We all know the signs: a gag, a cough, a few retches. You walk into the room to check on your cat, and there he is, walking away quite proudly from that stinky, steaming, hairy mass on the carpet. The cat’s job might be done, but yours has just begun.
Cleaning up hairballs is the unfortunate but all-too-common task that falls to cat owners. Once a week or so, you’ll hear that sound, and your heart will sink. Time to dig out the paper towels and go to work.
In order to eradicate the evidence of hairballs on your carpet, care must be taken when cleaning them up.
The first step to cleaning up hairballs is to actually get rid of the hairball. Contrary to what it may seem, it’s not alive, and the longer it sits there, the more the accumulated fluids and digesta within it will soak into the carpet, even reaching the pad below. Take care where you dispose of the offending item—unless it’s trash day, leaving it in a kitchen trash can may not be the best course of action. Smaller hairballs may be flushed down the toilet, or disposed of in an outdoor dumpster—or, even better, your neighbor’s garbage can.
Prevention: The Best Way to Avoid Hairballs
Instead of scrubbing the area immediately, spray or pour a good amount of carpet cleaner, stain remover, Lysol, or whatever your preferred spot treatment is, onto the affected area of carpet, and let it soak for 5–10 minutes. This will help break down the odor-causing fluids and bacteria within the carpet.
Finally, scrub the carpet vigorously with a damp terrycloth and water. The use of vinegar on the stain can help eliminate any lasting odors, but make sure the vinegar won’t affect or stain your carpet before using it.
The best way to clean up hairballs is to prevent them from existing in the first place. This can be done through grooming your cat. Because cat tongues are covered with comb-like papillae that catch dead hair (which they can’t spit out), cats end up swallowing that hair. Since hair is not digestible, it stays in the stomach or intestines, slowly accumulating more hair and food material. When the hair bolus becomes big enough to irritate the stomach or interfere with eating and drinking, the cat will cough, hack, retch, and in most cases, vomit up the offending hairball.
By brushing your cat daily, you can help minimize, if not completely prevent, the hair that they ingest during grooming. If grooming isn’t an option, shaving a long-haired cat can be quite effective in reducing the amount of hair they can ingest. Your cat may not thank you right away for the lion cut, but over time, their health will improve as a result.
Traditional hairball remedies, available at your local pet store, can help encourage hairballs to pass in the feces. Usually made of a gel, these remedies are administered over several days to help lubricate and add bulk to the hairball, assisting its passage through the intestines.
For cats with recurrent hairball problems, commercial diets are available that help hair in the stomach pass more easily through the feces, preventing buildup. Additionally, adding a small amount of canned, unflavored pumpkin to your cat’s diet can help add bulk to their food, encouraging hair to pass in the feces.
Cleaning up hairballs may be the disgusting part of cat ownership, but in general, it’s quite easy to get rid of the associated stain and smell. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for eradicating cat urine from your carpet.
Cat urine, especially that of un-neutered male cats, has the dubious distinction of being one of the worst and hardest-to-eliminate smells in the universe. The distinctive smell will permeate any substance it contacts, and even some of the strongest cleaners and disinfectants fail when it comes to getting rid of cat urine.
Thankfully, specially made enzymatic cleaners designed to tackle cat urine specifically have been created and are now a must-have for every cat owner. These cleaners digest the organic material in urine and other bodily fluids, effectively breaking down the urine and destroying the odor-causing bacteria within it.
While many types of enzymatic cleaners exist, it is imperative to use a product designed specifically for cat urine. This will ensure the product is effective against cat urine and non-toxic to your pet. For instance, Febreze, a common enzymatic cleaner found in most supermarkets, can be toxic and even fatal to pets. Your local pet store should be able to recommend an appropriate product for the task.
When cleaning up cat pee accidents, the majority of the urine should be soaked up with a paper towel—be sure to avoid getting any on your hands, or you really won’t be able to escape that smell! Pour a generous amount of cleaner onto and around the affected area. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes, then clean vigorously. Afterward, apply your enzymatic cleaner. Since urine typically soaks through the carpet into the pad below, you must pour a good amount of cleaner on and around the urine spot, ensuring it soaks into the same areas the urine did originally. As an added bonus, enzymatic cleaners do not need to be soaked back up after use—the longer the area stays damp, the better, as the cleaner continues to digest and neutralize odor-causing bacteria in the urine.
Cleaning up hairballs and other cat accidents can be an annoying, yet ever-present part of life. If these accidents happen frequently, it may be a good idea to consider buying a steam carpet cleaner to efficiently and thoroughly clean large areas of carpet. Be sure to use a pet-specific detergent in the cleaner to ensure all your efforts are effective. Then, sit back and enjoy your clean carpet… and try not to be too disappointed when you hear that sound again.
