Friday, May 15, 2009

My Father's beloved chair and cat urine


I know as I write this, I can think of two readers, both male, on different continents who will tell me this is why dogs rule over cats.


For the record, I would have a dog, but since I have been 22 I have lived in apartments which did not allow dogs. Thus, Susan the cat lover was born.

For the record, I also applied for a psychiatric helper dog. No word yet.



Now here is the problem I am facing. I have a chair in my living room that belonged to my father when he was first married to my mother. You know the kind of chair, it's like Archie Bunker's, belonging to the patriarch of the family, and all those who want to sit on it who aren't the patriarch tremble before it, because their bottoms are not worthy for it's glory and leather. When I was a toddler, my father used to sit on the chair, reading the New York Times, and I would sit on his lap, tugging the paper, to get huggies from him.

Eventually, over the course of my parent's marriage, the chair got upgraded 3 times, so when I moved into my current apartment I inherited the first incarnation of said chair. I put a blanket on it, and made it the cat's chair.

Fine. A month or so ago, the cat decided to urinate on the blanket. I washed the blanket several times, and washed down the chair with soap, water, Nature's Miracle and Fabreeze. All fine.

But the smell still lingers. I keep spraying it with Fabreeze, but it's driving me batty.

My mom and dad said it't time to retire said chair to the dumpster. It's over a half century old. But as for me- who has collected furniture from a relative who brought it over from Europe via Ellis Island -I don't like to throw things out.

Any help would be appreciated, and if the chair goes, I will need a few strong men to lift the chair into the dumpster, I will pay back with beer, cokes and pizza.

6 comments:

Jill said...

Have you tried the old vinegar method of getting the cat urine smell out? It usually works pretty well, if you don't mind the scent of vinegar for a couple of days. (You need to repeat the cleaning process a few times.)

susan said...

Jill, thank you, I never thought of it, but will do that. I don't mind vinegar smell at all, if I have the window open.

Ana said...

Hope vinegar helps.
Once I brought an American product that took Nells rine from the carpet.
By the time she arrived she didn't like the time I spent at the computer and sometimes urinated on the carpet next to the chair I was sat.
It was the only product that has really helped but... I don't know the name.........
So thank me for nothing.
I'm glad you're posting everyday!
I was missing you a lot!
Love,
Ana

Mark p.s.2 said...

If you have the time, you could first take detailed pictures, then using a screwdriver and crowbar as a lever, lever off the material - remove the leather and material covering of the frame. You might find something lost in the chair as a bonus. Then re-stuff with new foam etc and cover with similar material or the same leather if the leather doesn't stink and isnt too damaged from being removed( the internal padding stunk?).

melissa said...

Try a product called "anti-icky-poo" by MisterMax - You can get it at pet supply stores - I use it for cat urine and it works well - it is a live bacteria/enzyme that consumes the odor - it works for other odors too.

Melissa said...

Simple Solution is my hero. 3 dogs (5 today) and a cat and I keep gallons of the stuff. Lemme know if I can be any help about a psych service dog.

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