Help! My Cat Peed on the Carpet!

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If your cat potties on your carpet, what do you do? If you clean it up with a regular 'ol carpet cleaner, you will soon find that the odor has returned. You know that smell ... the one that smells like putrid ammonia? No matter how many times you scrub it, it won't come out. And chances are, he'll potty there again and again and again.

So, how do you get cat urine odor out of your carpet?

The following procedure works. I know that it works because I did it 10 years ago when one of our cats decided to mark our small spare bathroom. I know it works because our 10 year old cat, his brother, has pottied in Rick's closet and Brynne's bedroom in the past couple of weeks. He is getting older and needs better, constant access to his litter box than he has been used to having.

Here is what I do, and what I know works. (If you click on the photo credit above, there is an article with a similar formula. The one I will give you uses the same products, I just do it a tad differently.

1.  If you catch it wet, use a shop vac or carpet machine with a good suction and suck up as much as you can. If it gets to the padding and/or subflooring, it will be more difficult to get out.

2. Completely saturate the area with a solution of one cup Hydrogen Peroxide (kills the bacteria that causes the odor), 1 tsp. baking soda (absorbs the odor), and a squirt of dish detergent. At first it will completely kill the odor and you'll think, "There! All gone!" No so. It will draw the odor up and will stink to high heaven within several hours.

3. Use your shop vac or carpet cleaner again to suck up as much as you can.

4. Then COMPLETELY SATURATE the carpet with straight vinegar. Honestly, I use a full gallon of it for a small area and just pour it on the carpet and soak it, rubbing it so that it goes all the way down to the subflooring. The vinegar kills the odor itself. It will smell like strong, ammonia and vinegar for a few days. Let it dry completely. This will take several days. Keep the area closed off from all traffic.

5. Once it is completely dry, I use an Arm and Hammer oxydizing powder carpet deodorizer. I completely cover the area and then rub it down into the carpet. Then leave it for a full day.

6. Vacuum up. Then as a last measure, I use plain baking soda and completely cover the area again and then rub it down into the carpet. Then leave it for another day or two until you notice no more odor.

7. Vacuum it all up.

8. My final advice: In a couple of weeks, if you have a carpet cleaning machine, clean the area again using vinegar instead of carpet cleaning solution. (I clean all of my carpets with vinegar about once a month or once every couple of months to catch any unknown dog potty, which doesn't smell as strong as cat urine, or other yuckiness.)

Using this long, drawn-out technique really should keep you from having to replace your carpet.

I hope this helps!