A Miracle? – Nature’s Miracle?
This is Gia (Hiya G, good girl.)
These are our fish (Yep, I need to do some research on tank cleaning.)
This is LuLu (Ask me the story sometime about how we came to adopt her.)
This is Marz (My contribution, and yeah, I had a cat as a single man. So what?)
This is Foof (Jen’s, and more on her in a minute.)
Those are our cats and you met them previously in the post: Cats, a Mouse and This Old House.
This is our dining room, usually in some state of “dumping-groundness” and more so when we are in the midst of active remodeling. (Please withhold any comments on its current state of completeness or on its . . . decoratedness. Thanks.)
See:
This is a 9×12 (approx) Karastan rug; Design = Sarouk; Pattern = 724. I only know this because I flipped over the edge and found the label. (Prior — I knew that we paid $400 for it via a friend, and it went very well in the dining room of our last house. Here — we probably could do better, but the dark(ishness) does makes for good hiding of kid dirt and such. We have owned it for 6 or 7 years. And truth — not really sure if it’s a good rug or brand, but I do see that name a little bit.)
See:
To the left of that label, you’ll find Recommendations for Care & Cleaning. (Note: While it is hard to see — nowhere on it does it mention the benefits of adding one or more cats.)
Now — Back to Foof.
Foof is the shyest, softest, most polite and yes, ironically, the most loving of our three cats. My daughters have taken to her and she to them.
But why then . . . Why would this old gal have such a kinky thing with cardboard boxes and . . . plastic bags? Always has, and . . . Yep, plastic bags! I’ve seen her . . . and for some reason, they can be even more inviting than a freshly loaded litter box. We have learned that . . . for the most part. (Yeah, Foofy I’m looking at you . . . you (and I don’t have an emoticon for this face).)
And here’s the thing — while the dark(ishness) is great at hiding kid dirt, it is also great at hiding, well, cat pee. And . . . for anyone that knows a little bit about cat pee . . . well . . .
Enter Nature’s Miracle
By my best resources, Nature’s Miracle
And that’s it . . . If you know anything about anything — best methods of cat pee neutralizing, anything about cat behavior or anything about rugs please comment.
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Thanks for reading, and a pretty fitting way to end this week. Some good points, but mostly well … Thanks G+ (not alone). I expect and assume typos, and I think we are gonna try something a little light for next week — The todo list grew rather large rather quickly. Have a great weekend and maybe I update this post. And if you were wondering, that demographic information was in fact — made up . . . huge in England AND in tiny canopy-hanging squirrel villages where there are equal parts man, ladies and cat lovers … out! jb
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Update (2.13.2012): You know, sometimes you start an article and realize by the time you are finished that it should have went in a completely different way. As noted in the comments below, I ended up putting the Nature’s Miracle
Thanks out to Brenda and maybe a follow up post eventually. ~jb
Ha Ha, love your post today! Hoping we get some good tips cause seriously tired of the dining room smelling like a litter box! But did you have to put the “dumping ground” pic in?? Seriously, airing my dirty laundry for me. Anywho, have a great day!
ha! wasn’t the best grab on the pic but I think it illustrates the point … our kitties you know have plenty raw material to work with…usually. great day dear.
You had me at cat…
I’ll share what I learned from my high end rug/carpet dealers – use nothing but water. Wet, blot, wet blot until a white towel comes clean. Soap residue tends to stay on carpet and will look good for a few months then it attracts dirt and stain reappears. Certain chemicals can break down wool fibers too. You might need some hot water and extract it (shop vac) or have a oriental rug person take and clean. They can handle it beyond what a homeowner can do and not ruin the rug.
Aluminum foil will keep them off the area. Wet, blot works well during hairball season too!
Wow…birds of a feather, I guess. We have a rug in the office that looks almost identical to the one in your post. And, yup…our lovely calico office greeter has decided that she needs to pee there…what? Why after almost 10 years is she needing to pee there? We removed the carpet and took it to be cleaned. We tried to steam clean the under carpet, but the smell is still there. Does that gallon stuff work? Maybe I’ll try scrubbing the main floor carpet with it….or, maybe I could somehow figure out how to give her a jolt the next time she considered squatting to pee. Hmmm….
thanks Decor Girl . . . absolutely know that as truth on “soap residue” . . . & I absolutely buy water on a fresh “stain” … the spots we are treating went undiscovered until it got really humid .. within the last two weeks. (sad to admit — did shop vac and every pet owner NEEDS one — Love our Bissell!) We have discussed professional cleaning but at that point and checking available channels (ebay craigs list) I think we are getting into new rug territory. thanks for the tip on aluminum foil (also a rust remover and great for masking) … you’re the best. and hope you’re well.
We have 3 kitties and 1 of them (Carrot) is old and cannot be bothered to go outside if it’s too hot or too cold or too far. Stupid cat. A friend told me to burn some white sage in the offending area to neutralize the smell. Worked great for me!
They are sneaky critters Amy that seem at times to have a total disrespect for common sense. yeah … for the most part steam cleaning works with dog pee (we have those kinds of problems too) but not so much on the cat pee. Are you saying that the professional cleaning didn’t resolve this? And ugg. idk on the Nature’s Miracle yet . . . we had an accident believe it or not on our hardwood floor which the NM seemed to resolve (after a couple of applications) don’t know on the rug yet — jury’s still out. My local cat ladies say that NM is the only way to go … (but apparently Brenda S is sending a secret Southern Recipe). I’ll hopefully keep you updated. thanks and luck… happy weekend.
hmmmm… I knew I had some hippies in the audience! hahahahaha! I’m excited to check out. and ummm… where do you find white sage? hugs my friend.
Ahahaha. I’ve never been called a hippie before. Cool! Except I shave my armpits and took @BobBorson’s test and I’m not a hippie or an architect! A friend gave me the sage, but it’s sold at our local co-op and the Farmer’s Market in S.B. Call your local co-op and ask them maybe?!
I have wall to wall carpeting where my animals have used for the litter area in the dog vs. cat urine competition my recent solution was death by Casey Anthony. Since it looks like the wench will be going into hiding, I am pondering calling a pro. Then when the animals kick the bucket by natural means I’ll have to tear out all the carpet. F’ers.
teehee…. It’s been far too long since Bob has been mentioned around here. And I might just have to ring up my local co-op and all in good fun sweetheart. thanks!
so what are you saying? I should try to get my hands on Casey Anthony and rub her all over my rug?
I don’t think AFF is an actual hippie. If she were, she’d have a much more favorable opinion of a certain rock and roll band that was formed in 1965 in San Francisco, CA. (~):}
The Grateful Dead is more dead than grateful. So there! But I did admit to liking one song – The Bird Song. But I hate beards – those are for hippies and campers.
now you two let’s not turn this into one of *those* posts. *cat claws*
I wish I knew. Natures Miracle worked okay for our dogs…
my friendly neighborhood cat ladies said this is the way to go … but I ran out this morning and bought something called OdoBan (Pet version) on @brendaslynn ‘s recommendation. thanks for the support Bridget.
P.S. We solved our problem by killing the cat…err…only via imagination. We, in fact, tore out the offending carpet and installed a tile floor there. The cat does not seem interested in relieving herself there. Ever notice that an animal will not yack or relieve themselves on linoleum or tile? You know, sometimes that cleans easily?
weird how the comment was placed here…. still working out kinks. Anyways and if you only knew Amy: We had to remove the rug from our youngest’s room and we just updated our 8 year old but have been reluctant to swap carpets… Damn this kindheartedness! Our boy cat, the black one, has taken as a sign that he can pee wherever he wants. He is now confined to a crate (2 doctor visits and a handful of cold nights later)…. good point on the tile and linoleum . . . when I get some free time I am going to start making some vinyl “rugs” . . . thanks Am for sharing and cheers! ~jb
I have kitties peeing on hardwood floors, kitchen counter and stove top! I’ve clean all spaces with bleach, vinegar and dish soap and still they continue to do this. I’ve even put jars of noodles on the counter to stop them and they still pee. This usually happens when I’m at work or at night when I’m asleep. Any suggestions???
hi Lois. I’m no expert. But it sounds to me like a trip to the vet might be in order if you haven’t done yet. as suggested here and elsewhere on this site. I have used a product called “Cat Away” with some success. Also something called “bitter apple” which can be found on the internet. Apparently folks have had some success with laying out aluminum foil where they don’t want the cats to go. As far as removing odor, which might be a motivated element, I had success here with a product called Odo Ban. when using products it’s always a good idea to test in an inconspicuous area first. Luck.