Remove Pet Stains
Posted by Rae and Mark on Feb 23, 2009
Removing pet odors and stains from your floors, including carpets, has always been a real problem for dog and cat owners. This article tells you how to deal with the odd mishap that may leave a stain on your hardwood floors:
Do You Want to Remove Pet Stains from Your Hardwood Floors?
A majority of American families have welcomed pets into their hearts and homes. No matter how cherished a pet may be, it still needs to be trained to use a litter box or go outside when the urge prompts. Regardless of how well trained your pet is, there will still be occasional mishaps. If you’re in the habit of leaving your pet home alone for long hours, or if you have an older pet, the inevitable is bound to happen.
For people who have hardwood floors, this can present a real problem. You’ve probably learned that if your pet has an accident, you’re going to end up with a stain on your hardwood floor that is going to be difficult to get rid of. Relax! Pet stains can be removed from hardwood floors. By getting a few special tools together, you’ll be able to remove a fresh stain quite easily. Older stains will take a little more work, but they, too, can be removed with a little effort. Before beginning, always remember to test your stain removal method on an out of sight piece of flooring to make sure you won’t cause any damage.
Most pets have the instinct to mark out their territory within your home. This is especially true if you have old pet stains which your new pet will be able to smell. Your new pet will want to leave his mark on top of any old pet stains to establish that the territory now belongs to him. Any time you remove a pet stain, be it fresh or old, you need to get rid of all the odors that will attract your current pet’s territorial instincts.
Removing Fresh Pet Stains
Since fresh pet stains will not have soaked into the floor yet, they are easy to remove. To take care of pet stains when they first happen, you’ll want to keep the following items on hand: paper towels, white vinegar, warm water, and a product that contains bacteria and enzymes which will eliminate both the stain and the odor from the area. When shopping for this product, read the label carefully to determine if it was formulated for use on a hardwood floor. Some of the stronger products on the market will actually damage your floor, so make sure you avoid them.
When a pet stain happens, grab your materials (you may want to keep them all assembled in a small pail), and use the following method to eradicate the stain and odor:
- Use a paper towel to blot away any standing urine.
- Scrub the stain with white vinegar which will help eliminate both stain and odor.
- Use the warm water to rinse the stained area.
- Once again, blot up any liquid using paper towels. You want to dry the area quickly and thoroughly so that you don’t incur any water damage. If you leave water standing for too long, you may begin to see some warping.
- Use the stain and odor removal product you purchased to treat the area. By doing so you’ll lessen the chances that your pet will find the area attractive again in the future.
Eradicating Old Pet Stains
If you have stains that have been around long enough to have soaked down into the wood and sub-flooring, you will need to sand down into the stain in order to determine how deep the damage went. If you find that the stain is gone after just a bit of sanding, you will probably be able to refinish just that area. If the damage is too deep and too extensive, however, you’ll have to take out that section of the flooring and then possibly need to refinish the entire floor.
Stains that have been left for long periods of time will have left odors that eventually permeated the wood and the sub-flooring. You can often treat these areas with commercial bleach, but if you do that, protect your skin with rubber gloves, and make sure you know what you’re doing. If it comes down to the fact that you’re going to have to sand and resurface the whole floor, use a shellac-based primer which will give you the results you’re looking for.
Do you want to find out more about how to install laminate flooring? Refinishing Hardwood also has information on types of hardwood floors and bruce hardwood floors.
| By Christopher Smith Published: 8/8/2008 |
The above article does contain some good advice, but it’s unlikely that you’ll completely remove both the pet urine stains and smell from your floor using these methods. There’s a much better product available now, which we’ve used ourselves many times, called Urine Off, which we highly recommend.
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Kitten Neutering
Posted by Rae and Mark on Feb 9, 2009
Feline neutering is something that every cat owner should do, because there are many benefits, not least of which is the reduction in spraying, as this article demonstrates:
What Are The Benefits Of Cat Neutering?
Should you have your cat neutered? When is the best time to have the procedure? Are there any disadvantages to neutering? Here are answers to these questions and more.
What Does Neutering Involve?
Neutering your male cat is a simple surgical procedure that involves the removal of the testicles. As with any surgical procedure there is a certain measure of risk, but the health benefits of neutering your cat far outweigh the risks. Moreover, this routine procedure helps to control pet overpopulation, and thus avoids the necessity of having to put down unwanted kittens and cats.
What is the Recovery Period?
To reduce pain and discomfort, both neutering and spaying are performed while your cat is under general anesthesia, and must be performed only by a licensed veterinarian. Most cats are able to resume their normal activities within a few days, and the stitches are removed after about two weeks. Following the procedure, your vet will advise you on how to best care for your cat while he is recovering.
What are the Benefits of Neutering my Cat?
With the testicles removed, the cat’s body can no longer produce the hormones that are responsible for certain undesirable behaviors.
1. One of the primary reasons to neuter your cat is to reduce spraying. Male cats mark their territory – both outside the house and in – by spraying urine. Because the surgical removal of the gonads (testicles) also removes the source of the male hormone, neutered cats are less territorial, and therefore less apt to need to spray.
2. Neutering your cat also removes the source of sperm production, thus reducing your cat’s sexual behavior. Unneutered cats often roam long distances in search of a female, placing your cat at greater risk of being harmed by another animal, hit by a car, or simply lost. These problems are significantly reduced by neutering your cat.
3. In order to maintain their territorial dominance, male cats can be quite aggressive, often getting involved in fights with other male cats to preserve their territory and to dominate the female cats in the neighborhood. Sometimes these fights can result in injury to your cat, or in the transmission of parasites (such as ringworm) or diseases (like feline leukemia). Because neutered cats tend to be less aggressive, your neutered pet will be less prone to injury and disease, and you are more protected against the ensuing veterinary costs of treating your animal. However, your cat’s hunting skills and general playfulness are not impacted by the neutering procedure. In fact male cats tend to become sweeter and more affectionate following castration.
4. Neutering your cat provides for the prospect of a healthier future by eliminating the possibility of testicular tumors and cancer.
5. Neutering your cat will prevent unwanted births. Each year, millions of unwanted kittens are born, only a lucky few of whom are actually adopted. The remainder are euthenized in a shelter, or succumb to trauma, starvation, or disease on the streets. Those living wild in an alley or barn are very susceptible to disease and infecting other animals with that disease. Neutering your cat will help to prevent these unwanted births and spread of disease.
When Should my Cat be Neutered?
Studies show that cats can be spayed or neutered safely when they are as young as eight weeks of age. When possible, the procedure should at least be done by six months of age, as doing so will help reduce the risk of physical and behavioral problems.
Neutered cats have a tendency to gain weight, since they are no longer driven to roam as they were previously. However, your cat’s weight can be managed effectively through proper diet.
The only downside to neutering your cat is that your cat will no longer be able to reproduce. This is generally a problem only if you are breeding cats. Otherwise, in terms of helping to prevent pet overpopulation as well as allowing your cat to lead a longer and healthier life, the best gift that you can offer your cat is to have him neutered.
| By Kat Bartone Published: 2/4/2008 |
It would therefore appear that the benefits of feline neutering far outweigh the disadvantages, for most people, and we’re sure a reduction in cleaning cat urine will be most welcome!
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