Cat smell will usually go away when cleaned properly. Sometimes, items may need to be thrown out or replaced in order to remove the odor. Use pet enzyme spray, vinegar, or a homemade cleaner to clean cat urine. Never mix bleach with cat urine, as it contains ammonia which can create toxic fumes.
In this article, I’ll talk about how to make cat smell go away for good. From cleaning cat urine to training your cat to use the litterbox, it’s all here!
Cat Smell Can Usually Be Cleaned
Cat urine isn’t as permanent as people make it out to be, thankfully! While it’s difficult to remove cat smells—and especially to get to the point where cats cannot smell them—it’s often not impossible.
If you have cats, knowing how to clean up after them is a must! While they are incredibly clean animals, there will almost always be mishaps.
Maybe your kitty is feeling sick and doesn’t make it to the litterbox or has incontinence in their old age. Or perhaps you have a bigger problem with a cat who sprays urine!
Either way, the tips below will help you make those nasty cat smells disappear.
Porous Materials May Retain Odor
Before we dive into the solutions, I will note that porous materials are much more challenging to clean. These are things such as wood, furniture, or carpeting.
The problem is that the cat pee, and thus the odor, sinks deep into these objects. It’s then difficult to clean them properly and sometimes impossible to remove the smell completely.
In the case of carpeting, you might even clean the carpet but find that the urine sank down to the floorboards beneath and left stains and smells.
Ideally, we would soak these porous items completely in pet enzyme spray or another cleaner to kill the odor. But sometimes that’s not possible or would create other problems.
For instance, wet wood might rot. Soaked furniture might grow mold or mildew, creating new smells and health hazards.
Always be aware of what material you’re working with and whether it can withstand being soaked to remove urine—otherwise, these items might need to be replaced instead.
Fast Cleaning Produces the Best Results
If your cat has just sprayed someplace and you wipe it down immediately, your home is a lot less likely to become smelly.
On the other hand, cat pee that’s been able to soak into your carpets, furniture, or other items for weeks or months will be much harder to clean.
Whenever possible, clean the mess right away. The longer you wait, the more the pee will soak in, and the harder the odor will be to remove.
Cat Smell Cleaning Methods
Using Pet Enzyme Cleaners
Pet enzyme cleaners work to break down the bacteria that cause cat smells. They work on cat urine, vomit, and poop.
Always follow the instructions on your specific cleaner, and begin by testing it on a discrete area in case it stains or bleaches your material.
Before cleaning the stain and odor away, soak up any urine or remove hard pieces of vomit or poop.
Typically, enzyme cleaners work by thoroughly coating the entire area, letting it sit for a certain amount of time, and then blotting up the stain as much as possible.
If the smell remains, repeat these steps until the odor is gone. It may take a few times for stubborn stains, but if it still doesn’t work, you may need to replace the object or try another method.
This can be made easier by using a carpet cleaner or its attachments, but can also be done with paper towels.
Vinegar Is a Good Natural Cleaning Solution
Vinegar is a natural solution that works much like pet enzyme cleaners. Its acidity will fight cat urine odors, and it can also be used to get those stubborn stains out of the bottom of your litterbox!
As with enzyme cleaners, you first want to get the area as clean as possible by soaking up urine or picking up hard pieces of vomit or poop.
Simply mix half vinegar, half water, then thoroughly coat the mess with your mixture. Let it sit for about a half-hour before blotting the stain clean and dry.
Again, you can use a carpet cleaner to make this process even easier.
For even more odor-fighting power, add a bit of baking soda to your mixture or sprinkle it liberally on the area after cleaning. You might not want to clean baking soda with a carpet cleaner, however, as it may wreck your machine.
If you can still smell the odor after cleaning, repeat the above steps until it goes away.
Carpet Cleaners Are Quick and Easy to Use
As I discussed above, carpet cleaners make cleaning pet messes much easier. Blotting with paper towels can take forever on tough or large stains.
Urine can be soaked up with a carpet cleaner before saturating the stain, but you’ll need to pick up any solid pieces of poop or vomit before using the carpet cleaner so that it doesn’t get clogged.
Then, simply add the cleaner to your clean water or apply it directly to the stain. The carpet cleaner can be used to suck the cleaner and urine back up once you’re finished.
Repeat until the area is clean and the odor is removed.
Hunt Down Stains Using a Black Light
Sometimes the source of the smell might be difficult to find, especially if your cat is going outside of their litterbox frequently.
In this case, a black light can help you see where your cat has peed or sprayed.
To use it, turn the lights off. Then shine the light on your carpet, furniture, walls, baseboards, and anywhere else your cat might’ve sprayed or peed. Keep in mind that cat spray can reach a little taller than your cat and might even be up high if they’ve stood on furniture.
Urine will glow under the black light and will look like spots or streaks on surfaces. Keep in mind that urine isn’t the only thing to glow, however, so you’ll need to examine the area to see if that’s truly the cause.
Use Ventilation to Air Out the Area
Ventilation won’t remove the cat smell altogether, but it will help to clean the air once you’ve removed the source of the smell.
Open windows and doors (if you have screens so your cat can’t get out!), clean any air purifiers or vents so that they can do their best work, and run a fan on the cleaned area to dry it out faster.
Run Washable Items With Vinegar or Baking Soda
If your items are washing machine safe, try running them through a wash cycle with vinegar or baking soda. This will eliminate the smell better than detergent alone.
Never Use Bleach to Clean Cat Urine
Cat urine contains ammonia. When ammonia mixes with bleach, it creates dangerous, toxic fumes that can hurt you, your cat, and your family.
Never use bleach to clean cat urine, but instead use one of the cleaning methods I outlined above.
Sometimes, Peed on Things Must Be Replaced
You might have to replace items your cat has peed on if they aren’t salvageable. This is unfortunate and sometimes expensive, but must be done in order to get rid of the smell.
You may have to replace furniture, pull up carpeting, and sometimes even replace floorboards where the cat smell is very bad.
Proper Care and Training to Stop Future Cat Smells
Determine Whether They’re Peeing or Spraying
It’s important to know whether your cat is peeing or spraying because these are behaviors that happen for different reasons!
A cat peeing outside of the litterbox will squat like they’re using the box and pee on a surface. They may do so because their litter is dirty, they aren’t trained, or because they’re sick or injured.
A cat spraying urine will stand against an upright object, such as a wall or couch. You may see their tail shake as they urinate on the surface.
Cats spray for territorial reasons, due to stress, due to medical problems, or when their litter is dirty.
Dealing with these behaviors is very similar, and most of these solutions can be used for a cat who sprays or pees. However, some of them are specific to one or the other.
It’s also important to know how to differentiate these behaviors before going to your veterinarian, which should always be the first step.
Take Your Cat to the Veterinarian
If your cat is peeing, spraying, or pooping outside of the litterbox, the first thing you should do is see your veterinarian—especially if this behavior is unusual for your cat.
Drastic changes in behavior like this can mean your cat is sick or hurt. They may have a urinary tract infection, kidney disease, or any number of other illnesses.
Cats who pee on soft surfaces may be injured or have pain due to arthritis, and so it feels better on their joints to squat someplace comfortable.
Neuter Your Male Cat
Unneutered males are the most likely to spray urine. Sometimes getting them neutered is enough to stop this behavior!
Neutering and spaying cats also come with many health benefits and can lengthen your cat’s life expectancy.
Eliminate Stressors
Cats can be easily stressed by changes to their life or routine. Things like a new pet, hyper children, or a stray wandering around outside can all make your cat anxious.
This might stop them from using the litterbox as they should, and might lead to spraying urine as well.
Do what you can to provide a calm home where your cat feels safe. Introduce new pets properly, teach children how to interact gently with your cat, and block access to windows if your cat feels threatened by a stray.
The litterbox especially should be a stress-free place. Make sure your cat’s litterboxes are in easy-to-find locations where your cat hangs out often and feels comfortable.
These areas should also be free of stressors such as noisy washing machines, kids running in and out of the house, or your dog trying to sniff the “treats” your cat is leaving in their box!
Entryways and laundry rooms tend to be bad places for litterboxes, and if your cat isn’t using their box, you might want to relocate it to a quieter, less-trafficked area.
Keep the Litterboxes Clean
Litterboxes should be scooped at least once a day. Fussy cats may require more than this, and some of them won’t use the box if there’s even one poop inside!
Empty out the litter completely when it runs low, or you notice a smell from the box. Then, deep clean the litterbox with soap and water. Vinegar will get rid of any stubborn, leftover stains as needed.
Aim to deep-clean your litterbox at least once a month.
For multiple cats, you may have to clean your litterboxes more often. The same goes if your cat tends to be messy and poop down the side of the box, or is incredibly sensitive and won’t use a litterbox with any odor.
You should also ensure the area around the litterbox is clean. This includes beneath the litterbox, the surrounding floor, and the wall.
Sometimes accidents happen and your cat might go right outside of the box or spray urine on the wall.
Play with your cat daily
Playing with your cat might not seem like a solution to peeing outside the litterbox, but hear me out!
Cats often urinate outside of the box due to stress, and one reason cats get stressed is that they have a lot of pent-up energy. Playing with your cat for 30-45 minutes daily will help them get out this energy, act on their hunting instincts, bond with you, and feel less stressed.
It also helps you to develop a routine, which cats love! It allows them to predict what will happen next and reduces their stress levels.
Break your cat’s daily play into 10-15 minute sessions and schedule it throughout the day before your cat’s meals, before bedtime, or before you leave for work.
Provide Scratching Posts
Scratching posts are a great way for cats to mark their territory through scent, get out excess energy, and take out their frustration in a positive way!
When my cats get mad because I’ve just combed a mat from their fur or told them no to something they wanted, they almost always run to scratch.
I laugh at them for it, but it’s actually a healthy, productive way for them to get out their anger.
The same goes for marking territory. Cats scent mark using their claws, and scratching also serves as a visual marker that the scratching post belongs to them!
Both of these are much better than a cat spraying due to stress or to mark their territory.
Purchase More Litterboxes
If your cat isn’t using the litterbox, it’s possible that you don’t have enough of them! The rule of thumb is one litterbox per cat, plus one.
This means the minimum number of litterboxes you should have for one cat is two. Two cats should have three boxes, and so on.
Even if you have enough litterboxes, it might help to have extra. You can put them in areas where your cat tends to urinate to help solve the odor problem.
Place Litterboxes in the Right Areas
If your cat is always peeing in the same place outside the litterbox, try moving the litterbox to that area or adding a new one there.
Also ensure that all litterboxes are in easily accessible places. Sometimes people like to hide the litterbox to make things more pleasant for themselves and guests, but this makes it more difficult for your cat—and backfires when your cat decides to stink up your house instead of putting in the extra effort.
It’s better to have the litterbox beside the couch in the living room than it is to keep it hidden away in the basement, and have your cat peeing behind the sofa!
Lastly, make sure the litterbox isn’t in a loud or busy area that might scare your cat. Next to the dog’s crate, by the dryer in the laundry room, or near the front door are often bad places to keep the litterbox.
Ensure Litterboxes Are Easy to Use
Your cat’s litterbox should be:
- Easy to get in and out of,
- Large enough for them to stand fully inside,
- And have multiple exit routes.
Tall sides are okay for young, fully-grown cats, but kittens and seniors may have a difficult time climbing inside. For them, you should provide a litterbox with short sides.
Some litterboxes sold for cats are small, especially if you have extra-large cats like mine! Be sure to purchase a box that your cat can stand inside fully with all four paws. This will make them less likely to pee or poop down the sides or just outside of the box.
I used to find my cats squatting in the box with their butts hanging out before I replaced my litterboxes with larger ones! They thought they were using the litterbox right, but they often went just outside of it instead.
Litterboxes should never have lids covering them. This traps debris and odors inside and usually leaves only one exit for your cat.
If your cat only has one way out of the litterbox, they may feel trapped and unsafe. This is especially likely if you have multiple cats who don’t get along, a dog who gets in your cat’s face while they potty, or a child who bothers your cat while they’re in the litterbox.
Use the Same Litter Type Each Time You Change It
Another big mistake people make with litterboxes is not keeping the litter type consistent. You should use the same litter every time you change your cat’s box.
They are sensitive to smells and changes, so a new type of litter might confuse them or make them avoid the litterbox.
If you do want to switch litters, do so slowly by adding 10% of the new litter, then 25% on the next change, then 50%, 75%, and 100%.
If your cat avoids the litterbox at any point, go back to the previous percentage or stop using the new litter completely.
Another option is to add a new litterbox and fill it with the new litter to allow your cat to become accommodated with it before changing the litter in your old boxes.
Cats Prefer Clumping, Scent-Free Litter
Most cats prefer a clumping litter with small pieces. They don’t tend to like added scents, so plain old scent-free litter is the best choice.
If your cat doesn’t like the litter you use now, try adding a new box with a different litter and see if they use that one more consistently!
Keep Your Cat Indoors
Outdoors, cats typically don’t have litterboxes. They can go wherever they want! Often, cats will spray outdoors to mark territory as well.
Once they get into the habit, it might be difficult to break. This is just one reason it’s best to keep your cat indoors.
Indoor cats also live much longer, healthier lives—and tend to be happier, because they avoid a lot of stressors that outdoor life brings.
If you really want your cat to go outdoors, try supervised outdoor time, harness training, or building a catio or other enclosed space for your cat to go outside safely.
Don’t Try to Force or Train Your Cat
Never force your cat into the litterbox or try to train them through praise or treats. This can make them more avoidant instead of training them like you want to!
Remember that cats aren’t dogs, and they require more privacy when doing their business. They don’t want attention on them.
Luckily, most cats will naturally use litterboxes when we solve the problems above. Therefore, training like this isn’t needed anyway!
Don’t Punish Your Cat
It can be tempting to yell at your cat, toss something at them as they spray, or squirt them with a water bottle to deter them from peeing outside the box. After all, this is an incredibly frustrating thing to deal with!
However, all of the above can actually increase their stress, causing them to behave even worse. Punishment will not fix the problem.
Your cat isn’t peeing or spraying outside the litterbox to spite you. Believe it or not, it’s usually your care causing the problem in the first place!
So take a deep breath, implement some of the solutions above, and I hope you can solve your problem super soon!
I am a freelance writer who specializes in the pet industry. My full bio