Pet odor

What It Means

Pet odor is the smell a dog or cat leaves in a home, most often from urine or feces soaked into carpet, upholstery or flooring, and also from bedding and litter boxes. Urine smell is the stubborn one: if any trace stays behind, a pet may be drawn back to the same spot. Enzymatic cleaners are the usual answer, because they break down the waste that causes the smell.

How It Sounds at Home

• "The rug still smells like cat pee."
• "She keeps going in the same corner."
• "Get the enzyme spray, not the regular one."

The Breakdown

How to do it

1. Find every soiled spot. Look closely, use your nose, and check under the edges of furniture (Buhata's suggestion).
2. Clean each spot with an enzymatic cleanerEnzyme cleanerA cleaner or detergent that uses enzymes to break down stains: protease for protein, amylase for starch and lipase for fats and oils. See more, following the product label. Humane World for Animals and VCA Animal Hospitals both point to enzymatic products, because they break down pet waste odors.
3. Skip cleaners with ammonia, and skip vinegar. Their guidance is that strong chemical smells may encourage a pet to mark the spot again.
4. Let it dry, then check again. If you can still see or smell it, clean it once more with the enzymatic product.
5. Wash pet bedding and blankets following their care labels, since these hold smells too (Buhata's suggestion).
6. Keep the litter box clean. A cat with a keen nose will go back to a spot where any smell of urine or feces remains, VCA notes, so a clean box and a fully cleaned accident site work together.

Try it today. Walk the rooms your pet uses most, find any old spots, and treat one with an enzymatic cleaner.

Why enzymes. Different enzymes break down different kinds of mess. Buhata's page on enzyme cleaners explains which enzyme handles which stain.

Good to Know

Use one cleaning product at a time. The EPA warns never to mix household products, because incompatible ones can react, and bleachChlorine bleachHousehold bleach made with sodium hypochlorite that whitens, removes stains and disinfects, but can fade colors and damage some fibers. See more mixed with an ammonia product gives off a deadly gas. Accidents can also have a medical cause. VCA Animal Hospitals and Humane World for Animals advise having a vet check a pet that has regular accidents, and VCA says a previously well-trained dog that starts soiling the house should see a veterinarian, since a medical or behavioral condition could be behind it.

Related Terms and Categories

• Enzyme cleaner

  A cleaner or detergent that uses enzymes to break down stains: protease for protein, amylase for starch and lipase for fats and oils.

• Litter box cleaning

  Scooping and changing a cat's litter on a routine. CDC advises changing it daily, before any toxoplasmosis parasite in the waste can become infectious.

• Pet hair removal

  Getting shed dog or cat hair off floors, furniture and clothes, and cutting how much gets there by brushing the pet regularly.

• Carpet shampooing

  Deep cleaning a carpet with a cleaning solution and a machine, most often by hot water extraction, to lift dirt that weekly vacuuming leaves behind.

• Upholstery cleaning

  Keeping a sofa or chair's fabric or leather clean with regular vacuuming and spot cleaning matched to the cleaning code on its tag.

• Mixing cleaning products

  Combining two or more cleaners in one bottle, bucket or bowl. Some pairs, such as bleach with ammonia or with an acid, give off toxic gas.

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