Getting cat puke stains off carpet?

[Martoon]

We love our cats.

Our cats love to puke.

We have a Bissel Spotlifter (http://www.bissell.com/Products/Product.asp?catalog_name=BISSELL&category_name=PortableDeepCleaner&product_id=SpotLifter+PowerBrush), which is invaluable for cat owners, btw. It did the trick fantastically on the carpet we had in our last rental place. It was a plush, deep-pile off-white carpet, and a quick hit with the Spotlifter, loaded with the pet odor and stain remover formula, would remove any evidence that a cat shared their dinner.

Now we're living with my sister and her husband. They also have plush, deep-pile off-white carpet, but a different variety. When our cats express themselves on this particular carpet, it leaves this faint orangeish stain that nothing wants to take up. So my sister has ServiceMaster come with their equipment, and they completely remove the stain in a couple minutes. That's a little pricey to do every time a cat pukes, but it indicates that there is, in fact, something that'll remove this stuff.

Anyone know anything we can buy for home use that'll do the job?

[whatever]

woolite pet stain remover worked quite well on any stain that my sisters puppy left on my white carpet! :D

[Martoon]

woolite pet stain remover worked quite well on any stain that my sisters puppy left on my white carpet! :D

Thanks, I'll give that a shot!

[Oberon]

Anyone know anything we can buy for home use that'll do the job?

A brand of cat food that doesn't include red and yellow food coloring?

Other than that, ask runvardh. He ought to be able to tell you.

[Natrushka]

Oxyclean in a spray bottle with very hot water. Spray. Let sit. Blot with white towel. Repeat until towel no longer turns puke colour when you blot.

Tip: never rub, always blot, it keeps the carpet from becoming 'fuzzy'.

[Oberon]

Natrushka!

Where ya been?

[Natrushka]

Cleaning cat puke? :smile:

[Seanan]

I have both cats and a dog in the house and I've never found anything better than "Spot Shot" sold in most grocery stores. In fact, I've tried to find out what's in it without success.

[OK Radio]

A brand of cat food that doesn't include red and yellow food coloring?

Other than that, ask runvardh. He ought to be able to tell you.

Seriously, that. What are you feeding your cats? Not only do cheaper foods lead to terrible stains, but more importantly, they can cause health problems down the line, such as diabetes or feline cystitis.

Check your bag of dry food. If corn is the first ingredient, you're not giving your pets a healthy diet. Try something like Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. Not that it's the only possibility out there. I found it to be moderately priced and better for my pets than Deli-Cat, which led to unable to be erased stains. Like Oberon alluded to, it's the dye that makes for the worst stains.

I'm not a picketer for holistic cat feed, but I have been happy with my cats' reactions to this moderately priced and better fare. There are pricier and harder to find options.

Again, I'm not a shill for Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. I haven't even read the ubiquitous books associated with the name. I got a tip from another forum about the brand and I've been happy with the results. Actually, and more importantly, my horrible, vomiting cats have been happy with it. So has my carpet.

[Seanan]

OK... check out Felidae.. available at most feed stores... no more stains or cat box odor.

[Jen]

Just bought this (http://www.bissell.com/Products/c/portabledeepcleaner/p/SpotBot_Pet/product.aspx) and with three kids and a puppy it's invaluable.

[OK Radio]

Like the original poster and this last one have stated, a personal steam cleaner, whether a spot lifter or a full on steam vacuum, are necessities for maintaining a carpet with lots of grubby pets or kids about. I've mentioned the dye in cheaper cat foods is a huge factor in terms of how bad a stain will be, and that swapping out for a slightly better pet food will not only reduce the stains but also increase the well-being of one's pets.

My other big trick I have is to use plain white vinegar, mixed about 50/50 with hot water in the steam vacuum, to make a first run over the carpets when steam cleaning. Vinegar is a great, cheap, and non-toxic oder remover that also combats detergent build-up in carpets, which can lead to dark areas on carpet. If you don't get all of the soap out of your carpet, the soap will act as a magnet for dirt, causing your carpet to be dingy and soiled looking. Alternate between cleanings with vinegar and water and detergent and water to combat soap and odor build-up.

[JAVO]

It's a two step process:

1. Get rid of cat.

2. Get new carpet.

Don't make this INTP-level complicated. :D

[Wolf]

My mother swears by something called "Natures Miracle Pet Stain Remover", which seems to work on most stuff. However, I feed my cat good dry chow and she doesn't puke it up. She seemed to have some trouble on the Eukanuba stuff, which was dramatically better than cheaper cat food, but the best I've found was Nutro Natural Choice, which is what I feed her now. She hasn't puked up anything in over a year...

After shifting her to a corn-based litter she seemed to have a lot less trouble, too (and it doesn't stink), so this might have been a contributing factor.

[Ivy]

My cat only barfs when one of us accidentally leaves the food bucket open and she gets in and gorges herself. Worse if it's the dog food.

That corn litter is the bomb. Perhaps even the bomb diggity.

Also, this catbox (http://www.omegapaw.com/RollnCleanLrg.html) is amazing, although it looks like the dumbest idea ever.

[Wolf]

That corn litter is the bomb. Perhaps even the bomb diggity.
Yeah, I totally agree. Once you've tried it, you wouldn't go back for any reason except cost. Worth every extra cent over other kinds of litter, even the exotic expensive stuff with additives can't compare to corn litter.

Also, this catbox (http://www.omegapaw.com/RollnCleanLrg.html) is amazing, although it looks like the dumbest idea ever.
Wow. Brilliant.

Though with the corn litter the cleaning isn't as annoying or noxious a process...


The only concern I have is that the cat may not like going inside like that.

[Ivy]

Yeah, I totally agree. Once you've tried it, you wouldn't go back for any reason except cost. Worth every extra cent over other kinds of litter, even the exotic expensive stuff with additives can't compare to corn litter.


Wow. Brilliant.

Though with the corn litter the cleaning isn't as annoying or noxious a process...


The only concern I have is that the cat may not like going inside like that.

We already used a covered litterbox so it wasn't a big change for ol' Sylvia. (Feminine of Sylvester, naturally.) I haven't touched a litter scoop in weeks. Two thumbs up!

We actually considered getting the crazy expensive litterbox with the permanent granules that actually flushes. I did some poking around and found that people universally loved the rolling litterbox. Several people recommended using it with the corn litter since it's so much lighter. I find that it smells TONS better and doesn't make me cough, too.

[Martoon]

We feed them Science Diet. Nothing else.

[rainfall]

A brand of cat food that doesn't include red and yellow food coloring?

Other than that, ask runvardh. He ought to be able to tell you.

Cats throw up to get rid of the hair in their stomach, don't they? I mean, they constantly lick themselves, so the ones with thick fur have no choice but to spit out a few hairballs along with whatever they dined on before.

[OK Radio]

We feed them Science Diet. Nothing else.

Depending on which formula you use, the first ingredients will be chicken by-product meal, corn, corn gluten meal, rice, or other substances that aren't premium nutrients for your pets. Comparing prices, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul is slightly cheaper ($35 for a 20 lb. bag of Hill's Science Diet Original Cat Food vs. $25 for an 18 lb. bag of Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul), plus its main ingredient is chicken.

Innova, Solid Gold, Merrick, Blue Buffalo, and Felidae are other brands I'm looking into in hopes of finding a good wet food that my cats will eat without bankrupting me.

I'm semi-zealous about the pet food I use. I'm happy with Chicken Soup because the ingredients are good and the price isn't outrageously higher than those big bins of Deli Cat from Sam's Club, but I'm still doling out cans of cheap wet food from the grocery store because I haven't taken the time to test the better brands.

In any case, it's not like better food will keep your cats from throwing up.

My cat only barfs when one of us accidentally leaves the food bucket open and she gets in and gorges herself. Worse if it's the dog food.

That corn litter is the bomb. Perhaps even the bomb diggity.

Also, this catbox (http://www.omegapaw.com/RollnCleanLrg.html) is amazing, although it looks like the dumbest idea ever.

Your talk of corn litter intrigues me. Do you mean The World's Best Cat Litter? Am I going to have to upgrade from generic clay-based clumping litter bought from Sam's Club?

[Ivy]

YES. World's Best Cat Litter really is!

[Martoon]

Also, this catbox (http://www.omegapaw.com/RollnCleanLrg.html) is amazing, although it looks like the dumbest idea ever.
I used to use a sifting litter box, but not the rolling kind (it was basically a strainer tray inside the regular tray). It was okay, except the strainer would get caked with gunk after a while, and need to be cleaned, which was a mess.

Since then (for the last few years), I've been using sifting litter box liners. Basically a stack of thin plastic sheets, perforated in the middle. You line the box with this stack of sheets, then put in the litter. To change, you grab the top sheet by the corners and lift it up, sifting out all the turds and clumps, and throw it out. The last sheet is not perforated (you lift it out with the litter in it, then put in a new stack and dump it back in), so the litter box itself never gets dirty. This method works really well. Quick to change, no mess, and you throw away the part that gets dirty.

I'm interested in that rolling box. Do you ever need to empty out the litter and really clean it?

Depending on which formula you use, the first ingredients will be chicken by-product meal, corn, corn gluten meal, rice, or other substances that aren't premium nutrients for your pets. Comparing prices, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul is slightly cheaper ($35 for a 20 lb. bag of Hill's Science Diet Original Cat Food vs. $25 for an 18 lb. bag of Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul), plus its main ingredient is chicken.

I'll need to research this. I've always had the understanding that Science Diet was very good quality with balanced nutrition.

I just don't think I can bring myself to buy something called Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. Also, the one cat has started having kidney problems, so she's on a low-protein diet. She probably doesn't need something that's primarily chicken.

But I'm going to look into this.

[Ivy]

I used to use a sifting litter box, but not the rolling kind (it was basically a strainer tray inside the regular tray). It was okay, except the strainer would get caked with gunk after a while, and need to be cleaned, which was a mess.

Since then (for the last few years), I've been using sifting litter box liners. Basically a stack of thin plastic sheets, perforated in the middle. You line the box with this stack of sheets, then put in the litter. To change, you grab the top sheet by the corners and lift it up, sifting out all the turds and clumps, and throw it out. The last sheet is not perforated (you lift it out with the litter in it, then put in a new stack and dump it back in), so the litter box itself never gets dirty. This method works really well. Quick to change, no mess, and you throw away the part that gets dirty.

I'm interested in that rolling box. Do you ever need to empty out the litter and really clean it?

We tried the sifting liners. I liked it, except that my cat is a particularly enthusiastic digger and she rips them up so they don't sift anymore. Then we tried the sifting litter box and I thought it really sucked. Like you say, the sifter gets all gunked up with wet litter. Somehow, I always ended up making a giant mess when I tried to empty the sifter pan.

So then we considered getting a Cat Genie (http://www.catgenie.com/?R=cf), the thing you hook up to a toilet or wastewater drain, with permanent granules instead of disposable litter. You can set it to "flush" once (or more) a day- it fills with cleaning solution and agitates the granules, then blows hot air on them to dry them out. Problem: it's $300.

That's when I heard about the rolling litterbox, which is like $35 or $40, I think. (You'll want the large one.) It has a vertical sifter instead of a horizontal one, so it doesn't get gunked up. When you roll it the clean litter goes through the sifter and into a reservoir on one side, while the solids keep rolling, and when you roll it back the other way they go into a little drawer which you empty into the trash (or toilet, if you use corn litter, unless you live in California). It's probably a good idea to clean the box out every so often since poop is, you know, rolling around in it, but you don't have to do it nearly as often as you would with a regular old scooping litterbox. I roll mine two or three times a day so stuff is getting removed within a couple of hours, and the litter is deep enough that the bottom stays dry. So I don't deep clean it very often, maybe once a month or less.

I never thought I would write this much about litterboxes.

[Jen]

I never thought I would write this much about litterboxes.Neither would I. :alttongue:

[OK Radio]

YES. World's Best Cat Litter really is!

Is it the flushable nature of the litter that most impresses you? It's about four times more expensive than Sam's Club clumping clay litter, which I find to hold up adequately. Your enthusiasm is catching, but the price difference is cooling me off.

I'll need to research this. I've always had the understanding that Science Diet was very good quality with balanced nutrition.

I just don't think I can bring myself to buy something called Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. Also, the one cat has started having kidney problems, so she's on a low-protein diet. She probably doesn't need something that's primarily chicken.

But I'm going to look into this.

I sympathize with your reluctance to buy "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul." I concentrate on the ingredients and price and try to overlook the name. The cat with the kidney problems needs to stay on whatever prescription plan she's on, obviously, and if your situation is like mine, you can't really feed one cat a specific diet without having all of them eat it.

[Ivy]

Is it the flushable nature of the litter that most impresses you? It's about four times more expensive than Sam's Club clumping clay litter, which I find to hold up adequately. Your enthusiasm is catching, but the price difference is cooling me off.

No, I don't even flush it. It smells SO much better, there's no dust, it's about half the weight for the same volume.. the list goes on and on.