleaning solution past combining (white or apple cider) vinegar and water in a i:1 ratio. Because the vinegar is acidic, it will neutralize the leaner in the true cat pee, offsetting its odor. Let the solution sit for 3-5 minutes or carefully follow the instructions on the cleaning product's label.
  • Rinse + Repeat. Using a fresh newspaper towel or wet rag, do one more quick one time over the stained spot. If you're using a wet rag, think to use cold h2o.
  • Freshen up! For additional freshness, effort using Febreze Fabric Pet Aroma Eliminator once it'due south completely dry. Yous tin also utilise Febreze Air Heavy Duty Pet Olfactory property Eliminator around the litter box area to dull that lingering cat pee smell.

If your cat peed on the carpet, mattress, or couch:

Follow full general guidelines then as well sprinkle baking soda on the stain, letting it sit down for an hour or so before vacuuming it up. This will aid in neutralizing the cat pee olfactory property.

If your cat peed on tile, sealed wood floor or baseboards:

Follow general guidelines or use a DIY solution of hydrogen peroxide and water (1:2 ratio) or directly upward undiluted white vinegar on the stain.

If your cat peed on unsealed floors:

Well, that'southward a trivial more complicated. If your floors are not sealed, later you clean upward the true cat pee with cold water, scrub the stain with straight vinegar and rinse with more cold water. Blot stain with a towel until you tin can no longer detect moisture. Enzymatic cleaners could potentially impairment your unsealed floors, so test some in a subtle location before liberally using on the stain.

If the true cat pee stain and aroma don't go away, you may accept to bust out the sander because the urine could've soaked into the wood. Nosotros recommend sealing your floors, just that'due south a projection for a whole 'nother mean solar day.

If your jerk cat peed on your clothes:

Time for a new cat. And then. Rude.

Only seriously, a common mis-cat-ception is cats confusing laundry baskets for litter boxes. Do non throw your true cat pee clothes direct into the washing car, no matter how tempting. If y'all do this, the odor will set and your dress volition be trashed. Think of the cat pee like it's smallpox: The smell is super contagious and can be transferred to other wearing apparel in the same laundry load and and so you'll need a whole new wardrobe.

Stop and exhale.

Rinse the cat pee stain on your wearing apparel with cold water and absorb with towels, simply like you would the floor or a piece of furniture. Remember to blot, do not scrub. Throw soiled clothes into a bucket with a ½ cup of oxygen bleach (not chlorine bleach!) for 2-iii hours. Next, remove wearing apparel and soak in a bath of vinegar and water (i:three ratio). Add some blistering soda straight to the stain, letting the mix sit for 10-15 minutes. Then and just then can you add the cat pee clothes to the washing auto, set to common cold, and run without any detergent. Hang clothes to dry, as the estrus from the dryer may still cause the odor to ready.

If this seems like a lot of work to go rid of a stain, you're non incorrect. We would reserve this sort of care and diligence for your near cherished articles of clothing, otherwise, it but might be time to become shopping.

The time to come is feline

To avoid future rogue cat pee incidents, exist sure to continue a make clean litter box. Kitties loathe a dirty litter box. If your cat continues to pee exterior of its box for no real reason (new pet, new house, change of scenery, change of kitty litter), consider taking it to the vet for a check-up.