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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO
Created:Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5089
Total number of notes:60366

4700.0. "Help - Cat Pee Stinks!" by DELNI::D_LANE () Thu Jun 06 1991 10:23

    
    Hello,
    
    I hope somebody can help me.  My fiance and I just bought a house that
    used to have a cat living in it.  We didn't notice when we looked at
    the house, but the basement reeks of cat pee!  Bad!  Can somebody tell
    me what **really** works to get it out?  I personally think it's bogus
    and my fiance is the type of personal that will live in the basement,
    but right now he can't stand the smell either.
    
    So far we washed the basement 3X with Simple Green.  Then he got this
    industrial strenght orange smelly stuff that his friends sister uses 
    when she cleans industrial type odors. John got down on his hands and
    knees and scrubbed with a scrub bush! Then I called a pet store and
    asked them what I should use.  They told me I should get some stuff
    called Nil Odor.  They use that in Nursing homes to get out the smell
    of urine, etc.  Then I called a Kennel and a Vet's and they told me to
    use some stuff put out by the Rug Dr which takes out the smell of cat
    urine, feces, vomit, etc.  So far, nothing has worked, and the basment
    has been wet down so many times I'm afraid it will get musty.  Oh, BTW,
    John also washed 2' around on the walls too, per advice of the VET.
    
    What can we do??  Does anyone know anything that **REALLY** works? 
    It's beginning to make us sick from breathing in all the chemicals too!
    
    Thanks for any advice you can give!
    
    Donna
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4700.1Dry, dry, dry....SOLVIT::IVESThu Jun 06 1991 10:4410
    Donna, sounds like you have used everything. Now I would
    let the basement dry out. I would think that a de-humidifier
    would work wonders also until the basement is REALLY dry. Any
    of the enzyme cleaners work great but the area needs to dry and
    then the smell is gone. (This has been my experience when using
    them or when the carpet clearners used them.)
    
    Any ideas from anyone else?
    
    Barbara
4700.2try covering it overHANNAH::LORAC::BOUDREAUCats Always WinThu Jun 06 1991 10:487
	You may have to resort to covering it up with masonry paint. There
is also a sealer for basements that might do the trick. It's more like a 
latex cover and some are like tar. The urine may have penetrated so far into
the floor and walls that you cannot get to all of it from the surface.

Good Luck,
Carol
4700.3Enzyme type odor killers do work..DELNI::JMCDONOUGHThu Jun 06 1991 13:3543
      There are some very good and effective commercial products that
    really work on this and any other odor...including skunk smell.
    
      Almost if not all of them work on an enzyme basis. One company that 
    handles these products through mail order is:
         
                Master Animal Care
                Lake Road,
                P.O. Box 3333
                Mountaintop, PA 18707
             
                PH: 800-346-0749..
                MC/Visa/ Discover accepted..
    
    
            
    (This is NOT a testimonial for this particular company....there are
    MANY others as equally well run and qualified....)
    
     Some of the various products and representative prices:
    
      Urine Kleen: 8 oz. $5.29
                   1 gal.$30.99
    
      Odormute:    3 oz. $2.99
                   15 oz.$8.89
      (Odormute is a water soluble powder that is concentrated.)
    
      Outright:    8 oz. $4.99 (Concentrated liquid)
    
      I've used Outright, Urine Kleen and Odormute, and they do work.. If
    the problem has been a long-term one, you may have to repeat the
    treatment more 2 or 3 times, but you'll definitely be able to see the
    progress.. ANother product by the name of "Natures Miracle" works well
    also.
    
      Another company that handles this sort of thing is "J & B
    Wholesale"...I'll try to remember and bring in the catalog and put the
    address in here....I think J & B Is a BIT less expensive, but not
    drastically so...
    
    
      John McD
4700.4Hired outside companyNEST::HUSTONFri Jun 07 1991 10:5811
    Before we moved into our house in 1982, it was inhabited by 17 cats
    and 5 dogs and needless to say the odor was "unbelievable".  We
    tried all the over the counter material and nothing worked for any
    length of time--it would initially take the odor away but evidently
    we only got the surface stuff.  In the end--we paid a chemical 
    company that guaranteed the odor--I believe we found them in the
    yellow pages.  What I meant to say guaranteed there would be no
    more odor.  From what I remember it was kinda expensive but can't
    remember exactly.  Good luck!
    
    GJH
4700.5TENAYA::KOLLINGKaren/Sweetie/Holly/Little Bit Ca.Fri Jun 07 1991 19:0816
    The best thing is an enzyme-based cleaner for cat urine.  I would guess
    that that's what the pet store might have recommended, but check the
    container to be sure it says enzyme.  The one I use for Holly's
    problem is Nature's Miracle.  However, the man who runs the company
    that makes it told me that it can actually be deactivated itself if
    mixed with other chemicals.  So, the first thing I'd do is let your
    cellar dry out and air out.  Give it at least a week, better yet
    two (some of the enzyme cleaners do take that long to dry).  That
    may be all that's needed.  If not, try Nature's Miracle (really soak
    the area with the squirt top, you don't have to scrub at all)
    and let it dry and air out for another week.  I don't think anything
    can soak into concrete, can it?  Another possibility is that you're
    missing some place the cat went.  Cats can spray up onto walls for
    example for two or three feet, and it might have gotten up on a bench
    as well, so use your nose to try and locate any missed areas.
    
4700.6TENAYA::KOLLINGKaren/Sweetie/Holly/Little Bit Ca.Fri Jun 07 1991 19:163
    p.s.  the enzyme cleaners themselves smell terrible the whole week they
    are drying.  Once they're dry, they're okay from then on.
    
4700.7POWDML::TAYLORBest friends with a turkey!Mon Jun 17 1991 16:4818
    Two other suggestions:
    
    First:  You may want to try using SURF laundry detergent mixed with
    water.  Wash down the floor and 3' all around the walls.  I know that
    this stuff works GREAT on laundry that cats have "marked", not so sure
    about floors.
    
    The next one I KNOW works on floors.  Are you ready for this?  Scope
    mouthwash and water!!  Wash the floor and walls with this stuff.  It
    works great!!
    
    I also recommend the OUTRITE suggested previously.  That works quite
    well!
    
    Good luck!
    
    Holly
    
4700.8P/U SOLUTIONCSCOAC::MINIER_JWed Jul 24 1991 10:4411
    
    
         Hi,
             The best el stinko solution I've found is white vinegar 
         diluted with a little water and applied to the offensive area.
         Saturate the area,(can rub it in) then take up the excess with
         paper towells or whatever, and let it dry.  This has been work-
         ing wonderfully for me for 20 years.  An excellent neutralizer.
    
         Jeanne