Cat urine cleaner on a budget

With an elderly cat having frequent accidents, you need something that actually eliminates the odour rather than masking it — because if the smell lingers even faintly, cats will keep returning to that same spot. Only enzyme-based cleaners destroy the uric acid crystals in cat urine; sprays and home remedies just cover it up temporarily. To point you to the most cost-effective option: which surfaces are getting the worst of it — carpet, hard floor, or soft furnishings? And are most accidents fresh when you find them, or are some already set in by the time you spot them?

That's exactly the situation where a concentrate makes total sense — you're not buying water at spray-bottle prices. The one I'd point you to is Simple Solution Extreme Pet Stain and Odour Remover Concentrate. It's a genuine enzyme formula, it handles both fresh and dried urine, and it works on carpet and hard floors. One 750ml bottle of concentrate makes up to 15 litres of ready-to-use solution, which works out to roughly pennies per clean. You just mix it in an old spray bottle, which you'll have already. For a fresh accident on carpet, soak the area, blot up as much as you can first, then spray and leave it to dry completely — don't scrub it. For dried spots, saturate a bit more generously so the enzymes can reach down into the fibres where the crystals have set.

For everyday fresh accidents, mix 1 part concentrate to 19 parts water — so a capful into your spray bottle topped up with tap water. For the dried, set-in spots, go stronger: around 1 part to 9 parts water. It won't bleach carpet — it's colour-safe and the formula is designed for household soft furnishings. Just avoid soaking natural wool carpets repeatedly as the backing can take a while to dry fully and mould is worth avoiding. On your laminate, mix at the standard dilution, spray lightly and wipe rather than leaving it to pool, since standing water isn't good for laminate seams over time.

That's the key question — and the honest answer is yes, but only if the enzyme cleaner fully breaks down the uric acid. Cats smell at a level we can't detect, and most standard cleaners leave residue that she can still find. With the Simple Solution mixed correctly and left to dry fully without scrubbing, it destroys the scent markers rather than covering them. Two things that help: don't use any ammonia-based cleaner first (it smells like urine to cats and makes it worse), and make sure the area dries completely before she has access to it again. Once the enzyme has done its work, the chemical signal that draws her back is gone. At 14 with kidney issues she may still have accidents, but she won't be deliberately revisiting cleaned spots.

Yes — it's on Amazon UK, usually well under £10 for the 750ml concentrate, and it's also in some larger pet shops and online pet retailers. Search 'Simple Solution Extreme Concentrate' and it'll come up. Given how often you're using it, I'd suggest buying two bottles when there's a good price, since it keeps well sealed. It'll work out far cheaper than ready-to-use sprays and you'll genuinely notice the difference in her not revisiting the spots.