You’ve walked out into your garage and noticed a foul smell. Every cat owner recognizes the pungent aroma of cat urine. To your horror, you realize that someone left the door open to the garage, and your feline friend decided to use the concrete as a toilet. What do you do?
While concrete is durable, it’s also porous, and it will soak up spills with ease. The big question is: How do you get the cat urine smell and stain out of the concrete in your garage? In this step-by-step guide, we’ll go through the process of how to get rid cat pee out of concrete.
The first part of cat mess prevention is ensuring you are taking the time to properly clean any accidents - and that starts with investing in the right products! Of course, you'll want to opt for something safe first and foremost, to protect your feline's health, but secondly, you'll need a solution powerful enough to lift the toughest, stinkiest, most set-in stains. After careful consideration, we fell in love with one product and highly recommend it to all pet owners! There are several reasons we can't get enough of the Hepper Advanced Bio-Enzyme Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator Spray. It permanently removes the very worst smells and stains, it can be used on a multitude of surfaces and its neutral scented, meaning no odor masking! It comes in a generous 32-oz bottle and comes with 100% satisfaction guarantee. Learn more about this holy grail of a cleaner here! At Catster, we’ve admired Hepper for many years, and decided to take a controlling ownership interest so that we could benefit from the outstanding products of this cool cat company!
How to Effectively Clean Up Cat Messes, Odors & Stains
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The 5 Steps for How to Get Cat Urine Smell Out of Concrete
1. Before you start
Before you can treat the odor and stain, you must locate it. Sometimes, it is simple to find the stain, especially if it’s fresh. However, you can use a UV blacklight to find the stain if you’re having trouble finding it.
UV blacklights work wonderfully for this purpose. Also, ensure the area is dark so that the stain will appear. If the stain is in your driveway and not your garage, wait until nighttime and turn off the outside lights to identify it.
2. Preparation
Now that you’ve located the stain (or stains), you’ll need to prep the area. Sweep in and around the area to remove the dirt and loose debris. Next, try absorbing as much of the stain as possible with an old rag or cloth before proceeding further. Of course, this step only applies if the stain is fresh.
3. Decide your method of cleaning
Cat urine on concrete is challenging to remove because it contains uric acid, and uric acid is insoluble; it’s not diluted because cats usually don’t drink much water. Also, cat urine contains ammonia, pheromones, creatinine, and bacteria. It’s best to use an enzymatic cleaner to clean the stain because it will break it down.
If you want to try a homemade solution for getting cat pee out of concrete, you can try these steps to make your own. If your homemade solution doesn’t work, try an enzymatic cleaner. If you decide to make a solution, we advise you not to use bleach because it will clash with the ammonia in the urine and can cause a reaction. While bleach will disinfect the area, it won’t remove the smell.
4. Spray the stain
It is essential to follow the directions on the cleaner bottle before proceeding. Usually, the cleaner will advise spraying the area and letting it soak for a while, and on concrete, it may need to sit for at least a day or two to soak into the porous material. You may also need to apply the solution multiple times.
After letting the stain soak, gently scrub the area with a bristle brush. This will allow the solution to penetrate the stain and smell further. Now, wait it out and let the area dry. Once dry, you can do a sniff test to determine if the smell is gone.
In addition, bust out the UV blacklight again to see if the stain has been removed. Repeat the previous steps if the smell and stain are still present until they’re eliminated. Remember that if the stain is caked-on, you must repeat the steps multiple times.
5. Apply a concrete sealant
Once the area is dry, applying a sealant will prevent further accidents. If your cat can still smell urine in the spot, they may urinate there again. Several types of sealants are available, but most high-quality water-based and solvent-based coatings resist stains.
At Catster, we’ve admired Hepper for many years and decided to take a controlling ownership interest so that we could benefit from the outstanding products of this cool cat company!
Wrapping Up
Dealing with cat urine smell is just one of the factors of owning a cat. However, suppose your cat keeps urinating outside of the litter box. In that case, have your cat examined by your veterinarian to ensure that the reason isn’t a medical issue, such as a urinary tract infection, diabetes, or hypothyroidism. Also, make sure to clean the litter box regularly to prevent further accidents.
We hope that this step-by-step guide helps you eliminate that unwanted cat urine smell and stain from your concrete. If it helps, please share your experience with other cat owners so they can have a concrete floor free from cat urine smells and stains. Remember, if the process doesn’t work the first time, multiple applications may be in order.
Featured Image Credit: nanniezwawa, Shutterstock
