How to get rid of the smell of cat urine

Cute cats, even very, very well-mannered ones, can still sometimes upset their loving owners with an annoying puddle or a “mark” in the most unexpected place. Or “miss” the tray a little. One way or another, the result will be a pungent, unpleasant odor and an unsightly stain. We hasten to assure you that this situation can be easily and quickly resolved! We want to share with you how to get rid of the smell of cat urine in a variety of cases in this article.

First of all, wipe the puddle dry

Why does it smell like that?

Surely, you have asked the question “Why is the smell of cat urine so pungent and difficult to remove?” Everything is explained by the composition of these animal secretions:

Urochrome is a substance that gives color.
Urea is a substance that makes a puddle or stain sticky after drying.
Uric (uric) acid - it is what helps the cat’s urine to quickly crystallize - these “crystals” do not dissolve in water, which is why it is difficult to get rid of the smell, and we are at a loss - how to remove the smell of cat urine?

Alas, the cat himself will not be able to remove the consequences of his “deeds.”
Thus, by simply thoroughly washing the affected area with water, you will only remove the first two components. The “crystals” will remain and will continue to “smell”, especially on surfaces that quickly and easily absorb moisture. Therefore, our struggle must first of all be directed against them.

Advice! If you are thinking about how to eliminate the smell of cat urine, then take decisive measures to eliminate such unpleasant behavior of the animal immediately after the first puddle you notice! And this does not mean at all that the cat needs to be severely punished; the reasons for his actions are most likely in your actions and in your attitude towards him.

The cat's litter box should always be clean - the animal may ignore a dirty litter box

Features of cat smell

The main problem is that the smell after the cat is difficult to remove. You won't be able to wash it off with regular means. The longevity of this scent is due to the fact that cat urine crystallizes quickly. The resulting crystals do not dissolve in water, making it impossible to remove them with ordinary detergents.

Cat urine has the following composition:

uric acid, which converts urine into crystals;
urea, which can dissolve in water;
urochrome, which consists of bile components and gives urine its color.

If you decide to get rid of an unpleasant odor using regular washing, then only the last two components can be eliminated. Uric acid, or rather its crystals, remain in the matter and are sources of stench.

At the same time, it is worth paying attention that the aroma is not felt until the material dries. This is why shoes damaged by a cat do not smell after washing until the first wear.

Effective means of control

Here you will find a remedy for the smell of cat urine, a handy and professional one that is guaranteed to help remove the foul-smelling “tag”. Let's also look at what we should give up in this fight.

Available means

Check out the table - something from this range must be kept in your home and will help remove the smell of cat urine.

Manganese	A weak solution of the substance deodorizes the surface. But be careful - potassium permanganate can stain the surface!
Vinegar	Dilute it with water - the solution perfectly fights odor without leaving visible marks.
Lemon juice	Freshly squeezed lemon juice is an effective odor fighter.
Hydrogen peroxide	Quite a strong product, but destructive for varnish surfaces.
Iodine	The smell of cat urine can be removed by diluting 10 drops of a regular alcohol solution of iodine with a liter of water.
Soda	Copes well with cat "business". But it is an abrasive agent, which is why it should not be used on glossy coatings.
Laundry soap	It will help fight the smell of both urine and animal feces.
Vodka	The smell of cat urine - how to remove it with its help? Vodka does not fight odor so much, but it has a valuable quality - the “aroma” itself is so disgusting to the cat that he is unlikely to want to mark this place again.
Tooth rinse	Not only will it help eliminate the smell, but it will give a pleasant aroma instead of cat stench.
Bleaches	Whiteness, BOS reliably eliminate cat urine odors.

A few drops work wonders

Be careful with peroxide

Lemon juice is a great helper

How to remove the smell of cat urine - try regular potassium permanganate

Vinegar is also good

All Purpose Soda

Advice! Do not use aromatic oils and fragrances to combat cat odors - they will not eliminate the cause, but will mix with the stench, creating an equally unpleasant-smelling “ambre”.

It's a shame when shoes suffer.
Now let's move on to the “professional fighters”.

Professional products

The problem of cat odors is not new at all, which is why many effective drugs have been created that are aimed specifically at combating them. You will find the most proven ones in the table below: removing the smell of cat urine is their direct purpose.

Odorgone Animal Gold

"Zoosan"

"Dezosan"

Odorgone Animal Gold	This product is patented in the United States, but bottled in Russia. It is hypoallergenic, safe and consists only of natural ingredients and water. A few sprays of this miracle spray, which you see in the photo, will rid the room of even persistent and ingrained odors in a matter of minutes. The natural remedy can be used on small children and animals.
"Zoosan"	An excellent answer to the question: “Smell of cat urine – how to remove it?” A Russian natural remedy, which is packaged both for large premises with animals and for ordinary apartments. It is also safe for animals and children, because... contains non-ionic surfactants, fragrances, food coloring and antiseptics. The product is guaranteed to remove stains from any surface and destroy the “aroma” at the molecular level.
"Dezosan"	It kills “amber,” as they say, “in the bud,” and does not drown it out with a pleasant smell. Its composition is simple - nonionic surfactants and fragrance.
Urine-off Cat & Kitten	An American product whose manufacturers keep the composition of their creation secret. Its ingredients destroy precisely the uric acid crystals, which are “to blame” for the persistent odor. In addition, Urine-off Cat & Kitten also acts as a pheromone blocker - as a result of its use, the animal completely loses the desire to choose the “treated” place again. The product allows you to effectively remove the smell of cat urine on hard and soft, horizontal and vertical surfaces.
Odor kill	This English-made product is truly universal. It removes the smell of cat urine, feces, tobacco smoke, burning, kitchen odors and more. The drug is safe for children and animals and has a pleasant vanilla scent. To treat it, you just need to dilute it in water and treat the problematic surface - floors, tiles, upholstered furniture, carpeting, etc.

Odor kill

Advice! If you can't find a foul-smelling crime scene, use an ultraviolet lamp to make the search easier - cat urine will glow yellow.

Now let’s tell you about what is best to avoid in your search for “Cat urine smell – how to remove it”?

Harmful and ineffective products

In order not to harm yourself by removing contamination with your own hands, as well as the animal and the marked surface, we advise you to avoid chlorine-containing products. Their use is unsafe for cats and people. It also harms many materials.

Advice! If the stain is large, ingrained, or there are many stains on a soft surface, then there is only one correct solution - professional dry cleaning.

A little kitten can do big things

Step-by-step recipe for soaked urine

What to do if the cat peed a long time ago, profusely, the urine went into the sofa and had time to dry a long time ago? Removing the “aroma” of a cat from upholstered furniture with peroxide is not an easy task, but rewarding. In a couple of hours your sofa will look like a young one.

Prepare a solution of vinegar (50 ml) and water (0.5 l). Soak the problem area with the liquid.
Eliminate excess moisture by collecting as much of it as possible with paper napkins.
Dry the stain. Destroying moisture with a hairdryer helps you get rid of urine more effectively.
Using a syringe, pump the insides of the sofa with a soda solution (3 tablespoons per 150 ml of warm water, stir thoroughly). A 20 ml syringe with a thick needle is suitable.
Sprinkle baking soda generously over the surface of the stain.
Pour a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, water (1:1) and 2-3 drops of dish gel into a good small spray bottle. Shake it up. Peroxide will completely destroy the aroma.
Spray the area covered with baking soda.
Using a syringe, inject the remaining liquid into the sofa filler.
After 15 minutes, vacuum up the soda crystals. Dry the damp area on the upholstery.
Clean the whitish stain left by the baking soda with wet wipes.
When you clean, do not press the sofa upholstery against its interior - peroxide and soda should continue their work until completely dry.

You should be careful when removing the smell of urine with peroxide, because it is even used as a bleach. Start all experiments by trying the stain remover in an inconspicuous place. You can also use peroxide to scrub urine out of your carpet. But if liquid gets on a hard surface, it must be washed off.

Universal methods

Let us introduce you to universal “recipes” for all occasions:

Half the battle is to eliminate the puddle in time. Cover it with napkins, paper, and a well-absorbent cloth. Do not rub it under any circumstances - just blot it.
Dilute vinegar with water in a ratio of 1:2 and rinse the stain with it. This is effective advice on how to remove the smell of cat urine, from our grandmothers.
To get rid of the smell specifically, sprinkle the “treated” area with soda so that a dense layer of this powder forms. Then treat the surface with an “explosive mixture” of hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing detergent. Finally, vacuum the surface.

Stop!

Grate the laundry soap into fine powder, then pour it into warm water. Apply the resulting mixture to the contaminated area and leave for half an hour. Then all that remains is to get rid of the resulting crust with a clean, wet cloth.
Another effective remedy is to drop 15 drops of iodine into a glass of water and stir the solution. Dampen a sponge in it and use it to treat the dirty surface. This is great advice for the question “How to remove the smell of cat urine from a bag?”

Nurture from “young claws”

Ammonia works great for any odors - drop it onto the dirt, wait 10-15 minutes and rinse with plenty of water. However, one thing - some cats love the smell of ammonia, and it is not a fact that, attracted by it, they will not choose this area to defecate again.
It copes well with the smell of “laundry soap + hydrogen peroxide” steam.
The contamination is large or far from fresh - how to remove the smell from cat urine in this case? A comprehensive method can help you: apply lemon juice to the stain, then sprinkle baking soda on top. Once everything fizzes well, remove it with a vacuum cleaner. Then wash the area with laundry soap and rub hydrogen peroxide into the stain. Then it’s time to wash with soap and alcohol. Finally, vacuum the surface thoroughly.

An ultraviolet lamp will help find contamination

If you don’t have anything suitable at hand, then strong, fresh tea leaves will help you.
How to get rid of the smell of cat urine after cleaning? Scattered citrus peels and cinnamon sticks will scare the animal away from the washed area.
A universal device such as a household air ionizer helps a lot. The instructions for your actions are simple - cover the surface with a suitable piece of polyethylene, and pass the hose of the device under it. Leave it to work for a period of about two hours. If an animal poops in a flower pot, shoes or on clothes, water ozonated by the same device will help you.

The video in this article will introduce you to several more ways to combat cat “odors.”

Advice! Use hydrogen peroxide with caution - it may discolor the product.

It's better to use several products at once

Chemical method of urine decomposition

How to remove and decompose cat urine at a chemical level? To eliminate foul-smelling traces of a cat's activity, you can use a recipe designed to remove the stench of skunk excretions. The urine of these animals contains protein compounds that serve as a source of discomfort for others. The process involves two stages: removal of uric acid, and then neutralization of thiols. Required ingredients: nine percent vinegar, soda, hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid.

Procedure:

1) Remove moisture using paper napkins or cat litter.
2) Dilute vinegar with water in a ratio of 1:3. Pour the solution over the treated area and leave to dry. At this stage, urine is destroyed.
3) After the vinegar has completely evaporated, lightly sprinkle the stain with baking soda powder and immediately proceed to the next step.
4) Combine hydrogen peroxide with an equal amount of water, add a teaspoon of liquid dish soap. Spray the mixture over a surface sprinkled with baking soda until foam appears. Wait for the reaction results (2-3 hours). The chemical reaction serves to produce oxygen, which neutralizes the thiols. Liquid soap is used to create foam that traps oxygen in the dirty area.
5) Remove dry mixture residues using a vacuum cleaner.

Using this method to eliminate odor is not only effective, but also does not require large expenses, since all components are inexpensive. The method can be widely used for cleaning entrances, elevators and other public areas. To remove old, stubborn dirt, pre-treatment with enzymes is recommended. A day after cleaning, you should treat the stain with vinegar, and another day later - with a mixture of soda and peroxide.

The vinegar in the recipe can be replaced with ethyl or isopropyl alcohol, but these substances are very toxic and can cause serious poisoning.

For specific cases

Let us now consider which products will be more suitable and effective for a particular surface.

Upholstered furniture, sofas	If there is no risk that the surface may become stained, use a manganese solution. Otherwise, vinegar or lemon juice.
Flooring, parquet, laminate	How to remove the smell of cat urine from the floor quickly and effectively? Use freshly squeezed lemon juice or vinegar diluted with water (both in 1:1 ratio). Wipe the surface so that it remains damp after cleaning. After a couple of hours, wipe the area dry.
Mattress	Baking soda and boric acid will help you. In the absence of the latter, you can take regular carbonated mineral water. First, pour soda or boric acid diluted with water onto the stain, and then cover with baking soda. Leave it on for several hours, then rinse everything off with water and dry the item.
Leather shoes	How to remove the smell of cat urine from your skin? It’s easy to deal with a fresh puddle - stuff the inside of your shoes with crumpled paper and wait until it absorbs the moisture. Then wash thoroughly with laundry soap. It is more difficult to deal with a stain noticed at the wrong time. You will have to go through several cleaning cycles with laundry soap. To consolidate the effect, after each cycle, wipe the smelly area with a cotton swab generously soaked in vinegar. All this must be repeated until the smell disappears.
Fabric shoes	Washing the product in the washing machine will help you. Then, after drying, you can spray the shoes with a special anti-odor spray. “Freezing” shoes on the balcony at low temperatures in winter is also effective.
Carpeted, wood floors	Blot the puddle dry with a cloth or paper napkin, toilet paper or rags before removing the smell of cat urine from hardwood floors and other surfaces. Then use laundry soap, vinegar or lemon juice.
Cloth	We'll tell you how to remove the smell of cat urine from clothes: before washing, rinse things in a vinegar solution (1 tablespoon of vinegar per liter of water).

Advice! Uric acid will be dissolved by alkali, glycerin, and sulfuric acid. Manganese is both a cleaner and a deodorant.

The tray should be comfortable for the cat

How to remove the smell of cat urine from things using specialized products

If the use of traditional methods in the fight against the problem that has arisen is not possible or they turned out to be powerless, then you need to choose industrially produced chemicals. The most popular products that can remove cat urine from clothing are:

"OdorGone" is an odor neutralizer that does its job perfectly. It is easy to use because its bottle is in the form of a spray and does not cause allergic reactions. A very effective and inexpensive means of removing dirt and odors;
“Zoosan” is a product specially designed to combat the smell of pet urine. It is applicable to all types of fabrics and surfaces;
“Dezosan” contains surfactants that will help not only remove the “aroma” of cat urine, but also completely eliminate their source.

All these products must be used in strict compliance with the instructions indicated on the packaging.

Prevention of the problem

It is easier to eliminate any problem than to deal with its consequences like “how to neutralize the smell of cat urine.” Therefore, if this is not the first time your pet has ignored its litter box, you need to find the reason for this behavior. Let's look at what it turns out to be most often:

Your cat simply doesn’t like his litter box and is behaving this way on purpose. Hostility can arise due to many circumstances - the cat’s litter box is too small for its owner (the litter box should be twice the size of the cat sitting in it), the cat cannot have privacy during the process (passage place, nearby toilets of other cats), the animal does not have the opportunity to bury their excrement (this is especially typical for cats who, from childhood, go to a tray with filler and sand).
The animal discovered an unfamiliar thing with a “foreign” smell. Usually this is the property of the owner’s guests - bags, clothes, shoes. Therefore, in the future, out of harm’s way, put the things of those who come to visit you in the closet.

What's happening to your cat could be a symptom of a serious illness

The animal is seriously ill or is in a stressful situation. If a cat has cystitis or urolithiasis, then she simply cannot control the process of urination. And “finished” things, furniture, are just the tip of the iceberg. It is possible that the disease seriously threatens the health and life of the animal, and it urgently needs the help of a veterinarian. Also, a cat may urinate in the wrong places, experiencing extreme stress - the animal is very frightened, is in an unfamiliar and incomprehensible situation or environment, there are many strangers around it, it hears sounds that are scary for it, etc.
This is how the cat marks its territory. This is typical for uncastrated animals. To avoid taking your animal for surgery, try letting him go for walks in the fresh air (if you are afraid that the cat will get lost, accompany him by putting a leash or harness on the animal). Some owners recommend a zoopsychological method - to catch the animal at the scene of the crime, take it by the scruff of the neck and menacingly, without blinking, look into its eyes. Whoever wins this “staring contest” and does not take his eyes off first, will be the founder of order in the house. There is also such a strange way: to wipe the place of the cat's mark after cleaning with your sweaty thing.

The main thing is to raise the animal correctly

A cat is a very clean animal. And such indecent behavior may be a direct protest to the fact that her tray is completely unsanitary. Try to clean the cat litter box on time, using disinfectants and odor-eliminating products.
Sometimes such puddles can be a kind of revenge for old grievances. If you hit the cat and try to isolate it, you will only make the situation worse.

Don’t forget about this universal remedy.
We hope that our article helped you determine how to remove the smell of cat urine from various surfaces using improvised or professional means. Let us remind you once again that with frequent repetitions of such incidents, it is much more important to eliminate the reason that caused this behavior of the animal.

What products should not be used

After all, a cat is not an intruder, but a careless beloved animal.

His intelligence is at the level of a two-year-old child. The cat is able to be cunning, think logically, and calculate moves in advance. Fluffies even know how to deceive their owners. They imitate us and adapt to the mood of the main person.

Contrary to the opinion that cats are cold, soulless egoists, I confidently declare that they love us too. Here are some facts to prove cat love:

Cat Hachiko. This is the nickname of the old Angora cat who settled right on the side of the road - where he was thrown out of the car. For months, even in rain and rain, the cat did not go anywhere. He would go away for a day or two to look for food and return. As winter approached, local animal rights activists sounded the alarm. The cat was eventually caught and adopted. He received the name Pushka and lived with us?
Cat Haze. She got lost in a resort town where the owner took her on vacation. One day the cat didn’t come back from a walk, and the guy was forced to leave without her. Already in winter, Dymka returned to her native Saratov. The devoted pussy covered a distance of 1,500 kilometers!
Cat Sherkhan. I slept in the closet for months. As it turned out later, he found his deceased owner’s sweater there and wanted to be with his loved one’s thing.
Cat Zhanty. For six months he lay next to his seriously ill owner. I completely lost my hair from the stress. He returned to normal life and became fluffy again only after the owner’s complete recovery.
Bart the cat. He was hit by a car. The owner mistakenly decided that Bart had died and asked a neighbor to bury the animal. After 5 days the cat appeared at home. He was able to get out of the hole and return. It turned out that the cat had a broken jaw and an eye injury. After the operation, Bart returned home forever.
Unnamed cat. There are many stories about how cats fed and warmed their owners in besieged Leningrad, bringing home mice and rats. And during periods of rest, the furry saviors gave their owners their warmth, keeping them warm in frozen rooms. Most often, cats lay down next to the children.

Have a treasured story about your cat's devotion? Tell us in the comments!

Although some people recommend using bleach to remove unpleasant odors, it is highly prohibited.

Experienced cat owners claim that their pets love the smell of chlorine, so you can achieve the opposite effect.

Advice!

It would also be wrong to use eau de toilette, deodorant, aromatic oil and the like to destroy the aroma.

They will simply mask the odor, but will not remove it. Once he returns, he will become even more unpleasant.

Ineffective and harmful methods to combat urine odor

When deciding how to remove the smell of cat urine, it is important not to harm things, pets and family members. It is not recommended to use:

compositions containing chlorine;
deodorants, air fresheners;
homemade fragrances (coffee, oils, incense sticks).

When using them, you can kill the smell, hide it from people, but not from animals. Using such recipes is useless; pets will again mark their usual places. The use of bleach, moreover, can harm animals and children.