Get Rid Of Urine Smells For Good
These steps to remove cat urine stains from your basement are effective for both new and old stains. Preventing inappropriate urination by treating its underlying causes is much easier than addressing old, set-in stains, so keep an eye on changes in behavior and take your cat for a checkup to rule out medical causes.
Featured Image Credit: Alexandra_Linn, Pixabay
Contents Overview
What Causes Cat Urine Smell In Crawl Space
The most common cause of the cat urine smell in a crawl space seems to be the industry standard reinforced vapor barrier. When the reinforced vapor barrier separates and becomes wet from groundwater or high humidity it can start to ‘off gas’ odors. Many say that odor smells like cat urine. Over time the reinforced vapor barrier can become weak and start to separate exposing the cord. The wet cord can give off a cat urine smell.
Why Cats Pee On Your Couch
Instead of just cleaning up the urine, its important to tackle the root of the problem and understand the reason why your cat is not using its litter box.
Normally, if a cat is urinating in places theyre not supposed to, theres a genuine underlying cause. They arent just being mean or sassy. Here are some of the primary offending issues:
- Medical Problems: The biggest concern youll run across is if your cats behavior is caused by medical problems. UTIs and other issues can be chief reasons why your cat is eliminating outside of the litter box. Their behavior is just them trying to tell you that something is wrong. If your cat starts having frequent accidents, its probably time to get them to the vet to have them examined.
- Dirty Litter Box: It could just be that your cats litter box needs cleaning. Cats like to keep themselves clean. If they notice that their litter box is already full of clumps and looks dirty, they will try to pee somewhere else. Also, while it may not look dirty, the litter itself may need changing. Make sure to clean out your cats litter box very regularly to avoid this from happening.
- Litter Box Too Small: When your cat was still a small kitten, you may have gotten them a smaller litter box perfect for their size. However, as time goes by, your cat will outgrow a kitten-sized litter box. If you notice your cat refuses to go inside its box to pee or poop, it could just be because it doesnt fit inside anymore.
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Does Cat Spray Smell Like Body Odor
What Does Cat Spray Smell Like? Cat spray usually has a strong and pungent urine smell. The exact scent is unique to every cat, but the overwhelming scent that you will pick up on will be urine. If you have had a few cats, you may be aware that the smell of their urine can differ depending on the cat.
Why Cat Urine Is So Potent
Cat urine contains uric acid, which can last in carpets, fabrics and wood for years! Although baking soda, vinegar, soap, and hydrogen peroxide may neutralize the odors temporarily, a humid day can cause the uric acid to recrystallize, and the infamous “cat odor” will return. The only way to destroy the uric acid is to use an enzyme cleaner, according to TheCatSite.com. The affected areas on the carpet or fabrics need to be soaked in enzyme cleaner and allowed to air-dry completely. The enzymes break the uric acid into gases, and through natural drying, the gases evaporate, leaving your carpet and fabrics smelling fresh again. Enzyme cleaners can be found online and at most grocery stores.
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Enzyme Cleaner For Cat Urine
Once you have cleaned the bacteria from the area, now is the time to use an enzyme cleaner. Enzyme cleaners break down the ammonia and proteins in the urea that has been left behind and will continue to smell.
Even if humans can no longer smell it, your cat can and may end up marking the same spot all over again.
To treat the area with an enzyme cleaner, soak the area and work it in with a mop, , or sponge. Dont dry the area!
Cover the area with plastic to allow the area to remain wet so the enzyme cleaner has more time to soak into the concrete. Allow the area to dry on its own.
You may need to repeat this step depending on how long your cat has been using the spot as a litter box and how long the urine was in the area before being cleaned.
Cat Urine With No Smell
I have a 12 year old cat who has been spayed and in the last two weeks has started urinating in the center of the bed. She started drinking water in high volumes about march and filling litter box with urine three of four times a day. There is no odor to urine?
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By: Erika Raines El Segundo, CA
Replied on 04/19/2011
The likely cause for the urine having no odor is that it is very dilute because of all of the water your cat has been drinking. Older cats suffer from three common diseases that cause them to drink and urinate more, namely kidney failure, overactive thyroid and diabetes. These are all severe and life threatening conditions. Diabetes and overactive thyroid are both treatable diseases, however, and even a cat with kidney failure can receive treatments to make them comfortable for longer. You should consult your veterinarian as soon as possible. He or she can run blood tests to determine if your cat has any of these diseases and can recommend and appropriate course of action.
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Make A Baking Soda Paste
Baking soda can be used to soak up urine smells in leather. The baking soda will not hurt your leather and may even restore it by making it shinier. Sprinkling baking soda powder on the urine stains may do the trick, but creating a paste can make it easier for the baking soda to penetrate the odors. The paste can be gently massaged into urine stains and then cleaned away with a clean, dry cloth. These are the things that youll need to make a baking soda paste:
- Baking soda
- Hydrogen peroxide
Start by placing ¼ cup of baking soda in a small bowl. Then add 1/8 cup of hydrogen peroxide to the bowl. Use a spoon to stir the mixture until it forms into a thick paste. If the mixture is too dry, add one extra drop of hydrogen peroxide at a time until you achieve a pasty consistency.
Using a soft cloth or your finger, gently massage the baking soda paste into the urine stains that you want to get rid of. Take your time, and make sure that the entire stained area is well covered. After letting the paste sit for up to 24 hours, use a dry towel or cloth to thoroughly wipe the area clean.
Smells From Next Door
In recent months, an overwhelming smell of cat urine has been seeping into my co-op apartment from the adjacent one. I can smell it emanating from the floor in every part of my space that shares a wall with the neighboring unit. I can also hear a cat crying all day. I warned the neighbor twice, in writing, to rectify the situation, but received no response. Eventually Id like to sell the apartment, but I cant until this situation is resolved. So I need to build a case against the neighbor to bring to the co-op board or to initiate a lawsuit. How do I begin? What sort of professional could give me an estimate for the damage done to my wood floors? Should I call the Queens County health inspector?
Rego Park, Queens
You should not be able to smell urine through your floor. If your apartment smells that bad, imagine what it must be like next door. Your neighbor has a major hygiene problem there could be more than one neglected cat in that apartment. Until the underlying problem is addressed, you likely will not be able to repair your floors or sell your apartment.
But this is not your battle to fight. From what you have described, your building needs to intervene to protect you, your neighbor and whatever pets are living inside that apartment. Clearly, something is very wrong here, said Paul Gottsegen, the president of the Halstead Management Company.
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How To Get Rid Of Cat Urine Odor
Never let cat pee sit there for any length of time. As bad as cat pee smells when it first comes out of their little bodies, the stench will become worse the longer the urine sits there as it becomes more concentrated.
The key to having cats AND a nice-smelling home is to clean up any accidents as soon as possible. Not doing so is basically inviting your cats to mark the area over and over again.
Here are some steps to take to get rid of cat urine odor in your home:
No one wants to live in a house that reeks of cat urine. If you follow these steps, you don’t have to worry about being ‘those people’ – your house should start smelling great in no time!
General Cat Pee Removal Guidelines:
- Eek! Whereâs the pee?! First, track down the source of the smell. And do it quickly. The longer the cat pee sits on your mattress or couch, the worse itâs going to smell.
- Blot with COLD water. Once youâve located the cat pee spot, youâll want to use cold water and paper towels or an old rag to blot the spot, absorbing as much as the cat pee as possible. If youâve got an extracting wet vac on hand, feel free to use that on the cold setting. Do not scrub, that will just make the cat pee angrier and more resilient, rubbing it further into the couch, floor, or garment.
- Neutralize it! Then youâre going to want to douse the spot with an enzymatic cleaner or simply make your own cleaning solution by combining vinegar and water in a 1:1 ratio. Because the vinegar is acidic, it will neutralize the bacteria in the cat pee, offsetting its odor. Let the solution sit for 3-5 minutes or carefully follow the instructions on the cleaning productâs label.
- Rinse + Repeat. Using a fresh paper towel or wet rag, do one more quick once over the stained spot. If youâre using a wet rag, remember to use cold water.
- Freshen up! For additional freshness, try using once itâs completely dry. You can also use around the litter box area to dull that lingering cat pee odor.
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Diagnosing Medical Cat Urine Problems
Diagnosing a cat urine problem consists of a thorough medicalhistory that includes information about a cats urinary habits andoutput, grooming habits and locations of such, indications of blood ina cats urine, and urine found on the outside of a litter box.
Normal cat urine consists of ammonia, urea, water, sodium, chloride,uric acid, phosphate, sulphate and creatinine. A cats urine should bea shade of yellow, depending on his water intake. If the color or smellof a cats urine is not normal, something is wrong.
Urine thats brown or has any red coloring in it means theres bloodin the urine. Urine that is yellow with a greenish tint will point toliver problems. If a cats urine smells strongly of ammonia, this wouldindicate a bacterial infection. Ammonia, however, is a natural elementin a cats urine, so a mild smell is normal. If cat urine has a sweetsmell, this is a sign the feline may have diabetes.
When diagnosing a cat to find the cause of his urine problem, aveterinarian conduct a urinalysis to check his glucose levels,proteins, electrolyte levels, tumors, signs of a urinary tract disease,bacteria, fungus, parasites, diabetes, cancerous cells and pyuria.
Causes Of Crawl Space Cat Urine Smell
Are you tired of the Cat Urine Smell in your crawl space? If you are looking for ways to eliminate the Cat Urine Smell, then you have come to the right place! Actually, The Cat Urine Smell might not emerge from a cat after all… read the shocking results below!
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We Remove The Smell Of Cat Urine From Subfloor Concrete Drywall And Wall Studs
Our technician welcome the chance to get cat odor out of houses as well as removal of severe cat urine from hard surfaces. Removing cat urine is our specialty and we are well equipped to treat most hard surfaces that stink. Our process involves meticulous surface preparation before we apply our odor encapsulator. We make sure all the the surface areas we will be treating has been cleaned, sanded, dried and free of any dust, paint or moisture before applying the odor encapsulator.
In addition to treating the subfloors and concrete we can also eliminate urine odor from tile grout, hardwood floors, sub-floor, natural stone tiles and clay pavers.
Please call us at 877-386-3677 for immediate response or you can email jody@petodorremovalservice.com
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The First Step In Cleaning Urine From Concrete Floors
The first step in removing the cat urine smell from concrete is to clean up the area to remove the bacteria. Cleaning the area with a mop or is the easiest way to tackle this particular project.
We highly recommend Mister Max P-Bath Pre-Treater to neutralize the Ph before applying an enzymatic cleaner. This step is especially important if you have already tried to clean the area with soap or bleach.
Instead of using soap, which can make the cat odor worse, try soaking the area with white vinegar and let it dry.
Once dry, go over the area again with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Scrub this mixture into the floor with a or a scrubber sponge and some old-fashioned elbow grease. Allow the mixture to sit over the area until dry, then clean it up with warm water.
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Does The Urine Smell Relate To Cat Behavior
For the pet parent who has a young, well-groomed, slim cat with no sign of a urinary tract infection, what does it mean when the smell still lingers in the cat’s coat? Spraying is a term for a behavior in which a cat sprays urine. Spraying is particularly common in intact cats. Intact or unaltered means a cat who is neither neutered nor spayed. Spaying or neutering a cat often stops spraying entirely, but for parents with an intact cat, this may be the source of a lingering urine smell.
Plants Could Be The Culprit
Whether you have landscaped your entire yard or you have a few houseplants, there is a chance they may be the culprit. Planting shrubs and various plants add to the charm and character of your home, but sometimes they bring pests and strange aromas.
While you may not want to get rid of the plants, its helpful to know if they are what is causing your home to smell like cat litter. Listed below are some common plants that tend to smell like cat urine.
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Why Does My Laundry Smells Like Cat Pee
Pets may urinate on your clothing or beds from time to time. Cat urine has a strong odor that can be difficult to get rid of, especially if it has dried and settled in.
But you can treat washable clothes to remove the smell of cat pee. Here are a few suggestions to help you get rid of the smell of cat pee.
- Before applying anything to the garments, soak the stain in a mixture of water and vinegar.
- Do not wipe or scrub it. Simply dab it with an old cloth or paper towel to absorb the pee until its dry.
- You can then proceed to use an enzyme-based detergent meant to remove pet odor or use a vinegar and water solution to wash your clothes.
Cat Urine Odor Removal Tips
Theres an unwanted guest in your home. It welcomes you each time you enter a room it even greets your guests. No, its not your beloved kitty its the odor of her urine. Youre not stuck with this uninvited presence, though. There a number of ways you can kick it to the curb.
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1. Remove as much urine as possible. The less urine there is, the less youll have to deep clean. So when you notice that your cat has urinated somewhere outside of her litter box, clean up as much of it as you can as soon as you can. If the puddle was made on carpet or furniture, The Humane Society of the United States recommends blotting the area with an absorbent paper towel. This wont get up all of the urine, but it will leave less of it behind for you to have to treat later.
If your cat has urinated on linens, clothing or drapes, wash them or have them dry-cleaned as soon as possible. The longer urine stays on fabric, the more stubborn its odor becomes. Detergents with baking soda or enzymatic additives are best for cleaning items that have urine odor.
If the urine is on a wall or other hard surface, wipe it down with a wet rag.
A spray made with enzymes that target pet urine can help break down the urine and make it less likely that your cat will return. There are a number of these products in pet stores and home improvement stores. Just be sure to use it as instructed.
- 1 cup crushed, dried herbs
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
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