If you ever have to deal with a cat who pee in the wrong place, you know how hard it is to get rid of the smell.
Cats are efficient predator who use every last drop of moisture from the food they eat. Hence, their urine is very concentrated and…smell really strong.
Also, cats are territorial animals who use urine as a ‘marking device’ to signal to other cats. That’s why their urine is meant to smell!
From my job as a cat sitter, I find there is really only one way to combat the smell of cat pee.
Yes, simple white vinegar. (It doesn’t have to be Heinz of course…any brand will do!)
I like to put it in a cheap Ikea spray bottle, like these ones…
Spray the area. Wait a few minutes, then wipe clean with kitchen towels.
It ALWAYS WORK.
Alternatively, you can use other fancy specialist products. I find Urine Off is the only one that works.
Whatever you do, DO NOT USE BLEACH BASED PRODUCT. Because bleach will only bring out the strong ammonia scent in the urine and attract the cat back to the same spot.
Apart from cleaning the area, a responsible cat person should also look into why your cat pee in the wrong place in the first place. Ask yourself these questions: (it goes without saying, you HAVE TO neuter your cat!)
1. Does he/she not like the litter box? The location of the box, the choice of litter, etc.
2. Does he/she look unwell? Will that be a kidney or bladder issue? Should you take him/her to the vet?
3. Is it a case of anxiety? If it is the case, you might want to contact a behaviourist like myself.
4. Do you clean your litter tray every day? (No? Bad parent. Bad bad parent…)
5. Do you have enough litter tray in the house? (I am forever amazed to see customer who lives in a 3-bathroom-3-floor house to provide only one litter tray…sometimes, in multicat household! If you don’t want to walk up and down the stairs to go to the loo, you expect the cat to do so, um…)
6. If you have an elderly cat, you might also take into account that your cat might have difficulty getting into the tray due to arthritis.
Have you ever have to deal with cat pee? How do you deal with it? Share your trick in the comments below!
Excellent post. I always use vinegar too. I am bad in that I have 13 cats so I should have 14 litter boxes , but I only have 9.
In fairness, it’s so difficult to have 14 litter boxes! You are doing pretty good with 9! I will feature one customer of mine here in the coming months, who has 13 cats, she has 7 litter boxes and she has been doing ok so far…by the way, her house is very catify, I will show you guys!
Question: do they pee outside the box much? Why would you need to clean?