Using MiraZyme to save a Swift

[DQBunny]

I have three adorable kitties, but the middle one just loves to clothing left in piles as a litter box if the box isn't cleaned to his satisfaction. Thus, I made the very unpleasant discovery of finding that he'd peed on my gorgeous Swift, which thankfully was empty other than a few needles at the time, which was the issue. He won't go near it if there's stuff inside. I asked the Tom Bihn Twitter feed if Nature's Miracle would work on the bag, and Darcy very kindly offered to send me some MiraZyme to see if it would work on cat urine.

I'm happy to say it does for the most part!

Darcy sent over two packs, and I wound up using both. The first time, I used it in the bathtub, and the second I turned the bag inside out and used a smaller bucket. The first dose took care of vast majority the smell except on the inside pockets. The second dose took care of the pockets except some of the plastic on one pocket - this was where the worst of it had been. I think I'm going to use Nature's Miracle on that. Regardless, you can only smell the cat urine if you press your nose to the plastic anyhow. The rest of the bag is absolutely fine and looks just like the day I bought it two years ago. I also dipped the knitting needles that were still in the bag in the MiraZyme solution during the first go-round, and they smell fine and look great. I can still smell inside the bag a little bit because of the plastic, but the Nature's Miracle should take care of it. It's nowhere near as bad as it was, and the bag is useable again! Thanks so much for all the help, Darcy!

[Darcy]

The smell of cat pee is notoriously hard to get rid of, so I thought it'd be a really good test for the MiraZyme. I'm just really glad it (mostly) worked! And you're welcome.

[canyonero]

We had the same feline indiscretion occur in a piece of luggage (fortunately not one of the Bihns!) and the MiraZyme helped substantially.

[mjgoode]

Oh I feel your pain. Have a camera backpack that had been "decorated" by one of our furry ones. The miscreant had hit the foam backpack straps. This proved to be especially difficult to deal with as the pee, and thus the source of the smell, had soaked into the foam. Said "perfume" was activated when the user (me) got warm and a little sweaty.

My weapon of choice was Febreze, but the spouse hates the stuff. After some experimentation we found a new magic potion called "Urine Off" which is another enzyme based deodorizer. It was most effective. But I had to really soak the straps in order to kill the odor. The pack is now "perfume" free. Well, at least "perfume unnoticeable."

Another tool that's helpful is a UV light. You can spot where the decoration landed. This helped me to direct the application of the potion. There are now pretty cheap LED UV flashlights that are more effective than the "tube" type sold commonly at pet stores.

Be persistent. You'll prevail. And don't forget to scratch kitty behind the ears. ;-)

[backpack]

It seems that cats associate luggage with you being gone, thus not being there to serve them and are not happy with it.

I found that talking to my cat before going out or on vacation or moving helped tremendously, they sense the excitement or tension which manifest itself by a change of adrenaline and other chemicals levels.

A treat right after a grocery store trip, feeding and fussing over the feline(s) the minute you get in the door from a trip.


After a move, offering brand new toys, treats, crates, litter boxes, scratching posts sprinkled with organic cat nips and high prized food, also help.

Something I just learned is how important is the installation of tall cat trees and shelves all over the house.