What is that smell?!

[heather]

I've noticed over the past week when I walk into my house I think I smell cat pee. Sophie is my only kitty and I have never had any litter box issues with her. Problem is I can't locate the source of the smell! I also seem to faintly smell it in my bathroom. After a couple days of sniffing on my hands and knees all my furniture/carpets I still can't find it. I tried in vain- knowing since I couldn't find the source it probably wouldn't help to spray febreez and white vinegar since I was having my parents over tonight. They said they couldn't smell anything upstairs. But they could smell it in my basement! I crawled around in my basement sniffing the unfinished floor and still couldn't locate it. We were in the basement because they had picked up a dehumidifier and we were setting it up. Hopefully that will help because my basement does smell a little musty to me- my parents say it doesn't.

So I'm thinking, maybe the scent is traveling up from the basement? Seems to be strongest down there. Maybe it is traveling in the vents? Sophie typically does 3 small pees in a day and her litterbox has been true to that amount. My basement is closed off except for maybe 1/2 hr to 1 hr per day and I'm down there but can't watch her every second.

Is there anyway to get rid of this mystery smell without finding it? I was thinking of basically ruining a mop and just mopping the unfinished basement floor.

 

[ckutkuhn7]

hmmm , not sure I'm giving perfect advice, however, my boyfriends mom found these dehumidifier bags for basements at Home Depot, they collect moisture up from your basement (they hang from the rafters) and the top portion of the bag collects water and the bottom omits fragrance and they really work well! She said they run about $10 a bag but you can empty them and re use them for about 30 to 40 days and they work really well.

 

[heather]

hmmm , not sure I'm giving perfect advice, however, my boyfriends mom found these dehumidifier bags for basements at Home Depot, they collect moisture up from your basement (they hang from the raptors) and the top portion of the bag collects water and the bottom omits fragrance and they really work well! She said they run about $10 a bag but you can empty them and re use them for about 30 to 40 days and they work really well.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm running the dehumidifier now so maybe eliminating the musty smell will also get rid of the cat pee odor OR possibly better reveal it so I can find it? I just don't see why she would pee down there- and why the heck can't I find it?!
I think I'll try another round of fragrance using the febreez and again with the white vinegar. I'm glad you mentioned those bags- that is interesting and I hadn't heard of them before.

 

[Inferno12]

When I get that faint smell its always the litter in the litter box. Its not that it needs to be scooped. Its that all the litter needs to be thrown out and the litter boxes cleaned and have fresh litter in them. It never fails for me that this will take care of that. it usually takes me a day or two of crawling around on my hands and knees to figure it out

 

[heather]

When I get that faint smell its always the litter in the litter box. Its not that it needs to be scooped. Its that all the litter needs to be thrown out and the litter boxes cleaned and have fresh litter in them. It never fails for me that this will take care of that. it usually takes me a day or two of crawling around on my hands and knees to figure it out

That is lucky! If only that were the problem here. :Laugh:

Sadly, that's not what I have here. I have her box in my spare bedroom (upstairs) and it doesn't smell in there at all. Nor does the box smell. I clean it out completely once per week and did that 2 days ago. I stuck my head inside the box for good measure

 

[ckutkuhn7]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm running the dehumidifier now so maybe eliminating the musty smell will also get rid of the cat pee odor OR possibly better reveal it so I can find it? I just don't see why she would pee down there- and why the heck can't I find it?!
I think I'll try another round of fragrance using the febreez and again with the white vinegar. I'm glad you mentioned those bags- that is interesting and I hadn't heard of them before.

I hadn't heard of them before either. She drug me down to her basement to show me all excited. lol She is a funny little woman.

Hopefully you find the source,,is your water heater leaking maybe? I lived in a really old house a few years ago and it started leaking and my DSH started peeing in the puddles. I took them to the vet and ruled out UTI's and once I replaced the water heater all the peeing quit but that was a sure mystery for a hot minute! lol

 

[Melonie]

Black Light will show up urine.

 

[heather]

I hadn't heard of them before either. She drug me down to her basement to show me all excited. lol She is a funny little woman.

Hopefully you find the source,,is your water heater leaking maybe? I lived in a really old house a few years ago and it started leaking and my DSH started peeing in the puddles. I took them to the vet and ruled out UTI's and once I replaced the water heater all the peeing quit but that was a sure mystery for a hot minute! lol

That is interesting! My hot water heater is not leaking but my furnace unit where the condensation for the central air comes out - the hose was leaking. It left puddles on the floor which she was for sure interested in. I adjusted the hose and it has not leaked since so that is solved. But maybe she peed in the puddle when it was there. I sniffed that area of the floor but I can check again. I think I'm going to have to go Nature's Miracle crazy on that floor in case.

Thanks so much for mentioning that!

 

[ckutkuhn7]

That is interesting! My hot water heater is not leaking but my furnace unit where the condensation for the central air comes out - the hose was leaking. It left puddles on the floor which she was for sure interested in. I adjusted the hose and it has not leaked since so that is solved. But maybe she peed in the puddle when it was there. I sniffed that area of the floor but I can check again. I think I'm going to have to go Nature's Miracle crazy on that floor in case.

Thanks so much for mentioning that!

Yup - hopefully thats it but I'm hardly ever right. lol Goodluck tho - I do hope you find it. Mysterious smells are always annoying and distracting.

 

[Mews2much]

I agree get the black light.
It is infro red and will glow when you find urine.

 

[Fester]

... black light is ultraviolet, the V side of ROY G. BIV of visible light, e.g. shorter wave lengths.

it still shows cat pee very well, because porphyrins and some proteins fluoresce. It will also show any mammalian fluids...so if, hypothetically, you set up a lot of blacklights in a room in your house...next thing you're sleeping on a inflatable mattress 'cause your bed horrified you...

 

[heather]

... black light is ultraviolet, the V side of ROY G. BIV of visible light, e.g. shorter wave lengths.

it still shows cat pee very well, because porphyrins and some proteins fluoresce. It will also show any mammalian fluids...so if, hypothetically, you set up a lot of blacklights in a room in your house...next thing you're sleeping on a inflatable mattress 'cause your bed horrified you...

Funny you said that because I had nightmares last night thinking about shining a blacklight in my basement. My imagination totally ran with it thinking what if someone was murdered down there or wrote something creepy in blood on the wall. The weird thing is I'm used to being alone even at night in the house since my bf works nights but he is away for a month right now and I'm completely alone other than Soph. And she FREAKED me out the other night growling and hissing at the living room and nothing was there. I got scared and now its in the back of my mind.

 

[Fester]

oddly enough, most liquid laundry detergent dries clear and still fluoresces . I like to leave cryptic messages on ceilings when I move out of a place. 'the end will be tuesday', 'Verne knows where', and 'CROATOAN wasn't aliens' are my favorites

 

[MissMySphynxBoys]

oddly enough, most liquid laundry detergent dries clear and still fluoresces . I like to leave cryptic messages on ceilings when I move out of a place. 'the end will be tuesday', 'Verne knows where', and 'CROATOAN wasn't aliens' are my favorites

 

[MissMySphynxBoys]

I hate the humidity as it brings forth every odor ever embedded in our 60 year old house. We were not the first owners with stinky pets or kids. At times it is like being haunted by accidents past.

Luckily running the AC and the dehumidifiers help. I will have to check out those bags the next time I'm at Home Depot. We have had good luck with bamboo bags. They are similar to hanging a mesh bag with cedar chips but are odorless and can be used for years. They just need to be refreshed in direct sunlight once a month.

I have a sensitive nose. It can be a real curse. Early last summer I started getting whiffs of what smelled like cat urine. I went crazy trying to find the source. It turned out I had planted a not so fragrant variety of petunias in my window boxes so when I had the windows cracked open to catch a breeze the smell was blowing indoors. I still hate the smell but I'm not so freaked out when I thought it was cat pee.

 

[heather]

I hate the humidity as it brings forth every odor ever embedded in our 60 year old house. We were not the first owners with stinky pets or kids. At times it is like being haunted by accidents past.

Luckily running the AC and the dehumidifiers help. I will have to check out those bags the next time I'm at Home Depot. We have had good luck with bamboo bags. They are similar to hanging a mesh bag with cedar chips but are odorless and can be used for years. They just need to be refreshed in direct sunlight once a month.

I have a sensitive nose. It can be a real curse. Early last summer I started getting whiffs of what smelled like cat urine. I went crazy trying to find the source. It turned out I had planted a not so fragrant variety of petunias in my window boxes so when I had the windows cracked open to catch a breeze the smell was blowing indoors. I still hate the smell but I'm not so freaked out when I thought it was cat pee.

Thanks for the heads up on the bamboo bags- those sound great!

I'm glad you understand - I totally feel like a crazy person sniffing everything in sight. It would be strange for Sophie to pee in the house- she's a female and her litterbox has the usual amount of pee in it. It just doesnt make sense for her to mark any place to me. Plus I can't narrow it down to one room. The basement smells, the front door area smells and sometimes I can smell it in my bathroom. But crawling around on my hands and knees I don't smell it! Go figure!

 

[Bella07]

Perhaps an unwelcome animal has wandered into your home recently? Well I hope not so Good Luck with finding that smell!

 

[ckutkuhn7]

Funny you said that because I had nightmares last night thinking about shining a blacklight in my basement. My imagination totally ran with it thinking what if someone was murdered down there or wrote something creepy in blood on the wall. The weird thing is I'm used to being alone even at night in the house since my bf works nights but he is away for a month right now and I'm completely alone other than Soph. And she FREAKED me out the other night growling and hissing at the living room and nothing was there. I got scared and now its in the back of my mind.

Sorry but this totally made me laugh out loud. lol

I get scared too when Im home alone. My imagination runs crazy wild sometimes and I watch too much CSI.

My basement is very creepy and my cities crime rate is awful high, I'd be scared to shine a blacklight down in my basement too!

 

[dreaming_in_colour]

oddly enough, most liquid laundry detergent dries clear and still fluoresces . I like to leave cryptic messages on ceilings when I move out of a place. 'the end will be tuesday', 'Verne knows where', and 'CROATOAN wasn't aliens' are my favorites

Love it!

 

[miss_gldelx]

I've noticed over the past week when I walk into my house I think I smell cat pee. Sophie is my only kitty and I have never had any litter box issues with her. Problem is I can't locate the source of the smell! I also seem to faintly smell it in my bathroom. After a couple days of sniffing on my hands and knees all my furniture/carpets I still can't find it. I tried in vain- knowing since I couldn't find the source it probably wouldn't help to spray febreez and white vinegar since I was having my parents over tonight. They said they couldn't smell anything upstairs. But they could smell it in my basement! I crawled around in my basement sniffing the unfinished floor and still couldn't locate it. We were in the basement because they had picked up a dehumidifier and we were setting it up. Hopefully that will help because my basement does smell a little musty to me- my parents say it doesn't.

So I'm thinking, maybe the scent is traveling up from the basement? Seems to be strongest down there. Maybe it is traveling in the vents? Sophie typically does 3 small pees in a day and her litterbox has been true to that amount. My basement is closed off except for maybe 1/2 hr to 1 hr per day and I'm down there but can't watch her every second.

Is there anyway to get rid of this mystery smell without finding it? I was thinking of basically ruining a mop and just mopping the unfinished basement floor.

i have used a black light at night to identify any urine stains. The problem is you can still see the stain even after you clean the mess, but i have had great success using this method.

I used a key chain black light from Petco or Petsmart, cant recall, and then I used Cat Fancier Associations urine remover. Harley doesnt even go back to those spots (only had about 3 or four accidents when i first got her).

I am sure this urine remover product works just as well. Just remember that because you see a stain, it doesnt mean it came from your cat. I found a TON of stains from the prior home owners. I think that is what Harley must have smelled when she went where she did.

Hope this helps.
Stink Free Stink-Finder Ultra-Violet Light & Flashlight at PETCO

 

[Nair Bare]

Since you have checked out several possible causes for this odor, you might want to check to see if your refrigerator has a catch pan under it. Some do and this can be the source. Also some landscape evergreen junipers smell just like cat pee. If you have some of those, this smell may be sneaking into your home. And have you checked to see if your floor drains are blocked or backing up in your basement?

I once had a mouse die somewhere within my van. I searched and searched trying to find the source. Finally I had to ask a very good friend to help me sniff out the little varmint. And she zeroed right in on its' location, so I didn't have to dismantle my entire vehicle to remove the rodent. Sometimes, I guess it helps to get a "fresh" nose and a VERY good friend to help.