Cat Smell in House - Guests Coming - Help!!!!

julia123

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Please help...I'm at the end of my rope.

I have 2 male neutered cats. They were both neutered at a young age and now they're both about 5 years old.

One cat, Frances, has always urinated standing up. So I've had to get big plastic tubs to use as litter boxes. Sometimes he's gotten a little on the wall behind the boxes. Anyway, so I moved the boxes to the top of the stairs that go down to my basement. That wall got sprayed a little too. I had work done in the basement and moved boxes to my computer room-so a little spray there. Now they're down in the basement and fine. So, each of the rooms that held the litter boxes got sprayed...not daily, just every once in a while.

Upstairs, I discovered that Frances was "marking his territory" in an unused spare bedroom and had the rip the carpet out today. I washed the baseboards and floorboards down with ammonia but the smell is overpowering. There's one spot in my bedroom that got sprayed once...carpet there...and I catch a whiff from time to time, even though I cleaned it.

The cats don't have UTIs. They are not spraying everywhere. I'm just saying that over the course of a couple of years, some urine has splashed outside of the boxes in the different places they were stationed...does that make sense?

I'm getting married this fall and my fiance is moving things in. He's noticed a progressively "stronger" cat smell and I have too. I think it's moving the litter boxes all around downstairs in the past couple of months. I've cleaned the areas with vinegar, with heavy duty cleaners, with ammonia, etc. HOW can I get rid of old cat urine??? I'm going to have a house full of new in-laws in 8 weeks and just would be so embarrassed with the smell. I feel overwhelmed with it now...just like keeping things clean and totally hate that smell. Any ideas would be much appreciated. The hardest part is that I don't even know exactly where the smell is coming from. I've cleaned the areas where the litter boxes were and it doesn't seem to help.

THANKS!!!
 

jack31

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#!--using ammonia to wash was not a good idea. It will attract them to that spot--urine contains ammonia.

They make a product that is specifically for the purpose of getting the urine smell out--check your local petstore (dont' know the name off the top of my head)

#2 I suggest using covered boxes if possible--or the urine is going to hit the wall again

#3 to locate where the urine stains are--buy a black light, and walk around every square inch of the house with the lights--then clean

Leslie
 

monaxlisa

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yeah, ammonia isnt good.
I use lysol wipes to clean up pee, and then get an enzyme cleaner for cat pee from a pet store, I use Natures Miracle Orange Oxy. If you dont use an enzymatic cleaner the smell stays there and they will continue to pee in that area. Good luck
 

hissy

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Lysol is toxic to kitties, DO NOT use Lysol in any way shape or form if you have cats. www.weecleaner.com will also help rid your home of the odor. Nature's Miracle has never worked for this mulit-cat home.
 

monaxlisa

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I use lysol on the walls (where they wont get any on their feet) and Murphys Oil soap on the floors (non toxic). The original Natures Miracle doesnt work for me but the orange kind works great, I have a black light to make sure I dont miss any spots.
 
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julia123

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Thanks, guys! I tried Nature's Miracle but it didn't seem to work. I will try the Orange variety and get out the black light. I'm also wondering if the catbox smell is wafting up from the basement through the vents?? I will get to work on it.
 

materialsgirl

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I can sympathize. I have a cat who pees standing up too and he is really good at hitting the wall behind the box.
Covered litter boxes aren't an option for us because we have another cat who won't go in them - so it's either cat pee on the wall behind the litter boxes, or cat pee on our sofa, carpet, furniture, etc. I'll take it on the wall, thanks!


Anyway, like others have mentioned, NO MORE AMMONIA! That's the worst possible cleaner for cat pee - it just encourages the cat to pee there again.

When one of my cats peed on my sofa (oh the horror!), I tried tons of different things, including vinegar, Nature's Miracle, etc. The only thing that really truly worked was Urine Off. You would never know now that a cat had peed on our sofa - there is no smell, no stain, nothing. It took a LOT of spraying, and a lot of patience (it took a good 2 weeks before the smell was completely gone), but it WORKED. You can get Urine Off in a package deal with a blacklight, to help you find the pee. It's definitely a worthwhile investment. Good luck - I hope you can conquer the pee before the in-laws show up!
 

white cat lover

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If he was "marking his territory" in an unused room where there are no litterboxes, I'd get him tested for a UTI just to be safe. The other litterbox missing incidents are not likely UTIs, but I'm paranoid about them since having a kitty block up.

I tested a kitty for a UTI that I was sure was spraying behaviorally, sure enough, he had a massive one. IMO, better safe than sorry because if he has a UTI the longer it goes on the more painful/harmful it can be.
 

materialsgirl

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

If he was "marking his territory" in an unused room where there are no litterboxes, I'd get him tested for a UTI just to be safe. The other litterbox missing incidents are not likely UTIs, but I'm paranoid about them since having a kitty block up.

I tested a kitty for a UTI that I was sure was spraying behaviorally, sure enough, he had a massive one. IMO, better safe than sorry because if he has a UTI the longer it goes on the more painful/harmful it can be.
That is a really good point that I forgot to mention! Male cats are especially prone to UTIs because of their narrow urethras. So, just to be safe, better take your boy to the vet and have him checked out.
 

pee-cleaner

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This works better than anything, and is very inexpensive:

2 cups hydrogen peroxide
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 drops liquid dish detergent

Mix and pour onto smelly areas, and allow it to soak in and dry slowly. Repeat if necessary (but rarely is.) This will work on carpet, upholstery, mattresses, baseboards, concrete. Just keep off fine finished wood.
 

EnzoLeya

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Originally Posted by pee-cleaner

This works better than anything, and is very inexpensive:

2 cups hydrogen peroxide
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 drops liquid dish detergent

Mix and pour onto smelly areas, and allow it to soak in and dry slowly. Repeat if necessary (but rarely is.) This will work on carpet, upholstery, mattresses, baseboards, concrete. Just keep off fine finished wood.
You sound like my granny!
She uses backing soda for everything! It works though! I'll have to try your recipe! It would be A LOT cheaper than my pet oder cleaner!



Also, don't use bleach either! Bleach and ammonia are a VERY bad mix. They can create some sort of toxic gas when mixed together. I've her that squirting a lemon or lime where the cats have peed is a good thing? I haven't tried it yet.
 
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