A Natural Way to Clean Animal Urine?

My husband and I have five kids… not human kids (yet), but little furry kids.    Three cats and two dogs to be exact.  All but one cat were rescued.  Both dogs came from neglectful homes.  The dachsie was kenneled all the time and the spaniel was left outside all the time – neither were appropriately potty trained.  So, even though most days they are good, the dogs still have accidents inside.  Our youngest cat had a urinary tract infection when we rescued her and found a close corner to relieve herself – cat urine is one of a kind and I still haven’t been able to get rid of the unique smell.

I feel the need to back myself up here.  Our house is clean and smells fine.  It’s just that when you lay down to watch a movie or sit down to do laundry, you can sometimes smell the faint aroma.  The smell that our insensitive human noses cannot detect is more than enough to keep our little furry babies coming back to a particular spot.

A few months back, I saw an episode of the British show “How Clean is Your House?” with Kim and Aggie.  On camera they use a lot of natural cleaners to help those pitifully disgusting homes.  A woman had rescued a cat and then failed (that’s an understatement) to clean up after it.  I was elated when they stated they had a cure for cat urine.  Their elixir called for warm water, biologicals, and surgical spirits.  The latter two took a bit of research because no one in my area had heard of those two ingredients.

Ingredients:

• A bowl of warm water
• Biologicals. In the states these are known as “digestive enzymes.”  Yes, the same kind you find in the pharmacy for digestive problems.  I picked up a bottle of 60 capsules for about $5 from my local grocery pharmacist.  The capsules contain a 220mg proprietary blend of: protease, amylase, lipase, cellulose, sucrose, maltase, and lactose.
• Surgical spirits.  This liquid goes by many names: methanol alcohol, methylated spirits, or Meths.  In the states this is the same thing as “denatured alcohol” and can be found at a hardware store near the paint removers.  It’s also used as a gas for smaller burners such as fondue pots.  It’s straight alcohol that’s got a little methanol in it to keep it from being labeled as a food product which would mean much higher taxes.  Mine has “less than 4% methanol” in it.

Instructions:

1. Sop up any wet stain with a sucking device or paper towel.
2. Pour biologicals/enzymes into a bowl of warm water.  I used about 4 cups of water.  I opened 5 caplets and poured the powder into the warm water until it was cloudy.
3. Brush the mixture into the stain.
4. Pour surgical spirits on and let dry.  There’s a warning on the container not to “rub” as it may cause a spark and ignite, so please be careful when dabbing.

While visiting a different local grocery store pharmacist, I asked about digestive enzymes.  I specifically mentioned that I would be using them to clean urine.  The pharmacist had a couple items behind the counter.  Granted they were much more expensive – $17-$30 for 30 pills, but I assume they were also much more concentrated.

Some other items we have tried:

• UrineOff
• UrineGone
• Resolve
• Kid’s and Pets
• Vinegar
• Baking soda
• Pet cleaner and stain remover (the stuff made for steam cleaners and SpotBot’s)
• I’ve also read good things about Nature’s Miracle but haven’t tried it yet

I think the main key to cleaning up pet urine is to get it sucked up and cleaned up while it’s still fresh.  This helps with some of the smell and definitely helps with stains.  I received a SpotBot for my birthday over two years ago and we still use it often.  One thing to remember when cleaning urine is to never use straight ammonia or products containing ammonia (cleaning solutions, window cleaners, and floor waxes) to clean it.  What is urine made out of?  Ammonia among other things, which will attract your pet back to the spot!

So……… I’m sure you’re all wondering if this works after I gave you all of this back story and information.  The short answer is no.  Although it did get out the stain, the following day it failed my nose-to-the-floor sniff.  I also tried it on some cat barf.  The enzymes literally melted it, which is great!  The long answer is:  I think it has great potential.  Being a naturally curious person, I can’t help but wonder about different factors.  Did I use too little enzymes?  The recipe told on tv did not say what blend of enzymes in what amount was used.  Would more potent enzyme caplets do better?  Do I need to repeat the process?  Having read a lot about both chemical and natural urine remedies, many pet owners find that with repeat applications, the smell goes away.