I have a huge problem! I am staying with a friend for a couple weeks until my house is ready to move into. My oldest cat, only a year, peed on her sofa because she was scared to get down to use the litter box. My friend has 2 dogs.
I tried Febreze and it didn't work so I went to the store and bought special "cat odor and stain remover spray". I have scrubbed the couch twice with no success. She has a reclining sofa so I can't take the sofa apart to wash them. What should I do? I feel horrible because my cats never did that at my house!
By Kinder from San Diego, CA
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It sounds like you may have tried this already, but when my cat was a wee kitten, he had a little pee accident on the couch. I immediately soaked up what I could, soaked the area with an enzymatic cleaner, and tried to pull up as much moisture as I could with the carpet cleaner. I did this a couple times.
My cats seemed kind of interested while it was drying, so I sprayed the area with the enzymatic cleaner again after it dried. I haven't had any problems since then.
So, if you haven't tried it yet, pick up some enzymatic cleaner (I got mine at Petsmart, but I think I've heard that they have it at Wal-Mart and Target, too). Did you get to the accident while it was fresh? I really saturated the area, to get at all of the urine residue. It might take a few tries to get good results.
Search on ThriftyFun for the "pee recipe". I published it. You are going to have to soak the couch cushion and wherever the pee went.
I searched 'pee recipe' on thriftyfun and there are heaps of results. Can you post the link in your reply? Thanks
Don't think it is going to work. Best plan on replacing her couch.
Cats have hormone sprays which they do in indication of what is going on. Fear, Dominance, Anger, etc all have different scents. Not meant to come off easily, if ever.
Not getting it clean means her house will stink, her dogs will continuously be upset by the cat smell as well. With a cat visiting someone's house over a length of time, at a person with dogs, the guest protocol would to leave your cat in the carry kennel (I am presuming you were a good guest and had one). The dominate animals in the host house are the dogs. It was not up to the host to hide or detain them from their normal living pattern.
Does not matter if you bring dog/cat/children into another's home as guests, it is your responsibility to maintain full control 100%, to pay for damages 100% without question. Your homeowners insurance should cover it, Not the hosts. It should replace the item destroyed by the cat pee.
Using chemical after chemical on the main furniture piece of the house is not good or healthy for those living there.
I actually don't have a suggestion, but there are MANY suggestions on this site in the archives. I am sure that something will work. I do not think that you will have to spend $1000 on a new couch over one cat accident. I refuse to believe that there is not something that will work.
I use urine off for cats. I am having a hard time with the couch cushion though. I would call a carpet cleaning services they clean furnature too. Tell them about the cat per on couch and see if they can get it out.
There is a product called Zero Odor (you can order it online) that works, really works! Check it out.
Our dog got skunked in the face, and you know how difficult it is to get that smell out, even after bathing him with "skunk formula" items. I rubbed a little bit of Zero Odor on my hands and rubbed it on his fur and I'm not kidding, the smell was completely gone.
There's a terrific product that only costs a dollar. You can buy it at Dollar Tree and at Family Dollar stores. It's called "LA's Totally Awesome." I've tried expensive stuff that doesn't work, and this cheap stuff actually does!
One of my 2 cats (both neutered males) had taken to painting all of my walls, furniture, and anything else he could reach. I was horrified when I got a UV light. He never did that in all of the 9 years Ive had him and didnt when I got him a buddy (they love each other and did so right away) but when a strange black cat started showing up outside both of my cats went nuts and the older one (9) started his wall painting, as well as the curtains out in the kitty room. I couldnt keep up with it.
My cats are indoor cats so its not like the stray is actually going to get in here but they both hate him (and he is weirdmy neighbors cats hate him too). Ive tried cleaning with a pet urine enzyme and then spraying some No More Spraying but that hasnt worked.
Hes a sneaky little bugger too; he waits until he thinks Im not looking and then does it. Hes learned that the minute I see him backing his butt up to something he gets yelled at.
It wasnt until I found NoMoreCatPee.com that I was able to finally get rid of this tiresome behavior. Now my house nor my ropes dont smell like a litter box anymore
Good luck everybody!
Jenny
Several posts talk about extracting the water used for the clean up, can anyone recommend a wet/dry vacuum for this problem?
Thanks.
I have a reclining sofa whose cushions can not be removed :/ So I mixed liquid laundry detergent with water, about a cup full in about 6 cups of water. I slowly poured the mixture over the affected area, let it soak through all the way to the floor. Then took a big towel and stepped on the cushion pushing the water mixture through, while soaking up a bit too.
Use oxyclean powder that you get in the laundry isle!!!!!! I tried vinegar and dawn.Both did not work but the oxyclean did!!!
I'd suggest trying a homemade solution as they have worked much better for me than store bought ones. And that's the case with most things. Homemade solution works best. But the best store bought one I can suggest is Fizzion pet stain and odour remover. It's recommend by Jackson Galaxy (THE Cat Daddy) himself so I tried it and it works wonders on everything but my couch. But MY couch has a very thick foam seating and so its impossible to soak up all of the pee by just spot cleaning. It must be washed. So I'm going to try that next and that will probably work best. But depending on how thick your friend's couch is Fizzion might work for you. But otherwise I would definitely try a homemade solution. I tride this solution -
www.animalplanet.com/
- on my desk chair that has a fabric seat and it worked great! Can't smell any pee anymore! But if you can't use hydrogen peroxide on your friend's couch (it does discolour fabrics sometimes. I spot tested first and it was fine and same for the rest of the chair but it's quite a light colour already and you never know until you spot test of it will discolour your particular fabric) then there are lots of other homemade solutions you can Google. This is just what worked for me. Good luck with cleaning your friend's couch! I know how stressful that is. The couch I mentioned was mine is not actully mine - its my landlord's ...and I live with them. I board. And my kitty has peed on the same spot on the couch over and over because I can't get the smell out (cats go back to pee in places that smell of past urination) and I'm really stressed about them getting sick of it and kicking me out.
Lastay though before I go I just wanna make sure you're not mad at your cat. You mentioned that he'd never done it at home and that you were really stressed and embarrassed about it. If he was properly litter trained at home and never encountered any stresses or upheavals/big changes in his life large enough to cause him to stress pee then of course he never had an accident. But this IS a big upheaval/change. I mean biggest of all - your friend has TWO DOGS. If you kitty hasnt had much experience with dogs before or at least not any good experiences with dogs then of course he's going to be scared out of his wits! And don't be fooled if he doesn't act scared because cats are all different and some of them are masters of hiding their emotions behind a cool exterior facade. I have three cats and I thought I knew that one of them was a very anxious cat and that his sister was the compl'été opposite - a cool calm kitty. But about a year and a half ago I took her to the vet for something and the vet discovered during her check-up that she had very sparse hair on her back legs and tummy which indicates that she had been over-grooming. Cats only over-groom when they are stressed! I was blind-sided by this! Everyone always comments on how chill she she is! So that was a lesson I had to learn the hard way - cats (like people) don't always show obvious signs of being stressed. You have to be vigilant and know your cat very well and also do regular nose to tail checkups of their body to check for any irregularities.
So even though your cat may not seem stressed (I'm not saying this is the case, I'm just assuming an option based on your reaction) he most definitely is if he is peeing outside the litter box. There is only one reason why cats pee outside the litter box - stress. Actually there is one other and that is when the litter box is not being cleaned frequently enough but that could also maybe be categorized under stress of a dirty litter box. Finding out what is causing the stress though is usually a matter of engaging in some detective work but it sounds like in this case it's quite obviously territorial anxiety. Cats are VERY territorial and they HATE change. They pee to mark their scent when they are feeling territitorial anxiety so that their new and scary surroundings smell more familiar. To cats, smell is a huge. We use our sight the most. They use their sensemble of the smell the most. They communicate using smell and they learn things using smell. And they familiarize using smell. So when a place doesn't smell like home they will try and make it smell like home. I'd suggest since you are spending 2 weeks there that you spread your cat's belongings around the house as much as you can and put a blanet that he usually sleeps on on the couch (it will smell like him). And let your friend know why you need to do this as she/he may be put out by it or find it odd. If you can bring some more things over from home that's also great. Don't know why you are staying with your friend though and if you have access to your house at the moment so it's just a suggestion if that's possible.
So basically your cat is feeling super stressed right now because of the big change and he feels totally out of place in this new environment. So don't be mad at him or feel embarrassed - this is totally totally normal. I would be gobsmacked if a cat in this situation did NOT pee outside the litterbox. That is something I would totally expect because cats don't do well with a change of territory. You don't realize how much smell and scent is important in a cat's life. Cats spend a big portion of their day patrolling their territory and remarking spots where their scent is fading (either through pee or through scratching or cheek rubbing - a cat's paws, cheeks, head and chin all contain scent glands that they rub against things or people to leave their scent) and making sure that EVERY THING around them smells familiar and it's also to ward off unwanted guests as well and to leave messages for other cats to say that this is their territory. So you taking him out of his little kingdom that he has spent so long scent-marking to make himself feel secure is seriously a huge deal to him. So you need to work with him and help him familiarize this new place that he will be staying at for the next 2 weeks. Otherwise he WILL pee again.
I really hope this helps you understand what your cat is going through and helps you to help him and also helps you to be prepared if you ever have to do this again. But if you can avoid it - do. It's really not nice for your cat.
My cat had bladder stones and was squatting trying to pee everywhere poor kitty had to have catheter in stress can cause this also am also trying to find something to put on my couch when gets humid I really smell it going to soak the cushions with vinegar and water put outside to dry what can it hurt now been like this for 2 years
One of my cats pissed on my feather pillows. Clean with what?
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