Why do cats urinate outside the litter box? Kitty carpet urination can be caused by various factors, some of which can be easily avoided:

• A dirty litter box. If your cat's box isn't clean enough for them to "go," then it's definitely time for you to clean it out, not only to make your cat happy, but to rid your home of that dirty cat litter smell. If the litter box isn't clean enough, your cat will choose another place to urinate, such as the carpet.

• Your cat has a medical problem. If your cat is urinating on the carpet and putting cat urine smell in the carpet, take your cat to the vet; they could require medical attention.

• Your cat is getting older. Older cats sometimes have a painful or difficult time getting down the stairs, so they'll urinate on the carpet instead. Try moving the litter box upstairs to give your cat an easier time.

• Your cat is male, and is marking their territory. This isn't cat urine smell exactly – it's a special scent male cats secrete separate from urine, however, it can smell just as bad as cat urine odor in carpeting.

Whether the cat sprayed on purpose, or your cat is getting older and has had an accident on the carpet, here's how to get rid of cat urine smell in carpet before it affects your life.

First, to get rid of cat urine smell in carpet, absorb as much of the cat urine as you can.

Next, To get rid of cat urine smell in carpet, saturate the area with a water-vinegar mixture, to neutralize cat urine smell. Cat urine odors must be neutralized first, or the cat may smell where they previously "went," and use the same area again.

Many experts will tell you to use a 50/50 water-vinegar mixture to get rid of cat urine smell in carpet, however, you may want to use a stronger concentration of vinegar if the cat urine smell is particularly strong, as vinegar helps to get cat urine smell out of carpet by neutralizing the cat urine odor in carpet and furniture.

After the vinegar and water mixture is dry, use a baking soda mixture with water, adding dish or laundry soap if desired for an extra clean smell, and work into the carpet liberally to remove cat urine stains from carpet. Once the baking soda mixture is dry, vacuum the cat urine affected area of carpet.

Once you're gotten rid of cat urine smell from the affected area of carpet, spray a small amount of vanilla extract mixed with water to keep cat urine smell off carpeting, and make the carpet smell nice again.