Nice house - downstairs smelt of pets (cat!!)

RedfordML

Viewing a house on Thurs, really nice but had a pet odour which really put me off.

My partner really likes the property but I ruled it out due to the pet smells.

Anyone else been in this position before? Or even brought a house which had pet smells prior? Can you get these smells out?

Thankyou!

SuzieSue

Is it carpeted downstairs? If, so I would have thought that replacing the carpets would get rid of it.

Jangin

I would hope that when the cat moved out it would take some of the smell with it. What do cats actually smell of?

Werdnal

As above, carpets and soft furnishings can hold pet smells., Once the vendor's furniture is gone, it may improve anyway, but a change of carpets and a lick of paint will knock any lingering odours on the head. Plus once the pet responsible has moved out, it will no longer be topping up the smell, so it will diminish quite quickly.

Pet owners get immune to the smell of their own animals, so likely that the vendor does not even notice it themselves. TBH I'd rather buy a place from a pet owner than a heavy smoker, as nicotine staining and smoke smell is far harder to get rid of.

RedfordML

This smelt a real musty, slight cat wee smells. They have lived in the property for a long time and maybe they are unaware. It hit me the second I walked in.

Maybe carpets could be removed but if that did not work, I would be very regretful buying the property!!!

I also do not own any pets (unless you include 2 children lol!!!)

Werdnal

Jangin wrote: »

I would hope that when the cat moved out it would take some of the smell with it. What do cats actually smell of?

I take it the OP means a cat urine smell. Vendors may have their own cat who has accidents indoors, keep a litter tray which is perhaps not at clean as it should be, or have a visiting "tom" who has marked his territory. If you need to ask what a cat smells like, you have obviously never been unlucky enough to smell cat pee!

phoebe1989seb

Jangin wrote: »

I would hope that when the cat moved out it would take some of the smell with it. What do cats actually smell of?

We have three cats - two (Persians) of which are house cats - and they don't smell at all.......although granted, their litter trays can smell a little (despite using low-odour catsan litter) prior to being cleaned out Unless the carpets are new I would be expecting to replace these in any house purchase, regardless of what pets the previous owners kept.......

If we have ever had any accidents, cat wee-wise (we used to have a slightly incontinent old cat, lol!) we have got rid of the aroma with Simple Solution, although this works best on *fresh* wee

Totally agree that pet owners become immune to the smells their pets give off though and I too would much rather have pet smells than stale cigarette smoke!

Better_Days

I agree with SuzieSue. If the house is otherwise what you are looking for I would put in an offer taking into account the cost of replacing the carpet and underlay. I am assuming that the smell is of cat urine (which can be rather pungent especially in the case of 'entire' toms), and if the cat has tiddled on the carpet it is quite difficult to get rid of the smell. It does fade over time, and if caught quickly the biological specialist pet urine etc cleaners do help.

I wouldn't discount an otherwise excellent property because of this, but it does depend on how bad the problem is, something which is hard to gauge here from my laptop! Also depends on how sensitive your sense of smell is. Mine has become much more sensitive since my illness and I am badly affected by odours which DH can't smell at all.

kerri_gt

Unless it's been really bad new carpets, a good airing, and the current owners soft furnishings going should get rid of the smell. Did you see any litter trays about? It's possible that they aren't being changed often enough too.

If you need to wash anything, biological laundry liquid breaks down the enzymes in animal urine so use that first before any disinfectant type product.

Gingernutty

'Chronic' odours can transcend the soft furnishings.

If the cats are old or badly house trained then the wee could have soaked through the carpets into the floorboards and so forth.

There are sprays that you can buy that have enzymes and bactericides especially for 'that' odour but it's' expensive, time consuming and will probably need repeated applications.

Try and give it a miss....

BitterAndTwisted

Sprinkling bicarb on the carpet and leaving it overnight before vacuuming it up could get rid of it. Biological laundry detergent is also rumoured to remove pet smells, so a session with a RugDoctor may be all you need to do before you eventually replace the carpets.