Thank you, Bob and others!  Much appreciated...  Since the urine did not 
penetrate inside the casing of the laptop, I was able to sponge it off 
with a rag dampened (_not_ wet!) in water with a pet-odor enzyme product 
for hard surfaces spritzed on the rag, then wiped with another one 
dampened with plain water, and allowed it to dry thoroughly.  Same with 
the accessory CD/DVD drive which I had just bought separately! -- I got 
lucky on that one!  Had to replace the headset but that was only two 
bucks at a local secondhand store.  A new-to-me carrying case was 
another dollar at the same store since the old case dried with the odor 
still in it (I threw it out).  I treated the cords and wires with 
another pet-odor product for soft surfaces such as carpet and furniture; 
worked fine! so I didn't have to replace them.

LOL Denise! -- I was not at liberty to do as I wished with those dratted 
cats!  LOL  Instead, now the laptop stays in the car or at home when I 
visit my cousin...  I have cats too, so the laptop is stowed in a room 
where they do not have access.

_Love_ that little laptop; it's an HP "Mini" but it does everything the 
"big ones" do.

:-)  Joyce in SE Ohio

On 3/4/2011 10:39 AM, Bob Wright wrote:
> At 01:02 PM 2/1/2011, you wrote:
>> Seriously...  I'm not joking!  I need to know if there is some kind 
>> of cleaning fluid that is safe for my laptop and its peripherals.  I 
>> spent three nights with my elderly cousin last week, and her cats 
>> anointed the canvas case and all.  Now even the headset and the 
>> cords, not to mention the auxiliary disk drive, reek of cat urine.  
>> (I was able to launder the computer case and it got clean.)  Help?!  
>> Please???  Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Joyce in SE Ohio
>
>
> Joyce,
>
> Over the years I have cleaned quite a few laptop keyboards and cases 
> that have worse problems than your's.  I notice you did not state that 
> this cat urine has stopped the function of your laptop.  It could have 
> caused a short circuit inside the laptop, so your problem seems to be 
> only cosmetic.
>
> I recommend that you remove the battery and give it a few minutes for 
> the laptop to discharge residue electricity.  Then, you can open the 
> case by removing the screws on the bottom and the shell should part 
> easily, but do not force it.  You then can use spray Lysol on a cloth 
> or one of the pet urine products others have mentioned to remove the 
> urine from case parts, remove the keyboard and wipe it clean; and, any 
> other areas inside where the urine has accumulated.  I cannot 
> overstate that these parts need to be thoroughly dry before you 
> reassemble the laptop.  Moisture is not your friend inside a laptop.  
> But, when it comes to opening the laptop, just be careful, take your 
> time and if you remove something, be sure that you reinstall it 
> exactly as you found it.
>
> As far as your peripherals, it is basically the same, even your 
> headset and external drive.
>
> I am amazed that the cat urine did not short out something inside the 
> laptop.  Although the smell is rank, I think you really got off 
> lucky.  Cosmetic cleaning is not as difficult as replacing 
> short-circuited components. Next time you visit your cousin, I might 
> offer that you consider keeping the whole laptop, case and all, inside 
> a plastic bag when you are not using it.
>
>   Bob Wright
> Managing Senior Partner
> The NoSpin Group, Inc. (a non-profit Corp.)
> http://freepctech.com - http://nospin.org - http://nospin.com
> PCBUILD - PCSOFT - NOSPIN-L - FREEPCTECH mailing lists
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