My house smells of pets? :(

thelittlestranger

I really can't thank you all enough!!! I appreciate all of your ideas and honesty, it's nice to know I'm not alone!

We used to use wood litter, but I wasn't keen on it, but maybe I'll give it a go again now we have a different cat litter tray.

My mum often says things smell so fingers crossed it's just her. I don't really have a friend I could ask if I'm honest... unfortunately I'm just too embarrassed. I know that sounds silly but I just want it sorted. I don't really want to ask the OH's family either, purely because they don't have any pets and I feel they'd smell even the faintest of odours and wouldn't necessarily understand.

Okay so you think I should go for it with letting them out? The only other worry I have is that they are building houses right behind us, but the builders must be aware of cats quite often, right?

I can't help overworrying but I completely agree - it does come with having cats that worry.

I will check the hamster wheel when he's awake tonight (he's VERY old so don't want to wake him unneccesarily!!)

I really can't thank you enough xx

spookylukey

Is your Mum anti-animal in general? Animals can and do smell, so can humans! With a good cleaning and hygiene regime there's no need for a house with a small number of animals in to smell. I have had issues with my sense of smell so regularly ask trusted visitors to tell me if my house smells - the answer has always been a resounding No (I have two cats who don't go out much and use a litter tray indoors).

The one time my Mum (one of my trusted house sniffers!) told me my house smelt of urine I was devastated - it was actually damp Rug Doctor carpet to blame, as she found out when she went back to her house (I cleaned her carpets too!) and rang me to tell me it wasn't my cats causing the smell!

krlyr

Oh yes - on the wheel thing, it was the stinkiest thing in the case when I had mice. They're naturally a little more smelly than hamsters so cleaning the wheel daily may be overkill in your case, but I had to do it daily for the mice and it made a huge difference. I kept a spray bottle I'd filled with a vinegar solution (half awter, half white vinegar) and a roll of kitchen towel by the cage - wheel came out, spritz with vinegar, given a minute or so then wiped down. Quick and effective, and cheap too.

krlyr

Also, apparently hamster urine tends to smell more as the hamster gets older. Can sometimes have a health link, e.g. kidney issues, but lots of hamster care websites simply say that the older a hamster a gets, the stronger its urine can smell.

birduk

Had hamsters and cats (separately I might add) and my personal view is that it is more likely to be the hamster I am afraid. Cat poop rarely stinks unless it is fresh. If you clean it as often as you say you do, then there shouldn't be a problem for you.

Make sure you clean the plastic with a bio detergent though- the cat litter tray will hang onto that ammonia smell. Also give hammy's plastic a good clean out with a pet cleaner (you can get them from most pet shops and won't harm him/her). Get that wood changed more regularly than you think. Don't forget hammy is incontinent so will wee all the time and wherever you put him (if he crawls across your lap for example). He doesn't know, it isn't his fault.

But all in all, don't worry too much about it- she may just be sensitive. But second what others say about getting and independent sniffer...

Scrapaholic

I also think it may be more the hamster making the smell . I have one cat litter tray for my poorly cat and have recently started using the wood pellets . Finding they have less smell than than the clumping litter. I do wash it out every 2 days , it's on paper which I change too and wash surrounding floor . I'm lucky that I can keep it in the utility room . It's awful tho' when you think your home might smell . I can smell if there's an accident somewhere but I don't think our home does smell of cats usually. Are you able to smell anything when you come in your home after being outside ?

Mrs_Z

Also if you have lots of soft furnishings such as carpets, heavy curtains, etc - these can absorb smells to a degree. On the contrast, if you have wooden or laminate floors, and no clutter - then your home will be easy to clean and the smells dont have anything to linger on...

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

This could be just someone who has fixated upon the house being smelly and refusing to accept differently. My ex's mother would insist that DD1's clothes smelled of cigarette smoke and make a huge show of washing them to decontaminate them whilst telling everyone how I was harming her poor toddler granddaughter. The fact that I didn't smoke and was single, so couldn't make them smell of tobacco was a simple irrelevance to her point of view.


If you can get hold of a children's UV light pen (usually a secret writing kit), use it after dark and that should reveal any little accidents - if there aren't any, then you'll have to accept that you could never have another animal and move house five times and she'll still be pursing her lips and claiming the place smells.

moggymutt

This is a really daft question really, but just checking- neither of them are unneutered toms are they?

Fire_Fox

What do you mean your cats are naughty, they toilet outside the tray? If so that is not normal healthy cat behaviour, that indicates they are stressed OR they don't like the toilet facilities you provide OR they have a health problem OR they are unneutered. What are you cleaning up the accidents with? You need to use a good enzyme-based pet urine cleaner. Don't just cover up the smalls with Shake and Vac, hire a shampoo machine and do the whole house and open the windows daily year round.

Toilet facilities it is recommended to have one tray per cat plus one spare, some cats like covered trays and some dislike them, some will share and some won't, some cats won't poop and pee in the same tray. Certain types of litter absorb liquid and smells better than others. What you feed can also make a difference: if the cats are fed dry food and/ or don't drink much they will be more dehydrated so their pee smell stronger. Give them a water fountain or a couple of wide shallow dishes in different parts of the house. Many of us switching slowly to a higher meat/ lower cereal food reduced the amount of poop and reduces the smell.

My friend's flat smells of cat toilet, mine does not at all. I feed cereal free diet, have two large deep filled litter trays, use small grain wood litter, open the windows. My friend feeds cheap dry food plus pouches, has one tiny tray, cheap clay litter, can't open the windows wide without the cat escaping (she has not got window guards).