AHHHH!!! Need advice

Vindicated · Postby **Vindicated** » Wed May 27, 2009 7:40 pm

Totally off topic here....

I have recently started smelling a very faint smell of cat urine when my ac kicks on.
I do have 3 cats, all fixed, all have been fixed for quite some time.
The whole house smells though, and I have company coming over in 2 days!!!!

Ideas?? Aside from calling a duct cleaning company? Anyone ever have this problem?

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:02 pm

Cat urine is absolutely the worst. Are you sure it's coming from the AC? Is the AC outside? Are they marking it? If they are marking it I would try to put something around that would deny them access. Perhaps a screen.

Might want to get some of that anti smell stuff Billy Mays sells on TV.

nferro9925 · Postby **nferro9925** » Wed May 27, 2009 10:07 pm

Vinegar & water solution worked for me with the new puppy.
If the ac is outside ont he ground spray the area around it with Pine Sol -
Cats hate the stuff.

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Thu May 28, 2009 6:53 am

If you can identify the source, the only thing I have found that removes the smell is Nature's Miracle, available a Feeder's Supply and other pet stores.

karenkarenn · Postby **karenkarenn** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:01 am

We had that problem this last winter. We hired someone that cleaned the vents BUT had a camera so we knew where it was. It wasnt cat it was a mouse living in the vent. That had somehow crawled in and made a nest.
My advice would be to hire someone that has a camera with an extension.
And then have them take a rod with a rag with solution and really clean the area. We have three cats and i was the first one to blame them, but it wasnt them at all.

karenkarenn · Postby **karenkarenn** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:03 am

Oh yes we did apply solution freely just like some here suggests however when we kicked on our vent it just squirted back at us. So putting chemical down into anything that has vents could be very dangerous esp for animals, you have to physically clean the area.

docjocoy · Postby **docjocoy** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:10 am

karenkarenn wrote:We had that problem this last winter. We hired someone that cleaned the vents BUT had a camera so we knew where it was. It wasnt cat it was a mouse living in the vent. That had somehow crawled in and made a nest.
My advice would be to hire someone that has a camera with an extension.
And then have them take a rod with a rag with solution and really clean the area. We have three cats and i was the first one to blame them, but it wasnt them at all.

Three cats and not a mouser amongst them!

Vindicated · Postby **Vindicated** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:45 am

The AC unit is actually some complex thing with the heater...I don't know my husband's best friend is in heating & cooling so we have a really "great" model.

All of the cats are inside cats-2 are declawed (my husband did it, not me) & the oldest is a refuge barn cat-I took the cat when I left my last barn job. As my first post stated, all are fixed, the two youngest have been since we got them at about 9 months. The oldest got neutered when I got him about 5 years ago (all of my barn cats were fixed and had all of their shots-can we say ouch!! I once had more cats than horses in my barn).

After a good amount of time searching for spots-I have a really good nose. I cannot find any area's upstairs that anyone has been using as a litter box. I did however find an area in the basement, fairly close to the heating cooling unit that someone has peed on several times. Could it be wafting up from there? How the heck do I get the smell out of the air?

Vindicated · Postby **Vindicated** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:47 am

Also, I have a neurotic German Shepard, that comes inside to go to the bathroom...have tried everything I know to house break her...any non-conventional ideas?

As an aside-all of my animals have some sort of issue-don't get me started on my horses :oops:

cewright · Postby **cewright** » Thu May 28, 2009 8:05 am

Had a similar problem. It turned out we were smelling refrigerant which was slowly leaking from the unit.

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Thu May 28, 2009 8:32 am

Vindicated wrote:Also, I have a neurotic German Shepard, that comes inside to go to the bathroom...have tried everything I know to house break her...any non-conventional ideas?

Build her a fenced yard with a shelter and keep her outside.

xfactor fan · Postby **xfactor fan** » Thu May 28, 2009 9:25 am

If you think the problem area is outside the air intake in the basement, test by putting something scented in the same spot. You may have pee scented Pinesol for a while, but at least you will have pinpointed the trouble spot.

Vindicated · Postby **Vindicated** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:08 am

That is a good idea....

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Fri May 29, 2009 6:04 am

Vindicated wrote:

Also, I have a neurotic German Shepard, that comes inside to go to the bathroom...have tried everything I know to house break her...any non-conventional ideas?

It's time to call the "Dog Whisperer" But beware; he might put all the behavioral blame on you...

Vindicated · Postby **Vindicated** » Fri May 29, 2009 7:02 am

I am willing to take the blame for the dogs issues...

Short funny story about how Husbands have selective hearing.

My husband works 2nd shift, and most of the time will not get home from work until 1-3am. While I am not a scaredy cat, I am apprehensive about staying home alone, I have always had German Shepards-until 3 years ago.

So I am 6 months pregnant, and my husband is getting home about 3 am every morning-and I am hating staying home alone at night.
I tell him that I would like to go to the pound and get an older male dog, something that is already housebroke, He says that he would prefer not to get someone elses "mistake" is how he put it. I explain too him that people move into apartments, or cannot afford to feed a big dog anymore-and surrender the dog to the pound because they don't think there are other options. I also explain that everyone wants puppies, it is the older dogs that are harder to place-and therefore more likely to be put to sleep. Also, I have a preferance to male dogs for some reason, of all of the dogs we have had and that I have been close too-I always bond faster to the male dogs-probably the same reason I usually stay away from mares.
At this point I am thinking that he understands, and we are on the same page.

So about a week later, he comes home on a Saturday afternoon with a 6 month old German Shepard/Collie? mix. She is adorable, but very hyper active. I have raised several dogs from weaning through adult hood-and have always been able to work through the problems ect..most animals have similar learning patterns ect.
This one is a heathen...