My house smells of pets? :(

thelittlestranger

I don't know why but this is really upsetting me!

Apparently my house smells of 'pets' - I have two cats and a hamster.

My mum comments a lot on the smell of my house when she comes round, and it's starting to make me think that other people think this too.

Now my cats ARE naughty, but they use a covered litter tray with a carbon filter. I clean out 'clumps' every day. They do go out, just not very often. Unfortunately, we lost a cat about a year ago now and if I'm honest it's made us worry that if our cats were to go out all day and night something bad would happen again.

In the lounge (where people come in) I've used Glade shake n vac, and also a pet odour shake n vac. I have a Febreze air freshener on my coffee table, and use a Febreze fabric spray. I've been hoovering lots too. I've also cleaned all the sofas.

Then my mum popped round this morning and she said she can still smell it. She thinks the only way it will go is if I let the cats out all of the time.

Any advice? Feeling pretty embarassed!!!

JennyW_2

My brother has 2 cats and there is no pet smell in his house, but then again he doesn't have a litter tray and they are free to come and go.

I know you said you don't want them out all the time, and I understand this, but something could happen to your cat whether they are out for half an hour at lunchtime or if out all night - unfortuantely it's a sad fact of owning cats.

Could you let them out for the day and keep them in at night (but with NO tray), the cats should be able to go all night without a wee (as dogs do). one of my brother's cat is out all the time (he's male), but the girl stays in at night.

re the hamster, I have a hamster too and he wee's on his wheel - have you checked your hamster wheel for wee smell - might be worth checking.

to own 2 cats and a hamster shouldn't create pet smells (cats are very clean pets) so it will either be the litter tray or they have wee'd somewhere without you knowing.

krlyr

There's a thread going on in Old Style right now (posted the other day) that may help
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4234431

moggymutt

I know I'm in a minority here because most people on this forum like grey cat litter, but I cannot bear the smell of that sort of litter, and have to use wood pellet cat litter. I'm probably more immune to cat smell than most, having about 50 here at any one time, but I simply cant bear the smell of any cat litter other than wood based. I think the others all stink once used, even when regularly cleaned.
All my fosters think the same, and my vets will only use woodbased for the cats being hospitalised for that same reason.
Are you sure its not the shake n vac your mum can smell- I think that's pretty disgusting as well.
Everybody has different senses of smell, so don't worry that everybody is smelling it- they might not be. Have you a good friend that you could ask?

chocdonuty

Do you open windows often to get a good airing? By using air fresheners you are adding another smell on top, not eliminating the original smell.
Obviously with indoor cats you may have to go room by room in case they hop out the window, I have this problem too and being on the 2nd floor I definatly don't want my two hopping out the window :eek:
Also odour eleminators are quite good and candles too. It's difficult as if you live in a place all the time you get used to the smell, I'm always paranoid my house smells but I wouldn't be without my pets and do my best to ensure it doesn't, If visitors don't like it they know where the door is!

lostinrates

Muggy mutt,

We tried wood cat little, and I could smell the urine badly, though the clean wood pellet smells nice.

When we lived in a London flat I enlisted some very honest friends and had them do the sniff test when we changed litters, because one does get accustomed to the smell of ones own pets.

For us it's hands down clumping litters, but some are better than others, and new ones get better sometimes.

However, while they work well with my two cats on a twice daily clean up, on a regular basis of fifty cats I would be going with more than daily chucking of something like wood too, because I think that anything else wood be unaffordable and frankly, not my priority if I had so many cats.

pinkteapot

Do you have some close friends or other family that you can ask? Your mum might have a really strong sense of smell. I'd be asking other people (good friends who'd be honest with me) if they smell anything.

I don't notice cat households being smelly. Dogs can be a different matter!

Faith177

If you have carpets when you shake & vac use a broom and scrub it deep into the carpet leave for 5 mins then hoover I find this works well in my front room where the dogs are.

Also depending on what hoover you have put a car air freshner or one of those glade discreet squares above the filter on the outside. The heat of the hoover releases the smell. I use the Jelly Belly ones as they smell lush and last ages or the citrus glad discreet.

With the litter trays you can buy litter freshner powder sprinkle a little in the bottom of the tray before putting the litter in. As they move the litter around the freshner gets kicked up too releasing a nice smell.

Also I regulary wash my litter trays out with hot water and washing up liquid leave it too soak for a bit then scrub it with a brush to get any leftover traces out.

I do all of this as I am very consious of the amount of animals I have in the house 2 dogs & 7 cats. Because of the 7 cats it means I have 3 litter trays which I have to change everyday.

Hope some of these tips help

moggymutt

lostinrates, the wood is better for us for so many reasons- with wood we can line with newspaper, use minimal litter and just keep chucking the whole lot several times a day. (2 huge trade bins full a week, but as a charity we only pay for collection, not diposal, so only £10 per week). Plus, everybody's smell being different, its only the litter that I can stomach, lack of smell is also a priority for me.

moggymutt

Also, if the cats do go out a little bit, have some freshly dug over soil near the back door to try and encourage them to go to the loo whilst outside.

Brallaqueen

I've got an old, smelly indoor cat and he lives in the lounge, so I feel your pain!

I've been told that bicarb of soda is a great cheap smell absorber for about 70p in Aldi (not tried it). At present I'm mixing a little catsan into my plain clumping litter and it is helping with the smells. Catsan is expensive but for two scoops a day it should last a while.