Tips for choosing cat urine remover
One of the most important issues a cat lover and owner will have to address, is how best to deal with the problem of cat urine odor. There are countless products on the market, each claiming to be the best, and the right one for you. Faced with such a choice, the inevitable options paralysis sets in, and most owners find themselves rushing for the cheapest, or the most expensive solution, with the boldest claims. That is certainly one way of dealing with the problem. However, it is not the most scientific, and could leave you with a product not best suited for your needs.
It is beyond the realm of this article, or any article for that matter, to recommend a specific product for you. That said, there are a few things anyone on the market for cat urine removers should keep in mind in considering the various products available to them. With these tips in mind, any cat lover can make the best choice, and avoid being saddled with disappointing, and expensive products.
1. Avoid fragrances
A lot of products purport to remove the urine odor, but merely mask it with a different fragrance. This is certainly effective, but only for a few hours, even with the best of these products. The urine odor quickly returns once the fragrance has faded away. The best cat urine odor removal products will not have any noticeable odors. With no smell, you are able to tell where the urine odor persists, allowing you to target those areas in the home most affected. Once such a product gets rid of the urine odors, you are certain that it is gone for good.
2. Look for ease of use
The best products are those that you will use readily, often and without much preparation and thought. In dealing with cat urine odors, the best products are therefore those with an easy, single step usage process. Products that require complex mixing, or carefully timed application sequences are either often incorrectly used, or more likely, will spend their lives in the closet. Either way, the result is the same, cat urine odors persisting in your home.
3. Avoid stain absorbing claims
A lot of products on the market come with claims of being able to remove urine stains as they get rid of the urine odors. What they rarely mention though is that such products have an application step, followed a few hours later by another step to remove or vacuum away the cleaning agent. Given that you are going to be doing all this, and that you probably already have other specialised cleaning products for dealing with stains in the home, it is best to keep it simple, and just have a urine odor removal product that is focused on this one task.
4. Removes uric salt crystals
A lot of products on the market come with bold claims, and guarantees to work. When it comes to cat urine odor removal though, the only guarantee that counts, is that the product removes the uric salt crystals left wherever a cat has urinated. Any product that does not target or assure the removal of these crystals will not be 100% effective in dealing with the odor problems.
5. Prevention of Recurrence
Besides dealing with the visible odor, there is a second reason for ensuring complete removal of uric salt crystals. The uric salt crystals contain the individual scent signature for your cat. Your cat will thus mark its territory, and return over and over to urinate in the same place. Removing them completely from an area where this has happened, reduces the chances of this recurrence. Read more about preventing cat urine in unwanted places.
6. Low toxicity
Many cat owners are also parents. The surfaces that will require cat urine odor removal are also often surfaces that other members of the family, including children, will come into contact with. As such, the lower the residual toxicity of any cleaning agent, the safer it will be in the home. Furthermore, there is often a relationship between the toxicity of a product, and its corrosiveness. As a result, (in general) the lower the toxicity, the wider the variety of surface types a product can be used on.
7. Brand, and value
This last consideration is probably a consideration for all the other cleaning product purchases you make for your home. Pick a product/brand you trust, and have had good experience with. Manufacturers will often go to great lengths to ensure that all their products can be used together in combination. Pick a product that is affordable. There really is no point in buying a product to deal with cat urine that is so expensive it only gets used once a year.
Armed with the tips above, you can make a more informed initial purchasing decision for your cat urine odor removal product. However, nothing beats experience, and you might have to try two or three different products before you find one that works well in your home, and with your method of working/cleaning. Ultimately, it is your own experience, and not the wild claims on advertisements that should drive your final cat urine odor removal product of choice.
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