Cat Piss

SkiChic626

I know we're not supposed to change the litter box because of the poop, but does anyone know if it's bad to breathe in the smell of cat pee?  Our cats, or at least one of them, decided to piss in my office...f*cking cat!  We've tried EVERYTHING to get the smell out and no matter what it still reeks.  I work from home certain days and I have to be in here.  It gets to the point where I don't smell it anymore, but obviously I'm still breathing it in.  Anyone know if I'm posing any kind of dangers to the baby by sitting in here?

mrsmommya

My doctor gave me the ok to change the litter box because it is a cat we have had before pregnancy and she said if someone was going to get the infection they would have already gotten it.

charmedlifex3

My understanding is the litter box it isn't so much the actual pee as the poop, as the fact the pee and poop is on clay litter which creates dust, which becomes airborne.

If smelling it was the problem I would be so screwed... we have three, and no matter how often my husband changes the boxes my pregnancy nose is like "ugh!"

Also this stuff works:

https://www.amazon.com/Angry-Orange-Eliminator-Industrial-Strength/dp/B00OI20SXA?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Stephanie7693

To clean the pee and get rid of the smell, use vinegar. Straight, white vinegar. It's the only thing that works. It might take a few times if it's been there a while, but it does work. Vinegar is a natural cleaner and deodorizer. .. it actually seperates the particles and breaks them down, instead of just covering the smell. Vinegar stinks, but the odor from it doesn't last that long

Edited bc I can't spell

cal031686

I had a stray cat pee and spray in my car years ago. (Left Windows down overnight) A couple of older customers brought me a bottle of "Odor Ban". I sprayed and wiped it all over my car and it took away the smell. Good luck momma. I hate the smell, I wouldn't be able to work in there. 

gadzooks_3

The danger from cat litter isn't the smell, though it can be unpleasant.

Have you tried an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle? If the cat peed on carpet you may need to pull the carpet back and clean the carpet pad as well.

slycat

Vinegar works really well and also a product from Amazon called fizzion is fantastic. I work with animals on a daily basis and haven't had any issues breathing the fumes. 

SkiChic626

@Allisun85 said:

My understanding is the litter box it isn't so much the actual pee as the poop, as the fact the pee and poop is on clay litter which creates dust, which becomes airborne.

If smelling it was the problem I would be so screwed... we have three, and no matter how often my husband changes the boxes my pregnancy nose is like "ugh!"

Also this stuff works:

https://www.amazon.com/Angry-Orange-Eliminator-Industrial-Strength/dp/B00OI20SXA?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

We've tried Angry Orange several times.....no luck

SkiChic626

@Stephanie7693 said:

To clean the pee and get rid of the smell, use vinegar. Straight, white vinegar. It's the only thing that works. It might take a few times if it's been there a while, but it does work. Vinegar is a natural cleaner and deodorizer. .. it actually seperates the particles and breaks them down, instead of just covering the smell. Vinegar stinks, but the odor from it doesn't last that long

Edited bc I can't spell

Yeah, the combo of baking soda and vinegar has worked for us in the past, it takes a few 'coats' of it, but it has worked.  The problem is that they've started peeing again - and they're doing it again and again before we even have a chance to get the smell fully resolved.  We're not sure what's going on uuuugh!

SkiChic626

@liljabee said:

The danger from cat litter isn't the smell, though it can be unpleasant.

Have you tried an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle? If the cat peed on carpet you may need to pull the carpet back and clean the carpet pad as well.

Yeah, Nature's Miracle was one of the first things we tried when we moved into our new house and the cats decided to mark their territory.  It didn't even touch the odor.  I know, I'm so pissed (no pun intended), neither carpet is even a year old yet....it's making us considering getting rid of them :-(

bsckgb7

SkiChic626 said:

@Stephanie7693 said:

To clean the pee and get rid of the smell, use vinegar. Straight, white vinegar. It's the only thing that works. It might take a few times if it's been there a while, but it does work. Vinegar is a natural cleaner and deodorizer. .. it actually seperates the particles and breaks them down, instead of just covering the smell. Vinegar stinks, but the odor from it doesn't last that long

Edited bc I can't spell

Yeah, the combo of baking soda and vinegar has worked for us in the past, it takes a few 'coats' of it, but it has worked.  The problem is that they've started peeing again - and they're doing it again and again before we even have a chance to get the smell fully resolved.  We're not sure what's going on uuuugh!

If cats are urinating outside the litter box (and assuming nothing had changed with the litter box set-up, ie litter, location, cleaning frequency), you may want a full vet work-up.  There are several disorders that can cause kitties to use unappropriate areas. 

Katm89

@SkiChic626 Natures Miracle has helped us a bunch with pet accidents... may take a bunch of reapplication but its the only thing that has worked to remove stains and odors

charmedlifex3

If it's a house which was owned by someone else prior the issue could be the previous owners cat marking - especially if they are boys. We had to get rid of a couple scratchers my husband had, after we adopted (accidentally) a boy cat. My DH used to have a boy cat that was a stray, so he marked things... and our new boy cat was re-marking over top of the prior cat's scent. Nothing worked to stop the behavior until we got rid of the few things which he *had* to pee on everytime he walked by them. It was driving me up a wall.

Katm89

@Allisun85 we took in a male stray almost 3 years ago in october...we got very lucky he has never ever marked... but he does masturbate on our couch blanket!!! gross and hes neutered

charmedlifex3

@katm89 My brother's cat used to do that. He wasn't a stray, and was neutered but the vet said he thought what happened was he had been fixed too late, and had already learned the ... ehm... habit. If you fix boy cats before they are a certain age, the don't get the urges. Fixing them late, they just lack the ability - the will is there.

SkiChic626

bsckgb7 Uuuuuuuugh ain't nobody got time for dat! *snarl*  But yeah, NOTHING has changed.  They, or at least one of them, we have yet to catch them in the act, did it when we initially installed the carpets, but we were able to get the smell out and it's been fine for a while - but these past couple weeks I've noticed the smell again, and then sure enough one day DD stepped in a fresh spot and her foot got wet and she tattled.

SkiChic626

Allisun85 said:

If it's a house which was owned by someone else prior the issue could be the previous owners cat marking - especially if they are boys. We had to get rid of a couple scratchers my husband had, after we adopted (accidentally) a boy cat. My DH used to have a boy cat that was a stray, so he marked things... and our new boy cat was re-marking over top of the prior cat's scent. Nothing worked to stop the behavior until we got rid of the few things which he *had* to pee on everytime he walked by them. It was driving me up a wall.

Both of our cats are female.  I'm not sure if the previous owners had cats, I know they had a big golden retriever, but not sure about cats.  Though, DH and I always see the ghost of a cat walking around the house....maybe I sounds nuts, but I swear, and we've both seen it and describe what we've seen exactly the same, so it MUST be!  Anyway, that aside, where they're peeing is along the outside of the rooms along the walls.  I swear, at one point the entire perimeter of the one room was just outlined in cat pee.  Both rooms have brand new carpet (well, less than a year old each), and nothing that previously resided in our houses before we were married...all the furniture and everything has only ever been in our current house.  One room has wood underneath and the other is concrete.  I'm clueless!

Katm89

@Allisun85that's probably what it is... he was neutered when we found him and we have no clue how old he was or really is

gadzooks_3

SkiChic626 said:

Allisun85 said:

If it's a house which was owned by someone else prior the issue could be the previous owners cat marking - especially if they are boys. We had to get rid of a couple scratchers my husband had, after we adopted (accidentally) a boy cat. My DH used to have a boy cat that was a stray, so he marked things... and our new boy cat was re-marking over top of the prior cat's scent. Nothing worked to stop the behavior until we got rid of the few things which he *had* to pee on everytime he walked by them. It was driving me up a wall.

Both of our cats are female.  I'm not sure if the previous owners had cats, I know they had a big golden retriever, but not sure about cats.  Though, DH and I always see the ghost of a cat walking around the house....maybe I sounds nuts, but I swear, and we've both seen it and describe what we've seen exactly the same, so it MUST be!  Anyway, that aside, where they're peeing is along the outside of the rooms along the walls.  I swear, at one point the entire perimeter of the one room was just outlined in cat pee.  Both rooms have brand new carpet (well, less than a year old each), and nothing that previously resided in our houses before we were married...all the furniture and everything has only ever been in our current house.  One room has wood underneath and the other is concrete.  I'm clueless!

If they are marking the perimeter of your home that sounds like territorial insecurity. Do you have neighbors who let their cats roam, a local stray or Tom? You might check the outside of your house, they might be reacting to an outside visitor.

SkiChic626

@liljabee said:

SkiChic626 said:

Allisun85 said:

If it's a house which was owned by someone else prior the issue could be the previous owners cat marking - especially if they are boys. We had to get rid of a couple scratchers my husband had, after we adopted (accidentally) a boy cat. My DH used to have a boy cat that was a stray, so he marked things... and our new boy cat was re-marking over top of the prior cat's scent. Nothing worked to stop the behavior until we got rid of the few things which he *had* to pee on everytime he walked by them. It was driving me up a wall.

Both of our cats are female.  I'm not sure if the previous owners had cats, I know they had a big golden retriever, but not sure about cats.  Though, DH and I always see the ghost of a cat walking around the house....maybe I sounds nuts, but I swear, and we've both seen it and describe what we've seen exactly the same, so it MUST be!  Anyway, that aside, where they're peeing is along the outside of the rooms along the walls.  I swear, at one point the entire perimeter of the one room was just outlined in cat pee.  Both rooms have brand new carpet (well, less than a year old each), and nothing that previously resided in our houses before we were married...all the furniture and everything has only ever been in our current house.  One room has wood underneath and the other is concrete.  I'm clueless!

If they are marking the perimeter of your home that sounds like territorial insecurity. Do you have neighbors who let their cats roam, a local stray or Tom? You might check the outside of your house, they might be reacting to an outside visitor.

If that's the case, why would they only do it in rooms with carpet?  They don't do it anywhere else in the house except those two rooms.  Everywhere else is hard wood, except our bedroom, which is two stories above the rooms they're peeing in.

gadzooks_3

That is a quandry, perhaps because the carpet holds the scent better? Not sure. I just know cats usually prefer their box so if you are certain it isn't medical that points to environmental, and as it started when you moved thar might mean something in or about the new place. I assume you already tried the usual suspects like changing their litter, moving their boxes to where they are marking, making certain you have enough boxes and such.

We had a Tom cat that liked to come on our patio and it caused our female cat a lot if insecurity, that is why I mentioned it. I hope you can find the cause - cat pee is so pungent! 

SkiChic626

liljabee said:

That is a quandry, perhaps because the carpet holds the scent better? Not sure. I just know cats usually prefer their box so if you are certain it isn't medical that points to environmental, and as it started when you moved thar might mean something in or about the new place. I assume you already tried the usual suspects like changing their litter, moving their boxes to where they are marking, making certain you have enough boxes and such.

We had a Tom cat that liked to come on our patio and it caused our female cat a lot if insecurity, that is why I mentioned it. I hope you can find the cause - cat pee is so pungent! 

So we found the main source....we made DD a ball pit for Christmas with a baby pool.  Yup, that's now in the trash :-(  We also found one of their scratching toys with a cardboard center completely soaked in pee - also in the trash.  There was a strong smell of pee on the carpet around these things, too, so we soaked it in vinegar and angry orange and closed the door to the room.  Fingers crossed this stops the problem.  Ugh!