How can I get the smell out????

We moved into a new appartment a few months ago, and one of the closets in the bedroom REEKS of male cat urine. The landlady said that the people who used to live there had a few cats, and when they left, the people left the cats there for a week before someone found them, so chances are they were peeing in the closet.
They've cleaned the carpet and I've soaked it with NAture's Miracle, but it still stinks soo bad. I can't use the closet, and even with the doors closed you can still smell it a little. I'm planning on renting another carpet cleaner, with cleaner designed for pet odors, but I'm not sure if it will work or not.
Does anyone have any suggestions other than ripping up the carpet?? The landlady said that she would if need be, but I really don't want them to do that.

IMO if any cats sprayed the walls or constant peeing, then I would change the entire carpet in there.

More then likely the urine has also gotten underneath in the padding and possibly the wood floor if there is one.

If that doesn't resolve the problem, then ask permission to repaint the closet walls but first put a coat of Kilt on there to seal in any odors before you paint it.

If taking up the carpet is not an option - you could try "Urine Gone" as part of your cleanup. Just keep shampooing it & spraying the carpet...Heres the website: www.urinegone.com

The carpet does seem to be overly dosed with cat urine, so if nothing else, you may have to rip up the carpeting...but try everything you can.

lol, that link was kind of funny. I'll probably give that a try. I'm also going to ask the landlady if I can use Urine Erase. I know it stains carpet, but it'll be worth it.
If that doesn't work, maybe I'll ask if I can remove the carpet from inside the closet, and maybe put some tile in there??
What is kilt??Is it some kind of base coat??

Tile would be a great idea if you do decide to rip up the carpet

Kilz Paint is a paint that offers superior color coverage, mildew resistance and tough stain and odor blocking in fast-drying, easy-to-apply formulas for both interior and exterior applications. You would probably want to use the Kilz Original Paint if you do decide to cover up the walls...it seals pet odors.

Heres the website if you need it:
http://www.kilz.com/pages/default.aspx?NavID=23

Thanks, I always forget how to spell it

Believe me the stuff works! DH had to use it to cover up smoke smell on walls, etc. before he painted. That stuff seals everything in!

Thank you very much. I think I'm going to talk to the land lady and ask about ripping up the carpet. I have a bunch of extra tiles lying around, so I'm hoping that since I'll be supplying the tiles, and I'll ask my father to help(he knows a ton about stuff like that) that she'll supply the kilz paint then. If not, then I'll have to buy it myself. I just want that odor out, lol.

If you rip up the carpet, no matter if you tile over it I would make sure to put some water based varnish on the subfloor underneath the carpet. If the urine soaked through and got on the wood underneath, you need to be sure and seal the smell in. If you try other remedies first, some people swear by the original amber color listerine mouth wash. Just make sure to really saturate the area.

I agree with other posters...if the cats used the carpet as a box for some time with no clean up there will be no way to get the smell totally out. Sorry!

Just a little suggestion, if you end up ripping out from the closet yourself, you may want to use a dust mask. There could be all sorts of nasty stuff stirred up into the air + the old cat pee.

Thank you for the suggestion. I really don't want to get sick from inhaling something bad.

Rip up the carpet. With a smell that bad it probably went thru the carpet, pad and into the wood sub floor underneath. You can't simply cover it with new carpet or even tile if it is in the wood. You need to either replace the sub floor (hard), or cover the wood with a couple coats of varnish (much easier). Do this before you put anything new on top of it.

And yes, treat the walls also. Kilz will work as a base coat before painting.

Your landlord should take care of this for you. There is no need for you to do the work.

Oh i don't mind doing the work myself. I'm a stay at home mom with a new 3 month old boy. I get so bored being stuck in the house that this would be a nice job for me to do. I just want her to supply me with the materials. I also don't want people tramping around my appartment. I know the floors are concrete underneath the carpet, but I'm not sure if there is a wooden sub-floor. Should I varnish the concrete if that's all thats there????

You can paint concrete with the Kiltz too

Instead of varnish? Well that sounds easier I can't wait to talk to the landlady. I'm all excited to start now. I'd love to be able to finally use my closet.

DH says that you can paint Kiltz over the cement but put another coat of paint over the Kiltz. He says you may not get tile to stick to the Kiltz so you should put a new piece of padding/carpet in there instead.

ok. Thank you. I'm sure she has a bunch of old carpet lying around somewhere. She has a little bit of everything,lol.

Before you rip everything out, try this:

2 cups 3% hydrogen peroxide
2 t. baking soda
2 drops liquid dish soap

Mix gently (no shaking), apply enough to saturate stain and blot excess after 24 hours and allow to dry. Repeat 1-2 times if necessary, allowing to dry thoroughly between applications. Not for use on fine wood furniture, oriental rugs or some leathers (do a test spot first). You'll probably need to make a triple or quadruple recipe.

I just used this on a sofa my elderly Hannah was incontinent on and it really works. Be prepared for a "rush" of odor, followed by a gradual lessening as it neutralizes and dries.

Good luck.

You may want to try an ozone generator. Great for destroying odors from biological agents. Fire restoration companies have them as well as crime scene clean up people. Also found on Ebay but the cheapest good one is probably around $500.

I'm with everyone else... cat urine is a really hard odor to get rid of even if it isn't in the wood under the carpet. It's like everything in the area will absorb the odor. Kilz has had paint for a couple years now that contains its sealer... so you don't have to seal then paint anymore. It can be done in one easy step. Do you have cats? I had a problem when we moved in here. The last owners were disabled and didn't do a very good job of letting their cats out. We moved in with the intentions of taking out all the floors because the whole house wreaked. Before we could get it all done (11 rooms) my cats had started to use the floor too. I think it was a teritorial thing. As we got the floors replaced my cats stopped doing that. Thank god I can tell you one thing you NEVER want to use to clean up cat odors and that is amonia... it smells alot like cat urine and will actually tempt cats to urinate where it's been used.
I've never used the odor eating sprays but my aunt has an old tom that was her mother in laws and has never been neutered. He always wreaks of urine and leaves his smell on her furniture. She uses some of the sprays and has really good to say about them.