I hope nobody else ever has this problem...

[john_kahmann3]

<p>Feel free to laugh if you must, but I'm in a pickle. I have a Lowepro Photo Trekker, which holds by just about all of my gear. I left it sitting on my nightstand and sometime later discovered my wife's cat pee'd on it. I dont know how long it had been, but the smell is aweful! Do the masses think that running it through the washing machine on a gentle cycle would hurt ( after triple checking to make sure the cameras aren't in there!!)? Thanks in advance.</p>

[a._j._jacobs]

<p>There's this stuff at pet stores called Nature's Miracles Odor Remover, it helps. If you took out the padding in the backpack, sprayed it down then washed on gentle it would probably be fine. But I've never done it so you may want to wait to see what others say. :)</p>

[rnt]

<p>I had a cat pee on a fanny pack once. It (the cat) belongs to my wife, so there wasn't much I could do to it in retribution. I ended up putting the pack in a larger garbage bag with water and a box of baking soda for a few days. Seemed to work, but no guarantees- cat pee is amazingly persistant.</p>

[tomwatt]

<p>Never had that, but had a rat problem in my studio... after going through a couple of boxes of DCon, I was sure I'd nailed all of the little bastages... then popped open my camera case to stow a lens and discovered that all that rat poison had been neatly put into the lens pouch.<br>

Although cat pee is a crummy smell, I'd rather have a cat than rats. Just remember, things can always get worse.</p>

[RobertChura]

<p>I think if you ran the cat through the washer that might help... Oh wait you meant the camera bag!</p>

[Damon DAmato]

<p>I have two cats, and cast another vote for Nature's Miracle. Follow the directions carefully-- you want it to dry very slowly so the enzymes have a chance to work. Most cases use closed cell foam, so maybe it didn't absorb any and it's all on the surface fabric. If you decide to go this route, don't wash it first.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I put things in the washing machine that were never meant to go there all the time, and have pretty good luck.</p>

<p> </p>

[john_h.1]

<p>I had a dog go in my camera bag. It was on the ground near the edge of a lake and the dog ran right over to it. The owner came over and was very apologetic. I was quite mild mannered about it until he absolutely insisted on applying windex to my lenses which he saw in the bag. He actually had windex in his car. He was very surprised when I sternly warned him off telling him not to touch my lenses "with that stuff". While he was complaining about not being able to "help" me by cleaning my lenses, his dog was perfectly sitting in the sunset view looking at people out on a dock. Despite the general distress, it was a must get image. I managed to get a real good shot out of it too along with a story behind it of course.</p>

<p>It turned out well as little harm was done. The dog didn't have go all that bad apparently and everything was able to be cleaned up without too much fuss. I closed the bag in future occasions. Holsters and belt add-ons are used now which is even better.</p>

<p>On various occasions, especially at beach like settings, people arrive with a dog, unleash it and let it run. That's fine if the dog doesn't have a habit of honing in on someone else in the area like a heat seeking missle. But no, These dogs, literally unleashed, always seem to run right towards me. I have to grab the camera and tripod so they don't knock it over. Twice now a 'let loose' dog shredded up the pristine sand ripples that I was about to shoot at near ground level with my camera low on the tripod right at the critical sunset moment as they ran in circles hyped up, sniffing and otherwise causing a ruckus. Bad luck perhaps. One time, however, one huge dog ran over and began snarling at me for no apparent reason. The owner had a gee whiz attitude and merely called the dog's name a couple times. I had to insist that the owner walk over and physically take it away and not just stand there while it was going nuts. Had it actually attacked, it would have been necessary to give it a swift introduction to my heavy Bogen tripod as it was the only defense being out in the open as I was. The dog pee incident was kinda funny and seemed like it was a shocking surprise to the owner but this other stuff gets old very quick and the owners know what their dogs will do and don't care.</p>

<p>I don't have the expertise to give you advice about the cat's business but you did give me a platform, of sorts, to vent about these dog run-ins. I like dogs and all but, if if they are out of control, it is just irresponsible to make others be the hapless victim of it. Anyone else get this stuff happening to them?</p>

[michaelging]

<p>I once had a Tiger, stand over my camera bag and fill it with pee on a fashion shoot. I tried everthing at the time, and ended up dumping it. I would try the Nature's Miracle or something I use with my dog, called "Simple Solution" you can get it at the pet store.</p>

[lenny_purdie]

<p>Had a cat pee on my old sofa. Tried everything to get rid of the smell. And every time I thought I got it, as soon as it got humid, the smell came back. About that time Mythbusters did a show on skunk smell removal. In the end only one commercial product and one homemade product worked. So, I tried the homemade verson on the sofa and have been using it on all cat "issues" ever since. <br>

So in short try:</p>

<ul>

<li>1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide</li>

<li>1/4 cup baking soda</li>

<li>1 teaspoon of liquid soap</li>

</ul>

<p>Mix it together and soak your bag. Then run it through the wash to clean it out. </p>

[cjtj50]

<p>Nature's Miracle you cannot go wrong. I picked mine up at a pet shop. Have a good day.</p>

[john_kahmann3]

<p>Thanks for all the advice. We'll see how it turns out.</p>

[terrygilroy]

<p>When it pee's it belongs to your wife, I bet if it caught a few mice it would belong to you. Cats belong to no one. Hang it out in the wind for a while - the bag that is!</p>