Cat Urine

[prettypleasewithsugarontop]

Is there a miracle potion to get the cat urine smell out of my hall carpet?

Please help, going bonkers, its minging!

Need more details first!

Is it your cat - i.e. do you have a cat actively peeing on the carpet, or is the smell left over from old cat urine?

Is it from a cat peeing on the carpet, or is it from a tom spraying the general area?

Is it all over the carpet or just in one corner/spot?

They all have different approaches to getting rid of the problem.

Its just the back hall carpet at the back door. Two male cats, one is 3 and the other is 6mths.

I don't know if they are peeing or spraying, I don't actually see them do it, and I don't know which one/both is doing it!

It's wet so i am going with they're still doing whatever they are doing, rather than old smell

Blerdy cats!

It's a small area approx 1x1m sq-ish and they're doing whatever against the back door, both indoor cats

More than likely, there is another male cat in your area who visits your back door - your cats are spraying to mark the territory. I had this exact problem a couple of years ago, but I was lucky - it was a tiled floor with just a doormat.

You need to get rid of the smell first - they will re-mark any area they've already sprayed. Don't use bleach, it won't neutralise the smell very well. The best thing I've found is either white vinegar mixed half-and-half with warm water, or a strong solution of bicarbonate of soda in warm water.

You need to wash the walls and the door up to about 2 feet off the ground - they spray while they're standing up, and it goes surprisingly high. Wash outside the door too - you might have a visiting male cat who is spraying your door from the outside.

For the carpet, if there is an actual wet patch where they've peed, you need to absolutely soak it with the vinegar or soda solution, let it sit, use paper towels to blot out as much liquid as possible, and repeat about a dozen times. If it's spray, it's less likely to be in the 'under' layer of the carpet so try spraying and blotting with the solution instead, if the smell is still there you'll need to soak it.

Good luck!

Oh, I did say bicarbonate of soda because that's what most people have in their cupboards to use right away - if you're using a lot, it's far cheaper to buy proper soda crystals in a big bag, you'll find them in the laundry aisle in a supermarket.

I use biological washing powder. HAs to be bio. For a carpet, or a sofa with old smells, I'd sprinkle loads on (dry). I might even rub it in a bit. Then hoover up a couple of hours later.
For a fresh lot, I'd blot up rinse a bit, then use a solution of same.
I've found this works better than bicarb for cat wee.

A good way to kill the smell permanently is to double wash it, first with biological washing powder and them with surgical spirit. This was recommended to us by our vet and it worked like a charm but we were washing wooden boards so probably easier than carpet. You would need to check for colour-fastness, I suppose.

And second what oops says about the territory-marking (and height etc). Your cats feel like they're being invaded, so they're reinforcing the barricades.

Thats fantastic, thank you

there is a spray on amazon called "urine off" - it does work! I usually spray it (soak it) once. wait for it to dry, spray it and rub it in this time, then the smell gradually disappears over a couple of days.

This happened to me twice - once when our cat accidentally got shut in the living room overnight, and peed on the sofa, and again when he got shut in a bedroom.

It was hard in the bedroom - we had to search for the patch!