# house smells like cat pee



## erinjkelley (Jul 31, 2005)

well, i am wondering if you all have any experience with this. we found a great deal on a rental house. it is perfect, except for it smells really strongly of cat pee. has anyone dealt with this problem before? was it possible to get the stink out? i'm thinking we could shampoo the carpets, but don't know if this would work. thanks for your advice!


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## amnda527 (Aug 6, 2006)

I would try shampooing the carpets. I would also wash the walls with vinegar, because that will help to take the smell off the walls. If the cat was only peeing in one general area, and you find the stain, I would use Nature's Miracle on that one spot. Also setting vinegar out in little bowls will help to absorb the smell.


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## wanderinggypsy (Jul 26, 2005)

I worked for a while when I was younger with a cleaning company that kind of specialize in STANK. Sadly, cat spray stank is almost impossible to remove. Vigorously cleaning ALL carpets and floors, and then painting all walls with a metal based paint will sometimes do the trick, but in most cases carpets have to come up. Walls and baseboards are crucial, because when male cats spray, they don't just pee in a puddle, they spray out like demon freaks.

Some people will tell you they moved into a cat smelling place, gave it a good clean, and it was fine. In reality, they just got accustomed to the smell. It takes a lot of work, significant investment, and time to get rid of that smell, and in some cases it just can't be done... it's too embedded. I'd steer clear of the place or negotiate with the landlord/current owner to see what they are willing to do prior to you moving in.

Good luck!


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## RiverSky (Jun 26, 2005)

I think the rent is a great deal BECAUSE of the cat pee. I agree that cat pee doesn't go away UNLESS you can remove all of the carpets and repaint the walls.

In my experience, if you get the carpets shampooed, it actually reactivates any hidden dried cat urine and makes it smell MORE. One time, we rented a house that was sweet smelling and clean, (we viewed it with the previous renters' furniture in it) but once we went to move in (the day after a carpet cleaning), it stank of cat pee. I tried everything to neutralize, deodorize, cover up the cat pee stink ...then one day, we figured out that there were hard wood floors underneath that orange shag carpet and we called up the landlady and asked if we could remove the carpet and refinish the floors, if need be. She said "sure", so we did, to find that the floors were just fine without anything more than a good mopping with Murphy's Oil.

If you are going to try to clean up any urine messes, DEFINITELY use Nature's Miracle enzymatic cleaner to eat up all the little bits of it.

Good luck!


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## erinjkelley (Jul 31, 2005)

thanks for your input.... i was kinda afraid the carpets would need to be removed. maybe i can negotiate with the landlord on that.


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## Catherine12 (May 15, 2006)

I haven't dealt with cat pee, but I have a heck of a lot of experience with dog pee odors...

I agree, just cleaning the carpets is not going to do it.

If you rip up the carpets with the intent of replacing them, you should paint the underlayment with an odor-neutralizing sealing primer (make sure it says on the can it can cope with urine odors). I believe Kilz and Zinsser both make one, you can get oil-based or shellac-based.

Vinegar and Bac-Out both work pretty well for spot cleaning, IME.

But I can also say that you will stop smelling it after a while... which is not all good, because then you don't know if your house stinks or not. I am always embarrassed to have people over because I suspect that mine does, but I just can't tell when it smells clean and when it doesn't.


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## amnda527 (Aug 6, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RiverSky* 
...then one day, we figured out that there were hard wood floors underneath that orange shag carpet and we called up the landlady and asked if we could remove the carpet and refinish the floors, if need be. She said "sure", so we did, to find that the floors were just fine without anything more than a good mopping with Murphy's Oil.


When I was younger, we had a cat that always peed in one corner by the front door, which was a carpeted area. My parents decided to rip up the carpet and re-finish the wood floors underneath. Well, when they ripped up that one little corner, the wood underneath was discolored. The cat peed there so much, that it actually soaked all the way through the carpet and damaged the floor. Of course, there was nothing they can do to fix that wood. Luckily, it was off in the corner, and not in the middle of the living room or something. I think maybe the wood was damaged because we did not always catch the cat in the act, (vacation, at work..whatever) so we didn't have a chance to soak all of it up right away.
Just wanted you to think of this before hand.


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## Bartock (Feb 2, 2006)

Your landlord or landlady should be responsible for cleaning up that kinda gross mess, if not he must take off some of your rent for your cost of clean supplies and time cleaning it.


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

Often times the flooring has to be replaced where ever there is cat pee if it soaked through the carpetting.

If the carpetting is thick and the pad in good shape then maybe new carpetting and pad would do the trick?


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## SusannahM (Sep 15, 2005)

I agree the carpet will probably need to come up. It might be on the walls and baseboards, too. New paint on those will help. Even if it's on a concrete slab, the smell can go into the slab (we had this problem with our cat







). Nature's Miracle helps, but doesn't totally do the job. There's a product called Urine B Gone, specifically for this type of thing, although I haven't tried it.

Get a black light and turn out the lights. All the areas with cat pee on them will glow, then you'll know exactly the areas you're dealing with.


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## babycarrier (Apr 2, 2004)

Looking for info also. Dh is planning on painting with a primer coat of binz or killz then paint. ANyone know of a less toxic version of this type of primer? any low voc version?

I hate the smell of cat pee. I hate that my house stinks.


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## annekevdbroek (Jun 5, 2005)

Well, we had a cat for a while that peed all over everything. In order to get the odor out we had to pull back the carpet, replace the pad, throughtly clean and soak the under-floor and carpeting with Nature's Miracle. I also had to pull off the replace sections of dry wall - just cleaning and repainting wasn't going to cut it. After that, and after giving the cat to someone else, the stink did go away unless the area was damp (e.g. after carpet shampooing).


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## Electra375 (Oct 2, 2002)

The neighbors next to my parents when they bought the house realized later that 1 room just stank to high heaven of cat piss. The prior owner had cleaned the "white" carpets and taken care of the walls which took care of the odor for the time of selling it (talk about under handed). The new owner showed me b/c I have cats and wanted to know what I thought would take care of it.

She took the carpet back and the carpet pad and all I saw was the pee deep down into the subfloor under the carpet. Subflooring is not cleanable, it's too fiberous, it isn't solid wood usually -- it's either plywood or pressed partical board. The only true solution for them is to replace the subfloor, pads and carpets -- a temporary fix of soaking the subfloor with an enzyme cleaner might do the trick, but it would likely only be temporary.

I would not rent the place with the cat urine smell, it will always be there. You might get used to it, but your house guest will know immediately. My sister's cat has pissed all over her house, she does not smell it, she said she's cleaned it -- it blew me away walking in her front door.


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## Ellien C (Aug 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Electra375* 
I would not rent the place with the cat urine smell, it will always be there. You might get used to it, but your house guest will know immediately. My sister's cat has pissed all over her house, she does not smell it, she said she's cleaned it -- it blew me away walking in her front door.

I have to agree with this sentiment! And we're "cat people." It is extremely difficult to get rid of the odor. That's WHY the rental house is so cheap. You deserve to live in place that is beautiful, clean and safe. Will you get that in this rental house - spacious though it may be?

Remember also that the landlady has probably ALREADY tried to do everything in her power to eliminate the odor and THIS is what is left!


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## RiverSky (Jun 26, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Electra375* 
She took the carpet back and the carpet pad and all I saw was the pee deep down into the subfloor under the carpet. Subflooring is not cleanable, it's too fiberous, it isn't solid wood usually -- it's either plywood or pressed partical board. The only true solution for them is to replace the subfloor, pads and carpets -- a temporary fix of soaking the subfloor with an enzyme cleaner might do the trick, but it would likely only be temporary.

EEewww....would painting the subfloor, really, really well, even with laminate or something, to contain the smell inside the wood, work? That just sounds so awful!!


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