cat's pee!

BitterAndTwisted

elvis86 wrote: »

I feel like crying. I'm on a pretty tight budget this month but have managed to save for a night out tomorrow, got friends visiting. Now I'm going to have to pay £20 odd to have my duvet cleaned.:(

There's no need to take it to the Dry Cleaners, just pop it into one of the the large machines at your nearest launderette. My local one charges £3.60 for the largge machine. It'll take forever to dry as the feathers clump together (I know this from personal experience after one of my kittys peed on the bed). If you've got a spare, just use the drier to get the duvet as dry as possible and then air it at home for a week or so. Don't forget to use BIOLOGICAL laundry detergent as that will digest the pee stain and eradicate the smell from the duvet.

ETA: It sounds to me like your kitty needs to be crate-trained once she gets back from the vet after being spayed. Is there a local rescue who might be able to loan you a crate?

summerday

Maybe you could post a request of Freecycle, you may get lucky and find that someone has a good condition one going spare?

elvis86

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

There's no need to take it to the Dry Cleaners, just pop it into one of the the large machines at your nearest launderette. My local one charges £3.60 for the largge machine. It'll take forever to dry as the feathers clump together (I know this from personal experience after one of my kittys peed on the bed). If you've got a spare, just use the drier to get the duvet as dry as possible and then air it at home for a week or so. Don't forget to use BIOLOGICAL laundry detergent as that will digest the pee stain and eradicate the smell from the duvet.

ETA: It sounds to me like your kitty needs to be crate-trained once she gets back from the vet after being spayed. Is there a local rescue who might be able to loan you a crate?

Thanks for all the lovely replies, I think I was a bit t&e last night (tired and emo!). Dropped the duvet off for cleaning this morning, £12.50 so not too bad I guess. Definately not worth throwing the duvet away over, I think it cost about £60.

Just exemplifies the kind of things that always happen when I try to live to a strict budget! Much like the £60 speed awareness course I had to book and pay for last night.:(

RE crate training, I've never heard of this? What is it?

BitterAndTwisted

You get a crate (they come in different sizes) so for a cat you will need the smallest size. Inside the crate you put the cat's sleeping blanket, its food and water dish and their litter tray. Nothing else as there shouldn't be enough room for anything else. As cats can't and won't soil where they eat or sleep they are compelled to use the litter-tray for toileting. You keep the cat in the crate for a week or two until the cat loses it's desire to pee or poo anywhere except where you want it to.

That's the theory anyway and it works more often than it does not. In the meantime you MUST eradicate every single molecule of cat-pee smell from everywhere that kitty has misbehaved bearing in mind that a cat's olfactory powers are something like 100 times that of a human, so to us there might be no discernible odour but to a cat there will. Lots. That's why biologocal laundry detergent has been recommended as the enzymes will break down the odour molecules. Obviously, for soft furnishings and bed-clothes this is really, really important.

Why not ask the vet if they have a crate or can put you in touch with someone who has one, rather than going to the expense of buying one? A lot of vets know and work for folk who run rescues, so yours might be able to put you in touch. It might be worthwhile going to the CatChat forum as they have a database of rescues and you can get a list of them by putting your post-code in. From what I can gather, a lot of rescues are willing and able to lend a crate if you ask nicely and can collect and deliver it back again..

Blackpool_Saver

this thread is a wind up for sure, and nobody should allow animals on furniture or beds...........

elvis86

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

You get a crate (they come in different sizes) so for a cat you will need the smallest size. Inside the crate you put the cat's sleeping blanket, its food and water dish and their litter tray. Nothing else as there shouldn't be enough room for anything else. As cats can't and won't soil where they eat or sleep they are compelled to use the litter-tray for toileting. You keep the cat in the crate for a week or two until the cat loses it's desire to pee or poo anywhere except where you want it to.

That's the theory anyway and it works more often than it does not. In the meantime you MUST eradicate every single molecule of cat-pee smell from everywhere that kitty has misbehaved bearing in mind that a cat's olfactory powers are something like 100 times that of a human, so to us there might be no discernible odour but to a cat there will. Lots. That's why biologocal laundry detergent has been recommended as the enzymes will break down the odour molecules. Obviously, for soft furnishings and bed-clothes this is really, really important.

Why not ask the vet if they have a crate or can put you in touch with someone who has one, rather than going to the expense of buying one? A lot of vets know and work for folk who run rescues, so yours might be able to put you in touch. It might be worthwhile going to the CatChat forum as they have a database of rescues and you can get a list of them by putting your post-code in. From what I can gather, a lot of rescues are willing and able to lend a crate if you ask nicely and can collect and deliver it back again..

Sounds like it makes complete sense, but isn't it a bit cruel?:(

BitterAndTwisted

It isn't a wind-up I don't think. The OP has already started a thread on the Pets Forum about her kitten weeing on the sofas from time to time. The peeing on the bed is a new development.

Blackpool Saver this is a CAT we're discussing here. There's no such thing as "not allowing" one on the furniture or the bed. Any cat owner will tell you that a cat will go anywhere it darned-well wants. Often, even a closed door is no impediment as some of them are past-masters at opening them. Mine for one, the clever little monkey. It's only a matter of time before he masters the fridge.

ETA: Cruel? Perhaps a bit strict but we're talking about pee on the furniture here. A couple of weeks in a crate versus buying new sofas and perhaps even having to rehome the cat equals no contest, to my mind.

elvis86

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

this thread is a wind up for sure, and nobody should allow animals on furniture or beds...........

Why would it be a wind up?

elvis86

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

It isn't a wind-up I don't think. The OP has already started a thread on the Pets Forum about her kitten weeing on the sofas from time to time. The peeing on the bed is a new development.

Blackpool Saver this is a CAT we're discussing here. There's no such thing as "not allowing" one on the furniture or the bed. Any cat owner will tell you that a cat will go anywhere it darned-well wants. Often, even a closed door is no impediment as some of them are past-masters at opening them. Mine for one, the clever little monkey. It's only a matter of time before he masters the fridge

Exactly. Its all I can do to keep her off the kitchen counter tops (that's the one place I will not allow her!).

BitterAndTwisted

I have a friend who feeds her cat on the kitchen counter. *shudders*

I have heard that putting aluminium foil down can deter the cat from walking on it, so you might want to give that a try.