Having a pet has its challenges, even best-behaved can cause an “accident”. Staining carpets, rugs and furniture happens and there is no point of yelling and impose punishment, by doing that you are confusing your pet and you might damage your relationship. Don’t you worry there are ways to retrain your pet but this is a topic of another article.
In this article we are gong to focus on how to clean the stains and remove the stench. As long as your pet can smell his own scent, the zone of the “accident” will be revisited on a regular basis. If you are able to clean this place properly, you might be able to stop him from urinating there. But keep in mind that an area that looks and smells clean to you might still be problematic. It is widely known that pets have a superior sense of smell and would be able to detect just a slight trace that remains.
Enzymatic Cleaner
In any case the usage of enzymatic cleaner would be needed, you can find these in pet supply stores. There are specific enzyme neutralizers for dogs, cats and birds and they would provide better results than the all-purpose ones. By applying these cleaners your pet won’t be able to recognize his “favorite” area of the carpet and would stop going there.
Don’t Allow The Stain to Set in
If there is a fresh pet urine stain on your carpet you need to act quickly. Once the stain dries it starts to chemically react with the carpet and in a few days you might have a discolored spot. Soak up the urine with paper towels and put it in the litter box of your cat or the favorite outdoor place of your dog. You need to make your pet understand that there is nothing wrong with urinating as long as it is done at the right place.
Did it Reach The Carpet Padding?
Lift the carpet to see if the urine has penetrated in the deeper layers and polluted the carpet padding. If somehow this happened it would be best to call the professional carpet cleaners and let them decide what would be the appropriate treatment. Usually hot water extraction is used to tackle this problem but don’t forget to apply enzymatic remover when they are done. If you are feeling brave and you have extractor vac you might try to handle it yourself but don’t apply harsh chemicals it almost always leaves residue, which is dangerous for your pet.
Don’t Do This
Avoid using compounds with strong scent such as ammonia and vinegar, they wont eliminate the odor properly and most likely your pet would still be able to sniff the remaining traces. Even worse this may encourage your pet to urinate there again and reinforce the stain and the odor coming from it.
Vinyl Covers
If your pet stains your sofas, chairs and other upholstered furniture an easy solution to counter that is to put vinyl covers. They are cheap, easy to clean and would make the furniture unappealing for your pet.
Maintain Hygiene
Don’t forget to wash the toys of your pet and clean it’s dish every week. If you have a dog, bathing and grooming at least once a week is imperative. Also the favorite places of your pet have to be vacuumed more often.