From the Sun: Cleaning up after your pet

From the August 8th edition of the Woodford Sun: 

Cleaning up after your pet
By Beth Oleson, Education Coordinator

One of the first things you learn as a pet owner is that accidents happen.  Puppies, kittens, dogs, cats…nobody’s perfect (although some are a little closer than others).  Eventually, you just have to reach that state of zen where you can take a deep breath, remind yourself that things are just things, clean up, and move on.  After all, who could stay mad at those cute faces? 

Cleaning up after a pet can be trickier than it seems, though, and it’s all because of those sensitive noses.  Pet use urine to mark territory, and their noses are fine-tuned urine-detecting machines – much more so than ours are.  That means that, if urine has been somewhere – in the litter box, or on a potty pad, or on the carpet – your pet knows it, and it’s a big deal.  It’s usually a big enough deal that your pet, or other pets in the house, will want to “go” there again and again, which is fine if it’s in the litter box or on a potty pad…but less fine if it’s on your carpet, bed, or furniture.  

Busting the chain reaction of accidents requires you to stop thinking about what you can smell, and start thinking about what your pets can smell.  This is why cleaners that mask odors and add perfumes don’t typically succeed when it comes to pet stains; you might think your carpet smells like flowers, but your pet thinks your carpet smells like flowers…and pee.  And that’s an invitation.  What you need instead is a cleaner that gets rid of urine by physically breaking it down instead of covering it up.  Look for an enzyme- or enzyme-and bacteria-based cleaner like Nature’s Miracle or Unique Pet Odor and Stain Remover; the enzymes break the urine molecules down and the bacteria clean up what’s left over, effectively removing the urine – and the urine smell – from your home.  Another great thing about products like these is that they’re safe; you’re not putting harsh, toxic chemicals into your home where they could harm your pet.

Finding a great, effective pet stain cleaner isn’t the solution to all potty problems.  For that, you have to go to the source: a strict house training routine and a vet visit to make sure there’s not a physical problem – like a urinary tract infection or diabetes - causing trouble for your pet.  But it sure helps keep things on track when your pet is in the “accidents” stage.  If you can help your pet learn by removing those smelly distractions, you might do something much more important than save your carpet; you might save your pet from winding up homeless down the road.  Every year, dozens of pets are surrendered when their person’s patience for pee runs out; how many of those might have been prevented with the right tools and techniques to correct the problem?  Our goal, first and foremost, is always to keep a pet in a good home if it has one, and we hope this info can help that happen.