You might be able to clean up the smell if the cats are peeing

catpee catpiss urine

I think this is one of those cases where the owners canada goose outlet don’t realize how Canada Goose Parka bad the smell is. I’ve been there. I buy canada goose jacket really, really like the price of the place, and as such would be willing to invest a little bit in cleaning materials to make it liveable and wouldn’t mind doing the cleaning to keep it smelling OK, but if removing the smell is going to require steam cleaner rentals and whatnot then I’ll move on.

Complicating the situation is I’m not canada goose outlet online uk sure if the smell is due to accidents (hard to get rid of), poor litterbox cleaning habits on the owner’s parts (easy to fix, I’ll clean it), or a mix of both.

Blacklight + nature’s miracle + carpet odor remover (I use arm and hammer pet fresh) + vacuum + very frequent litter box cleanings, possibly with a different type of litter (World’s best is better at masking pee odors, in my experience).

posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:25 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

If the cats are elderly and there’s accidents, you’ll need to keep on top of cleaning it and you still may have some pee smell. Get Nature’s Miracle For Cats, it’s a specific formula designed to work better on the goose outlet canada particular nastiness that is cat pee. A new litterbox makes a good fresh start, and multiple litterboxes will reduce odor too.

posted by The otter lady at 9:27 AM on August 24, 2010

The first apartment I lived in was previously lived in by a bunch of guys and a cat. They kept the litter box (and often, sadly, the cat) locked up in the half bathroom (which was right off my room and therefore mostly “my” bathroom), rarely scooped it, and pretty much let the cat pee all over it. While the rest of the apartment was pretty scuzzy, the only place that smelled like cat was my bathroom, and holy crap did it smell like cat. And we moved in during one of the hottest summers Chicago has had in the last several years. With no AC.

Even though there was no cat anymore, the bathroom was basically drenched in cat pee and cat pee smell. What I did was fill a squirt bottle with white vinegar and spray down all the walls and the surfaces every day, multiple times a day. The runoff was disgusting. I opened the window and set up a fan to vent the air out. After about a month of this, the cat pee smell started to dissipate and you could actually close the door to the bathroom without choking. I highly recommend vinegar as Canada Goose Online a cat stink deodorizer.

But if you’re moving in with these cats, it’s going to be an ongoing problem. I don’t know why some places with cats stink so bad. In a week I’m moving in with a new roommate who has two cats I’ve been there several times and have never smelled any hint canada goose outlet parka of cat. I have to assume it’s a case of lazy owner that causes the cat stink to take canada goose factory outlet over. I would bring the problem up with your new housemates and try to troubleshoot the canada goose outlet sale problem.

Hopefully some cat owners will chime in here with good living with cats tips.

posted by phunniemee at 9:28 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

How many cats are there, and how many litterboxes? There should be one box per cat, as stink arises when boxes get crowded. If you’ve noticed the owners only have one open box canada goose outlet canada and three cats, the household can invest in a couple strategically place canada goose outlet Booda official canada goose outlet boxes, a mixture of corn litter and odor canada goose black friday sale absorbing crystals, and lots of Febreeze. Make sure the boxes are cleaned twice daily and soon normal litterbox smells should clear up.

posted by zoomorphic at 9:32 AM on August 24, 2010

This is why cats make terrible pets for most children in “it’s yours, you clean up after it” families. To fight the smell (and puke, incidentally) requires precisely the kind of constant vigilance that most kids find impossible.

Unless it appears there’s carpet damage, I doubt you will canada goose jacket outlet need a steam cleaner. But if you want the house clean, you either get to spend a lot of time (and some money) doing it yourself or lots of time training recalcitrant humans.

posted by SMPA at 9:40 AM on August 24, 2010

There are two cats, and I think one litterbox I didn’t see where it is.

I (think) I could maintain a clean smelling apartment, it’s just judging whether I can make it clean smelling without going to over the top measures.

posted by schroedinger at 9:41 AM on August 24, 2010

Change the litterbox habits of the human rather than the felines.

Often, the reason litterboxes smell is because nobody likes to scoop litter, so it gets put off until later, and then it gets smelly. Switching over to litter that is changed entirely twice a week rather than scooped daily and changed weekly makes a big difference. I had great success using litter like Good Mews (the recycled newspaper litter) because canada goose clearance it didn’t need to be scooped. Instead, I’d just change the entire litterbox twice a week (Monday nights and Friday mornings. Exactly three and 1/2 days apart).

A clean litterbox leads to a cleaner smelling home. It makes the cats happier too.

posted by 2oh1 at 10:03 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is one of those things where it seems like the answer is ‘fix the smell’ when the problem is really ‘communication with (potential) roommates.’ I love cats. I have four cats. But if I were in the situation you’re looking at, my first question to the potential roommate is going to be, point blank: “What’s up with the cat stink in here?” If you don’t address this with them (and gawd, if they aren’t noticing it on their own that’s a terrible sign) you’re going to be the sole person who deals with this odor the entire time you live there because if they can’t be arsed to clean up after their pets now, they sure as hell aren’t going to after you start doing it for them.

Anyhow, it really does depend on if the cats have been going canada goose outlet shop outside the box. If the cats have been peeing on carpeting for any length of time, there’s no getting rid of the smell without discarding the carpet and pad. If it’s been going on long enough, the wood underneath might have to be replaced too. You might be able to clean up the smell if the cats are peeing on sealed canada goose uk outlet hardwood (which is rare) and definitely could fix it if canada goose black friday sale the flooring is tile or lino. However, cats are resistant to change: if they’ve been peeing in a particular corner or a sofa or a bed, it’s very difficult https://www.st-edwards-cam.org.uk to get them to stop going back there even if the scent is completely eliminated or the Canada Goose sale item replaced. your stuff). Neutered cats of both genders can spray.

So, things to look for: is the smell noticeable in rooms where there’s isn’t a litterbox? Does the scent suddenly seem stronger along walls or corners of the house? canada goose outlet jackets Do random things such as upholstery in the living room smell of cat urine? All these are signs of cats going outside the box and well outside of a small amount of effort to fix.

Years ago I canada goose clearance sale had a diabetic cat. He peed copious amounts of very watered down pee. When we moved to a large house, we didn’t notice that Milo had selected a corner of an unused room as his personal pee spot until several weeks went by and his weak pee had finally built up enough concentration to emit an odor (it didn’t help that the carpet in that room was goldenrod yellow, either). After many cleaning attempts were made with supermarket rental cleaners and pro steam cleaning companies, we ripped out the carpet and pad to discover Milo’s pee had soaked into the chipboard underlayment. So we ripped that up and discovered the pee had soaked into the floorboards. So we ripped those out and discovered the pee had soaked into the top of the floor joists. We sealed those, replaced the rest of the flooring with new materials and then noticed that the plasterboard walls had wicked pee from the bottom to about 5″ up. Had to replace all that drywall too. Sometimes it’s just Pee All The Way Down.