Cleaning winter boots (kitty mess)

[jpcher]

Don't know why, don't know how, but our closet door was left open. Winter boots are stored in there and kitty decided to, I dunno, mark her territory? and yup, did her liquid bathroom thing all over the boots. (She's never done this anywhere on anything in the house other than her box.)

4 pairs, to be exact. 2 are fake suede with fur lining, 2 are the knit legged with fur lining. All have rubber soles.

The boots are not (super)expensive, still in good shape -- but replacing 4 pairs?

Can I just throw them in the washer/drier? Soak them in Febreeze?

Would the cost of dry-cleaning be more than replacing the boots? Would dry-cleaning get rid of the odor?


Suggestions? Ideas? HELP!



P.S. Why did my kitty do this? 

[Giggity]

Can't speak to the first part, but as to the second ...

1. Is her box clean?

2. Has her box recently been moved to a higher-traffic area?

3. Has her food changed recently?

If so, try restoring to original condition and see if it helps.

If not, she might be telling you she has a bladder infection. When mine get unruly in that regard, they earn themselves a vet trip.

Also, some cats are sensitive to household changes. New baby, kid went to college, you're now working where you used to stay at home ... stuff like that can send a sensitive cat into a little misbehavior. (Gentleman Friend went back to outside work last month, after working from home for a year, and the Duke boys did not like being unsupervised. They chose to act out in classic fashion: they pooed in the middle of the living room on his first day at work. It was so obvious a flipping of the bird, it made me laugh.)

[AnnaT]

Dry cleaning won't get rid of the odour.  Try making a paste of baking soda and water, brush it thickly onto the stain and leave to dry then brush off.  No guarantees but I'm not sure how to clean without ruining the fur.

[camlan]

Febreeze is not going to be enough for this. Perhaps nothing will be enough. But start with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle, which is designed to deal with pet "inappropriate elimination." Your local pet store will have something.

Rinse the boots as well as you can, then pretty much soak the affected areas with the Nature's Miracle. Follow the directions on the container. You may have to do several treatments. The fur lining may never look the same again, but the boots should still be wearable.

You'd need to check with the dry cleaner--if the boots have rubber soles, they may not be dry cleanable. Do check on-line with the manufacturers of the boots to see if they can be machine washed, as that might also help.

Cat pee is one of the worst smells to try and get out of clothing or fabric. If the Nature's Miracle doesn't work, you have nothing to lose by machine washing, I suppose. You wouldn't be able to wear the boots if they smelled, so washing them will either remove the smell so you can wear them or destroy them so that you can throw them out with a clear conscience that you have done everything you possible could do to save them.

[shhh its me]

  I had a cat do this once, I think it's shoes because they have a strong smell(to a cat). They chin rubbing cats do puts their sent on us and just rubbing chins could make the shoes smell like "us".The only pair I could save was only exposed on the hard soles. Even if the order fads any moisture can reactive it.  I either couldn't get the order out or destroyed the shoes, but these were shoes not boots.

I'd try enzymes  first then and soaking in hydrogen peroxide then machine washing.

[mechtilde]

The only time mine have ever sprayed was on rubber inflatable matresses. Rubber smells like cat pee to them (to us the smell is negligable) but they feel the need to mark over it.

If possible, I'd suggest putting them in the washing machine and using a biological/enzymatic washing powder.

[veryfluffy]

When you say "fur" I am thinking synthetic, not real fur? So the boots sound totally washable. You'll need a big tub, possibly the bath tub, for four pairs of boots. Fill it up with a relatively strong solution of biological/enzymatic washing powder or liquid (this is most automatic washing machine powders these days) in hot water (just out of the tap, not boiling or anything).  Let them soak for an hour, rinse well, and allow to air dry.

I wouldn't suggest the washing machine, unless you have an ultra-gentle cycle, as the spin could damage the rubber soles.

Then keep these off the ground with the cupboard door shut, or store in plastic bags!

[ShadowLady]

When we moved from the apartment to the house, we had moved the matresses into our bedroom, and then locked the kitties into the bedroom while we moved the rest of the furniture and boxes in.  The male cat decided to pee on the mattress.  So I went and found a cleaning product, I believe it was from Herts, and had a title something like "cat odor eliminator".  Used that on the mattress (can't put that in the washing machine  ), twice within 4 hours.  And we've been sleeping on that same mattress for the last 5 years.

And like VeryFluffy, I'm thinking if it is synthetic suede, wouldn't it be synthetic fur?  So it is most likely quite washable, just be gentle with it to not pull the 'fur' fibers out of the underlying fabric.

[Aggiesque]

I woudl wash them- probably throw some natures miracle (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750969) in there, too, and replace if they don't survive the machine.

[jpcher]

Thanks, all!

I just put a coat of baking powder paste on them. Figured I'll try this first (because that's what I have on hand. )

Then try the Natures Miracle or Hertz in the tub.

All else fails, in the washer they'll go with the enzyme stuff.

(Yes, it is fake fur.)


This is a closet that kitty always tries to get into whenever it's opened. We just didn't close it one day when we all left. I don't think she's sick or anything, I just think she was "Ha! Silly humans! Don't let me explore this space -- I'll show you!"


Thanks for your suggestions!

[JoW]

The key to making Nature's Miracle work is to use it generously and let it air dry.

SATURATE your boots.  Leave them somewhere out of the way.  If they dry in 12 hours you probably didn't use enough. 

My vet sold me a similar product, Kennel Odor Eliminator, to clean up behind a diabetic cat.  The cat got the mattress in the guest bedroom.  That stuff rescued it.