TheGoSeeGirl.com Answers, Information and Resource Blog

As a cat owner of multiple cats, spray and urine odor was a constant concern. When you have more than one male cat [I have three] you will have problems with spraying. While neutering male cats will sometimes prevent or cut down the amount of spraying by some, others continue to spray. I can attest to that. I went to the extent of having all my male cats neutered in an attempt to cure the odor problems. This resulted in large vet bills and horrible guilt on my part — as my male cats did somersaults in an attempt to find there missing jewels. My eldest cat is still traumatized to this day [it's been two years now].

Spraying is a means of marking territory. It’s a male cat’s way of letting other cats [and even humans] know they are the dominate creature in the household and that marked territory is owned by them. I can’t begin to tell you how much money I spent on expensive products claiming to be my cure all to removing these almost impossible odors from my fabrics and furniture. Some of these products actually seemed to increase the amount of spraying my males cats were doing. The more I tried to cover [keyword] the odor, the more they sprayed.

For a while I was caught in a vicious circle of buying one product after another, hoping for the solution and saving the expense of replacing bedding, curtains, and even furniture. Yes, anyone with a male cat will tell you — cat spray is strong, pungent, offensive and impossible to get rid of once it is in any fabric.

Well, I am happy to say it is not impossible and the solution might be as close as your kitchen. Even when you don’t find that little darling’s squirts of spray in a timely manner, you can still remove [not just cover] that offensive odor.

This simple household product is white vinegar. It is effective on many other offensive odors in your home, too. I use it as an additive to my regular laundry detergent to remove any and all odors; and to remove food stains too. It’s great for cleaning floors, windows, counter tops and appliances.

For the items you can toss in the washing machine, add ½ cup white vinegar along with your normal laundry detergent and you won’t even detect a hint of the vinegar. Do not mix with oxi-cleaning agents. If you prefer to use oxi-cleaners, wash with oxi-cleaner first, then re-wash with vinegar to avoid damage to fabrics.

For all other cleaning jobs, add 3 ounces of vinegar per gallon of water used. To avoid the aroma of vinegar lingering in your house, add 2 or 3 caps full of vanilla extract or liquid potpourri to the solution.

Once you have put my little home remedy to the test, please remember to come back and consider making a donation to keep this blog alive. Thank you.

 

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 3:46 am and is filed under Household Tips, Pets, Uncategorized.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.