Find Cat Urine With a UV Light

Cat urine is often an elusive quarry. Though the smell permeates the house, it can be maddening when it seems impossible to pinpoint the source. To avoid smelling every inch of your carpet, (which often deadens the senses long before you find the urine anyway), try using a UV light. Here's how to do it.

Steps

 * 1) [[Image:Normal_Carpet_592.jpg|thumb|Carpet in normal light]]Buy a decent-sized, powerful UV or "fluorescent black" light. Look for a long bulb (greater than 1 foot). Cheap bulbs with the housing included can be found at a hardware store. Although pet stores sell the lights as well, they're usually smaller and more expensive. They can also be purchased at a reasonable cost online, depending on how much time you have to wait around living with the odor.
 * 2) [[Image:Urine_1_821.jpg|thumb|Cat urine example 1]]Search at night or in complete darkness. Cat urine can be difficult to see, especially when old, so maximize your search efforts by taking advantage of darkness. Either wait for night, or make the room as dark as possible.
 * 3) [[Image:Old_urine_627.jpg|thumb|Old urine]]Use a sweeping motion and gradually move farther away from the generally smelly location. You may be surprised to find a stain farther away than you thought. Don't just check the floor; cats are inventive! Look over bookshelves, furniture, cloth decorations, inside vents, any object that looks like it has "holes" to a cat's mind such as inside portable heaters, clothing that has been left on the floor, small areas a cat could squeeze into, etc. The cat urine that you're looking for should show up as a yellow/greenish color.
 * 4)  Clean as you check. If you can, clean when you find the spots and can see them before moving on to find any additional areas. That way, you won't miss it. Alternately, mark the spots some way, using tape, item placement, etc., whatever works for you.

Tips

 * [[Image:Tide_and_urine_600.jpg|thumb|Laundry detergent with cat urine in between... much harder to see!]]Stain cleaning products may also show up under UV light. Don't panic if you see lots of spots! The cleaning agents will look purpler than yellow, and are usually much brighter.
 * Make sure you have an extension cord handy if you're using a corded bulb. Chances are, you're going to need it.
 * Note that the UV element of the images above can be hard to see online if your computer is in bright sunlight.

Warnings

 * Finding the urine is only one step; don't be surprised if removing the odor proves harder. See the suggestions in the related wikiHow articles below. Note that enzymatic cleaners are ideal for removing cat urine odor.

Things You'll Need

 * UV/black light (sometimes called pet urine detection light)
 * Darkness
 * Extension cord
 * Enzymatic cleaner

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Remove Pet Urine from Carpet
 * How to Remove Cat Urine from Wood Floors
 * How to Remove Urine Odor from Concrete
 * How to Remove Animal Urine Spray from Wood Walls