How to get rid of smell..

[wolfsoul]

This is a pretty embarassing issue but we all have things like this I guess. Everyone says my house smells fine. As of late I have been a clean-freak, I keep my house very clean, the rats get bathed every day, the dogs are well groomed and get bathed every few weeks. I clean the litter box and the rat cage everyday. My friends and family were blunt in the past when I let things go, and told me when it was bad. But the past few months have been great, everyone has been very proud of how well I've been taking care of the house and they all say they don't smell a thing.

However, I do have one friend who is VERY sensitive to smell. She came over today and could barely come through the door. She said that the kitchen and bathroom are fine (strange, as that's where my rats are and the litter box is) but that my livingroom wreaks of cat pee and rat.

I don't understand -- the rats are never in the livingroom and the cat is locked out of the livingroom during the day (he knocks things down).

Everyone else says my livingroom is the best smelling room of the house -- it's the one I'm in the most so it gets the most care. It DOES have a carpet, but I buy the carpet foaming stuff to clean it. I have blankets hanging on the walls but I wash them.

I've tried everything. I don't know what else to do.

She honestly really hurt my feelings today and made me cry right in front of her. My rats are getting old and aren't going to be around much longer and when she said that when they die she will take me out to buy a new carpet, I just burst into tears. I really want her to be able to come over but I really don't want my rats to die in order for it to happen.

She's more sensitive to smell than anyone else I've ever met. I don't understand how she smells rats and cat pee in my livingroom when neither are there -- but apparently she does.

What can I do? Air fresheners give her a headache, so I can't use them. I have a fan blowing to move the air around. All of the windows are open. I clean my carpet once a week. I wash the walls atleast once a month. Is there anything natural, or something that doesn't have a strong scent, that I can use to make it smell better? I feel so hopeless, I don't know what else to do. It would really help if she can pinpoint the smell but she just says it's the whole room. I've gone over EVERYTHING, smelling, but I just can't find the source. Even if I leave the house for a long time and come back, I still don't smell it, and neither does anyone else.

[Jessika]

Well, unless everyone else is lying to you, I would apologize to her and say there is nothing else you can do since she is the ONLY one who has a problem with it. However, I have found a water and vinegar solution helps get rid of the cat urine smell. Double-Oh liked to use our dirty laundry as his litterbox (eventhough his box is cleaned daily) and we would have to put cups of vinegar in every load of laundry for the longest time.

But honestly, how did she bring it up? Was she rude about it? Was she being sincere? You can not help that she is so sensitive to smell. Perhaps go visit her instead of her visiting you if she can't stand the smell?? You can only do so much for her. After all, it is YOUR house.

[caseysmom]

I am sensitive to smell also but honestly would not have said anything. My friends are much more important to me than a little smell, sorry but I think you deserve someone who accepts that you have animals.

[Jessika]

I am sensitive to smell also but honestly would not have said anything. My friends are much more important to me than a little smell, sorry but I think you deserve someone who accepts that you have animals.

Not only that, but one that respects the fact that you keep your house as clean as you do for that exact reason.

[wolfsoul]

She's basically told me since she's known me (over a year) that that is why she never comes to visit me. She knows it hurts me that she never comes over. She apologized today and said she was sorry "but someone had to tell me." But she's the only one who has an issue... I guess today was just the worst it's ever been for her. I can't go to her house as I don't have a vehicle and I don't particularily like her husband. She has alot more animals than me, and I know she has alot more money so she gets things "specially" cleaned, and she has a self cleaning litter box...but I just don't have the money for that kind of thing. I clean how any normal person cleans...


I'll try the vinegar idea, thanks. Does anyone find that baking soda works well? I used to sprinkle it on my carpets but never found it to make a difference.

[Jessika]

I heard that baking soda works pretty well too but have never tried it myself to know how well it actually works

[wolfsoul]

I think I might go looking for a carpet cleaner tonight. I honestly can't find anything wrong with the carpet, but maybe she's the only one who can tell.. And I'll get baking soda, lemon juice...I already have hydrogen peroxide...Anything else I'm forgetting?

[Freckles]

You might ask some of your other friends again to be honest with you and tell you if there are any odors. Tell them it won't hurt your feelings, but you really need to know.

I'm a Natures Miracle fan.

[catnapper]

Invest $9 for a blacklight. Turn the livingroom lights off and whatever glows needs to be cleaned with an enzyme cleaner. You can get that pretty inexpensively nowadays thanks to generic brands (nature's Miracle would be the most expensive and has been long prooven to work, so many feel its worth the additional cost)

I also swear by Oust air freshener. I too hate perfumy smells. I spray the Oust in the center of the room. It smells for like 5 minutes and then nothing but clean air. The smells dissipates and goes away real quick. I think its just there to hide the original stinky smell for a few minutes. Just one word though, no animals should be in the room when you use it because there's a caution label on it about using it around animals.

[caseysmom]

Walmart has something that I think is just as good if not better than nature's miracle, catmandu recommended it. It is cheaper and its in the pet section.

[christa]

We have a few of these from QVC and they are WONDERFUL! Especially for the litterbox! We have one right by the litterbox & never ever smell it!

Ionic Air Cleaner

[wolfsoul]

Invest $9 for a blacklight. Turn the livingroom lights off and whatever glows needs to be cleaned with an enzyme cleaner. You can get that pretty inexpensively nowadays thanks to generic brands (nature's Miracle would be the most expensive and has been long prooven to work, so many feel its worth the additional cost)

That'ss a great idea! I'm going to go out tonight and get a blacklight. I've heard the bulbs you buy at places like SUperstore aren't any good -- I'll just be going to Extra Foods, which is a bit like a smaller Superstore. Anyone know if it will be okay, or should I just go to Spencer in the mall and buy one I know is good? Only problem is they're more expensive and the mall is farther away.

I'm having a couple people come over tonight to tell me what they think. I've told people to be honest before and I'm sure they have been. My mom is always very honest about things like this and even she thinks it smells fine. Kelly just has a crazy nose that picks up things no one else can smell.

[wolfsoul]

We have a few of these from QVC and they are WONDERFUL! Especially for the litterbox! We have one right by the litterbox & never ever smell it!

Ionic Air Cleaner

That looks awesome! -- do you think it'd be at Superstore or Wal-mart?

[BC_MoM]

Our living room smells like urine, too, Jordan. The people who lived here before us had cats and let them pee all over.

When we were nursing our grandparents dog and she was having troubles going to the bathroom, we let her go in the living room because she wouldn't with us holding her up (she needed to be supported) outside. Molly ruined the living room carpet when we were house training her.

We've tried EVERYTHING. We're just going to have to rip up the carpet and put laminate down. *sigh*

I can't believe your friend would say something like that! I sure as heck wouldn't say that to a friend.

[shais_mom]

I don't have any solution other then what you are already doing. I think it was incredibly rude of her to say to you what she did and I am not particulary a rattie fan. But is it possible she just is trying to find a way to NOT come to your house?
In my house the guy I bought it from - his daughter lived here and was a drug addict (she has since cleaned herself up) and had a cat that used the floor as a litter box. When he decided to sell the house - he ripped up the carpet and painted KILZ all over the floor http://www.kilz.com/ and there is no smell. Course this is a bit drastic.
When I was potty training Keegan she kept going to a spot in the floor where a floor furnace had been. We ripped it out and my dad put plywood there.
I kept a rug over it and she just kept peeing on that spot. Finally I asked my parents when they came over to paint Kilz on it and they painted like 2-3 coats. Then we put some carpet over it. She never peed there after that!
My mom has a super sensitive nose and usually when she comes to my house she doesn't smell anything. The last time she was here she said she smelled cat pee. I of course didn't smell anything. I changed the litter in the box but I didn't smell it. One of my friends when she feeds my cats she always asks me how come my house doesn't smell like cat pee - even in the closet where the box is. I said I dunno. It isn't pee that I smell usually its the poo.