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Extracting Cat Urine from OLD Wood

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tooljunkie4

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I shopped an estate sale with a friend. We both got tools (LOTS of tools). He got a couple of vintage firearms. One of those was pissed on by feral cats. From the overpowering smell of things, the stock of one of those was a favorite target.

What is the best way to remove that mess from wood without doing further damage?
 
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retDAC

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Been a long time since I read about this, but as RH suggested, strip the old finish, then steam the wood to raise the grain. Carefully/lightly sand the stock smooth. Normally this is done to raise dents or on new wood to raise and eliminate "whiskers". Might work to remove urine.
 
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Farmer J.

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You will never ever be able to get rid of the smell no matter what you do.
No amount of varnishing will remove it, that smell will creep out and remain like a curse.
Even if you burn the thing, the smoke will stink and afterwards anyone who comes near you will still be able to smell it on your clothes and in your hair.
 
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genog

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tooljunkie4 said:
If it weren't a valuable item, it wouldn't have made it to the car.
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The term "Valuable" is subjective

But if so, refinishing the stock will really diminish the "value" of that firearm
Plus, the gun just is not going to look right.....He is would have a freshly refinished stock on an abused/neglected firearm?
What does the metal and the rest of the gun look like? ( ...allowing a cat to piss on it is neglect)

Your friend will need to put the Correct stock on it if he wants to maintain "value"
I might think so. Why would anyone put a wretched smelling cat piss soaked gun (or anything) into their car?

He can't put any ole stock on it, nor a repop if he expects it to stay "valuable" or retain it's value.
The "Correct" stock is a Big discussion for another day and time.

There's a lot with old firearms and Correctness is a BIG thing
Been collecting for decades....

About the cat piss,
Once upon a time a bunch of milsurp rifle parts were brought in from Turkey where the Turks (reportedly) cured their leather slings with urine!
The smell was so obnoxious and Ghastly that the slings were Total throwaways!
 
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bmwrd0

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I don't know what specific make of firearm it was, but any value it has is significantly reduced by smelling of cat piss. Also, if you sand down and refinish it, it will be significantly reduced.

Yes, damned either way. It is a shooter now, so treat it like that. Find a new stock if you can, or sand and stain the current one to get rid of the smell, but there really isn't any other option. Having been left in a place that this could happen too it destroyed much if any value.
 
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Leviton

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slowtwitch73 said:
Soak it in Hoppes.:lol_hitti
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I was wondering about that. If you can't get rid of the smell, try to mask it. Soak it in something else that is equally strong but more appropriate to a gun or a tool, like Hoppes or Liquid Wrench.

Also, you might try what yatg mentioned.

Or, we have found THIS to work very well on carpet:
My Pet Peed.jpg
 
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jbfsr

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I use "Simple Solution" from the pet store for carpet. For the stock: wash in simple solution . Then put it in a 3" pvc drain pipe with one end capped and get an ozone generator with the output going in the pipe with the stock. Let it run a long while.
 
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Chance

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The ozone idea is intriguing. A side effect will be to "age" the varnish and wood, which might not affect the value negatively the way refinishing would.
 
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RTM

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I am a natures miracle fan also. I prefer to mist it on, and let it soak til dry. Repeat many times. At this time it can’t hurt.

Ozone is an interesting choice too. Never tried, but want to.
 
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Roberts210

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I've been around a lot of cats, and lots of places where feral cats marked their territory. The smell DOES eventually go away. I would suggest using lacquer thinner on a rag to remove the old varnish. Doing so won't hurt the value of the gun since you're not sanding or re-shaping the stock, and it will also help remove some of the cat pee. Keep washing the stock with lacquer thinner. It won't raise the grain, but if you do want to raise the grain use water. After the smell is out of the thing, learn how to do a French polish on the stock. There are lots of YT videos on how to go about it, and it will look better than new.
 
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Oldpine

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Dewaxed shellac.
I received some furniture from a friend's estate which had been sprayed by cats. She was an older person who kept up to about 8 or ten cats all the time. When we received the furniture, it literally reeked of cat pee. I took the furniture and washed it with sodium bicarbonate and then put a couple of coats of dewaxed shellac (like Zinsser Seal Coat) on ALL surfaces of the furniture, inside and out. It was amazing how it sealed the smell. If it doesn't work, you can wash off the shellac with denatured alcohol.
It worked for me.
Tom

ps You can put any finish over dewaxed shellac.
 
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tooljunkie4

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yatg said:
Miracle
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RTM said:
I am a natures miracle fan also. I prefer to mist it on, and let it soak til dry. Repeat many times. At this time it can’t hurt.

Ozone is an interesting choice too. Never tried, but want to.
Click to expand...
It looks like Nature's Miracle offers a few different cat pee remedies.

Advanced (Severe Mess Enzymatic Formula) Cat Stain & Odor Eliminator
Enzymatic Formula Stain & Odor Remover
Urine Destroyer Plus
Advanced Platinum Stain & Odor Remover & Virus Disenfactant
Litter Box Odor Destroyer
60 Second Neuter In A Bottle

to name a few. Which one has done the best job for you?
 
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RTM

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This was close to 20 years ago, when they only had one flavor, which I suspect was Enzymatic Formula Stain & Odor Remover. So I suspect any of the others might work as well, or better.
 
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tooljunkie4

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One flavor. Plus cat pee. Mixed drinks for the septic system. It's almost a party.

The only things missing are bacon and midgets.

Dirty Midget.jpg
 
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yatg

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tooljunkie4 said:
to name a few. Which one has done the best job for you?
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In the past used the regular formula, which was the only one sold at the time.
Would probably use the advanced cat formula for this, sounds like its targeted for cat pee.

All these variations seem to have popped up in the last few years.
Probably the same stuff in different concentrations and scents.
"odor remover and virus disinfectant"? gimme a break
 
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thehorse13

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I never thought that anyone else would run into the same problem that I did when I got a hold of a vintage firearm.

I actually took a different route to get to a solution. I asked the vet in town how they get rid of cat piss and he pointed me to an enzyme based spray called, "Kids n Pets".

After stripping the stock, I followed the application instructions on the bottle. I did this three times in the same day. A few days later there was no trace of cat piss smell so I prepped the stock and applied a new finish of BLO. I still have the firearm to this day and it shows zero trace of its run in with cats.
 
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