HUNDREDS of glowing areas on carpet; can Black light detect more than urine?

[the_food_lady]

So I bought a black light tonight, called "Stink-Finder." I nearly had a small coronary after I turned off all the lights in my downstairs and proceed to walk around the living room carpet. Dozens and dozens and dozens of small areas illuminated, hundreds maybe! There is no way in the world that these are cat urine spots because if they were, my house would smell like the Cincinnati zoo and my non-animal loving family would have taken great pleasure in telling me a long time ago that my house stunk; if anything, they've alwasy remarked how nice it smelled (mostly because I smoke but you wouldn't know it).

Is it possible that a black light can pick up OTHER THINGS? Like areas I've previously cleaned up cat throw-up from furballs? (I usually use Spot Shot on these areas).

Funny thing, I "thought" I could smell urine on an expensive non-washable shag rug in my living room, last night. Just a very very small area. When I shone the light over this area - nothing glowed at all.

I faithfully get my carpets steam cleaned every 6-8 months just to keep my very light carpets looking fresh and not worn down in the traffic areas. sometimes the cleaner guy uses a spray stuff on the cat furball/hork areas...maybe this stuff leaves a residue and glows?

I took the light and used it all over and I found glowing areas where no cat could even go.........like on the lid of my washing machine for god's sake (stackable washer/dryer in closet)......even random glowing splashes 5 feet up the wall where no cat could ever reach. Now how the heck can this be?

So basically this light is useless to me because if Bitsy was marking more than the 2 times she did, I'd have no idea which spot.

There's small flecks of glowing way up at the top of door jambs; that's not a place any cat or spray could ever reach (not that any of my cats have ever sprayed). I seemed to notice glowing on surfaces that I've used a cleaner on because you can see the streak marks from the rag, glowing.

HELP!

Thanks

 

[sharky]

yes they can pick up pee other than cat or dog ... other bodily fluid s are also seen under a black light

 

[the_food_lady]

Originally Posted by sharky

yes they can pick up pee other than cat or dog ... other bodily fluid s are also seen under a black light

Well they're definitely not my body fluids LOL

So do you think that even though I've previously cleaned many spots on the carpet where the cats horked up a furball and it left a bit of a bile stain that I then cleaned up totally (to the naked eye) with Shot Spot, some kind of hork residue remained (wow, Shot Spot is a powerful solvent) and that's what's glowing?

some of the glowing areas don't even make sense...........a glowing fleck here, a glowing fleck there......very far apart.

God, i don't know what to think. Now I feel like i have no way in the world to figure out if she's still marking. *sigh*

 

[ryffian]

All body fluids (blood, urine, semen, saliva, etc) will definitely glow with a black light. Some detergents and other things will glow too. Without some serious CSI work I bet it'd be hard to tell exactly what each spot was!

 

[kluchetta]

I seem to remember in junior high that there would be little dust motes on peoples arms that were white (in black light), so I don't think it's just bodily fluid. But that's just me, LOL.

 

[sk_pacer]

Most bioligical residue glows, from pee to that bug you didn't see but stepped on. So, get out your CSI kit and start taking swabs

 

[strange_wings]

Yep, all sorts of things glow strangely. Depending on the carpet fibers - their color and type, they will even glow under certain types of light (all fibers will).

O/T: Want to see something weird? Put some foundation on - just some on one cheek is enough. Take the black light in the bathroom and look at yourself in the mirror under it.

 

[sk_pacer]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Yep, all sorts of things glow strangely. Depending on the carpet fibers - their color and type, they will even glow under certain types of light (all fibers will).

O/T: Want to see something weird? Put some foundation on - just some on one cheek is enough. Take the black light in the bathroom and look at yourself in the mirror under it.

I come from the era of black lights in bars, and you would see the oddest things - a pair of disembodied glowing lips above a floating white blouse or sweater, odd glowing spots where eyes should be, little white rings around ankles when people sat down and pant legs rode up (white socks were the in thing then), glowing shoes, rather interesting watching.

 

[gemlady]

Some of your spots could be lint. Detergents make your whites whiter by making them fluoresce (the sun is the ultimate UV light source) and your clothes are constantly shedding bits of lint.

Try shining the light on teeth.

 

[the_food_lady]

Originally Posted by gemlady

Some of your spots could be lint. Detergents make your whites whiter by making them fluoresce (the sun is the ultimate UV light source) and your clothes are constantly shedding bits of lint.

Try shining the light on teeth.

Yeah, I finally figured out that a lot of the tiny flecks ARE just lint LOL

Well I can't even begin to explain why I have so many spots all over the carpets of my home. The only room that has pretty much none is my bedroom which is funny because that's a room upstairs that all 5 of my cats have always spent a LOT of time in.

There's even some on the carpet in my spare bedroom, a couple of the areas really glow majorly, with really distinct edges. This isn't a room that's ever been steamcleaned because nobody uses it, it's just for the odd guest. I've never even cleaned up a horked-up furball in there because the cats don't spend any time in there.

My house was new when I bought it so it's not like it's fluids from the previous owners.

I'm really at a loss.

If this really was cat urine, my house would stink to high heaven and I'd constantly see cats peeing in these areas.

Interestingly enough, the original mat that Bitsy peed on (a long shag-type washable rubber backed bath mat); I washed that within seconds of her peeing on it.......I let it soak in the washer for a good hour..........when I waved the light over it, nothing glowed except the entire mat because it's white LOL. I washed it only in hot water, soap, oxyclean.

I did see some very mild glowing spots on the round shag rug in my kitchen nook but I know those spots were places the cats previously horked up furballs on (I remember vividly because I can remember trying to figure out how the heck to clean furball - puke out of long shag LOL).

I guess I am just going to not worry about this anymore because I'll drive myself batty (battier?)

Thanks everyone for your responses.

 

[Willowy]

I am reminded of an episode of Monk, where he shined one of the CSI's black lights in a hotel room....and ended up having Housekeeping scrub the entire room with bleach, LOL! Yeah, lots of things fluoresce and it's hard to know what's what. I had the same problem. I saw one thing that said that different fluids glow slightly different colors, but I can't see any difference.

 

[wellingtoncats]

It could be from sneezing too - I'm one of those constant wet sneezers so I'd hate to look at my carpets

 

[the_food_lady]

I remembered something.

My poor dear Angel kitty Taco was a manx............he had a 3 inch stub tail......only it was a tail that hung DOWN .......and was notorious for getting in the way when he'd use the litterbox (pee and poop). This is something we dealt with for all of his 16 yrs. If he was down in his litterbox and I was around, I could easily just lift up his tail while he'd pee and he didn't mind......this would keep it from getting wet. But most of time I wasn't there when he peed, of course........so often his tail was wet with pee on the end. When I'd notice this, of course I'd wash his tail...........but I suspect, unfortunately, that the pee from his tail would obviously make contact with the carpet many, many times over the past 8 years I've owned this house. I suspect that all of the glowing I see is from that? ...........even though the carpets have regularly been steam cleaned twice a year over these past 8 yrs? (they even use some kind of product on the carpets regularly, to 'sanitize' them -- thing it's something with peroxide in it but I could be wrong).

I'm lucky my house has never smelled like cat pee and I say this with all honesty because my family (parents) are not animal lovers, my Mother is a clean freak and she would be the first one, when coming to visit, to advise me if my house didn't smell right.........and she's always commented on how my house smells nice.......particularly because I'm a (dirty, rotten, filthy LOL) smoker, too. I've always been sort of self-conscious in this regard, have always kept my house clean and having 5 cats and being a smoker, I've always worked hard so that people coming into my home would be surprised..........you know, like "wow, you have 5 cats and you smoke? I would never know it, your house smells good!"....that kind of thing.

 

[samhainborn]

When you mentioned the small spots with lots of distance between them, I was going to ask if you maybe had a kitty with a bladder control issue. Since Prissy has been de-tailed, she's had one or two problems with the "dirty tail" issue, but she's doing better now. Her issue made me wonder if you had the same problem. Now we know. I think that could certainly be at least part of the spotty problem. Peroxide will get most of the visible stains out and a lot of the odor, but without an enzymatic cleaner, you may never get ALL of a urine spot up. Since most of these areas aren't creating smells, I would simply try to remember where your "old" spots are, that way if your kitty goes again somewhere, you'll be able to recognize the new spot.

 

[the_food_lady]

Originally Posted by SamhainBorn

When you mentioned the small spots with lots of distance between them, I was going to ask if you maybe had a kitty with a bladder control issue. Since Prissy has been de-tailed, she's had one or two problems with the "dirty tail" issue, but she's doing better now. Her issue made me wonder if you had the same problem. Now we know. I think that could certainly be at least part of the spotty problem. Peroxide will get most of the visible stains out and a lot of the odor, but without an enzymatic cleaner, you may never get ALL of a urine spot up. Since most of these areas aren't creating smells, I would simply try to remember where your "old" spots are, that way if your kitty goes again somewhere, you'll be able to recognize the new spot.

I'm just not sure how to go about tackling the hundreds of spots. They're very small so it does jive with them being from Taco's wet tail (from him sitting). I just don't know how on earth I'd be able to get them all with peroxide. It feels like it would take weeks! and I'd have to keep my cats locked up during the process (until the washed areas had dried).

My parents were over today, they met Bitsy for the first time. Being that they're not animal people or cat-lovers, I surely didn't tell them that she's peed inappropriately 3x now, they'd have gone on about how I should take her back to the HS, bla bla bla. I did ask them if they smell cat pee in the house and they both told me they didn't, they assured me they didn't. Of course they wanted to know WHY I asked them (LOL)...I just said "well you know, with a new cat in the house whose history you don't know, you never know."

 

[momofmany]

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

It could be from sneezing too - I'm one of those constant wet sneezers so I'd hate to look at my carpets

I had a cat that nearly died as a kitten from rhino, which left him with chronic sinus problems his entire life. I was amazed at all the snot marks he left all over the house the first time I pulled out a black light. Some were flecks, some were spots, and they were on floors, carpets, furniture, and within a 3 foot radius of every where he went in the house.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by the_food_lady

I'm just not sure how to go about tackling the hundreds of spots.

For carpets and furniture - just rent a shampooer (if you don't have one) or get someone in to clean them for you. Use a enzyme cleaner.

 

[the_food_lady]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

For carpets and furniture - just rent a shampooer (if you don't have one) or get someone in to clean them for you. Use a enzyme cleaner.

But that's the thing; for the 8 years I've owned this house, I've faithfully had my carpets steam-cleaned twice a year. The last time was in August. So getting carpets cleaned, unless they're actually professionally cleaned with some kind of special enzymatic cleaner, won't do anything. Obviously all of the cleaning I've done to date hasn't helped, at least from the "glowing spot" perspective.

 

[kittylover7777]

Hello.....I'm so glad you wrote in because you took the words right out of my mouth!   I should have written this letter!     My female cat had a urinary tract infection and I saw her going in two main areas.   After she got better I kept cleaning the area with vinegar and peroxide and a million other things.  I could not tackle it so I called a company to come out to clean the areas.   He brought a black light with him and I thought it was just two areas!  There were millions of flecks EVERYWHERE!  Places the cat never goes?   I still cannot believe that is pet urine.   As you said, my house would have stunk!   I have just two cats and I would have smelled it if that were going on???  I wish I knew the answer to this too! 

 

[ondine]

I had the same reaction the first time I shone the black light in my house.  I learned quickly that the skin cells you shed can glow because my entire kitchen wall lit up like New Year's.  It was from dust and dust is mostly skin cells.  All this time, I'd thought I was a good housekeeper but honestly, it never occurred to me to dust the walls!

And you're right, the regular carpet cleaners aren't going to get rid of the biological stuff.  You'll need an enzyme cleaner for that.

I too remember being at parties with black lights and seeing disembodied lips, eyes and jewelry just floating in the air.  And the kids today think they invented the weird stuff!