If you live with cats, you know that sometimes accidents happen. For whatever reason, there are times when cats either miss the litter box or avoid it altogether. If you have carpeting, this is a problem because the urine can get down into the carpet padding and create an odor. How do you deal with it as naturally as possible? That’s the subject of this blog post.
We will suggest some homemade remedies but there are also some good natural commercial remedies on the market today as well to help you remove cat urine.
Blotting
One of the first things you should do if the urine stain is fresh is try to get as much of it up as possible. Obviously, this is easier to do on a hard surface than carpet. If it’s on a carpet, use a paper towel to blot it up.
Make sure you do this while wearing shoes: Stand on a clump of paper towels or use some old cloth towels that you don’t mind throwing away. This will help absorb as much of the urine as possible.
If you decide to use a detergent to get the stain out, remember to stay away from ones that have ammonia in them. It’s the ammonia in the cat urine that is really the problem and you don’t want to attract your cat with an ammonia smell to come back and use that spot as a permanent litter box.
Baking Soda
Baking soda cures many things. If you discover a smell in your carpet but you can’t see a stain, it doesn’t mean that the stain isn’t there. Wet the suspected area down and sprinkle it with baking soda. Use a lot of baking soda. Let it dry for as much as a few hours and then vacuum it up and do a sniff test. Repeat if you need to adding a mixture of dish detergent and water to deodorize the spot.
Vinegar and Water
Vinegar is a wonderful antibacterial and you can use a mixture of vinegar and water for both old and new cat urine stains. Using ½ cups of warm water to ½ cup vinegar, pour onto the stain and let it sit for up to 5 minutes. Avoid this solution if you have a stone or marble floor.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Not only is this a great antibacterial for humans, it’s also wonderful for cat urine stains. Take ¾ of a cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide and mix it with 1 teaspoon of dish detergent. Before using this solution, spread baking soda liberally on the stain. Next, sprinkle the hydrogen peroxide solution over the baking soda in a test area before you use it fully. This is because peroxide can discolor some fabrics. If everything’s fine, work the mixture and the baking soda into the carpet and let it dry for a few hours. After that, vacuum it up and see how it looks.
