Buying A House That Smells Like Cat Urine (What Now?)

If you are planning on buying a house and notice that it smells like cat pee you may be wondering how bad this is and how you can clean up the cat pee smell.

Why could the house smell like cat urine?

A house could smell like cat pee for several reasons. The most obvious is from a cat that lives there. But, sometimes it can come from mold if there are no cats present. Or, pee from another animal stuck in the air ducts.

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Is cat urine easy to clean up?

Cat urine is not easy to clean up. The problem is it has a strong smell that hangs around for a long time. Also, you may feel like you have cleaned the surface mess but their can be pee stains that are hard to see.

To get these stains you may need to use a black light urine detector (Click here to see the price, on Amazon #Ad) which will make it easy to see the cat pee.

Is smelling cat pee bad?

Smelling cat pee is bad for a reason, it is waste. It is nature’s way of telling us that is not to be consumed or messed with. The problem with it is it doesn’t take much to cause a big smell in your home.

The biggest issue is when the cat pee has been left or undetected for a long period of time. This can then become even harder to get rid of. When the pee gets dried in it crystallizes and causes an even worse smell.

Can breathing in cat pee be harmful?

Breathing in cat pee can be harmful if you have some health issues, such as asthma, or other breahing related problems. The reasons for this is the levels of ammonia found in cat urine.

Although it is possible to be harmful it is not regarded as a major healh problem. But, the biggest issue is the social issues such as the embarrissing smell that it causes.

If you are looking for a new home and you smell this cat urine (click here to see if it’s safe to use bleach on it) it won’t just be you affected by this, it will also be your neighbors or guests that pass by.

Can cat urine in carpet make you sick?

Cat urine on the carpet can make you sick if it not cleaned up properly. This is because, if left, it can attract moisture and turn moldy. This mold can develop under the carpet and cause breathing issues long term.

This is quite a slow process. But, the problem is it is not easy to notice it all the time. So, you could go for moths without noticing and build up a big problem.

The challenges of cat smell in your home

Who doesn’t love keeping adorable cats as pets? But, loving your pet cat endlessly comes with certain challenges as well (Click here for 3 best pheromone collars to treat an aggressive or bad behaved cat ). After all, true love demands hardships, as they say.

I remember having an issue with my washing machine, it wouldn’t drain down the water correctly. Each time the wash finished, it literally made this disgusting smell, like a rotten egg.

Maybe you can understand and find that comparative smell with your cat?

Sharing your living space with those beloved cats can be a little bit extra challenging at times despite your generous affection. The odor your feline buddies leave after them is one of the most annoying and the most common challenge in the list.

No matter how much you adore your cats, you would never wish to enter into your home and feel it stinking like a litter box (Click here to see why your cat is meowing before she poops). Cat smell usually comes from cat dander as well as cat faeces and feline urine (Click here for the best solution to clean up cat urine). Moreover, it can build up in your living space and make your home smell day in and day out.

But maintaining the fresh and clean surroundings in your house with no smells coming from carpets and sofas is the real task. And is one of the reasons some cat owners use a hooded cat litter (Click here to see why I feel this one is best). No need to fret anymore, since we are here with this guide to get you rid of cat smell and the embarrassment you may feel before your guests.

There are several informative tutorials available to let you know about the tricks and tips for eliminating the cat smell from your living space or car. Since, an air freshener alone is not going to serve well for this task; you must enlighten yourself with other alternate solutions now. This video might help you with this:

Below we have compiled a round up throwing light on some incredible tips you can follow to love your cats more without having their cat smell lingering in your house. Read on to know more:

What causes the cat smell?

Knowing the source of foul smell lingering everywhere in your house and offending your visitors is crucial if you have pets around.

Usually the cat smell comes from a dirty litter box. If you just noticed the stinky smell of cat pee (Click here to learn how to stop your cat peeing on your towels) you have to instantly trace the source. Look for that wet patch as soon as possible.

Besides a dirty litter box, your cat can keep you on your toes by doing its business outside of the litter tray. You may only realise this only when you smell that nasty odour filling your home. Your cat might be using your furniture (Click here to learn how to keep your cat off your leather furniture), carpets in case it is not happy enough with the potty spot or litter box situation.

Does the cat litter contribute to this smell?

Cat litter does play a role when it comes to filling your living space with cat smell and odour.

Since a litter box is meant for housing your cat’s feaces and urine and getting rid of the smell coming from it, is perhaps the most challenging part of loving your cat.

If you are not regularly dumping out the litter, it will obviously produce an unbearable foul smell and you will have your visitors offended. After dumping the litter, we suggest you cleaning the box with slightly warm water and ammonia-free soap or cleaner.

Remember, ammonia based cleaner will make the litter give away more smell. After you are done with washing, properly dry the litter try and fill it with new fresh litter to prevent the cat smell.

Could your cat be ignoring the litter tray?

If your cat is doing its business outside the territory of litter box, you will definitely become aware of it but only after the smell is filled in your house. Using the places other than litter box is a clear indication that either your cat hates the litter box or it is sick.

No need to shout at your cat for doing this, you never know your negligence has pushed it so far. By habit, a cat is a clean lovely creature, if a litter box is not cleaned properly it will freak up the cat for sure.

In case you are housing more than one cat in your apartment, we suggest you buying multiple litter boxes. Because put yourself in your cat’s shoe, do you realise we will never be pleased with using an un-flushed toilet?

So, this might cause your cat hate their litter tray and you will bear the consequences of mess and smell around your room.

Use unscented litter, some moody cats take it to heart and they may not desire to use that fancy scented litter box.

Litter boxes are manufactured for providing your beloved cat with a comfortable place to get its business done. They are meant for soaking up the liquids and keeping your home free from lingering nasty cat smell.

The litter box maintenance routine is very important. You must check this litter tray at least twice in a day. Don’t be lazy at all, as soon as you notice the urine clumps (Click here to see why your clumping litter didn’t clump) or cat feaces, we suggest you not to wait.

Jump up and scoop away the mess, else be ready to smell this foul odour everywhere in your house. This will not only encourage your cat to use this litter tray but will stop it from leaving behind mess outside litter box.

Make a proper routine for cleaning the litter box. We suggest you to do this as soon as you are up in the morning or before you go to bed at night.

Must consider changing the litter of this box two times in a month to ensure the box is odour free and totally clean. Use unscented litter, some moody cats take it to heart and they may not desire to use that fancy scented litter box. Here comes a million dollar tip, in case you want to naturally reduce the litter box smell.

Before putting the litter, sprinkle some baking soda at the bottom. This magic tip will keep litter giving out a fresh smell.

Could your cat have bad breath?

Taking care of your cat’s oral hygiene comes also as a responsibility when you claim your boundless affection for it. Your cat would have a bad breath if you will ignore the oral care routine.

This will let bacteria grow and your cat would ultimately be sick seriously. But you can always turn the tides by paying attention to little things.

Brushing your cat’s teeth daily is the first step to prevent bad breath. Plaque and tartar deposits cause bad breath. We suggest you using good quality water additive and dental treats for maintaining oral hygiene of your cat.

Consult your vet for discussing oral products you can but for your cat.

Will air purifiers work?

Addressing the mess your cat has created by peeing on surface somewhere in your floor or eliminating the foul cat smell coming out of an old stain, needs the perfect strategy.

An air purifier is excellent at dealing with odor in the air (Click here to see why I think this one is best), but you will need a more aggressive method if there is an actual mess to clean up, so, I am sharing some tips for using cleaners.

This effective cleaner is made using white vinegar, perfect for tackling the urine odour coming from litter box and surroundings.

All you need to do is mix one portion vinegar and one portion of water in a spray bottle. Just spray this mixture over the old spots and wherever needed, sit back and relax. Evaporation will vanish the cat smell and the urine odour in no time.

Break down of enzymes is helpful indeed when it comes to breaking down the cat smell and particularly the urine smell. You can not only get rid of that nasty smell using this cleaner, as well as your cat will learn its lesson and will not muster up the courage to shamelessly pee here and there again.

How to get the cat smell out of your house

Do you sometimes feel like the cat litter box smell is everywhere in you home and are you asking yourself how to get that cat smell out of your house?

Well guess what? You’re in luck because you’re exactly where you need to be right now. Cat faeces, cat urine and cat dander, or a combination of all three, are the main causes of the cat odour build up in your home. Herein below are some of the methods you can use to eliminate that unwanted cat odour in your house.

01. Using Vinegar Cleaners

Cat urine usually has a very strong odor. This is normally brought forth by the little marking spots your cat may have made around the house or its litter box. Whatever the case, using a white vinegar based cleaner around those areas that have been soiled with cat urine is one the best ways to eliminate that urine smell. Put equal amounts of white vinegar and water into a spray can or bottle and then spray the mixture around the marked spots. When the vinegar evaporates it will take the urine odor with it.

02. Do Enzyme Cleaners Help?

A stronger approach to white vinegar would be to use enzymatic cleaners. These have enzymes within them that are designed to break down unwanted pet smells which include urine odor.

When you break down these urinary components you’ll inevitably end up discouraging your cat from marking spots again. You can find enzymatic cleaners online or at local pet stores.

Make sure not to use other cleaning products when your using enzymatic cleaners because the enzymatic cleaner’s potency could get considerably weakened by the chemicals found in the other cleaning products.

03. The Litter Box

In most cases this is usually the largest source of cat odour in your home. Cat litter boxes should be scooped daily or as often as you can and the waste expelled from the house, of course.

Sprinkling a little baking soda at the bottom of your cat’s litter box will also greatly help minimise the cat odours that come from it. It’s also advised you change the litter as often and frequently as you can. This will help keep the bad cat smells at bay.

04. Vacuuming Your Carpets and Furniture

If you have a cat or cats, then regular and thorough vacuuming will make a huge difference when it comes to the smell of your home. Vacuum throw-rugs, carpets, chairs (Click here to learn how to save your desk chairs), and couches (Click here if your cat urinated on it) weekly to capture your cat’s dander and hair.

This regular routine will also help you discover whether your feline companion has been urinating in the areas it shouldn’t. Try to invest in those vacuums that have been designed to clean cat dander and hair. This will make it much easier when you need to vacuum your cat’s play and sleep areas.

05. Grooming

Regular cat grooming can also help in the elimination of cat smells around your house. Grooming your cat removes dander and hair. This will make things easier for the cat when it’s cleaning itself. For those of you with long-haired cats, to prevent bits of faeces from hanging to its fur, you should do a little trimming around the cat’s delicate parts (Click here to see why cats lick their paws then wipe their face).

06. Washing Your Cat’s Bedding

Your cat’s sleeping area is usually another source of cat odour. Try as much as you can to wash your cat’s blankets and beddings regularly so as to not allow the cat smells to linger around your home. This doesn’t have to be that hard.

Just place the blankets and pillows in the washer while you’re doing your own general laundry. Try to wash the beddings weekly, making it a regular routine so that your house stays fresh, clean and odour free all through.

Using a Cat Flap to keep the smell out:

Another idea is to simply give your cat more freedom. Using a simple cat flap (Click here to see the best if SureFlap or Cat Mate is the best cat flap) could be a simple remedy.

Water and Food Area

Always ensure that, between meals, you clean up your cat’s feeding area and avoid leaving cat food out for long periods. Most people don’t know this, but water bowls happen to be an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.

Washing your cat’s water bowl(s) with soap and changing them out daily will keep the growth of smelly bacteria in stagnant water at bay. This will help greatly reduce the chances of having your house smell like bad cat bacteria.

The Best Way to Prevent Cat Odours

Avoiding unwanted cat odor in the first place is the best way to keep bad cat smells away from your home. Clean the litter boxes as often as you can, daily if possible, and use baking soda around and under the litter box so it can absorb the bad smells.

Bodily fluids are most often times the cause of most pet smells around your home. Using enzymatic and vinegar based cleaners will help you effectively address this situation, as we mentioned earlier.

Cat hair pile ups can also give rise to the cat odour in your house. For cat hair and dander removal, mix water with fabric softener and lightly mist the areas where the cat spends most of its time.

Once done with spraying the surface, use damp rubber gloves to collect and remove the cat dander and hair.

Once you’ve gotten your house smelling clean and fresh, you can ensure it stays this way by regularly cleaning out the cat litter box, regular brushing and feeding your cat healthy food.

You can also use temporary quick fixes such as air sprays and air fresheners. However, make sure they’re safe for use around your pets so that you don’t create other problems.

Should You Bathe Your Cat?

Most cats rarely require you to bathe them because they happen to be excellent self groomers. However, if you want to ensure that your feline friend is fresh and clean then you might want to give it a bath (click here to see if you can use human shampoo on your cat).

How often you choose to do it will depend on self grooming behaviour, coat type and length, activity levels, environment and overall health. Those with certain health conditions need to be given a bath often while those that don’t may not need frequent cleaning.

Cat owners should also remember that excessive bathing could cause your cat to have flaky, dry and itchy skin as well as possibly dulling its fur coat. Bathing your cat too often when not necessary will surely do more harm than good

Home remedies for cat urine removal

Most cat owners know how bad cat urine can smell sometimes. It can linger long after it has been cleaned up. So, what is urine really? Well, urine is the body’s metabolism by-product. It is basically your body’s waste.

What Makes Cat Urine Smell So Bad?

When proteins are broken down in your cat’s body, urea is produced. The kidneys then excrete this urea into the urine for expulsion from the body. Urea in itself has no smell, however, it converts to ammonia and we all know how that smells like, no?

Anyway, the fact that your cat’s kidneys, in normal scenarios, processes cat urine is actually what makes it so concentrated. What this will usually mean is that the odor causing such a bad smell is generally not diluted out that much, or even at all for that matter.

That’s usually why cat urine smells so strong. Also. when cat urine sits around for too long unattended, you allow for bacteria to act upon it. This is now what will enhance the bad odour tenfold. Woe unto those of you that may have a cat that suffers from urinary tract infection because that will help make things even worse.

Hormone presence in the urine, such as testosterone, can also sometimes lend a distinctive, unwanted scent as well. Cats, especially those in the wild, like most other animals in the world use urine to mark their territories and for it to be effective it must have a very pungent smell. Tom cats that haven’t been neutered probably have the worst urine smell of all of them.

How to Get Rid of It?

In this list we’re going to dwell on home remedies for cat urine removal.

Keeping Your Litter Box Clean
Cats usually tend to be very picky pet animals. If their regular relief spot is not as sparkling clean as they’d expect it to be then they’ll definitely find somewhere else to relieve themselves.
Cleaning out the litter box as frequently as you can will ensure this doesn’t happen. Nothing says to your cat “go pee on the carpet” better than a filthy litter box.
Dish Detergent
Mixing about two or three cups of water with about one tablespoon of regular liquid dish-washing detergent is sure to remove any and all cat urine from your upholstered furniture.
Apply the detergent solution on the affected areas and then blot the stain, using a clean white cloth, until you’ve absorbed all the liquid. Keep doing this again and again until the urine stain disappears.
Paper Towel
Paper towels work wonders when removing cat urine, especially from a rug or carpet. They work well because they have the ability to blot up massive amounts of wetness.
Press them downwards on the affected areas until the urine is completely absorbed. Repeat this process using dry paper towels until all the moisture from the stain is gone.
Steam Cleaners
For removing heavy or old cat urine stains from the rug or carpet then you may sometimes need the assistance of a steam cleaner.
However, avoid using chemicals when your using this method. Clean water and the steam cleaner itself should do just fine.

Removing the Urine from Laundry

If your clothing and bed linens can be washed using a washing machine, you’ll first need to use cool water to rinse the affected area(s) in a sink and then put them into the machine accompanied by a small amount of cider vinegar or baking soda alongside the regular washing detergent you usually use.

After completion of the cycle, if you can still get those urine smells from your laundry, add some enzymatic cleaners to the load and then run the cycle once more. Don’t forget to carefully follow the guidelines on the package.

Remember not to use any bleach products because the mixture of cat urine and ammonia could cause the production of very harmful gases. Avoid using the dryer to dry your laundry afterward because the heat from the dryer could cause the bad smell to lock in before it’s completely expelled.

Try air drying your, now, clean laundry. Re-wash until the odour is completely gone

Does Bleaching Help?

Bleaching is a technique that is commonly believed to be a little dangerous due to the deadly reaction the mixture of ammonia and bleach can have.

However, if used very carefully, it can prove to be the most effective way to do away with that cat urine odour for good. What you’ll need to do first is begin washing the affected areas with detergent cleaners that don’t contain ammonia.

After this, wipe down using fresh water and a clean cloth to remove any left over detergent residue. Repeat this twice over. Employ your bleach once your done with the second wash and wipe down.

Mix a 1:10 bleach and water solution and pour it into any clean spray bottle you can find. Use rubber gloves and ensure the area you’ve set out to clean is well ventilated. Spray and then let the solution sit for around thirty seconds then, using a clean damp cloth, wipe the solution off.

Are There Natural Remedies?

The most common natural remedy when it comes to cat urine removal is “The White Vinegar Solution“.

Here is the method, Mix one parts white vinegar to two parts warm water and pour the solution into any clean spray bottle/can and then mix well. You can use this solution any way you like.

You can pour the solution into a bucket then clean using a mop or cloth or you can pour it into a spray can and then spray and clean the affected areas using paper towels.

Whichever way you choose, once your done with the wet wipe down. When the affected area dries up, wipe it once more using warm water

Why does my cat’s farts (flatulence) smell like eggs?

So, why does my cat’s farts (Flatulence) smell like eggs? No one likes a bad smell, especially if it’s coming from their beloved pets. Every living thing, including your cat, has to experience flatulence from time to time. What is that, you ask?

Well, it’s simply another term for farting, which refers to the removal of unwanted intestinal gases using your anus. Bacteria in the stomach are what produces the smells that come from those intestinal gases.

If your cat farts from time to time don’t worry, that’s perfectly normal, however, if your notice it keeps doing that all the time then you might want to check out what the possible causes for that are.

What are the Causes of Farts (Flatulence) in Cats?

Fillers in Food: Diet related issues are the most common reasons for a cat’s excessive farting. Cheap and low quality cat food which has large amounts of indigestible fillers (synthetic forms of carbohydrates) are normally to blame for this.Replacing those products with high quality ones will certainly do you and your cat a great deal of good. However, if high quality cat food is something you’re already feeding your feline then a food intolerance to something specific could be another possible cause.
Sudden Dietary Changes: Rapidly switching your cat’s diet can sometimes prove to be very problematic. They happen to be extremely sensitive to changes in their diet.If you’re planning on changing the type of food you feed your cat then make sure you do it gradually over a couple of days. Don’t just spring on the new food to your cat all of a sudden.Mix a little of the new foods with the old food on day one and as each day goes by slowly reduce the old food in the mixture while increasing the new until finally you stop mixing in the old food all together.
Feeding Your Cat Table Scraps: Most human foods don’t usually agree too well with cats. This food may cause an upset tummy which, in turn, leads to flatulence.You should generally avoid feeding your cat table scraps and if you really must, stick to bland food types such as plainly cooked chicken.Avoid giving them anything cured or spicy. Also, just like humans, feeding your cat expired food stuffs will do more harm than good. If it is not fit for you to eat then it certainly isn’t fit for your cat as well.
Malabsorption: Malabsorption may be another cause of your cat’s flatulence. This condition is basically a digestive tract deficiency which causes food to not to get properly digested.The deficiency that normally causes this in cats is known as the exocrine pancreatic deficiency or, the less scientific term, inflammatory bowel disease.

What Are The Related Symptoms of Flatulence

Sometimes it can be difficult to pick up on whether your cat is suffering from flatulence or not. And if that’s the case, there’re other easier symptoms to spot that you can keep an eye out for.

Some of these other symptoms include:

Abdominal pain
Abdominal bloating
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Rumbling stomach
Protruding stomach

How Do You Diagnose Flatulence?

Once you notice the difference in the natural flatulence of your cat, then seeking the assistance and consultation of your vet is the next best step.

Your vet will initially want your cat’s full health history before you can get started. Specific foods and eating patterns can help immediately reveal the cause of your cat’s excessive farting.

If possible, you should always keep a record of what your cat eats daily, how much they eat and at what time they eat. To determine whether the cause is food allergy related, your vet will advise you run a hypoallergenic food trial on your cat.

If the cause of the problem seems to be a much serious medical complication, for example a particular disease, then your veterinarian will advise you to run further diagnostic tests.

For instance, if the believed culprits happen to be parasites, then a stool sample will be required from your cat. This method happens to be the most effective way of exposing any worms (Click here if your cat refuses the medication).

If it’s inflammatory bowel disease that your vet suspects your cats have then a gastric biopsy is what they’ll order for your cat. This medical procedure can be done with an endoscope or through abdominal surgery.

The endoscope happens to be a way less invasive medical procedure, however, both procedures contain their own specific individual risks attached to them.

How Do You Treat It?

Treatment really depends on what caused the flatulence in the first place. The cause will also determine how difficult or not it will be to get rid of.

Diet Management

If the only cause is the food your feeding your cat, then the most obvious plan of action would be to change your cat’s diet. You can start by switching the cat food brands you normally use. However, don’t forget to make this switch gradual so as not to add further problems. Slowly ease your cat into the new food and avoid bringing it in all at once.

Medical Treatment

If the discovery of a much larger medical issue is the case, then you might have to use very specific treatment plans. In cases of infection, only antibiotics can fully remedy the situation. Diet management won’t be able to solve all the problems.

Is it a good idea to get rid of the carpet in a house that smells like cat pee?

Yes. Once cat pee gets into the carpet it can be hard, or bordering on impossible to remove it. Therefore, the best way is to replace the carpet if your budget can cover it.

And, if you do replace it, it is best to replace it all. If you try to cut corners and only do some, you may find areas that you missed later. It may be costly, but especially if you are new to a house you will appreciate it.

Can you sell a house that smells like cat urine?

Yes. You can sell a house that smells like cat urine. You can technically sell a house in any condition as long as the buyer is willing to accept the responsibility.

However, the cost of the home may be greatly reduced if it smells like this. Why? Because there are many buyers that just want to move in with minimal work.

And, with that smell, they may be concerned that they may have to re-carpet the house, replace curtains, and suffer other costs as a consequence.

Should you buy a house with a pet odor?

If you are looking for a bargain and are willing to do the work then yes, it may be worth considering buying it. But, if you are not likely to have the time or money to do it, then it is a bad idea.

Ultimately, it is a personal choice. But, you need to look at your appetite for risk and budget. You may find it’s a bargain purchase that doesn’t need much work.

How can I tell if my house smells like cat pee?

If you live in your home and find it hard to detect the smell of cat pee the best way is to invite someone around to see their response. It may be subtle, but us humans find it hard to hide any responses to foul smells.

If the person is polite you may need to watch their body language closely to truly understand if they have detected the smell.

Does rat pee smell like cat pee?

Yes, rat pee may smell similar to cat pee. And, this could be the cause of the smell instead of your cat, or a previous cat owner’s cat.

The contents of cat pee is not much different to a rat, or other animals pee. Basically, it contains water and urea. This urea breaks down to ammonia which causes that stench of a smell.

Conclusion

Many cat owners will agree that having a feline companion can sometimes be one of the best things you can do for yourself.

However, taking care of them is not always a walk in the park. In fact, it’s far from that.

Getting rid of annoying smells in your house may take some time, but follow the tips you have learned here to make gradual improvements. You can also consider, if its a behaviour or stress related issue consider using pheromone related products (Click here to see if pheromones affects humans).

By the way, believe it or not, farting is a very normal thing, even in cats. Dealing with flatulence in your cat doesn’t necessarily have to be such a big deal, but, it can be when the cause is a serious medical issue.

Hopefully this article has enlightened you on how to effectively notice as well as tackle this problem. And don’t forget, sharing is caring. Let others know what you’ve learned today. It might go a long way for them.

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