# Cat pee + shoes.. HELP



## oiseau (Mar 30, 2008)

Hi all, I just moved 2 weeks ago and my cats took some of their stress out last weekend on our shoes. I thought they only got my partner's boots (only poo, wiped off easily) and my crocs (easy to clean)...
I discovered this week though that they got 2 other pairs of my shoes (discovered = sitting at my desk at my brand new job, smelled cat pee....yup...coming from my shoes...).

They got my birkenstock suede clogs and my sneakers (leather and cloth). I just soaked the birkenstock in BacOut and am planning on tossing the sneakers in a bucket of BacOut and water. Does this sound reasonable? Any other suggestions? The shoes are both old, so if I can't get the smell out of the sneakers, I'm not averse to tossing them, but I'd hate to toss the Birkenstocks.


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## Whistler (Jan 30, 2009)

Yuck. Cat pee is so awful.

We use this: Nature's Miracle and it's pretty amazing. When a neighbor cat got into our car once and peed this took the smell completely away. You have to use it as per directions though because it's an enzyme that breaks down the chemicals.

It sounds similar to Bac-Out but is specifically made for pet urine.


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## Breathless Wonder (Jan 25, 2004)

It may not come out of the leather. I had a cat get my New Balance sneakers once, and despite multiple applications of Nature's Miracle, the smell never completely went away.


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

A few thoughts:

~ If you have full-grown cats eating a typical commercial diet, the smell may never come out of the sneakers or Birks. Cat urine is one of those things that REALLY lingers...

~ If you have kittens and/or cats eating a raw food diet, the smell IS likely to come out with the Bac-out or Nature's Miracle or another enzyme-based cleaner.

~ Rescue Remedy works WONDERS for pets in distress! Our vet told us about it more than ten years ago and it really worked for our high strung cat back then. Our current kitten has a completely different temperament and hasn't needed any, but I have some on hand anyway.


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## lanamommyphd07 (Feb 14, 2007)

we had to tear out an entire floor of a house. the carpet, underlay, subfloor---because of cat pee. You might be out of luck.....nothing has ever worked for us


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## oiseau (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks for the tips. They're adult cats and they eat a high quality commercial food (BG by Merrick).

I figured out which cat it is. She pooped and peed in the same corner again and got my flipflops and the crocs again. I've taken everything out of that corner and will leave it cleared out for now. I'm planning on cleaning that corner really well with BacOut to get the smell gone so they don't keep returning to that corner. Luckily, that part of the apt is just ceramic tile, so it cleans up easy. One of my coworkers has some Nature's Miracle he said he'd give me, so I'll try that too. I have no idea what I'm going to do about all the shoes though...

And of course this would happen again when my partner is out of town. He's the one responsible for caring for the cats 95% of the time because I don't deal well with the smell of cat poo. He forgot to change out the litter box before he left and I'm thinking that might be why the cat peed in the living room again. *sigh*


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## Britishmum (Dec 25, 2001)

We had a cat pee incident when we were on vacation - the very-well-paid girl petsitting let her younger siblings do the job instead, and they locked the cat in a bedroom, we think for several days (while they went through the kids' rooms playing with their toys).







:

It took Nature's Miracle, about five or six large bottles, days and days of putting a fan on it, and steam cleaning the carpet five or six times to get rid of the smell. It was a royal pain. We never got it out of the leg of the bed. The only answer rather than throw the bed was to wrap the bed leg in layers of plastic, tape it up, and put that side of the bed against the wall.







:

Honestly, I'd throw shoes before I'd go through that. But if you want to save the good shoes, I'd soak them in Nature's Miracle for a long, long time. I"m not sure if it will work though after you've already used something else. If you thnk the cat might do it again, I'd keep a bottle of Nature's Miracle at home so you can treat it with that immediately.

Good luck!


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## oiseau (Mar 30, 2008)

The BacOut seems to be doing the trick on the Birks. It's actually only one of the shoes that got peed on. I've soaked it twice with the BacOut and I can hardly smell the pee smell anymore. I'm going to let the shoe dry and have someone else smell it, then decide if they need a 3rd treatment.

I have the sneakers soaking, but I might just give up on them. I've had those shoes since I was in HS (like 10yrs ago), so it wouldn't hurt to trade them out and get a new pair.

I put a dropper full of rescue remedy in their water. Plus a few drops in my water for all the yucky cleaning I've had to do this morning...


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## bender (Mar 23, 2007)

You may not smell the pee now, but if you wear the shoes, the heat may bring out the smell again. Nature's Miracle is wonderful stuff. Costco is carrying it now too, under a different name. 1 gallon plus a squirt bottle for under $15.


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## rcr (Jul 29, 2008)

another vote for Natures Miracle.


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

I think Nature's Miracle and Bac-Out are basically the same thing. They're both great. I've used both. Got some really smelly puppy poo out of carpet that way. Good luck!


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## juneweaver (Oct 2, 2006)

may help with that deep down odor...it's like soaking a wound to bring the "infection" to the surface...then treat with enzyme product, then more sun, etc. If it is marking instead of pee there is some product out that deals specifically with removeing this scent marking. The area where you kept these shoes should be treated as well. I've sometimes used sheets of aluminum foil to cover an area...cats don't like it. Also, keep any affected shoes well away from cats (inside zip lok bags) as cats' sense of smell is greater than ours. In fact, instead of asking another human to smell test youtreated shoes, use your cats. Their interest or lack thereof will tell you more, and perhaps save a friendship! Oh, just thot of this, citrus spray, available in most grocery stores is also off putting to cats. Hope this helps. Good luck.


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## CristianNewton (5 mo ago)

Cats can experience more stress than you think. My cat occasionally paws me if he doesn't like something. Of course, I don't understand what he wants to get after such actions. Our vet said that cats often prepare for such mishaps and warm-ups. When I asked how come cats knead with their front paws, the vet said to observe. And indeed. I've noticed that my cat has a warm-up ritual before he paws me. It's so funny. Now I manage to hide from him, that's when he starts attacking my shoes


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