Cat Got Your Tongue? And Your Last Nerve?

I'm currently not on speaking terms with cats.

Truth be told, cats and I have never really cared for one another.  But until recently we just stayed out of each other's way, and things were fine.  Things are different now.

Now it's all out war!



A few months ago Son #1B and his sweet wife purchased their first home.  When they made the offer to purchase, the house had that definite "new-carpet smell".   Their realtor pointed out that it looked like the sellers had also given it a fresh coat of paint.  It would be move-in ready -- just what they wanted.

By the time they took possession a month later, the new-carpet smell had worn off, and the stench of cat urine permeated the air.



For the first month, they worked hard washing and scrubbing with everything the internet promised would work.  No luck.

When the temperatures rose in the summer, so did the level of stench!  When the temperatures cooled off in the Fall, the furnace vents blew stinky cat air into every room of the house.

Stubborn Odors.  Stubborn Cats.  It's as if the cats stay up nights trying to discover new places to mark their territory.



The Mr. and I have travelled down to help out a few times.  It's been over four months, and it seems like all of us have done everything we possibly can to eliminate the smell.

--Linoleum washing with Nature's Miracle
--Wall washing with Nature's Miracle
--Wall washing with bleach
--Wall washing with vinegar
--Professional duct cleaning
--Professional fogging treatment for vents
--New sub floor in living room
--Steam cleaning of all carpets
--Professional chlorine gas bomb
--"Sealing" paint on cement floors
--"Sealing" paint on sub floors
--"Sealing" paint on several walls
--"Sealing" paint on wooden shelves
--"Sealing" paint in closets
--New drywall in worst areas
--Vacuuming of vents
--"Sealing" paint around vent openings
--Removal of non-essential wood and drywall
--Partial removal of stairs
--Removal of urine-soaked old carpet under stairs
--"Sealing" paint under stairs
--Re-building stairs
--Opening up of furnace ducts to clean out
--Opening up of cold-air return
--New furnace filter
--Ozone generators
--Activated charcoal
--And a myriad of essential oil diffusers

I've learned some new handyman skills, like how to lay sub floor, how to install drywall, figuring out the workings of furnace vents and ducts, and what a cold air return does.

And speaking of cold air returns, this is what we found when we opened it up:



Are you kidding me?  How can those items even fit through the slats of the cold air vent?  I wondered what kind of people had previously owned this home.  (I also wondered what would be found inside my cold air return.  haha)

But I digress -- back to the cats.  I wondered how a pet owner could tolerate their cats urinating wherever they felt like it inside their home.  Do they become so used to the smell that they don't notice it?  Or are they just as unhealthy as their cats?

A quick internet search proved to me that apparently cats really do conjure up different ways to torment their humans.







Okay, this last picture makes me re-think blaming the humans for the mountainous heap of junk in the cold air return.

Anyway, the good news is that the smell is finally getting under control.  YAY!!

Dixie