Natural cat urine odor remover is growing in popularity. With the abundance of reports on the prevalence of carcinogens and gene-disrupting toxins in seemingly harmless products, a return to green alternatives is the order of the day. If you have reservations about the effectiveness of natural odor removers on a tarnished carpet, there are easy methods you can start with to find the most effective solution for kitty’s accidents and not-so-accidental “messages”.
DIY Cat Urine Odor Remover Options
Feline urine is difficult to remove because of the clinging bacterial content. Overtime, it can grow rancid if it’s not treated. When you’re dealing with very resistant clean-up operations, you may need more than one approach.
Employing The Dry Cat Urine Odor Remover Method:
Blot the wet area right away with a dry rag (or two). When the moisture is removed, grab your trusty box of sodium bicarbonate from the fridge. Baking Soda is an apt carpet-freshener, odor-fighter and stain remover. Covering the offensive area with a liberal amount and scrubbing it into the spot might solve your problem (if you catch it right away). Vacuum the baking soda from the area, and repeat as needed.
Using The Wet Cat Urine Odor Remover Method:
Soak a rag with equal parts white vinegar and water for a few minutes then target the stain by rubbing the rag into the area. Vinegar will neutralize the natural ammonia in cat urine. Use a fan to dry out the new vinegar smell. And, don’t worry. The vinegar scent will die down and wash out the next time you shampoo or wet vacuum your carpet. This solution will also treat hardwood floors and linoleum. Add a drop of teatree or lavender essential oil for added antibacterial strength and to weaken the smell of vinegar.
Hydrogen peroxide is another option if you’d rather not use vinegar. Add it to a spray bottle, and mist the area liberally to oxidize the bacteria at the root of the odor.
Treating Old Stains:
If the pet-sitter allowed cat urine stains to dry without treatment while you were away or did a less than optimal cleaning job, you can identify one or more older stains with a black light. Cat urine stains are fluorescent. Be sure the lights are off before running ultraviolet light over your carpet to spot soiled areas. You can utilize a lamp or a hand held blacklight (here’s a cheap-o for less than $5) for this.
Mechanical Deterrents:
Prevention is often the best approach with anything. Products like SSScat have built-in motion detectors that release a safe spray in the direction of the approaching kitty. Your cat should respond relatively quickly to this method of safeguarding carpets and furniture. A Scat mat may also come in handy if you want to ward off an entire area. When resident felines step on the mat to cross over into a room, a warning pulse is set-off beneath their paws.
Exploring Behavioral Triggers
- My Bad…
Cleaning up the scene of the crime could become a reoccurring pastime if there’s an underlying issue triggering your feline’s behavior. Kitty might be “in a mood,” but more likely, there’s a clear reason your carpet is under siege.
Behavioral triggers that prompt out-of-box urination might be linked to your litterbox cleaning schedule. Some felines are pickier than others, but they are all particular about the state of their restroom. If you’re waiting until the end of the workday to change the litter, you might need to check the box in the morning and freshen it (even if there isn’t much waiting there from the previous evening).
In addition, some kitties, like my Cleo, refuse to pee and poop in the same box. At the same time. She’s very fussy. After buying all sorts of expensive automatic litter boxes and various types of litter, the out-of-box pottying was eradicated after I purchased 2 simple litter boxes. She still does both numbers in each box, but no longer goes on the floor. Who knows?
Health issues may also be linked to out-of-box urination. In these instances, your feline friend may truly be sending a message that something is wrong. Both feline diabetes and feline stress disorder can cause frequent urination. A more common issue with cats is urinary tract infections. A visit to your vet can rule out health issues.
If you care for multiple cats, especially males, you might need to provide them with separate boxes. Males can be instinctually territorial, and this behavior is likely out of their hands. While they might tolerate living in the same house, sharing the same box may be out of the question for them. If they’re not neutered, more areas of the house may face the marking instincts that come with the territory.
Reoccurring incidents could also be linked to residual odors from a previous accident. If kitty smells their scent in an area of the house they’ve long forgotten they sullied, their instinct may be to consider it a sort of “vacation” restroom. You may not smell anything, but your feline can detect the trace scent of their urine. If you’re laboring over the same area repeatedly, it may be time to consider a natural cat urine odor remover of the commercial variation.
Natural Cat Urine Odor Remover On Market Shelves
Natural products that target urine stains are fairly easy to find in this day and age. Most pet stores stock a variety of green pet products. If you’re unsure which ones to trust, ask your fellow cat lovers which brands they like before you make a decision. If you can afford to, buy a few brands and give them all a test spin when incidents occur.
Look for brands that can tackle floor cleanups, carpet mishaps, and laundry with completely non-toxic formulas. Stinky pets, Nature’s Miracle, Simple Solution, and Capture Pet Stain and Odor Neutralizer cover some of the more familiar names in green cat urine removal. They work by breaking down odor molecules with enzymes and “good bacteria” stimulants that will persist to remove all traces of urine from the cleanup area well after you’ve finished the job. Be sure you’re clear on how your product is getting rid of odors. Mere perfumes won’t do well masking cat urine odor, and they’ll be powerless to disinfect the area.
Cat lovers adore their feline friends, and it’s important to the health of everyone in the home to ensure pet maintenance products are truly safe over the long term. Natural cat urine odor remover ensures everyone’s happy in the end.


o Use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. The mixture is mixed in a 1/3 cup of white vinegar to a 2/3 cup of water ratio and then pressed into the contaminated spot. You can pour the mixture on the spot too and leave it to soak. Repeat the process when the mixture dries up and continue to do so for the next 24 hours. After this, sprinkle the spot with baking soda and vacuum it up.