In article . com, Mark_Galeck wrote:
Hi, one of my 2 kitties is peeing on my bed sometimes. He isn't ill,
just nervous kind of guy. It's OK, I use tarp under the sheets and
wash the sheets. I want to make sure he doesn't do that elsewhere, on
carpets. So I bought the "blacklight/UV" light found in pet stores.
It does not seem to work!

After he pees on the sheets, I darken the room and use the light to
see how it works. Well, it does not - nothing shows up. Nothing
shows up when the urine is fresh. Nothing shows up when it's dried.
Nothing shows up even when it's night and everything is pitch black.
I tried 2 different brands, one of them really big, lots of
batteries. Nothing. I look really carefully and follow instructions
carefully. Make sure the batteries are new. Nothing, even when I can
see and smell the urine myself.

So of course this is never going to work on carpet or anywhere else.


What's going on? Why don't they work? Is there one urine detector
that really works? I have seen this thing AntiIckyPoo UV flashlight -
it does not use batteries, but extension cord and electricity from an
outlet, and is really expensive $70 (the lights found in pet stores
are $30 or less). Is this going to work?

Not all blacklights are the same wavelength. Urine flouresceses at
a particular wavelength, and the black lights sold in party stores,
etc. is not the right wavelength. I don't have the particulars in front
of me which is the correct UV band to light up urine, sorry. I suspect
that if you can find a blacklight that is also used to check for counterfeit
money, it will probably also work for spotting stains, I believe that they
are in the same UV band. But please, I'm not guarantee'ing that, but
I am fairly sure about the party type lights not working as I have one
as well and it doesn't work on stains. Some gem/rock collecting folks
use these as well, might be somewhere to look for a supplier as they
will have blacklights in different bands. I believe the urine glows under
UB B type lights, the party ones are UV A.

$.02
d.