Removing Cat Urine Odors

As you have probably found out, removing cat urine odor from any material or surface can be a very difficult task. This is partly due to the misinformation commonly available regarding what exactly causes urine odors.

First, unless your pet is very sick, their urine is sterile (no bacteria at all) and even if there is bacteria, it will die as soon as the water in the urine evaporates. As the water in urine is evaporating a considerable amount of ammonia gas is released as a result of the breakdown of a product in all urine called uric acid. The breakdown of the uric acid also produces urea salt.

Urea salt can take one of two forms as it precipitates out of the urine solution. The first chemically bonds with nearly all surfaces and becomes insoluble. The second from crystallizes on top of the bonded salt and is water soluble. Both forms will combine with hydrogen sulfide (HS) in the presence of water (vapor) to produce mercaptin gas (the gas we know as urine odor).

Most readily available and "over the counter" products contain enzymes and/or bacteria that are formulated to accelerate the decomposition of the material that causes the odor (urea salt). These products are also sensitive to even very small amounts of detergent and detergent residue (detergent makes them not work). When they do work, they produce large amounts of awful smelling gas often for days or until the area being treated dries.

OdorXit Concentrate and Magic contain no enzymes or bacteria and use a very different technologies to neliminate the smell without causing large amounts of bad smelling gasses.

OdorXit Concentrate reacts with the urea salt to permanently stop the production of mercaptan gas. OdorXit Magic absorbs and traps the mercaptan gas from the air for days or weeks at a time.

Both products have many other odor control/elimination uses beyond urine odors that are addressed else where on this web site.