Cathy Rosenthal

True or false? Can black lights detect urine spots?

True. If you smell urine, but can't put your eyes on it, then wait until dark, turn off the lights and turn on a black light to find the stain. You may discover that your male dog or cat has been spraying the wall, which is why you smell the pee, but can't ever find the wet spot on the floor.

Once you find it though, how do you get rid of the stain and odor? One product I recently discovered that is specially formulated to eat up the biological materials left behind is Clean+Green, an eco-friendly product safe for pets, kids and the environment. Clean+Green is available for different surface-types, such as furniture, carpets, tile and wood floors, which is something I had never seen before. And, there are different products to solve different pet odors, like cage odors for birds, ferrets and small animals, litter box odors for cats, or odors from pet urine, poop or vomit. They even have a de-skunk coat cleaner for dogs, which is made from nontoxic botanicals and is safe to spray right on your skunked pet — and yourself. I have a friend who could have used this product on her dog Zeke a few months ago. He likes to bother things he shouldn't.

I decided to test two of their products. I used the litter box refresher and was pleased to discover that it was odor-free, absorbed the kitty box smells, and didn't impact my cat's usage of the litter box. That was important because cats can be sensitive to smells. I passed the carpet stain remover on to a friend with dogs that are stubborn about relieving themselves outside when it's raining. The weather forecast called for rain, so our experiment only took a few days. When her dog pooped on the carpet, she said the product worked quickly, was easy to use, and left no lingering odor. She was thrilled.

I wondered how these products might work on tile or in eliminating bird or ferret cage odors, so I asked Clean+Green if my readers could test out their products, too. They said yes, so here's the deal. Write to me at cathy@petpundit.com and tell me about your stinky pet stains or odors and I will choose six readers to receive a free can of this pet cleaner — whatever product you want to try — absolutely free. I just want to hear from you after you use it to hear how it works for you. You can look at the products at http://www.odorandstainremover.com.

Did you know?

A few years ago, the San Antonio Area Foundation launched a campaign to raise money to provide resources for local animal groups to create awareness, education and action projects, especially in the area of pet adoptions and the spaying and neutering of dogs and cats.

Since then, more than 90,000 dogs and cats have been sterilized in San Antonio; there has been a 44 percent increase in the number of dogs and cats adopted in area homes; and euthanasia numbers have dropped from 50,000 to 26,000 annually.

Good news, but obviously more work still needs to be done if we want to become a No Kill community. If you can help, visit www.saafdn.org to donate to the San Antonio Area Foundation's Animal No Kill Fund.

Send your pet stories and questions to Cathy M. Rosenthal, c/o Features Department, San Antonio Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297-2171, or cathy@petpundit.com. Cathy's advice column runs every Sunday. You can read her blog, Animals Matter, at www.mysanantonio.com