You couldn’t wait to have this little (or less small) furry, soft and super endearing ball in your arms. You’ve been thinking about it for months to decide, and finally you’ve decided to adopt a dog or a cat and add a new member to the family. You have surely already weighed all that this implies, many satisfactions – if you are an animal lover – but also a long list of commitments and responsibilities that we cannot avoid.
It is true that they are not the same for dogs and cats, but they have things in common: you have to take care to offer them space in the house, that they follow a correct diet according to their age and their physical conditions, that they maintain good hygiene, follow their vaccination schedule and check-ups and take them to the veterinarian if they show signs of illness or if they suffer an injury, in addition to keeping them active spending time playing with them.
If your four-legged friend is a puppy, you will also need to plan with other family members to take him for a walk. This is very important so that he can stretch his legs, interact with other dogs and play, but also so that he can do his business. To do this, you will have to devote a good part of the first months to educating him and showing him where he can and – where he cannot – get carried away in this direction.
Even so, until you learn to tolerate even your daily walks – it is crucial that they always take place at the same times and between two and three per day – no one will stop you from having a leak in the house. If you have a garden, you may be able to get rid of some mistakes more easily, but otherwise you will have to be patient in cleaning up after your pet and make an effort to eliminate the strong smell that dog urine gives off.
Even if you have already managed to identify that you need to do your business outside and on time, it is inevitable that from time to time pets will release a few drops of urine in certain areas of the house. It’s their way of marking territory.
And although cats are much more disciplined and clean – from day one, most are able to identify their litter box as their feline toilet – cat pee also generates odors capable of spreading throughout the entire room. environment. So, if you have the possibility of placing the sandbox on a ventilated gallery, a balcony or a terrace, do not hesitate.
Leaks on sofas, carpets or piles of clothes
Sometimes cats – because they are very babies, sick or disoriented, or simply because they are very old – will sometimes escape to other areas of the house. Fluffy rugs or doormats are one of felines’ favorite places for these tasks, followed by piles of clothes you may have left around the house or on your gorgeous couch.
It may also happen that if your cat’s litter box is already very dirty – we recommend cleaning it daily and changing the sand at least once a week – your cat will not like it and will therefore decide to look for another place to urinate. Cats are generally very neat animals and also very manic.
Therefore, in addition to maintaining the sandbox in perfect hygienic conditions, it is essential to always place it in the same place, use the same type of sand and if you have several cats at home it can be advised to also have a sandbox for everyone.
Remedies
Coming from cats or dogs, animal urine and feces have very intense odors and are not easy to get rid of. So take note because we are going to give you a series of tips to leave the parquet floor or that carpet that your pet has become fond of peeing like new.
- If we need to remove urine from surfaces with fabrics such as rugs, carpets, sofas or clothes, one of the most effective remedies will be to use a non-aggressive soap to clean the stain. Once rinsed, we can spray on a mixture of cleaning vinegar and water – we will mix one part vinegar to two parts water. We will leave this solution to act for between 10 and 15 minutes and then rinse again.
- If the stain persists, you can also use alcohol but on less delicate fabrics or on other types of surfaces. To find out if the surface to be treated is resistant to alcohol, you can spray a minimal amount in a corner and wait to see how it reacts.
- We give you the recipe for another effective cleaner: it involves mixing water with hydrogen peroxide and dish soap. We can use half a glass of water and hydrogen peroxide and a few drops of dish soap, which we will put in a sprayer.
- To eliminate odors, it is effective to use citrus peels, such as lemon or orange. A homemade soapy cleanser we made with these ingredients may be helpful. If the stain is on the floor, it may also be good to put a few drops of lemon or orange essential oil in the water that we are going to use to scrub. We recommend having a mop exclusively for these matters. Another option is to first remove the urine with paper or absorbent pads.
- To also eliminate odors, in addition to the stain, we advise you to use baking soda. What we will do is spread a little baking soda on the urine, let it sit for a few minutes, scrub it with a soft brush and we will finish by sucking up the baking soda powder.
- Another tip you may not know about is using ground coffee. We will first clean the surface with a neutral soap, then we will spread ground coffee powder on the stain, which we will let sit for a few minutes and then brush it well.
If your floors are parquet, you will need to act quickly to prevent the wood from absorbing the urine and then being unable to remove the stain.
If you have considered using other types of stronger products such as ammonia or bleach, we do not recommend doing so as contact with animal urine can release toxic gases and would be counterproductive and dangerous.
