How to Clean Dog or Cat Urine Stains From Your Mattress

As a pet parent, you love your furry family members. However, if your cat or dog peed on your mattress, you may be struggling to locate those warm, fuzzy feelings at the moment. When you find yourself with pet pee on your bed, don't stress! Instead, read up on the best way to remove those urine stains with the products pet professionals and cleaning experts recommend.

Once you've cleaned your mattress, take a look at some ways to help prevent your pet from having an accident again. Both you and your cat or dog will appreciate this low-hassle approach to cleaning up those pet stains!

The products you'll need depends on your personal preferences, so let's explore two of the best options for cleaning pet stains from a mattress.

You could use a DIY 50/50 solution of water and vinegar on pet urine. However, many experts recommend enzyme-based cleaners instead. Caitlin Sole, Senior Associate Home Editor with BHG.com, shares her tips for cleaning up pet messes. Sole relies on enzyme-based cleaners for any stains her Great Pyrenees leaves. "[T]he enzymes work to break down the urine to eliminate odors and stains, whereas vinegar might remove the stain but mask any odors," Sole says.

Enzyme-based cleaners work on other pet stains and on a variety of surfaces as well. Just be sure to read the label's instructions before use, Sole cautions.

Sole recommends Puracy Pet Urine Eliminator for getting a deeper clean, and Rocco & Roxie Professional Strength Stain & Odor Eliminator for spot treatments.

Aside from a cleaning solution, you'll also need absorbent paper towels and a vacuum cleaner.

Before you tackle the urine stains on the mattress, remove any bedding and toss it into the washing machine.

If the urine on the mattress is still wet, soak up as much as you can by blotting it with paper towels. Resist the urge to rub the towels back and forth—this will only massage the urine into the mattress.

When you've cleaned up any wet urine, or if you're working with dried urine, spray either the vinegar solution or the enzyme cleaner on the areas of the mattress where your pet's accident occurred. Coat the entire affected area and let the cleaning product sit for about 5 minutes to do its magic. 

After you've allowed your cleaning product to soak in, grab some fresh paper towels and blot the excess moisture again.

Ensure the now-diluted urine comes out of your mattress by sprinkling a generous layer of baking soda over the urine stains to draw out moisture. Let the baking soda sit for a few hours, or even overnight, if possible.

Once the baking soda has had time to work, grab the vacuum to clean the baking soda from your mattress.

Can you still see pee stains on the bed? If so, repeat steps 3-6.

RELATED: How To Keep Your Spring Cleaning Safe for Pets, With Advice From the Experts 

It's no fun to walk into your room and discover cat or dog pee on your bed. It's even less fun to clean. But why did your pet urinate on your mattress in the first place? Answering this question is the first step in preventing your pet from peeing on your bed again.

The first step to addressing any potty issues with your pet is to schedule a visit with your veterinarian. Pets suffering from conditions like diabetes or incontinence may have more frequent accidents, and it's important to get any medical conditions diagnosed so you can help your pet get the appropriate treatment. "Pets are more likely to urinate in usual places that are often also a place of comfort when they are not feeling well," says Haylee Bergeland, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, RBT and pet health and behavior editor for Daily Paws.

The thorough cleaning you gave your mattress is the next step in prevention, as any lingering urine smell may encourage your cat or dog to pee on the bed again. Michelle Burch, DVM from Safe Hounds Pet Insurance, notes, "Even if you cannot smell the urine, your pet's nose is a much more sensitive organ and can smell [it]." Burch is another fan of enzyme-based cleaners for this reason. Bergeland adds to be sure any cleaning products used don't contain ammonia, as ammonia in particular can make the smell of urine stronger, not better.

Even though we might think our pets are potty trained, they actually may only be potty trained in certain contexts. Or, you may be missing your pet's subtle signs that they need to go outside. "Consider adding a bell to your doors so that your dog has an easier way to communicate they need to be let out," Bergeland suggests. "For cats, add extra litter boxes. One cat needs at least two litter boxes." Adding additional boxes somewhere else in the house gives your cat easier access to help prevent accidents.