If you love to keep pets, then you should also be thinking of how to deal with smell/odors from your feline friend. The good news is that odors from your four-legged companion can be controlled and significantly reduced.
Apart from the fact that felines release pheromones, which create odors that may smell unpleasant to some people, odors also come from a cat's urine, feces, and allergens. The odors may become unbearable if your cats love to hunt and bring carcasses to their litter box.
If you fancy learning how to control odors naturally when you live with cats, then you're at the right place.
Here are 7 tips that will be of help to you:
Use vinegar to clean your home
If your home stinks due to strong odors from urine and feces in your cat's litter box or your cat's pheromones' markings, get a cleaner that contains vinegar to clean your home.
To use vinegar, mix one part of the vinegar with one part of the water in a spray bottle, then locate the region of smell and spray the mixture of water and vinegar at those regions.
If your floor is carpeted, you can get a carpet cleaner and soak them in vinegar. Then use the carpet cleaner to mop the spots that smell strongly in your home to remove the odors coming from your cat's urine and feces.
You should also remember to spray the cat's litter box (which is the main source of the odor) with vinegar cleaner. If a large area of your home smells of cat's urine, spraying them may not be enough to remove the odor. Soak a clean cloth in vinegar cleaner and use the cloth to mop the urine.
Use a natural air freshener in your home
While trying to control the odor caused by cats' urine and feces in your home, you shouldn't use chemical-based materials. Try using an all-natural air freshener.
You can easily make this air freshener from natural ingredients in your kitchen. You can mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1 cup of dried lavender or rosemary.
The mixture creates an all-natural scent that refreshes the air in your home. You may pour the air freshener into a spray bottle or just sprinkle it in certain areas that smell strongly in your home. Let the air freshener remain at those spots for an hour before cleaning them up.
Repeating this process two to three times a week helps refresh the air in your home and creates natural scents that control the bad odors.
Apply an enzymatic cleaner
Enzymatic cleaners contain enzymes which are natural substances that can break down smells and unpleasant odors from cats' urine, feces, and dander.
Enzymatic cleaners are available at pet stores. You may also buy them online. They are natural products that will not irritate your cat even when applied to their litter box.
However, ensure you follow the instructions provided on the label of an enzymatic cleaner before applying it to smelling spots in your home. In addition, do not apply enzymatic cleaners on your wooden furniture because the enzymes have the potency of damaging your furniture.
Also, check the label to ensure the cleaner does not contain other products that may be chemical-based because such substances may be toxic to your cat.
Clean your cat's litter box regularly
The main source of odors in your home is the cat's litter box. Your cats come here to relax after stressing themselves during the day, therefore, they are likely to create some mess in the litter box.
Ensure you maintain the cat's litter box by regular cleaning. You should try to clean the litter box in the morning and at night. Remove any clumps of feces and urine from the litter box and spray it with a natural cleaner.
Make it a habit to clean your cat's litter box once or twice a day to keep it odorless. By doing this, you won't allow any feces or urine to stay in the litter box to create an unpleasant smell in your home.
Also, ensure you use unscented litter in your cat's litter box. If the litter is scented, it may mask the odor of the clumped feces and urine and make you feel it is unnecessary to clean the litter box.
Your cats also get irritated with scented litter and instead of relaxing in their litter box, they go to several other areas in your home and create stinky spots.
Groom your cat regularly
One of the best ways to control odors naturally in your home when you live with cats is to groom the cats themselves. Most cats have the habit of rolling on the ground and hunting for prey. They eventually bring the carcasses of those animals and keep them around the house, causing unpleasant odors.
You should always keep your cat clean by using grooming tools. Use a pin brush to clean their coats regularly in order to remove any parasites that could have stuck to their skin. Trim their nails and brush their teeth to remove plaque and tartar that can cause bad breath. You may use toothpaste made for cats and a soft toothbrush to clean their teeth.
Use waterless shampoo to clean their coats and get a pair of thinning shears to remove tangle from their furs. By doing this, you are keeping germs and dirt, which may cause bad odor from building up on your cats.
Try odor-killing paints
If you've recently moved into a new home and you're disturbed by odors from your cat's urine, feces, and dander, try using odor-killing paints on the walls of your house.
The paints give out pleasant smells from the walls of your home and refresh the air around you. You should try to use this paint if the odors from your feline excretes have taken over the smell of your house.
All you need to do is to speak with a paint expert or just a professional painter to get your walls painted with paints having pleasant smells.
Get a professional help
If after trying all possible ways of controlling odors, you don't seem to get the result you want, you can consider hiring a professional cleaner to clean your home.
Professional cleaners are experienced and they will tackle the cat's odors with expertise. Have them clean your floor, your furniture, as well as your cat's litter box. Although hiring a professional cleaner may be expensive, it is a great way to significantly control bad odors in your home if you keep pets.
Conclusion
Keeping pets requires getting into the habit of regularly grooming those pets as well as cleaning your home. Cats have the habit of playing around and causing a mess in several spots in the house that can lead to unpleasant odors.
To control odors in your home, ensure you clean your home regularly with enzymatic cleaners and vinegar. You should also use a natural air freshener to purify the air in your home.
In some cases, you may need to hire a professional cleaner to completely get rid of unpleasant odors caused by the cat's urine, feces, and allergens in your home.