Combat Cat Urine

If the cat urine is near the wall or baseboard, you would be wise to scrub both of these down. Cat pee can really travel. If you are removing cat pee off your floors and rugs, chances are your cat is ill and needs a vet. If the cat urine is on the walls 2’ up and higher, your cat is spraying and marking his/her territory. If that cat is intact sexually, then the cat needs to be neutered or spayed. Yes, females can also spray cat urine.

Throw rugs and area rugs - Your best bet for these is to take them outside and clean them. Then let them air-dry at least 24 hours if not longer. If the rugs are backed in rubber, you may as well either, after they are cleaned and neutralized, store them in the garage or throw them away. Rubber-backed rugs invite cat pee.

Hardwood floors - Urine-Off will work on hardwood floors to pull the stain and odor out. It generally takes two treatments to do so. Once the stain has been dissolved and the floor has dried, then you have to see if sanding and re-varnishing the floor is going to be in order.

Soft items - clothes, your bed, beanbag chairs. If your cat is peeing on your clothes, more than likely she is stressed. This peeing on your scent is a way that she calms down. The two scents mixed together will soothe her. Most owners become quite irate when their cat is peeing on clean clothes or their beds. Reacting negatively to this situation will only increase the frequency of it occurring.

If the item can be washed, then throw it in the washing machine. Use a laundry detergent made to wash diapers. Air-dry the item instead of putting it in the dryer.

If the item is a bed or a chair, this gets a bit trickier. You need to blot up the urine as quick as possible. Never rub urine it will just make it harder to remove. Then use a neutralizer and cover the area. Take a large heavy blanket and place over the area, but leave breathing room underneath. Use books to make an opening under the blanket so the air can get through. Keep the cats out of the room for at least 8 hours while this is working, then uncover and spray Feliway Spray in the pee area.

Anytime you are working on a cat urine stain, be sure your cat stays out of the room. If you don’t isolate her from the area, the first time your back is turned, she might go over to the scene of the crime, and pee on the spot for you. Isn’t that special? But that is what could happen.

Do not use ammonia, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, FeBreeze, or lemon juice to remove cat urine. Ammonia and vinegar will encourage your cat to continue to pee in the spot, and the other products will cover up the smell for Your satisfaction, but not for your cat’s incredible olfactory unit. If she even gets a hint of urine scent, she will return every three days to refresh it.

If your cat persists in peeing in the same spot, and you have taken her to the vet to be sure she is not ill, invest in a computer mat and flip it upside down on the spot she is using as her bathroom. She will not like the feel of the rubber prongs against her pads and will stop using the spot.

Mary Anne Miller is a free-lance writer, and member of the Cat Writers' Association. She is a web copy writer, and passionate about feral cats/kittens and bottle babies. You can read more by Mary Anne at her Feral Cat Behavior Blog.