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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / August 2005using a blacklight to find kitty pee
I'm quite certain my cat has been peeing somewhere other than her litter boxes. I have found the general area, but think there might be more spots. I bought a blacklight, but have been having problems using it. Anyone have experience using these things? I know I have to use them in the dark, but do I have to hold them a certain distance from the area being checked? Does it have to be held for a specific period of time? Another question...I didn't buy one of those blacklights marketed specifically to cat owners. Instead, I bought an indoor 75W blacklight bulb and have been using it with a hanging lamp kit without the shade. Was this a mistake? I was told that it should work the same way one of those more expensive specific-use-marketed models. It looks so much easier on CSI! > I'm quite certain my cat has been peeing somewhere other than her > litter boxes. I have found the general area, but think there might be [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > It looks so much easier on CSI! My experience with black light bulbs (if it's one that is the shape of a regular incandescent bulb but purple) is they are very weak and not good at getting stuff to fluoresce. We tried using them in the charity haunted house the youth group at church puts on and they didn't cut it. You'd be better off picking up a 'stink finder' at a pet store like Pet Smart. If you hold the light a foot or two off the floor it should show up anything that is there immediately. W > I'm quite certain my cat has been peeing somewhere other than her > litter boxes. I have found the general area, but think there might be [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > It looks so much easier on CSI! I've never used a bulb, but I did buy a "Super Stink Finder" from Petsmart. If you're pretty sure your cat has used that area, it should immediately light up. Remember, if it's thick carpet, a small surface spot might light up, not the large area that's down in the pad. I bought the really small blacklight, so it's not very powerful; you have to hold it right down on the spot. I'd recommend buying the size larger one. Sherry > > I'm quite certain my cat has been peeing somewhere other than her > > litter boxes. I have found the general area, but think there might be [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > to hold it right down on the spot. I'd recommend buying the size larger > one. Can't you smell? In article <aHlwYXRpYQ==.3889945db2b8e9beec1bb27bdf94310d@1124588033.nulluser.com>, > Can't you smell? Believe it or not, sometimes cat urine doesn't smell that noticeable until it accumulates. I know, hard to believe, but it can be true.  SignatureWeb site: http://www.slywy.com/ Message board: http://www.slywy.com/phpBB2/ Journal: http://slywy.diaryland.com/ > In article > <aHlwYXRpYQ==.3889945db2b8e9beec1bb27bdf94310d@1124588033.nulluser.com>, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Believe it or not, sometimes cat urine doesn't smell that noticeable > until it accumulates. I know, hard to believe, but it can be true. Yes it is hard to believe. I think it is more likely that there is something wrong with the nose that cannot pick up the distinct smell of urine. If you can't smell that, better have something that can pick up other odors in your house too, just so you know when it stinks. In article <aHlwYXRpYQ==.29f26f142b89806d95555eb14e96357a@1124646342.nulluser.com>, > > In article > > <aHlwYXRpYQ==.3889945db2b8e9beec1bb27bdf94310d@1124588033.nulluser.com>, [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > that, better have something that can pick up other odors > in your house too, just so you know when it stinks. I don't see any reason to be snotty. *No one* smelled one incident. It didn't have a particularly strong odour. It could be the prescription diet he's on. Or I guess everyone's just sensory deprived. SignatureWeb site: http://www.slywy.com/ Message board: http://www.slywy.com/phpBB2/ Journal: http://slywy.diaryland.com/ It's only hard to believe if your mind is so small that you can't imagine anything outside your own little box of experiences. I can smell quite well. In fact, I have a very acute sense of smell. However, my cat's urine doesn't smell that much, at least not in small quantities. (and from what I can tell of my cat, her pee is usually in relatively small quantities). I've managed to find one general area because I think she has used it a few times. Therefore, it smells. That being said, since enzyme cleaner is quite expensive in my area ($20 per quart), I would prefer to clean soiled areas as precisely as possible. Wouldn't a blacklight help that? It really amazes me that some people out there really can't see outside their own little minds. >It's only hard to believe if your mind is so small that you can't >imagine anything outside your own little box of experiences. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >It really amazes me that some people out there really can't see outside >their own little minds. I have to agree with you, but I guess the other people in this thread have never had a spraying cat. Sure you can tell what room has been marked by the animal, but to actually find the precise location simply by sniffing around, be it against the couch or in the corner by the fireplace, whatever?.. Uh-uh! It is only by the sheerest luck you can stumble upon the precise place, particularly if more than one area has been marked. A blacklight sounds like a good idea, if it works. .. Steve .. > A blacklight sounds like a good idea, if it works. It will help you find spots, if you have an idea where they are. (I knew where mine was because the little bugger pissed on the carpet *right* in front of me, although it wasn't 'til he started scraping that I realised what he'd done. Anyhoo, the issue with the StinkFinder black light is that a lot of stains glow -- I spilled coffee on my light beige carpet once, got the visible stain out very well, but it still glows under the StinkFinder. If I didn't know I'd spilt coffee there, I would think it was cat piddle. There are a few other places where it glows, but I don't know what it is, and it has no odour. Also, cat vomit spots (hairballs) will glow after the the spot is cleaned. A few people on this group have gotten StinkFinders only to find their entire carpet is magic! :O SignatureWeb site: http://www.slywy.com/ Message board: http://www.slywy.com/phpBB2/ Journal: http://slywy.diaryland.com/ >> A blacklight sounds like a good idea, if it works. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > will glow after the the spot is cleaned. A few people on this group have > gotten StinkFinders only to find their entire carpet is magic! :O Yea a lot of things fluoresce under black light. That's where the nose comes in. Once you find a suspicious spot you can sniff and see if it's the looked for cat pee or something that got visibly cleaned out of the carpet earlier. My old cat Tigger had a few accidents the last year before she died. I knew I smelled pee in my bedroom and knew she had peed in front of the dh's dresser because I could smell it there. The question and reason I bought the stink finder was, where else might she have peed that I didn't know about. It's also good for looking places where it's not all that easy to get to, like behind furniture. Much easier to shine a light there than to have to move the furniture to smell. W I bought the black light for pet purposes, used it on my off white, almost new at the time, carpet and I almost passed out. If you've handed a cat a piece of chicken and they put it on the carpet that will show up. Spilled soup, whatever. So much appeared suspect that I put the light away and never used it again! I have my carpets cleaned twice a year and am told my house smells fine. -- Barb Of course I don't look busy, I did it right the first time. >I bought the black light for pet purposes, used it on my off white, almost > new at the time, carpet and I almost passed out. If you've handed a cat a [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Of course I don't look busy, > I did it right the first time. The black lights are good if you smell something and can't find it. Depending on the color of the carpeting, it's not always obvious where the cat peed. W > I'm quite certain my cat has been peeing somewhere other than her > litter boxes. I have found the general area, but think there might be [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > It looks so much easier on CSI! I have a 12 inch fluoresent Halloween black light. I figured if anything would show up, it would be in the litter box. Nada. Nothing. zippo. I then took it over to the carpet and what a mess. Everything I ever spilled showed up (as a previous poster noted). So...I don't recommend it for pee locating. Not that Mr. Bonkers has ever peed on the rug. THis thread just tickled my interest and I thought I'd try it out. > > I'm quite certain my cat has been peeing somewhere other than her > > litter boxes. I have found the general area, but think there might be [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Not that Mr. Bonkers has ever peed on the rug. THis thread just tickled my > interest and I thought I'd try it out. I have to agree. I borrowed my son's black light he uses for psychedelic posters (he's 13.) The light is about 18" long, and when I shone it on the floor, EVERY SINGLE THING flouresced. I was in shock. I thought the kitty had been peeing over my entire house and it must REALLY stink. I don't have much of a sense of smell, so I can't tell. But much of what flouresced wasn't pee at all. The big lights are too much, I think. Marjorie > I have to agree. I borrowed my son's black light he uses for psychedelic > posters (he's 13.) The light is about 18" long, and when I shone it on the > floor, EVERY SINGLE THING flouresced. I was in shock. I thought the kitty > had been peeing over my entire house and it must REALLY stink. I don't have > much of a sense of smell, so I can't tell. But much of what flouresced > wasn't pee at all. The big lights are too much, I think. You have to be careful -- I learned that spilled coffee will look just like cat urine under the light. The only way I know for sure that the area has been peed on is by using the light and then smell. Can't mistake coffee and cat urine. :O SignatureWeb site: http://www.slywy.com/ Message board: http://www.slywy.com/phpBB2/ Journal: http://slywy.diaryland.com/ Interesting! I thought I was being frugal by making my own blacklight, but now it looks like I'll have to spend more to get one that actually works! The only ones I've found at the pet store were little 4" ones. I didn't think they'd be strong enough. Home Depot only had 24" and up ones and I thought those might be too big. I'll have to do a bit more of a search to find a good-sized, but not too large, one. Although I'm trying to locate her pee-spots, I'm really doing it more for fun...I should have been a CSI! > Interesting! I thought I was being frugal by making my own > blacklight, but now it looks like I'll have to spend more to get one [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > large, one. Although I'm trying to locate her pee-spots, I'm really > doing it more for fun...I should have been a CSI! FYI: Halloween is coming up. You can usually find blacklights for less than $10 in the after halloween close outs. Thats where I got mine. ITs a foot long flourescent and puts out plenty of light. I just can;t find any cat pee with it (I see everything else though)
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