Plant needs advice urgently

[lotsofplants]

And I have no idea who to ask.

I got home from being out with friends to discover that my bedroom (and it's very clearly my bedroom) smells of cat urine. Several hours of rearrangement later, I can't tell where it comes from. I also don't know which of the two cats is responsible.

I am, understandably, not pleased.

My roommate is, understandably, also not pleased.

However, she is reacting in a way I did not expect and that concerns me. Her immediate response was "cats are going away" and she promptly posted them on craigslist.

I hadn't realized that until she commented that she'd gotten a response. Some querying revealed that she did not want to get rid of the cats (she is very fond of them, and has had them for years) but felt that since one(?) had urinated in my room, they could no longer reside in this apartment. However, it turns out that she wants to move to a new apartment with them--she simply does not have the money--and is very upset about the whole thing (but mostly, I think, the idea that she must get rid of the cats.)

And while I don't think she is the best cat-owner, she is very fond of them and desperately unhappy (more so than I am at the prospect of removing everything from my room to find the source of the odor). The cats are also very fond of her--one has only known her since kittenhood, and loves to come cuddle when no-one is watching. The other likes her, but is not very picky about which lap he curls up in. And I feel she is acting very hastily, and I think she might have some way of getting money for an apartment (suggested her dad, to which she vehemently stated she was not borrowing any more money from him--she has some money management issues and he's bailed her out a number of times).

I am at a loss of what to do. I am honestly very tired of the cats and odor and whining, but I also think that the cats are somewhat attention-starved and the cat might have somehow been trapped in my room?? And it seems like there should be a way to enable her to move into her own place. I don't want to loan her the money, because I don't think I'd see it anytime soon (if at all).

Thoughts?

Comments

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

In terms of dealing with the immediate situation, we've got a large quantity of natural cleaner/odor-remover over here, which seems to work fairly well. (Mostly on poop; we haven't had spraying so far.) Black lighting works well for locating cat urine, but I don't have one of those handy.

[plantae.livejournal.com]

I have an offer for a blacklight, and roommate has a bottle of the urine-odor-removing stuff from when one of the cats had an infection and was urinating in innappropriate locations (I'm wondering if this is another infection--not sure why she isn't considering that possibility). Just...I don't understand the response. I didn't demand the cats leave. And I like her enough that I don't want her unhappy, and one of the cats is now crying because she has closed her bedroom door and he can't go in and cuddle with her; I don't want the cats unhappy either (though Toby might be happier in a different home with someone who could be a lap for him all the time. He really just wants to be in a lap.)

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it sounded like she was making a lot of assumptions. You might ask if the cats have a history of spraying. I know sometimes that there can be spraying in response to spraying, so that might be what she's worried about in the future. But overall, it seems like she's really worked up about the situation and is in a minor panic; my main advice is putting off any major decisions until after a night of sound sleep. :)

Not apropos of the situation, it's my opinion that cats need to take their people-cuddling when they can get it, and not complain too much if they don't. Just like people and cat-cuddling. :) My family in Virginia has several cats and one of them is a major attention hog, and since my parents no longer have children at home, they aren't too good at discouraging him. He's also enormous, and it's not all fat, so he can be a pain to discourage or dislodge...

[pathdancer.livejournal.com]

Your roommie sounds like she's feeling very stressed herself and not coping with it too well.

Sounds like she could use some deep breaths, and maybe a hug. This isn't the end of the world, and probably not even the first time the carpet's been marked (unless, of course, it's new).

This, from the woman who goes absolutely ape-sh*t when stuff like that happens in apartments - but I found a way to cope!!

[pathdancer.livejournal.com]

There are lots of products out there, some of them good, some of them useless. First thing's first, though... she needs to get them to a vet and figure out if it's PHYSICAL. There are lots of possibilities here - including bladder infection (she never get those?), kidney infection (ditto), hormones (have they been neutered?), a dirty litterbox, and illness - and that's BEFORE emotional issues like desire for attention, stress, boredom, etc. And then there's the smell of outgassing brand new carpeting, which seems to induce most animals to mark territory (urethane can do that).

As a breeder, this is a constant concern for me. Funny enough, as long as I keep the litterbox clean, my house doesn't smell like one. I have an intact male, and two spayed females, one of whom occasionally breaks her litterbox training (usually when new carpeting or extreme stress is involved).

Get ahold of a black light (http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=2272&Nav=1&N=0&Ntt=Simple+Solution&cp=2&Nao=12&sku=933066&familyID=12345&). They sell small black lights at Petco and Petsmart for just this purpose. Wait until the room is very, very dark. Then turn it on, get on your hands and knees, and start looking for a very unique light yellow "spill" (you'll know it when you see it). Smell it, to be sure. You're in an apartment, so bear in mind not every yellow spill will be your roommate's cats.

Once you find the offending spot, I would recommend a product called Simple Solution Stain and Odor Remover (http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=7507&Nav=1&N=0&Ntt=Simple+Solution&cp=1&Nao=0&sku=36757&familyID=2851&). You have to really soak it in - down to the carpet pad (I usually take a 10ml syringe, pull up the carpet slightly, bury the nose in, and squirt so it gets under the carpet itself). It DOES work, at least against female cat urine (Fionn hasn't sprayed carpet or furniture yet, so we haven't had an opportunity to see how it does against intact male urine).

I've also had amazing success with a product called KittyScram - I had a roommate once who let her cats pee indiscriminantly and kept her door shut. I didn't discover it until after I kicked her out, at which point her room **stank** (she had an intact female). Despite the extent of the damage, we got the reek out and I got my deposit back. It's a cleaning product you usually get at janitorial supply stores, though, and I'm not sure anymore who carries it. Simple Solution is easily available.

Good luck.

[plantae.livejournal.com]

Question: the blacklight worked well on finding things in the carpet (and wow do tiny bits of kitty litter show up well under blacklight!) but didn't seem to work well on the hardwood floor. I suspect there is some on the hardwood, just the blacklight wasn't helping me find it. Is there some other technique for hardwoods?

[pathdancer.livejournal.com]

Talc shows up really well too - there's a reason it's used at Halloween under black lights a lot! ;)

I'm not surprised it's harder to detect with the hardwood. I'd go with what my nose detects, and use some Simple Solution or anti-enzymatic to break down the urine (Anti-IckyPoo is great too, but I've only found it at my vet where it's kinda spendy). I'd be careful NOT to saturate the area, though. Hardwood doesn't like it. I *have* read that you can use vinegar as a deterrent, but that seems to help when the smells are freshest, and I'm not sure about mixing it with other agents.

I second (can I third?) Damiana's recommendations re: additional litterboxes (one for each cat is the rule in our household) and Feliway (fantastic for calming everybody down when there's low-level hostilities).

[damiana-swan.livejournal.com]

Some of the things we've had reasonably good luck with lately are:

--keep the bedroom door closed so they can't get in there and also can't get *trapped* in there
--add a litter box or two, and scoop them all daily
--try one of the natural litters; we're using Nature's Miracle, which is a clumping litter made of corn and scented with pine, and the cats love it and it takes a LOT before it starts smelling like urine
--once you find the stained spot, there's a product called AntiIckyPoo which is an enzymatic cleaner; it breaks down the molecules that cause the stink
--wiping sprayed areas down with white vinegar can also help
--get some Feliway (feline "safe/happy" pheromone) and spritz it around

[plantae.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Good ideas.

[pomma-penses.livejournal.com]

It sounds like she's taking all of her own housing stress out on the cats, which is unfortunate, especially since you generally don't seem to mind them being there. :P

Not that I have any useful advice to add. *hugs*

[zanfur.livejournal.com]

Can't help with the roommate issues, but cat urine is definitely something I know about. I grew up with between 1 and 12 cats depending on the year, and my family has a home-brew recipe for removing cat urine smell that's better than any product we've tried. And we've tried many. The problem with cat urine in particular is that it crystalizes, so your usual cleansing agents can't get it out -- it's crystalized, solid, around/in/through the fibers of the cloth.

The magic recipe is a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and a drop of liquid hand soap. Basically, the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda produce enough oxygen to chemically break down the crystals, and the disk soap is to reduce the surface tension of the mixture so it can actually soak down and through the fibers.

Ratios: 7.5oz of 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1 level tablespoon of baking soda, and a single drop of dish soap. Scale as necessary.

Application: After soaking up what urine you can using towels or whatnot, *slowly* saturate the area with the solution, and let it air dry for one or two days.

Cleanup: It will probably leave a white residue behind. This is just the baking soda, after the liquid has evaporated. You can vacuum it up without a hassle.

Storage: Don't. Seriously. If left in a closed container, it will eventually produce enough oxygen to explode. It's safe to dump down the sink, though.

I have some more tricks for things like vertical or waxed surfaces, but you probably don't need to hear them.