Why Does Cat Pee Smell So Bad?
Cats are great. They are beautiful, intelligent, and a tiny bit obnoxious creatures. What’s not great is their dreaded litter box. Coming home every day expecting a warm cuddle from your beloved pets only to be hit by the pungent smell of cat urine floating in the air making you nauseous. Being assaulted by the fragrance of cat pee is terrifying, not just because of the smell but the cleaning it takes to get rid of the smell so, how to get rid of the cat pee smell?
Cat urine doesn’t necessarily smell worse than any other kind of urine. The problem is that the ammoniacal smell tends to hang in the air even after extensive cleaning. While you may religiously scoop out your kitty’s litter box, or even if you throw out the living room rug your cat was in the mood to pee on, the urine smell will still linger.
Cat urine does not stink at first. However, it stays in the air and gradually decomposes, becoming strong and pungent. Cat pee contains urea, urobilin or urobilinogen, uric acid, sodium, other electrolytes, creatinine, pheromones, and several types of bacteria. First, the breakdown of the urine molecules, which is initially odourless, takes place. Reacting with air and moisture in the atmosphere, urine decomposes into ammonia releasing the characteristic rotten-egg-like smell or stale old urine stink. Generally, a litter box will smell like this.
Cats are territorial creatures. In the wild, when cats or other felines mark their territory by urinating, the scent does not wear off for a while. This warns other animals to stay off their homelands and acts as a protective adaptation. For domestic cats, this just means trouble for their owners. As a result, cat pee does not wash away with typical household cleaners and the smell does not dissipate.
Further decomposition of urine takes place which emits mercaptans, compounds with a distinct and nasty odour. In male cats, particularly ‘intact’ males, certain steroids like pheromones are released in their urine which amplifies during decomposition. This is why the pee of male cats tends to smell far worse than the females.
Other factors are responsible for the individual smell of cat pee. For example, in older cats that have weaker kidneys and less efficient body functions, the smell becomes far worse than younger ones. Other reasons that affect the health of a cat’s body and cause their pee to smell bad may include infections, kidney problems, digestive issues, and water loss.
For cat owners, caring for a little kitten does not mean living with the smell of urine floating throughout your house. While ordinary household cleaners may be less effective, the scent of cat pee can be removed using a special odour neutraliser that eliminates sulphur-based compounds.
One of these products is Pongone.
Pongone is the only product available that actually destroys the molecular structure of malodours including the ammoniacal smell of cat pee. Once Pongone is applied the pungent smell ceases to exist.
Visit their website at www.pongone.co.uk.