Can I Use Diatomaceous earth for cat urine?

Not sure if this is the right forum to post this...

I'm thinking of buying a house where an old cat lives, who apparently pees on the ceramic tile and grout floor.

I am extremely sensitive/allergic to the ammonia of old cat pee (ripping up carpets in my house etc and still it’s a problem). I smell ammonia in the house and I choke and my eyes run. (no one else has a problem with it, but I have chemical sensitivities).

The warmer the house is the worse it is.

Can cat ammonia be cleaned from tile/grout or has it possibly permeated the grout/tile and seeped down into the material and even floor underneath. Like it did with my house carpet and lino (especially in the corners).

Will diatomaceous earth help?

Anything you can tell me will be so much appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi Toki;   Welcome to Permies!

We have raised cats for the last 20 years so I understand your frustration.
I don't think that D.E. is the right answer although it sure won't hurt.
We clean with a product called Natures Miracle, it works for us and is readily available. It does have a fragrance though so it may not work for you.
Another cleaner we use is a combination of warm water ,vinegar, washing soda & dawn.  This works amazingly well for general cleaning. 1 cup vinegar,1 cup washing soda and 1 teaspoon of Dawn. We regularly cut that back to 1/2 cups .


Try the Natures Miracle they claim it will even remove it from subfloors.

Good Luck

You need to use an enzymatic cleaner (such as Nature’s Miracle), not any sort of all purpose cleaner (vinegar is not appropriate for this). Let the NM have a lot of time to sit on the affected areas and break down the remnants of the proteins in cat urine. The enzymatic cleaner will have its own odor that may bother you, however in the long run, it will be the only thing that truly gets rid of the cat pee, and it will dissipate after a bit.

I’ve never heard of DE being used as a cleaner, only as an insect killer/repellent. It won’t do anything to break down cat urine.