Open Litter Box vs. Closed Litter Boxes – Which is Best for Your Cat?

Inappropriate elimination (referred to by veterinarians as perichezia or periuria) is the technical way of describing a cat that pees anywhere but inside his or her litter box. This behavior results in rooms or entire homes to become filled with malodorous feline pee. When trying to determine why a cat isn’t using its litter box, several factors must be evaluated. Among these is the type of litter box used in a household.

Until recently, there was a fierce debate about whether a cat is more likely to use covered litter boxes or uncovered litter trays. (Cat behaviorists usually argued that cats with inappropriate urination problems were more likely to use a litter tray without a covering.) Thankfully, a recent academic study by the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine puts the “covered versus uncovered” debate to rest.

Litter Boxes: Covered vs. Uncovered

The study, led by three well known veterinarians, diagnosed the potty preferences of 28 cats. Over an extended period of time, each cat was given the option to use a covered or uncovered litterbox. The vets scooped the waist daily to compare which litter trays were being used the most. What they found was interesting.

For the most part, there wasn’t a significant statistical difference between open and closed boxes. Most cats would even switch between them, showing no preference whatsoever. However, 25% of the cats (or 8 of them) did show a covered vs. uncovered litter box preference. Of these, 4 preferred covered and 4 preferred uncovered. The results befuddled even the vets conducting it. The chances of this 50/50 split were nearly one in a million.

How to Choose for Your Cat

The study concluded that if a cat’s toileting facilities are kept clean (scooped a minimum of once a day), it probably won’t matter what kind of litter box you use for most cats. But when it comes to getting rid of cat urine odors, prevention is the best offense.

Whether you’re researching a litterbox for a new kitten or solving a kitty pee crisis, you should:

  • Provide your feline friend with options. Make an open and a closed litter box available. Once the cat has made it clear he or she has a preference, you can give the other litter box to the local shelter.
  • Maintain good litter box hygiene. Cats like clean environments. Scoop every box in your home at least once a day.
  • Avoid electronic litter boxes until you’re certain the litter box isn’t the source of your cats inappropriate urination problem. These are far from natural and further complicate the situation.

Do cats prefer covered or uncovered litter boxes? As usual, the answer is complicated. Follow these tips and you won’t have to worry if you have the right kind of litter box for your kitty.

Source:

Grigg, Emma K., Lindsay Pick, and Belle Nibblett. “Litter box preference in domestic cats: covered versus uncovered.” Journal of feline medicine and surgery (2012).

How to Remove Pet (Cat & Dog) Urine Smells From Leather

Pet urine (whether it be from cats or dogs) can ruin any leather items, it is anticipated that it will leave a terrifying stain as well as unpleasant odor that later on will cause wrinkle and permanent damage to the leather.

Pet urine (whether it be from cats or dogs) can ruin leather. In fact, leather is probably the surface and material most susceptible to being permanently damage by cat urine. The good news is that if you take the right steps to properly clean leather after being peed on, you have a good chance at restoring the original smell and texture to your leather possessions.

The cat urine removal and cleaning steps below have successfully been applied to leather:

The most important thing to remember when removing pet urine from leather is “the sooner the better”. As soon as you realize a cat or dog has urinated on something leather, follow these steps immediately and don’t procrastinate. If the area is still wet, you have a really good shot at completely eliminating the smell. If it’s dry, you definitely still have a chance but it will be more difficult and might require multiple attempts. Basically, the sooner you attack this stinky problem, the higher the likelihood the condition, odor, and texture of the leather won’t be permanently damaged.

Items You’ll Need to Eliminate the Smell

  • Enzyme Odor Removal Solution Specifically Engineered for Pet Odors
  • 2 Kitchen Towels
  • Tupperware  Box w/ Lid
  • Borax
  • Gallon Sized Ziplock Back (Or Trash Bag for Larger Items)
  • 2-3 Pieces of Activated Charcoal
  • Saddle Soap
  • Tea Tree Oil

9 Easy Steps for Removing Cat Urine Smells from Leather

  1. Moisten a kitchen towel with enzyme odor remove and absorb as much of the cat pee as possible. This eradicates the microbes that causing unpleasant smell.
  2. Saturate the affected area with the enzyme cleanser. If you’re using a spray bottle, you might want to take the top off and pour it directly onto the place of the pet’s accident.
  3. Saturate another towel with more of your favorite cat urine odor removal product. Place the towel on top of the area and let it sit for 3 hours. If you’re able, place another towel (or wrap part of the other towel) underneath the leather so your getting both sides of the leather.
  4. Find a large Tupperware box that’s large enough to place the item in. Pour borax into the box until the borax is 1 inch deep. Place the smelly item into the box and pour additional borax on it so that it’s completely covered. If your try to remove feline or dog urine from a large a couch, car interior, or something else that’s very large, just pour the borax directly on area where the pet peed.
  5. Fill one cup of activated charcoal and place it inside a plastic bag (ideally a Ziploc or other airtight bag). After it has soaked in the borax box for 24 hours, place the soiled leather item into the Ziploc along with the charcoal.
  6. Now you’ll place the plastic bag back into the box with borax. (So, you’ve got the soiled item inside the plastic bag, and the plastic bag inside the box.) Seal the box with as close to an airtight lid as possible. Let the item sit in the sealed box for 3-5 days. (Allow for a longer time if the urine was initially untreated for longer than a 24 hours.)
  7. When you remove the leather item (purse, cushion, jacket, etc.), the cat urine smell should be completely removed. Let the leather naturally air dry to prevent damage or water stains.
  8. After it’s dry, use clean the leather with a very generous amount of saddle soap. This will ensure you retain the natural condition of the leather and give the leather a natural scent too. If the leather seems to be dry, you can also try gently massaging a soft cloth that has a few drops tea tree oil on it.
  9. The pungent urine aroma is still there, repeat steps 1-8. Only do this two more times to prevent damaging the leather.

Pointers and Warnings

  • Always test a small amount of cleaning products on a small, hidden piece of leather to make sure it doesn’t harm the texture, condition, or color of the leather.
  • To maintain and restore the softness of the leather, try applying very light, unscented baby oil.
  • Do not use ammonia or alcohol-based solutions. Ammonia will only make the smell worse. Alcohol will dry out the leather. (Be careful. Nature’s Miracle Pet Odor Remover contains alcohol.)
  • Avoid cleaning the leather frequently. It can cause the material to crack. Clean it only when its stained or develops strong smell of pet urine.
  • Cat urine is much more concentrated than dog urine. Try to clean cat accidents as soon as possible.
  • If your pet urinated on a leather couch, be sure to check the carpet next to or below it. Getting rid of pet urine odors from a carpet requires different steps.

By following the steps outlined above, you should be able to treat, clean, and eliminate pet urine that’s come in contact with most leather items.

Easily Help Your Pet’s Speak

Have you ever wanted make your (other other people’s) pets talk? Well, now you can…kind of. After a lot of hard work, we’re releasing a feature of our website on Sunday, Febuary 24th, that will allow pet owners to create memes (like the one’s below), with their own pet pictures. It’s completely free and any PetLuvR can do it.

 

Funny Talking Cats

 

Oh Yeah Kitty Cat?

 

Angry Kitty

Does Baking Soda Get Rid of Cat Urine Odor?

People have been using baking soda for decades to remove unwanted odors. While it works great for some undesirable smells, baking soda is simply not effective for the removal of cat pee odors. The active ingredient in baking soda is called sodium bicarbonate. When placed in a confined area, the molecular properties of baking soda allow it to literally absorb some smells. (This is why most of us place a box of baking soda in the fridge.) Unfortunately, the odor caused by cat urine is not one of the smells it effectively at removes.

Why Baking Soda Won’t Work for Urine Odors

Baking Soda and Cat Pee

Reason #1: Cats and Dogs Rarely Wee in Contained Areas

When closed, refrigerators have an airtight seal. This is exactly what allows the baking soda to neutralize the odor. When removing cat pee from concrete, a carpet, or other surfaces, the area is usually far from airtight. In fact, it’s the completely opposite. Unless your cat urinated in the fridge, baking soda isn’t a good option for eliminating the odor.

 

Reason #2: Masking a Smell Doesn’t = Eliminating It

In it’s real world applications, baking soda basically acts as a masking agent. In other words, it doesn’t solve your stinking problem. (No pun intended!) The chalky, white powder does nothing to kill the odor-causing bacteria.

To be fair to the folks at Arm & Hammer, scientifically speaking baking soda isn’t a masking agent. Sodium bicarbonate does absorb and neutralize malodorous molecules. But, in real world applications, it acts like a masking agent. Why? As soon as the baking soda is removed or has reached it’s maximum absorption threshold, it stops working. The latter is why folks have to switch out the box of baking soda in their fridge.

Reason #3: Science Proves Baking Soda Isn’t Strong Enough

Finally, baking soda just isn’t strong enough to remove cat urine odors. We’re going to revisit 8th grade chemistry to prove this point. One way to look at odor removal, from a scientific standpoint, is the PH scale. For an acidic smell to go away, it needs to be countered by a substance of equal alkaline strength. (Think of the middle of the graph, at 7, as odorless.)

Baking Soda for Removing Cat Urine

The nasty scent caused by cat pee is strongly acidic. (This is why people often associate the smell with ammonia.) But as you can see, baking soda is a very weak alkaline. Vinegar is a little stronger than baking soda, but vinegar also doesn’t remove cat urine odors. Neither are strong enough. They would need to be at the point marked “Required Level” to effectively remove your tomcat’s spray or feline’s marking scent.

Additional Tips

The good thing about using baking soda to get rid of cat urine smells is that it won’t hurt anything (unlike vinegar . You’ll probably wind up with a mess and it almost certainly won’t work. It’s readily available as a household remedy, so a lot of people will try it. My advice, however, is to save yourself some time and use one of the more effective ways to remove the odor outlined on this site.

Cats Peeing On Your Porch or Outside Your Home? Learn How to Prevent It!

Getting the cats you own to stop urinating in the house is difficult. Trying to prevent stray or neighborhood cats from peeing outside of your home, on the porch and patio, or even in your plants or garden sounds impossible. But, it’s not. By taking the proactive and holistic approach outlined below, you’ll prevent cats from peeing on your property and win the “best neighbor of the month” award. Before you get too excited, it’s important that you understand this might not be the easiest solution. But, it’s by far the most effective and humane.

Trap, Neuter, and Release (abbreviated as TNR) is the strategy used by “no kill” shelters to curb pet overpopulation. The premise is simple. Dogs, and especially cats, create offspring at very fast rate. By ensuring that animals in your neighborhood (referred to by TNR experts as a “colony”) are spayed and neutered, you stop pet overpopulation at its source; the breeding of feral or stray cats. (To learn more about TNR, visit the Feral Cat Coalition’s website.)

Learn More

Removing Cat Urine Smells & Odors from Carpets

Cats enrich our lives in many ways, but sometimes their natural behaviors baffle us. This is especially true when they damage our homes and belongings. Urinating outside of the litter box (i.e. inappropriate urination) is a common problem that frustrates pet owners. Sadly, some cats even lose their homes due continuously urinating in places that leave their owner’s home stinking like cat urine.

When cats urinate on carpeting, it can cause embarrassment, anger, disgust, and bewilderment. Because the kitty’s urine usually isn’t detected immediately,  cats often repeatedly soil the their “favorite spots” until the carpet and the padding underneath reek from repeated saturation.  Making things worse, standard carpet cleaners (and even some cat urine odor elimination products) rarely remove the smell effectively. This makes eliminating cat urine smells from carpeting a particularly difficult task. Fortunately, there are several effective ways to get rid cat pee smells in your carpet. It may take a little trial and error with a few different methods or products, but with persistence you can restore most carpets to freshness.

Learn More

Removing Urine Smells from Clothes: Cat Pee and Your Laundry

Unfortunately, cats that urinate outside of their litter boxes often choose toHow to Remove Cat Urine Odors from Clothes pee on their owner’s clothing. Some cats prefer to pee on piles of dirty clothing, while others, like ours, seem to like fresh, clean laundry. It is not pleasant to pick up a favorite jacket or shirt and find that it reeks of cat urine. Since most clothing is washable, it is usually easy to remove urine stains and smells. The following steps can help you restore your urine-soaked clothes to an odor-free state.

Removing Cat Urine Odors from Washable Clothing

  1. First, make sure that the cat only peed on your clothes. Sometimes the smell of your feline friend’s urine is so strong that it seems to come from all over the room. So, triple check to make sure that you have located every item or surface that is affected. If he or she “missed” and also urinated on the carpet, you need to learn how to remove cat urine smells from your carpet.
  2. Whether they are clean or dirty, place all clothes that were close to the your cat’s place of choice in the washing machine. If you have affected items that are not machine-washable, put them aside.
  3. Set your washing machine for a normal cycle. Use warm or hot water if the affected fabrics will tolerate this safely. Hot water helps remove odors by killing the bacteria that grows in the presence of kitty urine stains.
  4. Add your regular laundry detergent in the recommended amounts. The brand is not particularly important, but use an effective product for the best results.
  5. Include about one cup of enzymatic odor remover in the wash load. This step is important!. This product is specifically designed to remove animal urine smells; it is usually sold with laundry supplies or pet supplies.
  6. After the cycle is complete, check the clothes for any residual odor. If there is any urine smell at all, repeat the washing process. Once the odors are gone, dry as usual.
  7. If you have any urine-affected clothing items that can only be hand-washed, fill a sink or basin with warm to hot water and soak clothing in detergent and enzyme odor remover for up to an hour before washing and rinsing. Repeat as necessary until no odor remains.
  8. For clothing that is not washable at all, consult a dry cleaning company for advice.

Tips for Getting Rid of Cat Pee Smells in Your Clothes

  • Always wash urine-exposed clothing items separately from other dirty clothes. This avoids the chances of contaminating other clothes with urine odor, which could lead to wasted water and detergent if repeated cycles become necessary to remove odors.
  • When large, delicate or expensive items are soiled by cat urine and machine-washing is not an option, consider taking an enzyme odor remover to your local dry cleaners and ask if they can use it while restoring the piece if their usual methods are not successful. Believe it or not, it’s something dry cleaners deal with on a regular basis. In fact, we helped our local dry cleaner come up with a solution that he now uses for all “cat pee” situations.
  • In an emergency, white vinegar is a safe, effective and inexpensive replacement for enzyme cleaner. Add a cup to the water in the sink or washing machine and allow clothing to soak in it for at least 30 minutes before washing normally. The vinegar smell will dissipate when clothing is rinsed.
  • To discourage a repeat performance, keep all clothing put away while it is clear that your cat is suffering from a behavior problem. Search for an underlying cause of inappropriate urination and treat the problem so your home can once again enjoy peace and a fresh atmosphere.

How to Remove Cat Urine Smells & Odors from Concrete

It is difficult to remove cat urine odor in general, but one of the most challenging situations occurs when the urine soaks into the extremely porous surface of concrete. Because odor-causing bacteria reach far below concrete’s top layer, any type of urine or excrement stain can leave a stubborn and noticeable smell. Removing the smell of cat urine successfully is not easy work, but it can be done by following a few simple steps. Before you tackle urine-tainted concrete, you’ll need to collect a few basic items.

Cat Urine vs. Concrete: What You Will Need

Wet Vacuum
One of the most important tools for battling cat pee in concrete is the wet vacuum or carpet shampooer. If you do not own one, you can usually rent one from a grocery store or other retailer. These machines give you powerful scrubbing action plus the ability to automatically dispense a liquid cleaner; this is vital for reaching deep into the porous concrete and neutralizing odor. If it is impossible to obtain a wet vacuum, you can use brushes or mops as a substitute, but it will require more effort and will not be as effective.
Sturdy, Push Brush / Brush Mop
brush-mopIf you are not using a wet vacuum, use an industrial brush mop. These look similar to rakes but have rows of strong bristles on the end.
Standard Garden Hose
Access to an outdoor water source is also required.
Hose-End Sprayer Attachment
hose-end-sprayer
This item attaches to the end of your garden hose and connects it to a bottle or container of concentrated liquid. Hose end sprayers are commonly used for dispensing weed killer or fertilizer and are sold in home and garden stores.
Powerful Urine Odor Removal Product
The level of your success depends partly on the use of a quality odor remover. For limited or minor problems, a product like Simple Green cleanser or even dish detergent may be adequate, but for serious odor situations, consider tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) or enzymatic odor remover.
OdorXit
OdorXit is a safe, organic odor remover product that you will use to create a treatment for the concrete in the final step of odor removal.

The Odor Removal Process

After gathering all the necessary materials, you are fully armed for battling the intolerable smell of cat pee. Choose a dry, moderately warm day for the best results.

Step One: Cleansing

Pour the Simple Green, TSP or other odor remover liquid over the stained areas. Be sure to include all areas around the stains even if you don’t think they were affected. Remember, the porous nature of concrete causes odors to spread. You can use your wet vacuum or brush mop to work the solution into the pores with as much force as possible. Reserve some odor remover for reapplication in case the liquid becomes absorbed into the surface before you get a chance to work it into all areas completely.

Step Two: Rinse

After every inch is treated, rinse the entire area with your garden hose. Direct the rinse water toward a drain or to the street to wash the urine residue and bacteria away from the area.

Step Three: Drying Time

Step three requires no effort. Simple let the area dry naturally without the use of fans or heaters. Do not try to expedite the drying time; allow it to sit untouched overnight. The next morning, you may find signs of powdery white residue on the dried surface; make note of the location. These are areas that have the highest saturation of urine, and they should receive special attention.

Step Four: Treatment

To make a special concrete urine removal treatment, add 12 ounces of enzyme-based odor remover and four ounces of OdorXit to a gallon of water. This will treat extreme pee smells and help restore your concrete surfaces to normal. Using your hose end sprayer, cover the affected surface with enough solution to remain wet for about 10 minutes. If it begins to dry out, reapply. Soak as much of the porous surface as possible. Focus more intensely on any areas that seem to absorb liquid slowly or where white powder was noted earlier.

Managing Problem Spots

Cat urine can become oily and clog the pores of concrete; this makes it more difficult to get the cleansers and odor removers to their target. If you note that some places absorb poorly, you may need to re-treat these areas separately, starting over from step one.

Removing Cat Urine Smells from Your Mattress: Panic-Free Instructions

Walking into your bedroom after a long and harrowing day at work to be greeted by the unmistakable smell of cat urine is probably one of the most frustrating experiences you can imagine. It becomes worse when you discover that the smell is not coming from your curtains, your carpet or that throw pillow you never really liked. Instead, the smell emanates from the very place you hoped to lay your body to rest. The cat peed on your mattress. The sheets, comforter and even the pillows could be thrown into the washing machine for a quick fix, but getting cat urine odor out of a mattress is a little more complicated.

 

cat-urine-on-bed-covering

 

Don’t panic yet; there is a very effective remedy. Enzyme-based odor removal products are designed specifically for this type of problem, and they work well. Follow the steps outlined below to eliminate the smell of cat urine and restore your mattress to a clean and odor-free state sooner than you imagined possible.

Learn More