Strategies to Remove the Smell of Cat Urine Permanently

We love our feline friends, but there's no denying that they come with certain risks. One of those risks is the softly-named "litter issues" or, to put it more bluntly, cats peeing on things.

Whether they're missing the litter box and staining the floor, panicking on the way to the vet and letting loose in the car, or finding an odd corner of a closet to go to when they're sick, it can be a rude surprise to discover the stench.

Unfortunately, cat pee has a few unique qualities to it. For one thing, it's very strong. Cats have a unique kind of urinary tract; they evolved to make use of as much water as they can and waste as little as possible, so the waste products in their pee are very concentrated. It's also heavy on the ammonia, which is a strong and foul odor on its own.

There's also the fact that if your cat is peeing where they shouldn't, there's a chance they're having issues, like an infection, a kidney problem, or a bladder problem, and all of these add additional layers of foulness to the horrid soup.

Cats also use urine as a scent marker, which means it's adapted to soaking into things and lingering as a form of territorial marking. Unfortunately, "soaking into things and lingering" is the exact opposite of what you want when it ends up in your laundry, on your carpet, or in the car.

So, if your cat has let loose somewhere you really wish they hadn't, and you want to get rid of the lingering scent, what can you do? The good news is you have a few options.

Option 1: Baking Soda, Vinegar, and/or Hydrogen Peroxide

The first option is the one you'll likely turn to the first time this happens. Why? Because it's a set of household chemicals you probably have on hand already.

Baking soda is common for baking, obviously, and also as a deodorant for cupboards or the fridge. Vinegar is a strong acid and can help cut through other chemicals to clean them up. And, of course, hydrogen peroxide is often used as a cleaner or disinfectant.

Generally speaking, your first step when you discover untimely cat pee is to blot up as much as possible, ideally without scrubbing it into whatever it's on.

Blotting and dabbing it up with paper towels or old clothes that you're willing to throw away if necessary, until it's no longer wet, is the first step. The more you get up and away mechanically, the less you have to deal with chemically.

Applying vinegar to the surface can help denature some of the components of the cat pee and can kill bacteria that might linger and cause a problem. You can use plain vinegar or apple cider vinegar, usually via a spray bottle to the area. You can dilute the vinegar 1:1 with water or leave it as-is; it's up to you.

Once the vinegar has been applied and dabbed back up, you can try hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is best for things like hardwood floors but can work on carpets, upholstery, and clothing in some cases.

Hydrogen peroxide oxidizes the lingering urine and helps get rid of some of the scents. Ideally, you want to pour it onto the affected area and let it sit for at least five minutes to let it work its magic. Then, dab it back up.

Warning: Hydrogen peroxide can also break down other things on the surface, including stains, but also including dyes; if you're considering using it on clothing, carpet, or anything you don't want discolored, make sure to test a small, out-of-the-way area first.

After all of that, baking soda is your next tool. Sprinkle it liberally all over the area and let it soak up odors for at minimum half an hour, if not longer. Vacuum it up and, if necessary, apply more, and repeat.

Another warning here: do NOT use a chemical cleaner with either bleach or ammonia in it. Bleach can react with the cat pee to create a toxic gas that can be harmful to you and your cat. Ammonia cleaners, meanwhile, just add to the smell and won't get rid of it.

This isn't going to be your best option. Why not? Well, none of these chemicals actually address the urine itself, just the scent. There are two major issues with this. The first is that there's a pretty good chance that the smell will linger even after all of this, especially if it's on carpet or furniture and has soaked into places you can't directly access, like interior foam or subflooring.

A big roadblock is that uric acid, one of the key components of urine, is not water-soluble. Hydrogen peroxide and vinegar are both water-type cleaners rather than cleaners that can address those chemicals directly. It's like trying to wash grease off your hands without soap; it just doesn't work.

The second is that even a hint of the scent remaining is enough for your cat to recognize, and once a cat has urinated somewhere, there's a pretty good chance they'll come back and hit the same spot again. You may need to work on more litter training or redirect them whenever possible to make sure it doesn't happen again.

So, if this isn't the best option, why is it option #1? Simple: unless you're well-prepared, this is what you'll have on hand, and time is of the essence when it comes to cleaning up cat pee. The longer it sits, the more it soaks in, and the harder it is to clean up later. It's better to do what you can now than to let it linger while you rush out to the store.

Option 2: Enzymatic Cleaner

By far, the best option to clean up a cat's mistake is to use an enzymatic cleaner.

Enzymatic cleaners are special sprays that include enzymes and bacteria. Nearly everything in life will decompose eventually, usually because of bacteria, and that includes the components in cat pee that stink. Enzymatic cleaners are made of targeted components that accelerate this process, breaking apart and degrading the ammonia, enzymes, proteins, and other ingredients in cat pee.

This means they're faster, more thorough, and better at their job than household chemicals, even strong ones like bleach. They also are a more complete breakdown, so even those little bits of lingering scent that your cat can smell but you can't will be gone. This helps prevent repeat performances.

There are, unfortunately, a few drawbacks to using enzymatic cleaners.

• They aren't fast. They're faster than a lot of other options, but you do need to spray them on and let them sit, usually at least overnight. Moreover, you often need more than one treatment to fully address a urine stain.

• They aren't usable on every surface. Some surfaces will have trouble, such as upholstery, if the urine is soaked in too deep. Others, like leather, can be degraded by the cleaner. Things like hardwood can be additionally discolored, similar to bleach or hydrogen peroxide treatments.

• They aren't disinfectants. While this won't likely be a problem (and you should probably clean up the area with a disinfectant anyway), if your cat is sick and you have other cats in the house, an enzymatic cleaner alone isn't going to prevent the spread of that illness.

• They can be intense themselves. Chances are, you'll want to vacate and ventilate the area. Moreover, if the space is too closed up or the cleaner is too intense, it can even cause an allergic reaction in some cats, which will be unpleasant for everyone involved.

Despite all of this, the enzymatic cleaner is generally your best option, and if you have a cat, you should probably proactively buy some to have it on hand.

So, which one? There are dozens of enzymatic cleaners on the market. Some of them are specifically focused on one type of pet and waste and won't work very well on other kinds of waste. A cat pee enzymatic cleaner won't work for dog pee or a diarrhea accident from either species, for example.

People with a lot more resources than I have routinely do testing for these kinds of products and compile lists of the best products to buy. You can make your own judgment from there. I don't have a specific recommendation, nor do I sell a cleaner myself.

Option 3: Professional Cleaning

If you can't seem to get the smell out, it's possible that you'll need to call in the big guns, and that means hiring someone with more professional tools who can do a deep clean and get it right.

Yes, it's costly and time-consuming, but if nothing you do works, it might be the best option. Just make sure that whoever you talk to knows you're addressing cat pee and not just general carpet stains; a regular steam cleaner with a detergent is unlikely to do the job and can even intensify the smell.

Cat Pee Cleaning FAQ

What else is there to know? Other than using a cleaner as directed, there are a few tips you might want to be aware of.

How can you spot additional urine stains?

One of the biggest stumbling blocks is that the obvious cat pee stain isn't always the only cat pee stain. Whether there was some splashing, a second incident, or just a wider area affected than you realized, if you don't clean the whole area, you might miss some, and the smell lingers.

One thing you can do is use a UV light. UV flashlights are easily found online, and cat pee will fluoresce under the light so you can see it. You might also see other things you wish you didn't, but that's the risk you take.

What if the smell lingers after cleaning?

There are three possible causes here.

The first is that you didn't get it all, and you need to repeat the process until it's fully gone. Sometimes, it can take two or three applications of an enzymatic cleaner (and even more vinegar and baking soda) to get it fully clean.

The second is that you got a faulty cleaner (or the cleaner expired), and it just wasn't effective. More than anything, enzymatic cleaners expire and actually do go bad over time, which means if you got a bottle years ago, it might just not be capable of doing the job anymore.

The third and worst is that the urine is soaked into something you can't easily access. I've seen it get between floorboards, into subfloors, beneath baseboards, into the inner workings of recliners, in the upholstery of a car, and a lot more. Sometimes, it can be really tenacious.

Unfortunately, you really only have a couple of options. You can repeat the cleaning, you can disassemble whatever was affected and deep clean it, or you can replace whatever has ended up permanently stained.

What if the cat pee smell is coming from the litter box?

Well, clean the litter box!

Litter is good at absorbing odors, to a point, but if it gets saturated or is old enough, it won't work. That's why you need to keep the litter box cleaned and the litter refreshed. Some kinds of litter are also better than others at trapping odors. Unfortunately, the best deodorizing litters are also the ones with the most environmental issues, so it's a balancing act you have to consider.

Don't forget that the box itself needs to be cleaned regularly as well. Depending on the kind of box you use, the box itself can also be scratched up and potentially hold onto bacteria and odors as well, so you may even need to replace it.

Additionally, it's possible that your cat missed at some point or that splashing has accumulated on a wall or the floor around, which can cause a build-up of the smell over time. Try that UV light, and be prepared for a deep clean.

If you have any questions about anything I discussed in this article, be sure to let me know in the comments section! I'm always more than happy to help however I can!

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