Cat urine and dog urine behave differently in carpet, and cat is generally the harder of the two.
Why Cat Urine Is Worse
It’s more concentrated. Cats evolved in dry environments and their kidneys are efficient, so the same volume carries more of what causes the smell.
It contains felinine. This is the real difference. Felinine is a compound largely unique to cats, and as it breaks down it releases sulphur-containing gases. That’s the sharp, catches-in-the-back-of-your-throat quality that dog urine doesn’t have.
Cats repeat. A dog that has an accident usually had one accident. A cat that has started using a spot will keep using that spot, so by the time anyone calls, the same square foot has been saturated many times.
It’s often somewhere you can’t see. Behind furniture, in a closet, along a baseboard, on the back of a curtain. Dogs tend to go in open floor.
Why Dog Urine Still Isn’t Simple
Dog accidents come in larger volume, so a single one spreads further and goes deeper. A big dog on a carpet with a pad underneath can put liquid all the way to the subfloor in one go.
Dogs also tend to go near doors, which is where people track in the most soil, so the two problems compound.
What They Have in Common
Both go through the carpet. That’s the part that matters more than the species.
Urine passes the fibers into the backing, into the pad if there is one, and onto the subfloor. Only a fraction of it is in the part you can see. Cleaning the surface removes that fraction, the smell fades for a few days, and then a warm afternoon brings it back, because the source was never touched.
That’s why store sprays and rented machines fail on this specific problem while working fine on a coffee spill. They’re built to clean a surface, and the problem isn’t on the surface.
Why Time Matters More With Cats
Fresh urine is easier to treat than old urine for both animals. But because cats repeat and hide it, cat problems are usually discovered late, after many deposits in the same place.
If you have found a cat spot, the useful thing you can do is stop it being used again while you arrange cleaning. Blocking access or covering the area does more good than any product.
Where P.U.R.T.® Fits
P.U.R.T., our Pet Urine Removal Treatment, removes pet urine odors. Call (785) 760-8000 for a free estimate.
Tell Us Which Animal
And roughly how long it’s been going on. Call (785) 760-8000 for a free estimate, or see pet odor removal in Lawrence, KS.
You may also want to read how to tell if pet urine reached the pad, or what to do the moment your pet has an accident.