Cat Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

My cat has ruined our hardwood floors. The smell is awful since we have been using the heater. I have tried so many products and nothing works. I have to be careful with certain products on the wood. I am very sad because I may have to give the cat away or put it on medication. Please help.

Yvonne from San Pedro, CA

Answers:

Cat Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

Having worked as a vet tech for 20 plus years, I've heard and tried many things for removing urine smell. One that works great on carpet, can't say what it would do to hardwood floors, is Scope Minty mouthwash. First, remove as much of the urine as possible using absorbent toweling, then liberally apply the mouthwash to the area and let it set for a minimum of 30 mins. Wipe up area with dry towels. Of course the area will smell a bit minty for a time, but it seems to work long term for removing the smell.

On a side note: when animals develop a behavioral problem such as repetitive soiling of carpet or other areas, intervention is a must. The area needs to be cleaned thoroughly and the animal needs to not have access to the area. Any animal soiling the house should have an exam and evaluation by a vet for health problems, then be treated appropriately.

If there are no health issues found, then the animal needs to begin a retraining program using direct supervision and a crate in order to learn where the appropriate elimination area is. During this time, the animal should not have unsupervised access to the problem area.

With cats, they should be confined to a large crate with a litter box so that they have to use the correct area. After a week or so of no accidents in the crate, then the area can be opened up to one small room, preferably a bathroom or laundry room. After two weeks of no out of box accidents, then the area can once again be increased. The goal is to get the entire house accessible, so long as the litter box is being used 100% of the time. (01/10/2008)

By Sheila

Cat Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

Thank you all for responding. Sheila, I should have been more clear. My cat pees outside the box when we are away and he is confined to three rooms. If he is not confined, he uses the box normally however he sprays in other areas. Would you use the same protocol as you described for the spraying as well?

Again, if he isn't confined, he uses the litter box correctly but sprays in other areas. The smell of the spray is what is driving us crazy. I will try the mouthwash. Any additional suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I plan on contacting a behavior specialist as well. (01/10/2008)

By Yvonne

Cat Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

My husband sands and refinishes hardwood for a living. The best thing to do is get a person who does that for a living to look at it. You may only have to "screen and clean" your floors to get it out and add an extra coat of finish to it if it's not deep into the wood. If it's been there too long, you may have to get it sanded and refinished. Be careful, especially if you don't know the guy because it is cheaper to screen and coat it than it is to sand and finish and he may stick it to you and make you think it really needs to be sanded completely when it doesn't.

I would get more than one quote on it if I were you. If you have any more questions about it, e-mail me, I would be glad to help. My husband could give you more tips to fix it without the price because it can get expensive. elizabeth_t_hayes AT yhaoo DOT com. Hope this helped. (01/11/2008)

By elizabeth_t_hayes@yahoo.com

Cat Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

Listerine mouthwash works quite well for permanent elimination of cat urine odor. The other option is to rent "ozone generators" to run in the house 24/7 for a week or so. This method requires that people or animals not be in the home during this time, since the ozone levels required reach toxic levels. (03/06/2008)

By mds

Cat Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

Will send results once I try. Thank you so much. I am trying peroxide first, then white vinegar and finally minty scope to be sure! (10/17/2008)

By Diane2008

Cat Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

The house I moved into had horrible cat urine floors. It had soaked through the carpet to the hardwood underneath. Once the carpet was up, I tried everything to get rid of the smell. If you use something liquid, it is going to absorb it and keep the wood wet, which defeats the purpose. The best solution I found was regular, old cat litter.

I put piles of it on the wet spots and it literally soaked up the urine. I could see the litter turning yellow before my eyes. I had to do it a couple of times, but it worked! Unfortunately, there was a spot that was too badly damaged that had to be cut out and replaced. Hope this helps anyone with this problem. (11/07/2008)

By Brooke

Cat Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

We moved into a house that smelled like cat urine, the previous owners ripped up the carpet but when we bought the house it still smelled. So we used bleach and water. Dilute the bleach with water and mop like no other. If it's hardwood floors, apply and then clean with natures miracle first, then re-stain your wood floor with wood primer, apply 1 then dry-apply another coat. Dry and you will not smell it again. Natures miracle is an organic type so it won't ruin your wood floor. (03/01/2009)

By KIM