Help...cat wee!

[Diane]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE can anyone help me remove the smell of cat wee from my sittingroom carpet....I'm desperate!

I've tried all sorts of carpet cleaners, I've bought stuff from the pet shop. We've cut out the underlay and I've bought more. I've tried cleaning the floor boards underneath and then polishing them. I've also used my old carpet shampoo machine....and still all I can smell is cat wee.
I will wait for it to dry completely and try shake and vac and bicarb. I've had cats for years and never had this problem. Unfortunately one of them did it behind the tv so it wasn't noticed for almost a week.

Any suggestions (please don't say replace the whole carpet as the room is huge) would be good thank you.

 

[Flying Pigs]

Poor you! Sorry I can't , but I'm sure someone else will know what to do.

 

[BusyMum]

ooh nasty..! We had a neighbourhood cat who wore a magnet obviously as he used to come in and spray during the night..I think it was white vinegar someone suggested to me to wipe down my kitchen cupboards, but I'll stand correcting if someone else knows better..?!

 

[SparklyBarbs]

My daughter had this problem with her cat Maggie, who was very old and got incontinent, it was hard to get rid of.
I'll e mail her later and ask what she did. I bought her stuff off the internet and tried it, and we tried all the usual
bleach etc. Hers was worse cause Maggie was doing it all the time, and poor Maggie has now died, and sorely
missed. But back to the problem, you need to be sure they don't do it in the same place again, as once they have
doe it there, they are likely to do it again in the same spot. I;ll post later and tell you what she says.

 

[Diane]

Yes I'm wondering if that is why it is so bad, although when we moved the tv the stain was only about 6 inches across but then I tried the steamer and now the mark seems to have spread to about 15inches square. Am trying hard to keep both cats out of that room unless I'm in there too. If I'm not careful I will damage the carpet (Well even more!!!!) so far it has stood up quite well to all the cleaning. The dog has just sat in the corner and now she smells of it too....oh great, it just keeps getting better and better!

 

[SparklyBarbs]

Oh you poor thing, My DD is waiting on the doctor to ring her, so later when all calms down i'll ask her , but i think we lifted the carpet and
just kept working at the flooring underneath. She tried bicarb i remember that, we tried everything and i think the best thing to do is let the
air at it and keep working at it every day, (if you can keep the carpet rolled up) it would help, i think she even got down on her hands and knees
and scrubbed it with bleach. Did you google and see what came up, anythings worth a try

 

[SparklyBarbs]

I did google it and there's ideas out there. I think i got urine off, but wasn't that good.

Just an idea, if you have house insurance you could maybe claim for a new carpet , worth a try

 

[Diamond Diva]

One of my kittens did a wee and a poo behind my TV the problem with carpet cleaners etc is that they don't get rid of the smell even though we can't smell it cats can and they then re soils the area, some cleaners use chemical that actually attracts cats too so you can make the problem even worse!

I bought Simple Solution Stain and Odour remover from Pets at Home which smells a bit like Fabreeze it seems to have been affective, I've also put really rustley plastic carrier bags over the area as an early warning system so I can hear them if they venture back and I immediately pick them up and put them in their litter tray to break the cycle of them thinking they can go there again and fingers crossed it's worked!

You haven't said how old your cat is but when my old girl got confused and started fouling in the hall I gave in and put a second litter tray there and that cured the problem, I know it's not ideal but have you considered putting a litter tray behind the TV?

 

[suzyQ]

Our vet told us to first treat the area with biological washing powder/liquid and when dry use surgical spirits. We have hard floors and this does work but not sure how it would work on carpet! X

 

[sublime]

Our late senior cat was a little monster when it came to weeing in the house. As susyQ said, biological washing powder helps, but work from the outside of the stain inwards so as not to spread it.

If the carpet can be bleached, that helps.

Cats hate citrus scent, so putting a dish of orange peel in the area can help break the habit of using the area as a loo.

One more thing - try giving the errant moggy his or her own litter tray. We gave ours her own tray as she didn't like sharing with the junior cat, and she even then she'd only use it if it was clean, the fussy creature.

 

[Snarly]

Diane, I agree with what's been said. The WhiteVinegar, Bicarb and rubbing orange peel around the spot. HintsFromHeloise is a great website and my first place to turn. hth Diamond Diva, "I've also put really rustley plastic carrier bags over the area as an early warning system ". Gosh, that made me laugh! x Snarly

 

[Diane]

thank you all for your comments, I will try those suggestions, although am not so keen about trying bleach. I've been trying that metal zilo all today, absolutely useless!!
Do you think I should use fresh orange peel? The idea about the carrier bags is a good one. I do know Taz often pees on those! Both my cats are at least 10, one maybe older as we got her from someone else who needed her rehomed, but she is poorly and on borrowed time. I've just not got the bottle to take her to the vets- selfish of me I know, but she seems happy and eats well. She had cat flu a long time ago and never got over it so now she can't breath through her nose. pets at home wanted her on 4 different pills a day and both she and I hated that, we both got very stressed each time a pill was due. I took her to the vets a couple of years ago and asked him to put her down, but he refused saying he didn't like to put cats down unless absolutely necessary, you can imagine how terrible that made me feel. Also it took me a lot of courage to do it in the first place so shes back home with us and coping ok, but I do know the time is coming.

 

[Weathergirl]

If it is not a case of old age related incontinence and you have more than one cat in the household (or someone else's cat can enter your home through a cat flap or open window - or if your current tray is in a very "public"place with high traffic, then the problem could be :

1. Litter tray bullying. The alpha cat blocks access to the "weaker" cat getting to the loo. SOLUTION- have one litter tray per cat + 1 in the home. The bully can't block more than one loo at once.

2. The cat needs privacy. When toiletting, a cat is at its most vulnerable. If needs to be safe to pee! Behind the TV is a nice, private, cosy place, right? Would you want to pee in public? neither does a cat. They are very proud critters, are cats. SOLUTION- put the tray in a private, safe place from all traffic, especially where other cats can't see or reach them. I find covered trays very good.

3.Invest in a felliway plug in if the problem may be stress related.

The existing smell just needs to be neutralised rather than just masked, without ruining your carpet. If you can stop it happening again by getting to the root of the problem the smell will eventually fade.

Love WG- catlover.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Weathergirl]

Just read your post Diane- age must be it. Hope my post helps others though.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2

 

[sublime]

Just a quick suggestion, Diane, but it might be worth asking the vet to check your cat for a urinary infection. If the cat comes to associate the litter tray with pain when peeing, they sometimes look for somewhere else to go instead.

 

[mediastar]

I've got a problem with the new litter tray, he is refusing to use it, so Sidney is peeing and pooing where he never has before, I am struggling as I had some dental surgery yesterday and I have a really bad cough, it is a nightmare! I do find that dettox, followed by steam, followed by white vinegar seems to be working to a degree.

 

[SparklyBarbs]

Have you tried putting him in it and moving him around in it, so he can get the smell of himself on it, IYKWIM.

And is it in the same place as the old litter tray, as they don't like change. How awful for you ;(

 

[Diamond Diva]

Mediastar have you tried a different cat litter? I've always used the wood pellet one because it smells nice and absorbs well but the other day they didn't have any in the supermarket so had to get the grey granule one and when I changed it both of them immediately got in and used it. I guess the wood one might have been too chunky for their little paws and also suspect that they had the grey one when they were with their mother and they prefer it. so it might be worth a try?

 

[mediastar]

I think it is a dirty protest. I was trying to make it easier for people to look after Sidney for more than overnight, the bloody thing cost me an arm and a leg. I think it will have to go out with the rubbish, but I will have to get him a replacement very soon, we can't go on like this! Has anyone got the kind of tray that you roll over to get rid of the dirty litter or any trays that are "easy" to use, don't get the one I bought, I thought I had done all the research, this thing had terrific reviews, but now I think they were "exaggerated". Such a shame, I was so pleased with myself, I thought, yep, I am doing both the cat and my friends a favour and getting a nice "clean" easy to manage litter tray. No such luck, this is the one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRGO3XHuU It looks so reasonable and sensible, he simply won't use it and we are having no end of problems, so back to the very expensive drawing board!!!! HELP!!!!

But I really found the particular combination of dettox, steam and white vinegar (in that order) completely eradicated the smell of a very stinky accident, to a human nose anyway.

 

[Diamond Diva]

I'd never heard of a sifter litter tray so Googled it, it's rather large and as you say expensive but it seems to be quiet a clever idea, can I ask what you don't like about it and why it didn't it work?