Cat odor in House
syt...@hotmail.com
I'm considering moving and I've found a house that I like.
There's a very powerful cat odor in the house due to the fact that the
owners have 5 cats as well as a few litter boxes throughout the house. I
haven't noticed any stains on the wood floors or on the carpet.
I was wondering if the odor will vanish once they move out or will I be
facing a problem in trying to eliminate this odor and if so, what do I need
to do?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
--
Please Post AND Reply by e-mail to:
syt...@hotmail.com
syt...@hotmail.com
Betsy Schwartz
Cat odor is incredibly hard to get rid of. It will come back to haunt you
on hot humid days or cold wet ones. I have two cats so I've usually lived
in houses that were previously occupied by cat-owner, since landlors who
allow pets get them.
In one house, a previous tenant had kept her kitty-litter box in the PANTRY
(bleah) There was some cat-urine smell in the wood and I dumped so much
enzymatic cleaner and Nature's Miracle and other fun stuff onto the wood
that I ended up warping it. If Ihad owned the house I would have replaced
the floorboards...and prayed that the smell wasn't in the joists.
In the house before THAT, there was a scent from the wall-to-wall carpet in
one room . We finally got the landlords to pull it up and discovered that
the foam underneath was an eroded mess and whatever was beneath the foam
waspretty bad too. Plus, the neighbor cats kept coming around to pee on the
porch in front of the front door. I think my cat peed back on HIS side of
the door. Needless to say I never dd get the cat odor out of the front
hallway despite many honest attempts.
Our new house is mercifully odor-free but there's a huge ugly stain on the
wood floor which has been blamed on the dogs of two owners ago.
If this house you are looking at smells even though the current owners have
presumably tried to clean it up for sale, I would pass unless you are
prepared to live with it. If you have a cat or dog, also, they WILL
attempt to mark their territory anywhere that the previous resident cats
have peed. Even the best cats will do this.
--
bet...@shore.net http://www.shore.net/~betsys
bet...@cs.umb.edu http://www.cs.umb.edu/~betsys
If this looks funny I'm typing with the baby on my lap!
Ms. Coleman
syt...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> I'm considering moving and I've found a house that I like.
>
> There's a very powerful cat odor in the house due to the fact that the
> owners have 5 cats as well as a few litter boxes throughout the house. I
> haven't noticed any stains on the wood floors or on the carpet.
>
> I was wondering if the odor will vanish once they move out or will I be
> facing a problem in trying to eliminate this odor and if so, what do I need
> to do?
>
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Please Post AND Reply by e-mail to:
> syt...@hotmail.com
Well I don't know how long the folks had the cats, but I moved into
my house last November, and in April I (somewhat against my desires)
became the owner of a stray cat. As it turned out, she was pregnant
and had two kittens. From May through August, the cats lived on my
carpeted sunporch. At the end of August, I decided I was ready to use
my sunporch as a sunporch and not a haven for homeless cats, so I
evicted the cats (to the minibarn out back), and went to the job of
getting rid of all traces of the pesky felines. Prior to the cats
moving in, the sunporch housed leftover boxes and furniture from the
move, all of which the cats choose to sit on, sleep on, play on, etc.
I removed the boxes, blankets, litter box, etc., and when EVERYTHING
was gone, I shampooed the carpet. Then I lit several scented candles
and let them burn all day. Believe it or not, by the next day
there was no detectable cat odor. I also left the windows open to let
it "air out". I realize you probably have a much bigger problem, but I
think if there aren't spots on the carpets, or urine in the wood floors,
you should be able to get rid of the odors with a thorough cleaning and
deodorizing once they've been gone for a few weeks.
EMC
syt...@hotmail.com
In article <609e6u$8ro$1...@cronkite.d48.lilly.com>, "Ms. Coleman"
<"coleman_edrice_"@ lilly.com> wrote:
Wow, that's the first good news I've heard. It gives me hope. Thanks
Elaine Gallegos
Ms. Coleman <"coleman_edrice_"@lilly.com> wrote:
: became the owner of a stray cat. As it turned out, she was pregnant
: and had two kittens. From May through August, the cats lived on my
: carpeted sunporch. At the end of August, I decided I was ready to use
: my sunporch as a sunporch and not a haven for homeless cats, so I
: evicted the cats (to the minibarn out back), and went to the job of
: getting rid of all traces of the pesky felines. Prior to the cats
: moving in, the sunporch housed leftover boxes and furniture from the
: move, all of which the cats choose to sit on, sleep on, play on, etc.
: I removed the boxes, blankets, litter box, etc., and when EVERYTHING
: was gone, I shampooed the carpet. Then I lit several scented candles
: and let them burn all day. Believe it or not, by the next day
: there was no detectable cat odor.
Cats don't HAVE a bad odor. The presence of cats won't make your house
smell bad. Those cats were just sleeping and playing on your stuff. They
were evidently not URINATING on any of it. If they had been piddling on
your stuff, a little candle and some carpet cleaner would not fix it.
I have three cats and my house does not stink.
I also left the windows open to let
: it "air out". I realize you probably have a much bigger problem, but I
: think if there aren't spots on the carpets, or urine in the wood floors,
: you should be able to get rid of the odors with a thorough cleaning and
: deodorizing once they've been gone for a few weeks.
: EMC
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elaine Gallegos
sat...@primenet.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Becky Steele
In article <sytech-ya02408000...@netnews.worldnet.att.net> syt...@hotmail.com (syt...@hotmail.com) writes:
>From: syt...@hotmail.com (syt...@hotmail.com)
>Subject: Cat odor in House
>Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 14:45:41 -0500
>I'm considering moving and I've found a house that I like.
>There's a very powerful cat odor in the house due to the fact that the
>owners have 5 cats as well as a few litter boxes throughout the house. I
>haven't noticed any stains on the wood floors or on the carpet.
>I was wondering if the odor will vanish once they move out or will I be
>facing a problem in trying to eliminate this odor and if so, what do I need
>to do?
>Any advice would be appreciated.
>Thanks
Hi,
If you're talking about a *urine* odor, it may be impossible to remove,
unless you rip up the carpet and padding, sand the floors underneath, and coat
the floors with something like polyurethane. You may not see any stains on
the carpet, but that doesn't mean the pee isn't there. When my cat sprays in
the living room, his pee never stains the carpet. Staining has never been a
problem for me -- the odor has been.
The only way I know of to find out where the invisible pee stains are (if
there are any) is to use a flourescent black light.
If it were me, I would not purchase a house that had any kind of cat urine
odor in it, either in the wood floors or in the carpet, unless I was willing
to do a *lot* of work to get rid of it. It has to be the most difficult odor
in the world to get rid of.
Good luck.
Becky
dpth...@lucent.com
Becky Steele wrote:
> If it were me, I would not purchase a house that had any kind of cat urine
> odor in it, either in the wood floors or in the carpet, unless I was willing
> to do a *lot* of work to get rid of it. It has to be the most difficult odor
> in the world to get rid of.
>
I'll second what Becky said. My mother bought a house with a cat urine
problem and I later bought a house of my own with the same problem.
Never again! Professional cleaners and enzymes only temporarily solved
the problem. In both cases, we had to rip up the carpeting, padding,
and base boards, and paint around the edges with polyurethane. I might
also mention that the stench was pretty bad when we pulled up the
carpeting. It was not a pleasant job.
Joseph M. Funtal
Becky Steele wrote:
>
> In article <sytech-ya02408000...@netnews.worldnet.att.net> syt...@hotmail.com (syt...@hotmail.com) writes:
> >From: syt...@hotmail.com (syt...@hotmail.com)
> >Subject: Cat odor in House
> >Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 14:45:41 -0500
>
> >I'm considering moving and I've found a house that I like.
>
> >There's a very powerful cat odor in the house due to the fact that the
> >owners have 5 cats as well as a few litter boxes throughout the house. I
> >haven't noticed any stains on the wood floors or on the carpet.
>
> >I was wondering if the odor will vanish once they move out or will I be
> >facing a problem in trying to eliminate this odor and if so, what do I need
> >to do?
>
> >Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> >Thanks
>
> Hi,
>
> If you're talking about a *urine* odor, it may be impossible to remove,
> unless you rip up the carpet and padding, sand the floors underneath, and coat
> the floors with something like polyurethane. You may not see any stains on
> the carpet, but that doesn't mean the pee isn't there. When my cat sprays in
> the living room, his pee never stains the carpet. Staining has never been a
> problem for me -- the odor has been.
>
> The only way I know of to find out where the invisible pee stains are (if
> there are any) is to use a flourescent black light.
>
> odor in it, either in the wood floors or in the carpet, unless I was willing
> to do a *lot* of work to get rid of it. It has to be the most difficult odor
> in the world to get rid of.
>
>
> Becky
Well, Becky that's very good advice, I wish I would have read that
before I bought my house.
Short story; we look at house, one cat, not bad smelling at all. Final
walkthrough, they took in a stray, it had a litter of 7, cat piss
everywhere. Too late to turn back.
My wife has severe cat dander allergies. We ripped up the carpets and
padding, we found floorboards warped and tacking strips for the rug
soaked, yes still. Very disgusting.
The a$$hole owners kept the litter box in the basement, unfortunately,
the basement door was always closed. (Just to show I'm not downing
cats)
After $4k for new carpet and padding, we took clorox, straight, and
scrubbed the wood floor. (not advisable if you want the hardwood look)
Clorox and new carpets were the answer for us.
Best of Luck
Joe
Salem County Humane Society
> > evicted the cats (to the minibarn out back), and went to the job of
> > getting rid of all traces of the pesky felines. Prior to the cats
> > moving in, the sunporch housed leftover boxes and furniture from the
> > move, all of which the cats choose to sit on, sleep on, play on, etc.
> >
>
This is off topic to what the original poster posted, but I needed to
say this in response to EMC's response. I'm hoping you got the kittens
and the mama fixed, because if you didn't, you're just gonna have the
kitten problem at least 2-3 times per year for the rest of the time you
live there. Just wanted to let you know that. Sorry if this response is
posted to the wrong group.
--
Thank You,
The Salem County Humane Society
*******remove nospam to reply by email*****
http://www.jaguarsystems.com/schs
learn how you can help- save homeless homer symbols- For more info:
http://www.jaguarsystems.com/schs/schshp5.htm
Remeber: spay/neuter, adopt don't buy or breed, and always be ready to
take responsibility for litters that your animal has that you could have
prevented- don't leave the responsibility on overfilled shelters-Spay
and Neuter.
Jim Sokoloff
Joseph M. Funtal wrote:
> Short story; we look at house, one cat, not bad smelling at all. Final
> walkthrough, they took in a stray, it had a litter of 7, cat piss
> everywhere. Too late to turn back.
No, it probably wasn't. Now, it is of course.
[SNIP]
> The a$$hole owners kept the litter box in the basement, unfortunately,
> the basement door was always closed. (Just to show I'm not downing
> cats)
How exactly does this make them assholes? Are you trying to tell the
world that you BOUGHT A HOUSE and had NEVER GONE INTO THE BASEMENT
because a door was closed? Let's just say that my asshole compass isn't
exactly pointed at the previous owners...
---Jim
Becky Steele
In article <34297E...@tiac.net> Jim Sokoloff <soko...@tiac.net> writes:
>From: Jim Sokoloff <soko...@tiac.net>
>Subject: Re: Cat odor in House
>Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 20:54:24 GMT
>Joseph M. Funtal wrote:
>> The a$$hole owners kept the litter box in the basement, unfortunately,
>> the basement door was always closed. (Just to show I'm not downing
>> cats)
>How exactly does this make them assholes? Are you trying to tell the
>world that you BOUGHT A HOUSE and had NEVER GONE INTO THE BASEMENT
>because a door was closed? Let's just say that my asshole compass isn't
>exactly pointed at the previous owners...
>---Jim
I think what Joseph meant was that the previous owners kept the litter box in
the basement, but because the basement door was always kept closed (by the
previous owners), the cats used the rest of the house for a litter box.
(Is that right, Joseph?)
Becky
Joseph M. Funtal
Yes, thank you Becky that is exactly what I had intended to say. Thanks
also to Flamer Jim for going of the handle quite easily. (Still working
on reading comprehension for the SAT's huh?) Katz has an informative
review course you might want to look into ;)
Joe
Brian Peppel
Dittos I had to deal with the same problem.
Can anyone confirm a story I heard? It goes like this. A person bought a house
that was previously owned by somone with several cats. After months of
cleaning, deoderizing, etc the ONLY recource was to demolish the house and
rebuild! In the story I heard they actually burned the house to the foundation
and started again! I think this took place in FL. Has anyone else heard of such
a story? I think I heard it from Russ Miller, a home improvement talk radio guy
on WWDB 96.5 in Philadelpia on Satuday mornings some time ago.
PS I know of a cat "exterminator" if you need one.
-Brian
syt...@hotmail.com wrote:
> I'm considering moving and I've found a house that I like.
>
> There's a very powerful cat odor in the house due to the fact that the
> owners have 5 cats as well as a few litter boxes throughout the house. I
> haven't noticed any stains on the wood floors or on the carpet.
>
> I was wondering if the odor will vanish once they move out or will I be
> facing a problem in trying to eliminate this odor and if so, what do I need
> to do?
>
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
J.W.S
Elaine Gallegos wrote:
>
> Ms. Coleman <"coleman_edrice_"@lilly.com> wrote:
> : became the owner of a stray cat. As it turned out, she was pregnant
> : and had two kittens. From May through August, the cats lived on my
> : carpeted sunporch. At the end of August, I decided I was ready to use
> : my sunporch as a sunporch and not a haven for homeless cats, so I
> : getting rid of all traces of the pesky felines. Prior to the cats
> : moving in, the sunporch housed leftover boxes and furniture from the
> : move, all of which the cats choose to sit on, sleep on, play on, etc.
> : was gone, I shampooed the carpet. Then I lit several scented candles
> : and let them burn all day. Believe it or not, by the next day
> : there was no detectable cat odor.
>
> Cats don't HAVE a bad odor. The presence of cats won't make your house
> smell bad. Those cats were just sleeping and playing on your stuff. They
> were evidently not URINATING on any of it. If they had been piddling on
> your stuff, a little candle and some carpet cleaner would not fix it.
> I have three cats and my house does not stink.
>
> I also left the windows open to let
> : it "air out". I realize you probably have a much bigger problem, but I
> : think if there aren't spots on the carpets, or urine in the wood floors,
> : you should be able to get rid of the odors with a thorough cleaning and
> : deodorizing once they've been gone for a few weeks.
>
> : EMC
>
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Elaine Gallegos
> sat...@primenet.com
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
they do not pee all over the place and consequently do not smell. I was
happy to see someone stick up for the cats. The fault is with their
owners!!
Becky Steele
In article <3429B0...@ptdprolog.net> "J.W.S" <jw...@ptdprolog.net> writes:
>From: "J.W.S" <jw...@ptdprolog.net>
>Subject: Re: Cat odor in House
Not so fast there. You just happen to be one of the lucky ones in the
majority. I have a cat who is fixed, and I *assure* you he is properly taken
care of. He started spraying *after* he was fixed, and the spraying is due to
a medical (chronic) condition. It is being kept under control with medication.
Just wanted to make sure people out there didn't fault *all* cat owners who
have spraying cats. Some of us are doing everything we can to stop it (or, at
least, keep it under control as much as possible).
Becky
Jim Sokoloff
Joseph M. Funtal wrote:
> Yes, thank you Becky that is exactly what I had intended to say. Thanks
> also to Flamer Jim for going of the handle quite easily. (Still working
> on reading comprehension for the SAT's huh?) Katz has an informative
> review course you might want to look into ;)
Apologies for misinterpretting your post; it seems like this problem
should have made itself apparent before you moved in, had you throughly
inspected the property, but...
And if you want to get into comparing SAT scores, I humbly suggest you
pick someone else to compare to... :-)
---Jim
dan
Becky Steele wrote:
>Elaine Gallegos wrote:
> >I also have a cat, and if they are taken care of and properly fixed
> >they do not pee all over the place and consequently do not smell. I was
> >happy to see someone stick up for the cats. The fault is with their
> >owners!!
>
> Not so fast there. You just happen to be one of the lucky ones in the
> majority. I have a cat who is fixed, and I *assure* you he is properly taken
> care of. He started spraying *after* he was fixed, and the spraying is due to
> a medical (chronic) condition. It is being kept under control with medication.
>
> Just wanted to make sure people out there didn't fault *all* cat owners who
> have spraying cats. Some of us are doing everything we can to stop it (or, at
> least, keep it under control as much as possible).
>
> Becky
My parents have several cats that are fixed and well taken care of and
they still spray. I believe each cat is just trying to mark their
territory. S.R.
mitc...@image-link.com
Cats do and don't spray, wreck, furniture, fetch.....in the same house
at the same time.
Life is not predictable...if you don't want to take a chance, don't get
a cat--or any pet or have kid's or get married...
kflo...@kermode.net
On Mon, 29 Sep 1997 10:27:20, rst...@indiana.edu (Becky Steele)
wrote:
>In article <3429B0...@ptdprolog.net> "J.W.S" <jw...@ptdprolog.net> writes:
>>From: "J.W.S" <jw...@ptdprolog.net>
>>Subject: Re: Cat odor in House
>>Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 00:30:22 +0000
>
>>Elaine Gallegos wrote:
>>>
>>> Ms. Coleman <"coleman_edrice_"@lilly.com> wrote:
>>> : became the owner of a stray cat. As it turned out, she was pregnant
>>> : and had two kittens.
>>> : (snip)
>>>:I shampooed the carpet. Then I lit several scented candles
>>> : and let them burn all day. Believe it or not, by the next day
>>> : there was no detectable cat odor.
>>>
>>> Cats don't HAVE a bad odor. The presence of cats won't make your house
>>> smell bad. Those cats were just sleeping and playing on your stuff. They
>>> were evidently not URINATING on any of it. If they had been piddling on
>>> your stuff, a little candle and some carpet cleaner would not fix it.
There is, however, a naturally occurring product that *will* eliminate
even the odor of cat urine from both hard and soft surface items,
i.e., floors, floor coverings, furniture.
Years ago, my ex brought home a young bobcat - probably about
8-10 weeks old - that a young couple had found orphaned in Arizona.
They brought it back to their home in San Francisco and 2 wks later,
got word they'd been transferred to Hawaii. Couldn't take the cat.
I had a flash for him - they shouldn't have taken the cat
out of Arizona and he sure as heck shouldn't have brought
it home. Nonetheless, The Cat was ours.
Before anyone leaps all over me for keeping him - I had
little choice. No public or private zoo in No. California would
take him. They either didn't take domestic wild animals or
he was too old. Imagine being a "has been" at 2 1/2 months
of age!
Anyway - I won't bore you with the sordid details of "Life with Bob",
except to tell you that one afternoon, my daughter had a
doctor's appointment, so Bob had to be left to his own
devices - in the house. We had a spare bedroom that
had a lino (yes, I mean *lino* - not vinyl) flooring of the
sort used by hospitals. Bob went in and we went out.
When we returned home, I opened the bedroom door and
darling Bobby had piddled on the floor - well, not exactly
*on* the floor....it burned a hole *in* the floor. The aroma
was indescribable - unless you've spent some time around
the wolf cages at an outdated zoo.
I had a small bag of diatomaceous earth - poured it into
the hole and around it. Left it for about 15 minutes. Vacuumed
it up and turfed the vacuum bag. Voila! No smell.
D.earth is marketed under a variety of names, but the one
that comes to mind is "Non-Scents". Unfortunately, it's
one of those MLM products, so one has to locate a dealer
and be prepared for the usual "howdjaliketagetrichbaby"
routine - but it is a very effective means of eliminating
odors of any kind and, in terms of economy, it rates an "A",
since, after it's adsorbed (it adsorbs as opposed to absorbs)
the odor, 30 minutes in the sunshine returns it to "as new"
condition and it can be re-used.
It can probably be found otc, but not knowing the brand
names, thought I'd pass along the Non-Scents info.
K
Arnold & Jennifer Pomerance
syt...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> I'm considering moving and I've found a house that I like.
>
> There's a very powerful cat odor in the house due to the fact that the
> owners have 5 cats as well as a few litter boxes throughout the house. I
> haven't noticed any stains on the wood floors or on the carpet.
>
> I was wondering if the odor will vanish once they move out or will I be
> facing a problem in trying to eliminate this odor and if so, what do I need
> to do?
>
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
> --
Control". There's a fair number of products available, most of which
should be available at your local pet supply store. One of the best
I've used is Outright Pet Odor Eliminator. It works on old or new
odors, can be used on upholstery & carpets (and a lot of other things as
well!), is biodegradable, and is non-staining. (I don't sell the stuff;
I've used it often enough to know how well it works!)
Your best bet would be to open the windows of the new house for a few
days after the former owner moves out and before you move in! Plus
vacuum the entire house and clean/disinfect the areas where the former
tenant's litter pans were.
Jennifer Pomerance
an...@mindspring.com
*Is it ok to yell "MOVIE" in a crowded firehouse?--Brian J. Rueger*
bill
remover for pets or shampoo the carpets. If this does not work the
carpeting will have to be replaced:)
F1
I'm a professional carpet cleaner with 12 yrs experience.. I also
specialize in odor control.... I hope I'm not too late in helping you! To
do it right, you really need to call a professional who has a what we call
a "sniffer" and a professional black light that will find the urine. If it
is in the flooring, you have a serious problem! Many times the flooring
will need to be cleaned and "sealed". The padding will most likely need to
be replaced and the carpet also. Many times, if the cleaner is experienced
and knows what they are doing, it can be saved if it isn't too bad (the
carpet)... Forget the do-it-yourself stuff off the shelf, it either won't
work, or it won't last. A water spill or even humidity will bring the odor
right back.
F1
bill <hams...@ecpi.edu> wrote in article <3442F4...@ecpi.edu>...