Cats, like many other animals, tend to urinate repeatedly in the same places. When cleaning or removing urine stains, you must neutralize the odor — not just mask it — or the cat will likely return to the spot and dampen it again. Urine can seep down into the carpet padding and floor boards, so start cleaning the area as quickly as possible.

1) First, absorb as much urine as possible by pressing the area with paper towels, then rinse with water.

2) Apply diluted vinegar (3 parts vinegar to 1 part water) to the spot (do not rub) and let dry. (Test a small section first to make sure that the vinegar won’t harm the carpet.) Rinse the area with water.

3) Sprinkle baking soda over the spot, let sit for several hours, and then vacuum. Repeat as necessary.

With regard to keeping cats out of a particular room (assuming the room doesn’t have a door), you’d have to either keep them penned or erect a barricade that they couldn’t vault; but one way to break a cat’s habit of urinating in a room is to dip a cotton ball in lemon extract, squeeze out the excess, and place it in an aluminum tea ball (designed to hold loose tea). Hang the tea ball by its hook in the spot where your cat is urinating — the smell should keep the cat away. Refresh the lemon once a week until the cat is trained.

The point in a planet’s orbit that is farthest from the Sun.

Boy, do I have problems!