cats pee and paintwork?

[GasDoc]

Something has got onto my car boot and made the topcoat go cloudy, but has also bleached the paint underneath. Obvious from certain angles, esp when in the shade. What the heck can do this? Most of the time the car is garaged. I'm not aware of anything having spilt on it. I know our cat pee'd on my car cover which spent a few days on the car recently. Could it be this (I think cats pee contains ammonia).
Many thanks for any opinions.

[PJ S]

I would extremely dubious and sure that urine of any domestic animal, inc ourselves, is strong enough to do the kind of damage.
If the clearcoat is cloudy, how are you able to ascertain the paint layer below it has faded?
A couple of pics might be useful in this instance.

[GasDoc]

A TVR body shop had a go at removing the marks in the lacquer and found they went through to the paint which had bleached. Although they have done a good job and it's now less obvious, it's still there. A re-spray is needed to get rid of it, I've been told. I'm curious as to what can do this to a car's paint.

Edited by GasDoc on Saturday 20th June 14:21

Edited by GasDoc on Saturday 20th June 14:23

[PJ S]

If they've struck through (idiots!) then sounds more like a simple case of clearcoat failure, which is something Audis are renowned for, and another forum member's Civic (Type R?) had similar issue around the door edge.
More common on/near edges, but doesn't mean it can't happen mid-panel, especially if buffed previously and left too thin for the clear to protect (UV deflection) the paint.

[GasDoc]

can anything be done in your opinion, short of a total re-paint

[PJ S]

I suspect the issue was always going to result in a respray, no matter - but have my suspicions confirmed, as best they can be, by contacting Anatol and KDS, both of whom are/have been painters by trade.
Another is paintman or paintguy - he too should be worth asking.

[paintman]

If the clearcoat has failed, or there are problems with the basecoat then refinishing is the only option.
Equally, if the lacquer has come off - either by peeling away from the basecoat or by going through with a polisher - then again its a refinish job as the basecoat will either have been damaged or affected by exposure so just lacquering is likely to leave an odd patch visible under the new lacquer. Plus you are likely to have issues with lacquer adhesion further down the line.
And bonnet, roof or boot is usually the whole panel to avoid visble edge issues.
Don't know whether cat pee would cause the problem though, not one I've heard before! (I'll be keeping a VERY close eye on our cat!)

[GasDoc]

Thanks for the useful replies. I'm going to have to live with it for now.