How To Get Rid Of Cat Pee Smell?

You’re lucky if you’ve caught the son of a dam in action, but many cat owners only find out about their pet’s crime after a while.

Getting rid of the cat pee smell from a tiled floor is relatively easy, but how to eliminate cat urine odor from carpet, clothes, furniture, or mattress?

Apart from dealing with the smell, a caring owner should understand why their pet peed outside of the litterbox to prevent it from happening in the future.

How To Get Rid of Cat Pee Smell on Carpet

Cats are notorious for choosing the worst places to pee. Getting rid of pee on a tiled floor is a no-brainer – simply wipe the spot. However, carpets absorb liquids quickly and hold on to odors for long.

If you’re wondering how to get rid of the cat pee smell on the carpet, start by identifying the source of the odor. Do it quickly because you want to absorb as much urine from the carpet as possible.

After cat urine dries, you may have trouble tracking down the source of the smell unless you have a white carpet and can see the spot. You may need to wash the entire carpet if you fail to find the spot.

Assuming you were lucky and caught your cat at the crime scene, blot the urine with a paper towel dampened in cold water. Don’t rub the carpet because it may make the urine more resilient.

Alternatively, you may use a wet vacuum cleaner with a cold setting but never apply heat. The smell of warm cat urine is unbearable, and steam will cause the odor to set into your carpet.

Next, dilute some enzymatic cleaner with water and apply the solution to the pee spot. If you can’t find any enzymatic cleaner in local pet stores, mix vinegar with water in a 1:1 ratio. Vinegar is acidic and should neutralize the bacteria.

Leave the mixture on the pee spot for about five minutes and wipe it with cold water. Repeat if necessary to eliminate any signs of urine because cats like to pee on the same spot, and you don’t want that to happen again.

Finally, blot excess moisture from the carpet and apply a bit of baking soda or fabric washing powder on the spot for an hour. Then, vacuum the spot to remove the remains of the powder.

How To Get Rid of Cat Pee Smell on Floor & Walls

Owners whose cats decided to pee on the floor rather than on a carpet are lucy because eliminating the smell is easier, but it doesn’t make the process any more pleasant.

If your cat has peed on a wall or tiled floor, wipe urine first using a paper towel or microfiber cloth. Then, mix white or apple cider vinegar with water in a spray bottle and spritz the solution onto the urine streaks.

Don’t apply too much spray on the area because it may cause urine to spread. If the stains are already dry, let the solution sit for some time before wiping it off.

Don’t use vinegar on marble or stone walls to avoid chemical stone erosion. Instead, use a spray designed for cleaning stone walls and floors, but don’t use products with ammonia. Cats are more likely to pee on the spot again if they sense ammonia.

If the stone cleaning solution didn’t eliminate the smell, deodorize the walls with a pet odor remover sold in pet stores.

Vinegar isn’t the best cleaning agent for wooden floors either. If you’re wondering how to get rid of the cat pee smell on wood, try hydrogen peroxide. Pour it over the stain and cover it with a clean microfiber cloth.

Allow the hydrogen peroxide to sit on the stain for at least six hours and wipe the floor afterward. Hydrogen peroxide should remove the odor and disinfect the area.

How To Get Rid of Cat Pee Smell From Bedding & Clothes

Finding cat pee on your clothes or bed is nasty, to say the least. One may think that a washing machine will solve the problem, but cat urine odor can be very persistent.

Thankfully, you don’t have to throw your clothes in the trash if you follow tips on how to get the cat pee smell out of clothes in the washer.

Start by rinsing the urine spot well in cold water. If the area is large or the pee is already dry, soak your clothes in ice-cold water for some hours.

Then, add a cup of baking soda or a quarter cup of vinegar into the washing machine, and don’t forget about the detergent. You may want to use fragrant detergent for better results.

Air-dry your clothes after washing even if you have a dryer because heat may lock in the odor if it hasn’t gone entirely. If the odor persists, wash your clothes again.

Alternatively, you may wash your clothes in the machine with a moderate amount of enzyme cleaner, but don’t mix it with a detergent.

Getting rid of the cat pee smell on a mattress can be a real challenge. Mattresses absorb liquids even better than carpets, and removing urine from the depth of a thick mattress may be impossible. Timely cleaning is crucial.

First, blot as much urine as possible from the area using paper towels, but don’t rub the mattress because the odor will become more resilient. Then, soak the area in ice-cold water.

Slowly pour enzyme cleaner on the affected area and let it sit. If you don’t have an enzyme cleaner, use water and vinegar solution. However, note that vinegar is just as lasting as urine, so don’t use it if you can’t stand the smell.

Let the cleaning solution sit for about 20 minutes and blot the area again with paper towels. Let the area dry, apply some baking soda, and let it sit for another 20 minutes. Then, vacuum the mattress.

How To Neutralize Cat Spray Smell

Many feline owners wonder – is cat spray the same as urine? No, it isn’t, and if your cat has sprayed at least once, you will always remember the pungent smell.

Cat spray smells stronger than regular urine because it contains chemicals meant to scare off other males and attract females. However, people don’t find the door as appealing as female felines and wonder how to neutralize the cat spray smell.

You may try neutralizing the smell with vinegar and water solution or enzymatic cleaners, but these methods don’t always help against old spray marks. You may need to reapply the cleaning solution multiple times.

You may be tempted to use bleach or ammonia-based products, but their smell may resemble a pee smell to your cat, causing it to spray the same area again.

You may conceal any remaining spray odor with an air freshener to ensure your cat won’t mark the same spot again.

Act Quickly

One of the best tips for getting rid of the cat pee smell you could possibly get is acting quickly. Even if you’re in a hurry and have to leave home, don’t let urine sit and dry.

If you postpone the cleaning, DIY solutions to get rid of the cat pee smell may be ineffective. In extreme cases, the only way to neutralize the odor is by hiring a cleaning company. Professionals can treat the area with harsher chemicals unavailable for home use.

Causes of a Cat Peeing Outside of The Litter Box

A cat peeing outside of the litterbox is typically a systematic problem rather than a single incident. After cleaning the affected area, you should identify the cause of the problem to prevent it from happening in the future.

The reasons why cats pee outside of the litterbox are diverse, from medical conditions to poor emotional well-being and plain spite. Sometimes, cats pee in visible spots around the house to signal the owner about pain.

If you’ve noticed your cat peeing on your bed, clothes, or on the doormat, it may be drawing your attention to a developing medical condition, such as bladder stones or urinary tract infection.

Common symptoms of urinary tract diseases in cats include blood in urine, straining when urinating, strong ammonia odor in urine, and refusal to eat or drink. If you notice any of the symptoms, don’t postpone a visit to a vet.

Sometimes, cats begin to pee in random places after owners switch the litter type or litterbox location, indicating they don’t like the changes. Or, a cat may simply refuse to pee in a dirty litterbox.

If you’ve recently brought in a new animal, your senior cat may be unwilling to share the litterbox with someone else. In this case, getting another litterbox should resolve the problem.

A senior cat may also pee outside of the litterbox due to jealousy. Pay equal attention to both pets, and don’t punish your cat because it may worsen the situation.

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