Best Urine Smell Removers or Cleaners

Hello!  I am still having some urine problems with our 3 cats.  I'm not sure if the nice weather and the windows being open have stirred up the smells or if they are going more, but it needs to go away!

Can anyone suggest the best way to get rid of the smell?  I have used Natures Mircale Urine Destroyer and ran out, and then bought Natures Miracle No More Spraying.  I think the Destroyer worked best but I was wondering if there was anything better out there.

We are at the point that we can't take it and the cats might end up outside if we can't get this under control.

You need an "enzymatic" cleaner.  There are a number of them around, and if you do a search here, you'll find several mentioned.  I use "Nature's Miracle," available at pet stores.

If you use biological washing powder or liquid, a dilute solution with warm water does the trick beautifully and it's far cheaper than buying a special product.  A microfibre cloth helps as well.

I have used Natures Miracle but I was wondering if there was anything better out there or if anyone has any luck with anything else. 

I think we may just be paranoid about it too, but I want to make sure our house doesn't smell anymore. 

I like Urine Off. Also heard good things about Anti-Icky Poo.

A lot of people here have sworn by Nok Out. It has to be purchased on line. You have to really soak the areas being treated with the enzyme cleaner. So buy a gallon. Then let the spots air dry over several days. Covering area with aluminum foil will slow down the drying, but probably keep the cats off, if you can't remove them from the area during the process.

Your cats have been tested to rule out UTI's, haven't they?

Robin

Nature's Miracle has never worked for me. I'm a big fan of Nok Out. You get on their e-mail newsletters when you buy it and they give you all sorts of useful advice on other things you can use it for. I pour it on straight for urine issues, and dilute it with water to use it like people use Febreeze. It's a safer product that Febreeze.

Until lately - adding the 9th cat (Callee) - feral born - to our home - cat urine and odors haven't been a problem.

I thought I had Callee litter-box trained - NOT!  Because she was peeing in unauthorized places, the other cats began doing what cats do - and peeing on the pee.  (Yes, we'll probably be pitching out our FR sofa.)

I have NOT had this problem before now, so I can only attribute it to my being just plain naive about the problems I might have adding our 9th inside cat (feral-born kitten). ugh!  Shoot, I probably could even label myself "careless" - simply because the other cats have been "easy" to bring inside (?) and, that's where being naive has its downside. 

So, now for the next chapter of  Life with Cats  - Learning how to Manage Urine Odors. sigh!

I've been using rubbing alcohol on the fur-ball upchucking - along with white vinegar -  soooo, am also trying the alcohol on the urine.  

I did a little surfing research and found this website

- http://cat-chitchat.pictures-of-cats.org/2008/07/eliminate-cat-urine-odor.html -

I hope I'm able to get through the Book of Cat Care real soon, 'cause I'm about exhausted in all the experiences of  the   Hard-Knock Learning   that I've been going through.

This is an excerpt from the page I referenced earlier:

Isopropyl alcohol,  another active ingredient is a widely used solvent (it dissolves things as does water only more effectively) and a cleaning fluid. This fluid assists in washing away the broken down substance that used to smell to one that doesn't. In other words the uric acid and pheromones that are broken down at high speed by the enzymes are then dissolved in the alcohol and water and then blotted up by us, thereby being removed.

I guess I have more research to do - and need to find other ingredients to add to the alcohol, meanwhile will be checking out the author's suggested product ... 
I hope this article is somewhat helpful. 

Here's another website with info:

http://www.cat-world.com.au/how-to-clean-cat-urine-odour

WELL now, I just came across a forum that says most of the urine cleaners are basically alcohol - with lemon fragrance.  If your interested in checking out this info - and, maybe, don't want to spend lots of $$ on an enzyme cleaner - and just use good ole' alcohol - here's the info:

http://www.dogforums.com/first-time-dog-owner/71596-enzymatic-cleaner-question.html

Here's just one of the posts:

03-06-2010 [color= rgb(17, 17, 17)]12:04 PM[/color][color= rgb(17, 17, 17)]#12[/color]

[color= rgb(165, 42, 42)]Wladziu[/color]
 

Junior MemberJoin DateMar 2010Posts26

Re: Enzymatic cleaner question

Contents:

Click to expand...

(Verbatim from the bottle)
Water
Nature's Enzymes
Isopropyl Alcohol
Natural Citrus Scent


The alcohol's watered down. Keeps it from damaging floors.

Still works for proteins, just not enough of it to damage the cellulose in wood or the vinyll in carpet.
Cellulose and plastics are much more stable than proteins. 
Watered down, it's too weak harm something so relatively stable.



But, you're exactly right. It's a solvent: breaks down biological components like gasoline breaks down styrofoam. 
Water itself is a biological solvent, in fact.
Ask a wood floor owner. 
Or, keep a piece of rawhide in a glass for a while. 
Same process. Rawhide's also a protein, just like those "enzymes". 
How long have these bottles been in storage/transit? 


This stuff is junk in my opinion. And, I'm gonna prove it, just as soon as I get access to the NMR scanner.
A few cap-fulls of rubbing alcohol in some water with a few drops of lemon juice in a spray bottle...
I can make that in my kitchen.

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Well, I tried to edit - or - add a comment to my last post, but the link wouldn't let me, it didn't open the post for me to edit.

The forum that I referenced previously seemed to have some posting comments of disagreement with the one I quoted - just sayin' - if you're not in to chemistry - then ... .

I do use alcohol - ran out of the NATURES MIRACLE - but, I did use it on my ceramic tile floor so no damage from the pure alcohol (no added water or lemon juice) - and it worked - so, go figure.

I may be posting with myself here, but I hate to spend $12 on a bottle of stuff when all I need is alcohol, so thought I'd try to share with others here.

OrientalSlave said:

If you use biological washing powder or liquid, a dilute solution with warm water does the trick beautifully and it's far cheaper than buying a special product.  A microfibre cloth helps as well.

Click to expand...

I think biological washing powder isn't available in the U.S., or else it's called something else, because I don't know what it is :anon:.

I'm using Spalding Bye Bye Odor right now. Seems to work very well, I like the scent, and it's inexpensive enough (if you buy the concentrate) that I can use enough of it to make a difference. When something costs $40 a gallon I tend to skimp :lol3:. http://www.spalding-labs.com/byebyeodor/Default.aspx

Willowy said:

I think biological washing powder isn't available in the U.S., or else it's called something else, because I don't know what it is

.
I'm using Spalding Bye Bye Odor right now. Seems to work very well, I like the scent, and it's inexpensive enough (if you buy the concentrate) that I can use enough of it to make a difference. When something costs $40 a gallon I tend to skimp

. http://www.spalding-labs.com/byebyeodor/Default.aspx

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  Hey, when there's mouths to feed - skimping on cleaners is a good thing!     Never heard of the powder, either - but sounds interesting.

If I need a urine cleaner I use a solution of the biological washing powder I use for my laundry.  It's very cheap and very effective. 

OrientalSlave said:

If I need a urine cleaner I use a solution of the biological washing powder I use for my laundry.  It's very cheap and very effective. 

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Like I said above, I don't know if we have biological washing powder. If we do I don't know what it's called here. But you put it in the laundry? Like Borax or maybe a laundry detergent with enzymes? Does it suds up in the carpet?

A biological washing powder has the word 'emzyme' or 'bio' on its package. All major manufacturers have bio versions of their products. Or ask in your supermarket.

All major manufacturers sell a "bio" version in Europe, maybe :tongue2:. I've never seen a laundry detergent marked "bio" or "biological". But there are some with enzymes. Maybe I'll try one. Do they make the treated area soapy?

Gloria, you may want to read my article on cleaning urine. I did a lot of research on the subject. :lol3: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-remove-cat-urine

The bottom line is that the real problem is the uric acid. The only thing that will break down the uric acid is ENZYMES. ....OR carbon dioxide. And there is a carbon-dioxide based cleaner not mentioned in my article: FiZZion. It's cheap, and people that have used it say it's effective. Urine Off is an enzyme cleaner that people seem to love. I've always used Nok Out.


Just add the tablets to an empty spray container filled with water of the right size (I think I linked to the 32 oz tablets).

Willowy said:

Like I said above, I don't know if we have biological washing powder. If we do I don't know what it's called here. But you put it in the laundry? Like Borax or maybe a laundry detergent with enzymes? Does it suds up in the carpet?

Click to expand...

Yes, I buy it to use in the washing machine.  It's a laundry detergent with enzymes.  If will make suds in the carpet if you use a strong solution.  It helps to have a wet & dry vacumn that you use to suck the solution out of the carpet after treatment, otherwise you need to soak up as much as you can with towels.  I can't imagine the US doesn't have similar products to the UK.

LDG said:

Gloria, you may want to read my article on cleaning urine. I did a lot of research on the subject.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-remove-cat-urine
The bottom line is that the real problem is the uric acid. The only thing that will break down the uric acid is ENZYMES. ....OR carbon dioxide. And there is a carbon-dioxide based cleaner not mentioned in my article: FiZZion. It's cheap, and people that have used it say it's effective. Urine Off is an enzyme cleaner that people seem to love. I've always used Nok Out.
Just add the tablets to an empty spray container filled with water of the right size (I think I linked to the 32 oz tablets).

Click to expand...

Will check out and love the idea about adding the tablets to my empty bottle of Nature's Miracle.  I recycle almost everything.   

Isn't Alcohol an enzyme that will -- never mind will read your article.  

Thanks, Laurie!