# Cat Barf **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937 "2012-01-18T21:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/1 "2012-01-18T21:06:08Z")
Since there seem to be a lot of cat fans here, I am hoping someone has a solution to this problem. We have grey carpet. We bought it because it is about the same shade as the cat hair my two lovelies give off. Which means you can’t see the hair. The problem: cat puke stains. Not hairballs (those are pretty easy to get out) but actual throw up. The problem is that the offenses either happen when we are asleep or not there and we don’t notice them until _much_ later when it has almost dried. The largest part of the mess is usually easy to vacuum up with a beater brush but it leaves a beige/yellow stain on the carpet. Anyone had success with getting this kind of thing out? If so, what did you do or use? (The cats are perfectly healthy, this has happened over the course of five years and there are maybe 20 or so stains.) ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/2 "2012-01-18T21:31:13Z")
I have had very good results on cat blat (even old, dried cat blat stains) with [Spot Shot.](http://www.spotshot.com/) It’s pretty widely available. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/3 "2012-01-18T21:38:00Z")
Seconding Spot Shot. One of our kitties has a tendency to ralph more than the others, and she always picks the most prominent place to do it - either where we’ll step in it or where it will make the biggest stain. Spot Shot deals with the spots handily. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/4 "2012-01-18T21:54:02Z")
Third on the Spot Shot. I buy it at Target. I also try to minimize the amount of red colored food or treats. That red dye is the worst! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/5 "2012-01-18T22:27:18Z")
What kind of food do you feed them? I think better quality foods have less dyes and probably stain less. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/6 "2012-01-19T01:22:55Z")
I’ll just add to the Spot Shot chorus. While it’s not perfect on older stains it is by far the best thing I have found for the nasty bile stains. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/7 "2012-01-19T02:03:10Z")
Dang it, I’m too lazy to get up and go look. But there’s this stuff I buy for pet puke stains. It’s actually for pee stains, but neither of my pets has that sort of accident. My cat and dog both occasionally puke though. This stuff comes in a grey spray bottle and is specifically for getting out pee stains. It’s by a company that also does carpet shampoo. I think it’s one of the oxicleaner type things. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/8 "2012-01-19T02:14:50Z")
We use vinegar, seems to work pretty well. Not to hijack, but why do cats _insist_ on barfing on carpet? Our cat will start the “hurling” noises, and I’ll scoot him onto the kitchen tile. But he’ll turn around, run back to the living room, and barf away. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/9 "2012-01-19T02:19:34Z")
There’s one thing worse than stepping barefoot into a pile of cold cat puke. Stepping barefoot in a pile of WARM cat puke. I’ve found that cats seem to puke more with an exclusive diet of dry food. The greedy brats gobble up the dry food, drink water, and then hurl. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/10 "2012-01-19T03:01:33Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > There’s one thing worse than stepping barefoot into a pile of cold cat puke. > > Stepping barefoot in a pile of WARM cat puke. > > I’ve found that cats seem to puke more with an exclusive diet of dry food. The greedy brats gobble up the dry food, drink water, and then hurl. > ~VOW Stepping barefoot into a pile of any-temperature cat puke at 2am… :mad: I had a cat who I managed to train to only yak on the tile floor. I would pick her up when she started hurking and shut her in the bathroom until she did her thing. After a while she just started running into the bathroom herself. She was smarter than the average cat. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/11 "2012-01-19T06:48:28Z")
Spot Shot, Oxy Clean or High Traffic Pattern Resolve. Test the Oxy clean in a closet on a remnant. I have off-white carpet so I’m not sure what it would do to colored carpet. I have a cat who will be outside for hours then come inside and barf immediately. Once he threw up something with eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/12 "2012-01-19T10:28:40Z")
> [@campp](#): > > We use vinegar, seems to work pretty well. > > Not to hijack, but why do cats _insist_ on barfing on carpet? Our cat will start the “hurling” noises, and I’ll scoot him onto the kitchen tile. But he’ll turn around, run back to the living room, and barf away. 😕 They want the attention. If they’re gonna make the effort to hork, they want you to APPRECIATE that hork. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/13 "2012-01-19T14:31:34Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > What kind of food do you feed them? I think better quality foods have less dyes and probably stain less. Nutro Natural Choice (which is good food the last time I checked). Spot Shot seems to be the winner here. It chokes the living hell out of me but it’s supposed to be relatively (for January anyway) warm this weekend so I can probably at least air out my bedroom. If that doesn’t work, I willl look at some of the other options here. And the cats do not just exclusively throw up on the carpet at our house, the will only throw up on the carpet in our bedroom. When you see them running up two flights of stairs from the basement to get there, it’s just bizarre (but those ones don’t stain since I am behind them with water and paper towel). ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/14 "2012-01-19T14:49:58Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > There’s one thing worse than stepping barefoot into a pile of cold cat puke. > > Stepping barefoot in a pile of WARM cat puke. > > I’ve found that cats seem to puke more with an exclusive diet of dry food. The greedy brats gobble up the dry food, drink water, and then hurl. > ~VOW Having a cat toss his cookies on your bed at 3 am :mad: Nothing like being awakened by that very special “HNNNGHRHHH HNNGHRHHH HNNNGHRHHH!!!” My first cat ate wet food and was the pukiest beast I’ve ever seen. My current cat only eats dry (he flat out refuses wet food) and drinks water like crazy but mainly only throws up if he has hairballs or chews on the houseplants. I use Resolve pet stain formula, but pretty much any carpet cleaner spray will do the job. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-barf/609937/15 "2012-01-30T22:20:00Z")
Well, I am completely shocked but the Spot Shot worked better than I could imagine. I brought out our 500 watt (yes, you read that right) utility spotlight and cleaned everything I could see with it on. Under normal light, the carpet looks brand new! Five years of stains eradicated! Thanks, guys!