Why does your urine smell like ammonia?

We who work in Urology sees this all the time. When urine smells of ammonia it means you have a urine infection. It's treated with antibiotics so see your doctor.

Urine is high in nitrates, compounds high in nitrogen and oxygen. Ammonia is made up of nitrogen and hydrogen. (NH3) What you are smelling is the high concentration of bonded nitrogen.

Normally, diluted urine doesn't have much odor. If you're dehydrated and your urine becomes highly concentrated, it can have a strong ammonia smell. (Source - Mayo Clinic)

As a general precaution, If you are smelling ammonia in your urine, it would not be a bad idea to go to your general practitioner (family doc) and have a hepatic function panel done to rule out serious liver issues.

In our urine, Ammonia acts as an absorber and leads to water absorption.