My mother's cat PEED ON MY RIBBONS!!!!

[Ritazza]

Bet you never had THAT happen to you before! :lol:

But seriously, it's more like :mad::mad::mad:!!! While in the brief limbo between my college apartment and my new real-life job, I've been at my parents' house for a month and a half, and I spread all my show ribbons from this past year on my sister's bed so they wouldn't get smushed in their box. I am really anal about them getting crushed... hate when they get wrinkled! Anyway, the other day I just happened to walk by that room and notice the ribbons in the middle of the bed (all the 5th place ones for whatever reason....) were all crumpled, oh no! I walked in and was hit with the smell of ammonia... THE STUPID CAT PEED ON THEM! ON THE BED! And then they froze in their nasty crumply peed-on state and ewwwww! Now I have seven or eight ribbons that are smelly and wrinkley!

Well my question now is, can they be saved! I have no idea where to begin... any ideas?

[darkmoonlady]

Test this on one you don't have a lot of attachment to in case it doesn't work. Use apple cider vinegar, and water, in a plastic container. The apple cider vinegar should neutralize the ammonia. Once you rinse in the water and apple cider vinegar (about half and half), then rinse in clean water with a little baking soda in the water. Then rinse with clean water, and put on a clean towel. Fold the towel over and flatten the ribbon, I would test a slightly warm iron on it after its dry to get out any remaining wrinkles. Give that a try with just ONE ribbon, and then if it works, try one at a time. The color of one might run so you don't want to mix them together. Good luck...

[reefy!]

Actually, yes, it has happened to me! But luckily she only found 1 to go on (and she had a UTI so she couldn't help herself).

I rinsed it off, haven't sniffed it since (and this was back in June) so it probably still stinks. But it was only and 6th so no great shakes (I do have a lot of green ribbons).

Maybe try Nature's Miracle? I like Anti Icky Poo but you have to order it, I think:
www.mistermax.com (http://www.mistermax.com)

[hiddenlake]

Go to PetsMart. Buy a big bottle of "Stink Free Urine Odor Remover" in the Cats section. It's a white jug with a navy blue label.

Put some of it in a small watering can and pour it on the ribbons. Or pour some in a shallow disposable pan (like foil bakeware) and soak the ribbons in it. Let 'em sit there for a bit and then hang to dry. Test on an eighth place first :D, and don't rinse!

I have three male rescue cats who had a pi$$ing contest when we first put them together. The Stink Free stuff saved my sanity, my marriage and lord knows what else. Nothing else worked. The smell completely disappeared, at least to my human nose.

I buy the 128 oz size, it's $28 but oh so worth it. I imagine they have a smaller size.

[Chief2]

Probably not, but here's an idea to ponder:
There are some liquid products designed to remove the ammonia smell from carpeting, etc. Most make non-colorfast materials run, which may very well include your ribbons. Nature's Miracle is one of the gentler products, and you could try rubbing some on the back of the ribbon and letting it dry. If it doesn't run, use it on the ribbons. This product can also be used to pre-soak the bedding to remove the smell, and then you throw the bedding through a normal wash cycle.

If this is not the first time the cat has soiled the bedding, it could be attracted to the residual smell of ammonia trapped in the fibers, regardless of prior washing. The pre-treatment can help break that cycle. If it is the first time, either the cat is attracted to a finishing agent on the ribbons, or is ticked off at either you or your sister. They do have their way of making their presence known in the house! My husband went around and around with my elderly cat for years. She certainly knew how to exact her revenge, and struck accordingly, much in the same manner. I thought it was a riot! (sorry...)

[flypony74]

Reason number 1,263,976 why I don't do indoor cats.

Simple Solution is my favorite of the enzymatic formulas, but I'm sure any of them would be worth a try. Might also try vinegar/water. Good luck.

[Lauruffian]

You know, I'm no fan of the pink ribbons either. ;)

Seriously--so sorry to hear about that! Heh, reminds me of one of the cats we had when I was growing up...he peed all over my sister's weaving, her craft class project.

Our two cats (that we've had 10+ years) have never peed on anything but litter, knock on wood.

[kellyb]

Well my question now is, can they be saved! I have no idea where to begin... any ideas?

I'd start by peeing on the cat.

[Ritazza]

Thanks for all these great ideas! Tomorrow the icky task begins...

And yes, these @&#*$#! cats! I love cats, I really do, but they have three really hairy and really grumpy cats who don't do anything but shed and look at you disdainfully, and apparently pee on stuff that makes them angry. They also have been peeing on the place where my dog has been snoozing on the floor... EVERY DAY. Apparently they HATE her...

[hiddenlake]

They do have their way of making their presence known in the house! My husband went around and around with my elderly cat for years. She certainly knew how to exact her revenge, and struck accordingly, much in the same manner. I thought it was a riot! (sorry...)

I know exactly what you mean! Years ago we had a cat who, whenever her water dish was not completely full, expressed her displeasure by taking my husband's bedside water glass and flinging it across the bed. I can't tell you how many evenings he would come home from work to find a soaked set of sheets. One of our current cats takes my bras and deposits them in his hidey-hole behind the couch. It's not unusual to see me chasing him through the house, arms across my chest, yelling "get back here you piece of sh*t!" The dog, on the other hand, takes my husband's underwear and drops them one by one on the stairs. I swear sometimes our house looks like the morning after a frat party.

To keep this horse related, the gelding has never stolen my bras. Which is a really good thing, because I would not want to go running through the barn aisle hugging the girls:lol:.

[furlong47]

My friend's cat peed all over my barn jacket when I was staying over at her house :mad: Luckily we caught it right away and threw it in the wash, and since she uses a ton and a half of fabric softener that is all it smelled like after.

I have a feeling my jacket smelled either like my cat or like horses and Blackie didn't like it. (I'm 99% sure it was her and not the other two cats because they know me much better.) Thankfully she picked the least important item out of all my stuff to whiz on!

[Foxtrot's]

You are worrying about fifth place ribbons - I'd be worried about the bed! Look at it this way, at least she's a low class cat and doesn't pee on the top ribbons.

Brings backa memory - a very recent memory - when I ran to the barn to throw hay quickly before going out to lunch with friends. The car smelled a bit off, but I didn't think too much, until the smell followed me into the house. A visiting cat had peed in the hay and I transferred it onto my pants. I sure hate cat smell.

[gloryeyes]

Best. Title. Ever. :D

Good luck with salvaging the ribbons!

[Chief2]

"And yes, these @&#*$#! cats! I love cats, I really do, but they have three really hairy and really grumpy cats who don't do anything but shed and look at you disdainfully, and apparently pee on stuff that makes them angry. They also have been peeing on the place where my dog has been snoozing on the floor... EVERY DAY. Apparently they HATE her..."

They probably just want their house back to themselves. Cats get that way. Good luck with the ribbons.
_

[GotGait]

Get some Anti-Icky-Poo (seriously, that's the name.)
There's not a whole lot that works on cat pee. :(

[Artful]

actually, I think the apple cider vinegar is a great idea, as it should set the dye in the ribbon. I'd still try it on one first. Good luck!

[Come Shine]

I feel your pain. When we moved, we boxed up all my ribbons and put them in the basement until we could figure out where they would go. Well, lo and behold, when we went to get them, the (insert inappropriate word here) cat had peed on them.

I didn't even consider whether they could be saved. I just boxed the whole mess up and put it out for the garbage collection. We had a big storm that day and I will never forget turning onto our street and seeing all my hard won ribbons (a couple of hundred) blowing down the road in tatters. I never forgave the cat.

Good luck salvaging your ribbons!

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Good thing it's not my cat...I don't think I could ever forgive such a heinous crime!!!

There's that "urine smell be gone" stuff you can buy at Walmart...try that?

[Rienzi]

A number of years ago, I got a big old beautiful car, a silver '81 Buick Century, with lovely plush dark blue velour seats. It as so clean, it looked like nobody had ever sat in the back seat, or even the passenger's seat. One day when I was parked at work, and had had some of the windows open. Well... guess what... OOOOH! ECK! ECK! ECK!!

[msrobin]

I have said it 100 times. Buy Urine Gone. It works!! Nothing else will do the job like this.
They sell it at walmart, walgreens etc. or online The smell WILL BE GONE I assure you.

http://www.urinegone.com/

You can get it online at Walgreens for only $10.99

http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?id=prod2560896&CATID=100468&skuid=sku2560333&V=G&ec=frgl_588323&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=sku2560333

[Wild Oaks Farm]

Don't feel bad...my cat also peed on mine!! I pulled them out of the box one by one after we had moved and...the whole room stunk of cat pee. Not to mention that many of them changed colors as a result of the pee. I maybe kept a couple but ended up tossing most of them.

[Neighland]

I agree on the reason 153,403 reason not to have a indoor cat, and couldn't help but add that too the thread.....

Back to the topic...I have no real suggestions, but the odor remover from Pet Smart sounds like a good idea!! :yes::yes:

[Ritazza]

You guys crack me up!!! Now, time to go get off COTH and actually go try and salvage the few of them that I can...

And yes, they're 5th places but this is good ol' OCD me we're talking about here. I keep every scrap of paper related to my horse at ALL (reciepts, stall cards at shows, you name it) in hopes that one day I will actually start a scrapbook and want those pieces of paper for SOMETHING.