Best Solutions for Cat Pee in Carpet

You love your sweet and spunky feline family member. Unfortunately, the smell of cat urine isn’t something to love. If your furry friend had an accident or has a pattern of going where they shouldn’t, knowing the best solutions for dealing with cat pee in carpet can save your house from smelling foul. 

Top Solutions for Dealing With Cat Pee in Carpet

According to PetMD, cat urine smells so bad because it has bacterium in it. As the urine breaks down, it gives off an odor similar to ammonia. Later, it gives off mercaptans, which is similar to the smells in skunk spray. 

Whether you have an older cat with smellier urine, a sick cat with a UTI or one that has an aversion to the litter box, here are the best ways to treat a pee spot and get it out of the carpet so it doesn’t have a chance to stink up your house. 

1. Soak Up the Urine

Before you treat the spot, you should soak up cat pee in carpet. Get as much of it up as possible. It’s best to use something you can dispose of, such as old rags or a towel. You want to use something absorbent. 

2. Pour on the Enzyme Cleaner

Pet urine requires a different process to clean than human urine. Invest in a good enzyme cleaner made especially for treating cat urine. Because you’ll be dealing with a different chemical composition than dog urine, you’ll want something formulated specifically for feline pee. 

Keep in mind that the enzyme cleaner is meant to remove the odor and not the stain. You may need to treat the stain separately at another time. For now, get rid of the source of the odor first so your home doesn’t smell. Fully saturate the area by pouring on the solution and not diluting it. 

3. Treat the Stain

Allow the enzyme cleaner to dry thoroughly. If the smell is gone, you can now turn to getting the cat pee stain in your carpet out. Look for oxygen boosters or use a carpet detergent. You may want to pretreat the area with a stain remover.

4. Hire a Professional

If you don’t fully remove the smell of cat pee in carpet, the cat or other animals in your home may return to the spot and have additional accidents. Professional carpet cleaning services charge as much as $75 per room to clean carpets. Some offer deodorizers as well to help ensure your home smells fresh.

You can also rent a carpet cleaner from your local hardware store. Look for a cleaning solution formulated to get cat pee out of your carpets. You might want to allow the area to dry and follow up another time by dousing with an enzyme solution that eats the urine and completely removes it from the carpet’s fibers.

5. Sprinkle on Baking Soda

Baking soda is known for soaking up unpleasant smells. If all else fails, cover the area with baking soda. Allow to sit for a day or two and then vacuum it up. The scent might return but you can camouflage it for a while.

If All Else Fails to Remove Cat Pee in Carpet

The urine may have soaked through the carpet and into the padding and even the subfloor underneath. If you notice your cat keeps returning to the same spot, pull up the carpet, replace the portion of the pad under and perhaps even seal the subfloor with some clear sealing product made especially for such a need. 

Getting cat pee out of carpet is only effective if you prevent the cat from returning and adding more urine to the location. Your goal should be to remove the smell and the cat’s desire to urinate there again.