Long-term cat odor

17 years ago

Hi.

Friend of mine just bought a house. Well, a trailer... Well, a sort-of house, consisting of an addition to a trailer... well, an addition next to a trailer. It's kinda hard to explain.

Either way, the former owner had cats. Lots of cats. Lots of cats which he didn't seem to take much care of. Several of the cats are still here - they were living in the walls and kitchen cabinets when my friend moved in. He had the humane society come and trap most of them, but he kept two, which he's managed to convince to actually live in the normally-occupiable parts of the house, rather than in the walls/cabinets.

Meanwhile, parts of the house smell like cat urine and feces - bad. It seems to be soaked into the carpets and floors. Is there any way, at all, to neutralize/eliminate this odor, short of major carpentry and replacement of the floors?

If I remember correctly, bleach works fairly well, but I'm pretty sure it'll do a number on the carpet in the process.

Is there any chemical, available to consumers, which will remove cat odor without simultaneously destroying the carpets, tiles, and/or plywood?

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Comments (5)

stir_fryi SE Mich
17 years ago
Wow -- did he not notice the smell before he signed on the dotted line??

Years and years ago, when our cat was spraying, we used Natures Miracle and had to pull up the carpet and "Kilz" the floor boards.

Sounds like your friend has a HUGE task ahead of him.
annzgw
17 years ago
I think he's in for a good bit of work. All the carpet and padding needs to be removed and then check for any damage to the flooring. After that many cats have had a free-for-all within a home, there's no way you can salvage carpet.

I'm also afraid he'll need to replace all cabinets they lived in if they urinated in them.

Tell him not to put down new flooring until he's sure there's no more odor. Hopefully sealing the subflooring will help but if it were me, I'd replace the subflooring and start over with new cabinets, etc. He may also need to replace bottom portions of the walls if they're also damaged.
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izzie
17 years ago
You will probably have to replace sub flooring to get rid of most of the odor. My mom/me had a cat 20+ years ago. She went in the corner of living room a few times, not many. carpet replaced 2 times, wood floor treated/cleaned in someway. Years later in real humid weather I swear you can still smell something. I am not sure if sealing alone will get rid of smell. Kitchen cabinets are probably a goner if they went in there, which they probably did. I have an area around cat box that my now cats missed, on cement floor. I have treated w/natures miracle, vinegar, straight bleach, by saturating a cloth and laying it on area for a day or so. Still an odor when I get down on hand and knees and put nose up to it.
pjb999
17 years ago
Nature's miracle is pretty good, as is kilz. Hope your friend gets it sorted out, I almost got the dry heaves from your description!
petaloid
17 years ago
Pooh-Radicator is kind of a funny name, but this is a non-toxic, odorless spray liquid that people in the local bird club like for safely cleaning cages. It works on any kind of "pooh" and is made of something called F-4, a colloidal used to dissolve oil spills. It breaks down and sanitizes excrement.

Nature's Miracle is good too, with enzyme action.