Don't let cat urine become a big pet peeve

As most of you know my company often cleans problem properties. Those problems range from sewage back up to eliminating the odor from a deceased body. In this week’s article I would like to briefly discuss animal urine in the home.

Animals can be very destructive to a home, especially to its walls and flooring. Staining from its urine penetrate carpets and sub flooring. Male cats spray walls and furniture. The urine penetrates deep into sub flooring causing a constant off gassing of hydrogen sulphide. This gas can be overwhelming and can actually cause health problems for those constantly around it.

Cleaning a surface that has deeply penetrated by animal urine can be very demanding. Usually it requires drying compounds, naturalizing agents, sanding, and sometimes removal of the carpet, sub floor and drywall.

There are a few tricks the home owner can try before calling a professional cleaning company:

n Keep the kitty litter box clean —  Cats are generally picky creatures. If their potty spot does not meet their standards they will find a new location to go pee. That new location may be on your couch, clothing lying on the floor or up against your newly painted drywall.

n Clean up the accident spot thoroughly —  Cats are creatures of habit and generally use their sense of smell to find the old spot where they last urinated. If that spot was not cleaned thoroughly, they will urinate there again.

n Spot cleaning —  Once a spot is identified, mix a solution of 50/50 vinegar and water and saturate that location and let it soak for about 3 to 5 minutes. Take a clean white towel and soak up the solution, try to get it as dry as possible. Next – sprinkle baking soda over the wet spot. Mix ? cup of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide with one tablespoon of dawn dish soap. Sprinkle this mixture over the baking soda and allow the mixture to dry before cleaning up. The idea here is to pull the urine with its salts out of the surface you are treating. If the spot is on carpet, use an old hair brush to agitate the carpet fibers.

n Clothing —  If  that cute little fur face peed on your clothing, just add ? cup of apple cider vinegar to your normal wash cycle along with your laundry detergent.

Cat pee or cat urine is one of the toughest substances to remove from the home environment, while home remedies are effective in removing it, some folks (myself included) simply don’t have the time nor the patience it takes to effectively remove cat urine. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time on your hands and knees cleaning up a spot, below are a few products that seem to work well because they contain an enzyme that digests and break down the salts and bacteria contained in urine:

n Nature’s Miracle, Complete Pet Stain and Odor Remover

n Capture Pet Stain and Odor Neutralizer

Note:

1. There are many products on the market that claim to be effective; however, they only mask the odor for a short while.

2. I do not recommend using bleach to clean up pet urine primarily because urine has ammonia in it. By adding bleach to the mixture you will create a deadly gas that could affect your health. 

When cleaning with any cleaning product, always wear eye protection and rubber gloves to protect your hands. If you would like to share a cleaning idea or concept with the reading audience, call Ed at NWES (208-255-2266) or toll free at 1-877-311-NWES. E-mail them to nwees@hughes. net  or send them to Bonner County Daily Bee, 310 Church St. , Sandpoint, ID 83864, Attn: What Would Ed do? For more information about Ed’s company, check him out at NWESINC. COM.

n Copy written by Edmond E. Madan, certified forensic, fire, flood, mold inspection and remediation contractor. Ed is the president of  Northwest Executive & Environmental Services, Inc.