# vinegar for cat pee - does it really work?



## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

So, we are having an issue with urine, and I know exactly what happened.

When i was last feeling very ill, extremely exhausted, i slacked on the litter boxes. they were dirty when I got to them, but anyway.

So question is, does vinegar really work?

Ive read that the enzyme cleaners only work temporarily and then the odor and stain comes back.

in this case the carpet is black and i could care less about any stain, its the odor. 

the confusing part is that when i sprayed some water on top and blotted it up, the tissue was clear and it didnt smell except like some vinegar that i had already sprayed. 

to lift it up it smells more, but that is also coming out clear. more of that stail smell, but no yellow. 

but anyway, my basic quesiton is, if a soak the area in vinegar, will that help?

was considering renting one of those rug cleaners and jsut using it with water until the water comes up totally clean. and then soaking it in vinegar.

have any of you used this method?

also, whats the point of cutting the concentration in half with water? if some vinegar works, wouldnt all vinegar be even better??

any advice is greatly appreaciated. maybe its not even the rug but id rather prevent a problem.

the box is fairly near it and its an old box. very old. like, 8 years old. could it be that its porous and has permanently absorbed cat pee smell??


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

I had also been experimenting with different litters. using scented in one box (because i accidently bought it) and unscented in another. I have since ditched the scented (or actually, donated it) and I am using their favourite litter in both boxes. since doing those both boxes are equally used. before, they seemed to be basically avoiding the scented box.

it is also on my to do list to wash out both boxes, as well as our bin (i keep a bag inside of their doo doos inside of a well seal-able garbage pail.) but it hasnt been cleaned in about a year. to open that lid it REALLY smells! So that cant be helping.


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

I would definitely make it a habit to wash out their boxes. When I was using clumping litter I would make a point to change it completely every 2 weeks (every pay day, which is how I remembered, LOL) and at that time I would wash the boxes out as well. It is very possible that the urine smell is coming from the boxes. I switched to wood pellets and the urine smell is all but eliminated using that, now I wash the boxes out once a month. Definitely can't avoid doing that whatever you use. 

About the vinegar, I don't know how it works, but I would imagine cutting it with water would be a very good idea…unless you want your house smelling like vinegar. And unlike bleach, the vinegar smell wouldn't evaporate over time. Is the urine in the carpet or the boxes? I'm confused.


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## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

Oh, the smell of vinegar does go away, not to worry. Since having ET, I have been using alot more vinegar for most things. Cleaning his litter box, the floor, spraying around the cat tree and beddings to repel insects, to clearing the drainage pipe, washing machine etc.

But vinegar certainly won't mask the smell of a dirty litter box, it still needs to be cleaned out completely at least once a month. As for your carpet, you can try sprinkling baking soda, then pour vinegar over it till its bubbling, let it soak, then blot out. I have never tried it though cos I don't use carpet in the house. I clean the drainage pipe and washing machine with soda+vinegar all the time though.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

About the baking soda... im confused about that as it is found in most litters. Wont it just invite them to the carpet more?

can the baking soda and vinegar reaction change the color of the carpet? The vinegar alone hasnt with a light misting/damping.

Honestly not ttoo sure if its in the carpet as well as the box or not. going to clean the boxes (soap and water) tomorrow to see if and how much that helps.

Just to test, I let simba smell my human spray deodorant and he hates it. possibly even moreso than the indoor cat repellent we were using before (when we bought the carpet honestly I think that was working but it was starting to wrinkle so my mom had me stop using it every night.).

wonder if that is worth using? it has a very strong baby powder smell.


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

if it's your carpet you're trying to get the odor out of, you might have to bite the bullet and trash it and buy a new one. however, it's possible the urine is not actually in the carpet anymore, but in the floor underneath it and that could be why you're still smelling it. if it's hard wood floors underneath, it might have just soaked in, so you might have to do something about the floor itself.

i know we will eventually have to get new carpets ourselves because cleaning up the occasional vomit is not helping! bettter to invest in several small rugs you can throw in the wash with vinegar or bleach in some areas at least.

as for vinegar, i'm pretty sure it DOES work really well. i used straight vinegar once when one of our cats sprayed our leather couch! i just wiped it up with some other cleaner the first time, but the 2nd time i used vinegar and i watched him sniff at the area and leave without spraying! it was a miracle.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

maggie23 said:


> but the 2nd time i used vinegar and i watched him sniff at the area and leave without spraying! it was a miracle.


This is very encouraging!! Thanks!

I went out and bought the litle green machine as recommended in the "what do i do about my house" thread. sadly i have to get ready for work so no time to try it out but, i just wanted to get it that way if it is in the carpet, we have it. 

it also says its great for in the car and stuff too so, im sure either way it will come in handy. itwas $79 at walmart and upwards of $120 everywhere else! I also had a 20 gift card so the whole purchase only came to $70.... not too bad if its as good as the reviews! I just got paranoid and wanted to have it in the house.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

you can still try vinegar if you like, but as far as putting baking soda *and *vinegar on a carpet, I wouldn't do that simply because the chemical reaction will take tarnish off metal (put a penny in the two and see what happens) and i'd be afraid it would lighten the carpet in those areas. not that they'd go back, but it would be pretty ugly. it might not, you could test it in a closet first if you have the same carpet in there. 

baking soda just absorbs scent, that's why it's supposedly (or really) in a lot of litter. you can also try this if you can keep from walking on it: spray the area with water, soak it pretty good actually, then sprinkle a fair amount of baking soda on it and let it dry. as it dries, it will pull out urine and you will most likely see it turn yellow. if you don't, it's probably in the wood like Maggie said. then if you have a hard time vacuuming it up, wash it with water and detergent with your green machine. if it's in the wood, you are going to have to rip the floor up to get the smell out.

personally, I've used F.O.N. (feline odor neutralizer) on vomit stains on the carpet and it really works. soak it in that, then after it's dry, shampoo it.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

would the baking soda by itself discolour the carpet at all? or just the chemical reaction between that and vinegar? It is black so i would hate for it to be grey in spots after.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

I just had this question too... would the boxes getting scrubbed clean/washed, in and of it self, draw them to use the boxes more? Just curious.

Was also considering getting some of that cat attract and mixing it in with my current litter (can not afford to fill 2 posssibly considering getting a 3rd box with that stuff alone. a little tiny bag enough for 1 box 1 time is like $20 plus tax. would mixing it in help at all?? what is in it that works?)


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Sorry, cant edit.

I just found this

Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract Cat Litter Litter Additive | Canada

Considering grabbing some of this, like, tomorrow! depending how much of it you have to use at one. either this or the litter itself to mix in. it says it would do a box for 90 days so even at 2 boxes 45 days, thats not too bad! Ill pay $20 every couple months to keep them consistently using the boxes! But i wonder if it works from far distances? How far from the problem area could it be to still attract them? hmm, so many quesitons!

I also wonder, if i got this, would novelty wear off???


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Sorry to bump this but just really hoping for some more advice, especially on the cat litter attracter additive and if it really works.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

baking soda by itself won't discolor the carpet, it just might be kind of hard to get up because you have to let it dry for it to suck up the urine. that's why I suggested cleaning it with a carpet shampooer afterward. that's probably the cheapest of all remedies, and I usually start most inexpensive first and work my way up.

if you don't get the odor out of the carpet (or end up throwing it away or whatever) the cats will keep going back. their sense of smell is 14x stronger than ours so even when you can't smell it anymore, they can. so if you have problem areas on your carpet, i'm not positive that cat attract stuff will work. I mean it might draw them to the litter box and then as soon as they smell themselves on the carpet, they'd go there too. but I have never used that litter so I can't really say. I just know that a cat is often happy to use both the tray and then somewhere else.

you could try to get a sample of dr. elsey's. I think your biggest issue right now is the leftover odor. try f.o.n. or nature's miracle or even fizzion first and see if it works. or you can just try vinegar alone first, or baking soda--I just definitely wouldn't mix the two together (so only try one of those). personally, vinegar has never worked for anything for me except diluted with water to clean glass. I never put vinegar on cat urine mostly because the residual odor can smell like p to them.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I read somewhere that if you soak the area with regular table salt, it gets the odor out, not sure about the stain.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

So i tried the machine today, just with water. What I got up was dirty, but not yellowish like i was expecting. more like regular dirt colour from outside. But, it didnt smell great, so im hoping i got a good amount out. But i didnt use the wimpy sprayer thats on it for long, i ended up just grabbing a container and pouring water, making sure the whole thing got wet through, which i then sucked up. not sure if ill have to do that more than once? I may do the exact same process with vinegar, now that i know how it works. i mostly just wanted to try it today.

is scrubbing with your fingers before sucking it up a good idea (water or vinegar)? i didnt today, i wasnt sure. but if i use the vinegar i may want to kind of work it in, even let it sit before i suck it up. is this a good idea?


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## charliexx (Apr 12, 2013)

Claiken said:


> but anyway, my basic quesiton is, if a soak the area in vinegar, will that help?


does really work, when toilet training my puppy, he would have an accident, once i cleaned up his mess, i would spray the area with a solution of 75/25 vinegar to water spray and would saturate the area and a bit extra around it, he would go back to that spot, sniff and turn away, we also use it if something is spilt on the carpet, as it stops him sniffing/scratching at the spot..never gotten a stain and no residual smell of urine


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Good to know! with it getting warmer it seems to be coming out more. :S


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

I use white vinegar on their litterpans. After it tries, the smell dissipates. I actually don't dilute it, opting to use it full power. My other choice is the enzyme cleaners which I use on the carpets (for hairballs). I spray it on, leave it for a few mins, then I blot it. I don't swipe it though. I sorta push down on the wet spot with a strong paper towel as I blot.

You won't be able to see cat pee with the naked eye. You'll have to use one of those black lights to really see it.

As I've posted on another person's question, cats are by nature very clean creatures. Cleaning up the litterpan will definitely go a long way to enticing them to use it. Scooping often will also help. If they're straying from the pan they're sending you a message...the litterpan isn't clean enough for them. Their sense of smell is much better and stronger than ours. If you can smell it, then it'll be like stinking to high heaven for them. 

Think about it. If you don't clean often, it's like a box of concentrated smelly bodily secretions. No one would wanna go there. Trying to cover up the smell with stuff like scented litter is like a sweaty, stinky athlete using deodorant. The sweat mixed with deodorant smell is downright disgusting. The guy will smell way better if he just took a shower after the game.

Some may think I'm crazy but if I can, I literally scoop after them every time they go. It's not a lot. About 3 times a day for 2 cats. You flush the toilet every time you go (at least I hope so!) so I would think a clean litterpan is incentive for them to use it.

That's loads better than dealing with cat pee and poops all over the house.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Ive actually tried scooping the boxes twice a day. But the thing is its almost not worth it. there may be one poop and one pee... between the 2 boxes, thats it. seems not worth it. was considering adding a third box as well.

was also xonsidering buying new boxes. ive heard that the older the box, the more cat pee is permanently soaked into it. that cant be helping.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Carpet is currently soaking in vinegar water (i ended up using an 8 cup measuring cup, with 5 cups vinegar and 3 cups water, just because i have limited vinegar to work with), with my green machine ready to suck it up in about an hour. I know people say 20 minutes but i figured longer couldnt hurt. I have a towel under the area too since i dont want to hurt the floor, and i can put that into the wash after. I again didnt use the sprayer, instead just poured it right on. i wanted to make sure i soaked all of the problem area, not just the top. 

one of them did come down to check it out... sniffed around... and then turned away... and proceeded to use the litterbox. but im not sure if my presence would cause that or not. they normally dont do anything when we are in the room. in fact, the only time they have was with a UTI.


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