My previous roommate's cat peed on the rug my mom bought me as a housewarming gift. It's a 3'x4' dark red shag-style rug. My roommate cleaned it with Nature's Miracle when it first happened, but after a day or so of still smelling the urine, we rolled the rug up and stuck it in the garage (where it sat for 3 or so months). Well, I just recently moved to New Orleans (I left the roommate and her damn cat behind!!) and would love to use my comfy carpet on my new hardwood floors. Problem is, as soon as I unrolled it I could smell the pee -- it stunk up my entire house in literally minutes! I've read through several related threads on this forum and most have been about wall-to-wall carpeting with padding, etc. rather than just an area rug. I'm not sure if I can throw the rug into an industrial laundry mat washer or use a steam cleaner on it since it is a shag-style rug... any ideas? I know I could just toss the rug and save myself the headache, stink, and money -- but I would really prefer to save it if at all possible! Thanks in advance :)

I so wish the local animal control, or fish and game would come take care of the skunk I accidentally caught in my life trap (intended for cats that kill the yard birds). Anyway, I called local, state, fed. and they all said the same, "good luck." So this poor skunk is slowly starving/choking to death, because I'm cowardly and don't want to get sprayed or have the front yard stink for a month...so I have to find a way to deal with this! If the law, which I doubt, says I can't "relocate", then I'm left with killing the poor thing! This is going to haunt me in my nightmares! As for Kimmsr and her "well written" and well-researched input: state laws vary widely, it's best to call and find out if they'll help you before doing anything! If your state, like mine, won't help, here is a Youtube video that I think is the most humane I've seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9F16vTJXbk  

I wish I would have timed how long it took me to read every single one of these posts. My beloved cats are destroying my house. I'm single, working, commuting, and losing my mind trying to clean it and get them to stop. I think that a fair number of these posts are written by SHILLS, which I find despicable. People like me are going through hell. Not only is there a mess, it's a smelly, toxic mess, and it's caused by my children. Yes, they are my children, and I can't just get rid of them. I, too, want to chime in and say that Nature's Miracle does NOT work. I'm fine with ripping up the carpet and starting over, but even that is going to be so incredibly difficult and time consuming. After reading all of this, and not having very nice carpet, I've decided to rip up my carpet, but I wish all of you cat lovers the best of luck in trying to eradicate the stains if you do want to keep your carpet. There isn't much on this thread about preventative measures to stop cats from doing this in the first place, but I encourage everyone to visit some reputable sites to deal with that as well. I've listed some below. Please don't ever think your cat is angry or vindictive or something like that. Cats don't have those types of emotions. Educate yourself and respond appropriately, but be careful of opinions in forums. Look to the experts for advice. I so very much appreciate the time people took to offer solutions. Thank you. I also want to recommend a money saving litterbox filler that will encourage you to keep up with cleaning it, as well as keep the smell at bay. My cats' issues have to do with new cats in the home, age and illness - not the use of this litter. I use plain wood pellets (no scent!), bought at Menard's or Fleet Farm type places. They're sold as woodstove fuel, as well as pet bedding. Way more economical that commercial litter and, I think, abate the smell much better. http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/06/cat-going-outside-the-litter-box-super-smart-behaviorists-share-their-tips/ http://catinfo.org/?link=litterbox http://www.littlebigcat.com/?s=litter+box One of the many posts on the brilliant Dr. Becker's site: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/08/29/cat-litter-box-aversion.aspx http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/02/9-useful-sites-for-researching-cat-health-issues/

I'm petrified of dead mice and living ones out here in the New Mexico can carry Bubonic Plague or Hantavirus. So, we use a combination of mousetraps (that DH has to empty for me), steel wool into every possible opening they can get into and pure peppermint oil. Our pest control people told me that mice (and packrats, another huge problem out here) have highly sensitive noses and for some reason hate the smell of peppermint. It must be the pure oil, though, and not the peppermint extract sold for cooking. I stuff plastic webbed tubing with cotton balls, tie off both ends with rubberbands or plastic coated wire ties and then put several drops of peppermint oil on them. I put them in corners and along the walls where I know the mice travel, as mice follow the urine scents they leave as they walk and tend to use the same routes over and over. I buy the peppermint oil at my local Ace Hardware store. You may be able to get the tubing there, too. I'm still using the bunch my pest control people gave me, so I haven't had to buy any as yet. Re-moisten the cottonballs every month. I've been using mine for a couple of years now, so they do last. Here's the oil I use: And here's what I use to make them with: I've also used one of those high frequency emitters outside in our seating area on the front portal. It needs to be plugged into an outlet and seems to have worked fairly well. I need to remember to buy a new one as mine broke a while back. Lynn