When a cat urinates outside the litter box, you need to remove the stain properly with an enzyme cleaner or else they will redo it on the same place again and again. Urine Off is one of the best cleaners for this job.
Product Name: Urine Off
What is it?: Urine Off is an enzyme based cleaner that properly removes cat urine stains.
Where to buy?: Amazon.com
Short Summary
When a cat has urinated outside the litter box, a urine stain is left behind that is very difficult to clean. The pheromones and uric acid within cat urine makes it difficult to clean this properly. As long as uric acid isn’t properly removed, cats will continue to urinate on the same spot. To properly clean these components, an enzyme based cleaner is required to break down these components into two gasses, carbon dioxide and ammonia. Urine Off is one of the best cleaning agents for this purpose.
Cat Urine
Cat Urine is build up of the following components:
- Urea
- Urobilin/Urobilinogin
- Uric Acid
- Sodium
- Other electrolytes
- Creatinine
- Pheromones
- 5 Bacteria
Whether your cat does this on your carpet, the sofa or the hard wooden floor doesn’t matter, because cat urine has a difficult to clean buildup. It is not the smelly stain that causes problems, but the Pheromones of cats and the Uric Acid chemical compound that gives us a challenge.
Many of the cleaners out there are simply masking the smell with something that smells better. Others manage to remove most of the components in cat urine, but do not properly remove uric acid and pheromones.
Left behind uric acid can still form ammonia through oxidation. Left behind pheromones in the urine that we humans cannot detect, will still let your cat know that they or someone else has been there and this is the spot to do their business yet again.
The only way to break down Uric Acid properly is by using an enzymatic cleaning agent. Enzymes accelerate, or catalyze, chemical reactions, breaking the Uric Acid into two gasses, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Ammonia (NH3), which will just go away.
We use both “Urine Off” and our own version to clean urine stains. The advantage of the Urine Off product here reviewed, is that it is actually pet safe, where the use of a washing detergent isn’t entirely pet safe, but great to wash clothing with while removing stains properly.
How To Remove Cat Urine With Enzymes
Although Urine Off is a great product on itself, it is still very important to use the right method to clean the urine stains properly. I am reviewing and linking the one gallon version of the product, simply because you need a lot more than just one or two puffs from a spray bottle.
Generally the advice (not just from me, but anyone explaining the use of these enzymatic cleaners) is to unscrew the spraying dispenser from the small bottle to pour the contents over a stain, to properly drench it in the cleaning agent. Hence you will use a lot of that very tiny bottle quickly and then you are better off buying the bigger version.
The enzymes within Urine Off, need some time to do their work in breaking down the uric acid and pheromones. It is therefore very important to exactly follow the following steps.
How To Use Urine Off:
- Use paper to blot away most of the urine. Don’t rub, as it will spread the uric acid.
- Pour Urine Off over the stain. Cover the stain with the fluid.
- Leave it for 10-15 minutes.
- Use paper to blot away most of the fluid/stain.
- Let it air dry completely
If done properly, all the cat urine smell, uric acid and pheromones will be removed, so that your cat(s) won’t return to do their business there.
If you have gotten urine stains on washable textiles, you can use urine off first to let it do its work before you wash your clothing in the washing machine with a special enzyme based washing detergent. Biotex is such a detergent, but there are also others available.
Common Questions
I applied Urine Off but the smell got worse afterwards
This simply means that you did not apply enough of Urine Off fluid to the stain. Cat urine stains can be invisible to the eye, but oh so smelly for you and definitely an attraction point for your cat. You will have to soak a large area of the stain and the area around it to properly soak it in the enzyme cleaner. Only when this is done properly, the smell will disappear.
I applied Urine Off to a carpet, but the smell stays and the cat returns to the spot
With carpets, also the underlying flooring gets affected. You have to either soak the carpet in a bigger area properly. If possible you will have to fold or roll away the carpet so that you can reach the area underneath. Whether that is concrete or wood or a soft under layer, the cat urine might have seeped through it and so the product needs to be applied to these area’s too.
Can I apply Urine Off to concrete floors?
Absolutely you can. You might need quite some quantities of the product, but if applied correctly, it will disappear entirely.
Pros/Cons
Pros
- Easy to apply
- Properly breaks down the chemical compounds within the urine stain
- leaves a good smell behind
- Can be applied to any surface
- Pet and human safe
Cons
- not the correct explanation on the back of the product, but we got you covered here!
Conclusion
Urine Off is an excellent product to get rid of urine stains once and for all. The enzymes within this product break down the uric acid and pheromones into gasses that just go away. All that is left behind is a pleasant smell and a clean surface. Your cat will not return to the spot to urinate and you can live again without having to smell cat urine.
==> Get Urine Off Here <==
Kai says
July 14, 2018 at 3:09 pmHi! Nice review of Urine Off! Thank you for sharing! I don’t personally own a cat, but I will definitely recommend this to friends who have cats.
I do have one question: If we can’t detect the pheromones, then how do we make sure we have properly removed them?
Thanks!
Steven says
July 18, 2018 at 12:32 amHi Kai,
You properly remove the pheromones by using the Urine Off Product properly. The most important thing to get rid of is the uric acid however. The uric acid in contact with oxygen creates the smelly stuff that makes things smell like cat urine. You can use a special black light (think of the disco days) to detect any urine stains on any form of surface.
Thanks for your comment.
Steven
Arian says
November 28, 2017 at 1:14 amHi there,
As a cat owner, I feel the pain of having to constantly clean afterwards. He usually goes outdoors but sometimes will do it indoors for whatever reason. I had no idea that many cleaners simply mask the smell rather than treat the source. Very curious as to your opinion on litter boxes. Do they work?
Steven says
November 28, 2017 at 1:29 amHi Arian!
If you happen to have snow in winter, cats will generally want to stay indoors because they good potentially get cold burns.
They need a place to go when they need to go indoors too. I understand that some people prefer to have no litter box, because it smells, but there are litter boxes available that take much of that smell away from the rest of your house.
We for example built our own litter box inside an IKEA cupboard. Functions very well. There are also cat litter boxes with filters and there are even robot litter boxes that clean and separate the product from the litter, storing the products away from smell and harm.
It is also a good idea to buy a proper type of cat litter that both masks the smell and is safe to use for your cat.
A cat might need to be trained to use a litter box, if they have never been on one yet, but most cats do this very automatic, as its usage is very alike in nature.
Hope that answers your question. There are many more topics around the litter box I have written about. Feel free to ask more questions, or you can do a search on the site to find more information on that.
Steven
Alejandra says
November 5, 2017 at 7:39 pmHi Steven
It’s good to know about this product, I love cats and I like my home staying my home.
I like my home smells fresh and clean, urine off will help me with those little accidents that sometimes happen.
Cats can’t be perfects all the time!
I’m lucky to have a really nice cat at home, no problems at all, but I’ve had some cats in the past who gave me some problems of this kind in the past.
Thanks for writing this review, I’m sure it will help many cat owners.
Steven says
November 5, 2017 at 11:26 pmHi Alejandra!
Thank you very much for your comment!
Urine Off is an excellent product to get permanently rid of those stains and smells that cat urine leaves behind. Normal cleaning agents don’t do the job properly, because the urine crystals do not dissolve in them. Urine off has a special enzyme that takes care of that.
I also use a product to wash floors, counter tops and the inside of the cat litter box properly, without harming the cats, which works very well.
Thanks again!
Steven
Maureen says
November 5, 2017 at 7:34 pmCats make wonderful pets but when they do have an accident you sure know about it. It has been many years since I had a pet cat and I had forgotten about how strong the smell of cat urine could be.
Years ago I found a tiny kitten outside in the cold so I brought him in. Checked around the neighbourhood, but no one was willing to claim him. First problem he was flea infested and second problem he was not litter trained. I could have used some Urine Off back then!
I had to put pans of litter everywhere until he had no choice but to go in the litter box.
I am not sure what I used back then to get rid of the smell, but I can be pretty sure it was probably not safe for the cat.
Getting the right products to clean up a cat mess is important as we do not want to make them sick as their health is our responsibility.
Steven says
November 5, 2017 at 11:21 pmOh.. I know all about it Maureen, these accidents we got with pets. Not just cats actually, because dogs can also have accidents and there is also a urine off version specially made for dog urine.
Had you known back then how to deal with it, it would have been dealt with correctly. There is a good chance that the urine crystals are still in your carpet or flooring. If you now would get another cat, you might see them urinating in exactly those old spots again.
For our floors we use a special washing detergent that also is safe for pets.
Thanks for your comment!
Steven
Paul says
July 31, 2017 at 4:07 amGreat post, Steven, on a very handy product.
This product appears to be a real game-changer to very real home owner problem.
Happy to hear that you were not satisfied with the instructions and that you have provided an improved version.
Does this product damage flooring material if used too frequently?
When applied to the carpet, how large must the over area be?
Thanks, Paul
Steven says
July 31, 2017 at 3:01 pmThanks Paul for your comment!
Urine Off is completely safe and doesn’t harm the flooring material or colour. Urine Off is also animal safe. Of course it is important that you blot away most of the urine before using the product and blot away most of the cleaner after soaking the cover area. Some floors, such as wood, do not tolerate excessive amounts of fluids staying over a longer period of time.
The area to cover should be bigger than the urine spot visible on a carpet, because the urine might have gone through the carpet and spread underneath. It is therefore better to remove the carpet entirely or partially if possible, to be able to see how big an area needs to be treated on the flooring below the carpet. But if this is not possible, than you have to cover a rather large area to be sure the urine is properly removed from both the carpet and the underlying layer.
Steven