a question for DUer's with cats !!

[the Kelly Gang]

I've just discovered my dear old pussycat who is well trained has been pissing in a corner of the spare room and I've tried everything I can but I just can't seem to get the smell out of the wooden floor.

I'm fixing up the room for an old aunt to come and live in..does anyone have any great method to get that smell out of wood ?( apart from taking up some of the floorboards).

otherwise poor old 82 year old Auntie Edna wil have to sleep in an alcove !

:nopity:

[qb]

1. Oooh. Nasty problem. All I can suggest is to get an enzyme product

(Nature's Miracle, Simple Solution, etc.) and apply, and re-apply, and re-apply until it soaks into the wood and neutralizes the odor. It might work, it might not.

on edit: If that doesn't completely remove the odor, wait until it is completely dry and seal the floor with polyurethane.

[CatWoman]

3. Nature's Miracle is indeed a miracle

and they make a formula especially for cat urine.

[SoCalDem]

2. Try Petsmart..

I think they make a product that will help.. If all esle fails, maybe you could replace the boards :(

[sus]

4. I've heard Nature's Miracle

is the only thing that works.

[stellanoir]

5. throw a whole box of baking soda in the corner. . .

Let it sit for a couple of hours then vacuum. Then call your local pet store. There was a product somebody gave me a couple of years ago when her boyfriend left a stray cat in my car. Can't remember the name of it for the life of me but it was something like. . . . It worked very well to remove the god awful stench.


Edit> yeah it was simple solution! The best!

[the Kelly Gang]

11. I haven't tried any of those..they sound perfect..I mean puuurfect

[qb]

6. Also, either keep the cat locked out of that room permanently

or cover that corner with plastic while the cat is roaming. Once he has a favorite spot, he'll use it again and again, no matter what you do.

[the Kelly Gang]

12. yes I've had to keep the door shut..and Aunt Edna will brain him

if he goes in there while she's home

[truthspeaker]

7. have you taken her to the vet? She might have a urinary tract infection

Or she's mad at you for something. Or just acting weird for the sake of it, as cats are known to do.

[the Kelly Gang]

9. he's had a check-up..just went crazy for a while

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. the 1st thing to go in old age is sense of smell...this is a fact

at 82 your old aunty won't even notice the cat piss smell....i promise

[the Kelly Gang]

10. you don't know Aunt Edna !!!!!

[ChickMagic]

17. That's true.

I can't go in my 78 year old mom's house without my eyes watering. She doesn't seem to notice it at all.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. I Have A Suggestion

I don't think i saw anyone else suggest this. It works, because this is what we did when we bought our house, and the dog that lived there before had damaged the subfloor in the living room.

First, clean the floor throroughly. Use Spic & Span, because you want something with NO AMMONIA OR AMMONIUM BASED CLEANERS!!! (Very important safety issue.)

When it's essentially dry, use methanol (wood alcohol) and a teflon scrubbie on each of the spots. When each spot has been scrubbed, pour a little methanol on the spot, and lay a paper towel over it to soak up the excess alcohol. (Wait 15 seconds or so to allow the organic chemicals in the urine to diffuse into the paper.)

Repeat that process at least once more.

When it's dry, go to each of the spots where the damage is and pour chlorine bleach right on the spot. The odor chemicals will get oxidized and will reduce the odor.

Now, finally, take the methanol and mix it with varnish. Take a small sponge brush and coat the areas with this mixture.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it really doesn't take that long. We did nearly our whole living room (13' x 21') in about 90 minutes, spread over two days.

But, from the moment we got done, there was no pet urine odor, and we've never had it come back. Been in that house 16 years.
The Professor

NOTE: The use of bleach over an ammoniated cleaner should NEVER be done. Free ammonia will be liberated because of the stronger ions in the bleach, and ammonia chlorinates to ammonium trichloride. This is a highly toxic gas. So, really follow the directions as i've written them. I don't want you getting sick.

[Donkeyboy75]

15. You also get chlorine gas...yuck.

x(

Edit: fixed thanks to ProfGAC

[ProfessorGAC]

18. No You Don't

Sorry, to contradict, but my first masters degree is in chemistry. Bleach doesn't break down into HCl, unless in the presence of a mineral acid of even higher pKa. There are only 4 of those.

HCl is nasty, but it's not terribly toxic. It can burn nasal tissues, and make it hard to catch a breath when directly exposed, but it's toxicity, in the short term, is pretty low.

NCl3, however, is highly toxic. The LD50, is only about 10ppm, on an 8 hour TWA. So, 2% in air, can be toxic right now. Working in a corner, like the original post suggested, could allow that to happen.

Sorry for this reply. I don't get that many opportunities to talk chemistry.
The Professor

[Donkeyboy75]

19. Ack! I meant to write chlorine gas!

Don't know why I wrote HCl. :dunce:

BTW, I'm finishing up my PhD in bioorganic chemistry. It is hard to find opportunities to talk chem outside the lab. :)

On edit: Thanks for the correction. I really do enjoy having my mistakes pointed out, so don't apologize. :hi:

[ProfessorGAC]

21. You Are A Most Good Sport

G'luck on the dissertation. My M.S. is in quantum chemistry. Never really got too interested in biochem. Not sure why. Just didn't float my boat. But, quantum exchange mechanisms . . . oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
The Professor

[Donkeyboy75]

22. Whew!

Hated p-chem. I was pretty good at kinetics and quantum mechanics, but was awful at stat mech. Haven't touched that stuff with a ten-foot pole since grad school.

[Donkeyboy75]

14. Enzyme-based products are good,

but I still fear they're not good enough to beat cat piss completely. I'd say you're fucked. :)

One other thing you may want to try is grinding up charcoal briquettes (or get finely ground charcoal if you can), and sprinkling it in that corner. Let it sit there for a day or two, then clean up. This should take care of one of the compounds...felinine (yes, scientists acutally worked to isolate this amino acid).

The main stinky chemical in cat piss is ammonia, though. You could clean this up with bleach. This should take care of the ammonia.

[TX-RAT]

16. Try cleaning the floor with club soda

Sound like you may need to take your cat to the Vet. Ours did the same thing, turned out to be a urinary track infection.

[Onlooker]

20. Easy solution

Whenever Aunt Edna is around, just say, "What's that awful smell?" If she thinks it's her, she won't say anything.