Cat smell in my bedroom - How can I get rid of it?

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by Dissonance, Feb 24, 2012.

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  1. Dissonance Registered Senior Member

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    My male cat is good about using his litter box, but one night he got closed in my bedroom and pooped in the corner of the room. I cleaned it up, sprayed with carpet cleaner and Lysol, and put a bath towel over it. About a month later I sniffed the towel and it smelled like cat. Not sure if it's pee or what. It could just be residual smell that hasn't gone away from the original accident, but since the smell is so strong and all over the towel, I'm thinking he's gone back to that corner and did something to make it smell.

    So what do you think it is? And is there a way to get rid of it and stop smell from coming back?

    Also, if I moved my dresser over to that corner to cover that area on the floor, would that fix the problem? Or would he end up making new smells on top of the dresser or on nearby areas of the carpet?
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Use clorox bleach that should do the trick.
     
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  5. Dissonance Registered Senior Member

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    ok thanks. Thing is-- I also want to detract the cat from making it smell again.
     
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  7. MacGyver1968 Fixin' Shit that Ain't Broke Valued Senior Member

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    After my friend moved into his new house, his two cats kinda rebelled, and stop using their litter box, and started going in specific places in the house. He added a couple of new temporary litterboxs in the spots they would go, and the slowly, day by day moved them closer to the original box. Eventually they went back to going in the original box.
     
  8. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    Clean the spot on the carpet as much as you can, dry it with paper towels.
    If you can lift the carpet, also clean underneath it and place some paper towels underneath it.

    When it's dry, remove the paper towels.

    Do not leave a cloth towel over the spot.

    If you've had a cloth towel over the carpet all this time, then clean the carpet again, and let it all dry out well.

    Air the room well.


    The smell of cat urine is very strong and persistent.
    Cleaning and air-drying help a lot, though.
     
  9. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    First you need to establish if he is actually peeing on the carpet again or not.

    If the spot still smells of cat urine, it may still have interest for him, just to go and check it out, not necessarily to pee again. So if he's there, it's not necessarily to pee.


    Again, thoroughly clean the carpet, dry it, use some deodorant on the carpet, air the room well.
    Once it's all dry, place clean white paper towels over the spot, and if possible, underneath it, for the test. Check the paper towels once a day: if they're wet or yellow, then he has peed on them.

    Note that urine doesn't have the characteristic smell right away. It's only after it has been exposed to air for some time that it really begins to smell.
     
  10. Dissonance Registered Senior Member

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    Ok thanks a lot. I'll do that. If I did move my dresser over that spot, would that help at all? He wouldn't pee on top of the dresser (above where the spot on the carpet was), would he? Or what if I put a solid office mat on top of it? Would that deter him?
     
  11. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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  12. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    I don't think so.


    Once the spot is clean and dry, place a tall, bulky object over it. Like a dresser, a bucket, or a potted plant.


    Also, get your cat a new toy, and if possible and if he doesn't yet have it, a nice spot on the windowsill.
    This is to give him some new interest, to distract him from his usual routines.


    Is he the only cat / the only pet?
     
  13. Zippo Registered Member

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    Cat Urine

    Pet urine consists of mainly three parts. Urea; makes the urine sticky and allows the other two parts to stick around. Urochrome gives the urine its ugly yellow color that stains carpets, furniture, the wall and anything the cat sprays or urinates on. The third main part of the urine is Uric Acid. Uric acid in the urine consists of salts and crystals that give off the extremely pungent odor. These odors attach to minute solids floating in the air, most are invisible the heaver ones you can see floating in the air when the sunlight comes through the window in just the right angle. Each particle has a positive electrical charge because it is missing an electron. This enables it to drift as it is drawn in one direction and then another by electrical charges imbedding in carpets, drapes and walls. An ozone generator will remove the odors by seeking out the source and destroying it, aerosol sprays and candles only replace the odor with a more pleasant odor they do not remove the odor only mask it. For more information on odor control, air-renul]
     
  14. Ivan Seeking Registered Senior Member

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    957
    We have decades of experience with animals and learned long ago that you need to use products that contain enzymes, like this.
    http://www.entirelypets.com/natures...r:adType=pla&gclid=CP2x4cOVt64CFeYERQodLnRKrA

    or this
    http://www.amazon.com/Urine-Off-Stain-Remover-Gallon/dp/B000F6UR6Q
     
  15. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    (Shout out to Ivan!)


    Dissonance: you have answered your own question:

    1] If you don't want your cat to poop in your room, don't accidentally lock him in there.

    2] If you do end up locking him in your room, (forcing him to poop there instead of his litterbox, where you've said he is good about going) then attempting to discourage him from doing it in any particular spot is pointless. If he's gotta go, he's gotta go. He'll just have to do it in another corner.

    Frankly, your cat is doing the very best he can with the hand you've dealt him. It is the owner who needs behavior modification.

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  16. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    There's a product called Nature's Miracle that Mrs. Fraggle and I have been using for about twenty years. It's designed specifically to remove biological substances from upholstery and carpeting, both the stain and the odor. (Even vomit, blood, dried food, and stuff that you can't identify at all.) We currently have dogs rather than cats, but dog urine and feces is just as difficult to deal with as the feline equivalent. Nature's Miracle gets it out even if they get creative and do it in a place where we don't notice it until a week later and it's thoroughly soaked in and dried. Sometimes we have to go back and do a second application, but that's usually the end of it.

    I'm sure there are other products that use the same formula. We have no stock in the Nature's Miracle company so I don't care which one you buy.

    It's been twenty years since our last cat died so I can't speak authoritatively about the species. But I know that the world record for a dog holding his bladder is about thirteen hours. For the average pet dog the limit is more like nine or ten, and that's only if a herd of deer don't come over to graze in your yard while you're at work, and get him jumping around and barking. In other words, keeping a pet locked indoors all day while you're off earning the money to buy his food is a difficult proposition.

    You absolutely need to provide a litter box. Most dogs, if they develop a bad habit like peeing in the house, can be retrained, albeit with considerable time and effort. But it's not nearly so easy with cats. If you lock your cat in a room all day with no litter box, you're basically telling him it's okay to go wherever he feels like it. You can spend the rest of your life trying to convince him that you didn't really mean that.

    But all pets have accidents. (Don't get me started on parrots!) It's best not to have carpeting, which is tough to clean, or hardwood, which allows microscopic traces of stinky liquids to seep down into the cracks between the boards unless you renew the finish every couple of years. Put down rugs, which you can take up and have professionally cleaned with industrial-grade equipment, or tile, which doesn't absorb liquids or odors.
     
  17. Pandaemoni Valued Senior Member

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    In my experience, cat urine is a bit more difficult to deal with than dog urine, but I was also going to recommend Nature's Miracle. In fact, they have a version of their product specifically for cat urine.
     
  18. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    In my experience, not at all.
    A cat will not defecate or urinate in the room where he or she sleeps, eats or plays. Unless forced into it, such as when locked into the room.
    Cats are very clean and very specific about where they do their business.

    One of our cats was once accidentally left in a room with the doors closed for at least six hours. He did urinate on the floor, but was later on visibly distressed over the matter. We took no correction measures against him, and he did not do it again either, ever.

    One cat, when he was already quite old, had incontinence. When he had to urinate, he always called to be left outside or into the hallway where his litter box was. But a couple of times, I was too slow. It was not his fault that he peed on the floor.

    If your cat has incontinence and he is in a room with no litter box, you have to be alert and open the door for him as soon as he calls you.
     
  19. Trippy ALEA IACTA EST Staff Member

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    Moderator Note:
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  20. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    Do you have full value fire insurance?

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  21. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    One notable and common exception: cats will urinate on the possessions of someone with whom they are very unhappy. Often, the possession is the target's bed.
     
  22. Epictetus here & now Registered Senior Member

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    You're not sure if it's pee!? Of courser it is if the cat pissed there. How to get rid of the smell!? Get rid of the cats!

    I once had the misfortune to live in a place the former resident had two cats. The whole house stank of ammonia, fresher cat pee and kitty litter. I even found hardened turds on a hassock. So I cleaned with pine floor cleaner, aired the place out, and vacuumed and vacuumed til all the cat hair was gone. Eventually the place was liveable.

    I know disliker of cats is not what you want on this thread - only consider: a cat is the perfect pet if you want an animal that pretends to love you when it's hungry...
     
  23. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    You hang out with the wrong cats. :bugeye:
     
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