[snoodles]

Hi !
I have an "odor" in my house that I cannot get rid of !!! I told my Mother I had a "smell" in my house and she said "How do you know that you have a snail in your house"... but that is another story - we had a good laugh.

Anyway, every Sunday I have a group of people at my home - usually around 10 - 15 people so of course I want my home to be as perfect as possible. My house is spotlessly clean (that is not always the case but I clean constantly now that I know people will be over each week).

I have 3 cats and a dog so it makes sense that the odor problem could be from the litter boxes that I have in my office - my office is next to my living room. BUT... the odor will be gone, then the heat comes on and it seems it is coming from the vents. Several of us are thinking maybe a critter died up in my attic. I cannot crawl around in my attic to check it out.

In the mean time - does anybody have any suggestions on how I can kill this odor until the source can be found. I am not 100 % certain that it is not the litter boxes. I keep them clean (scoop) and mop constantly - but there is some smell in this office and perhaps it is circulating through the house ??? The litter boxes are inside a closet. I keep the office door shut while I have company however.

I need suggestions from anybody who can help - I will run to the store and buy any product that somebody has found to help. Maybe I need to replace the litter boxes ??? They are old - I wonder if odor is actually in the boxes themselves. Problem is in determining the origin of this odor but I definately do have some odor in the office.

If you made it this far - thank you for taking the time to read !!! I would truly appreciate any assistance.

Snoods !

[Kitty]

Hi Snoods! I have two cats who share a really large litter box. And...I am extra sensitive to odors, too. With my MS I constantly smell "phantom" things so I'm never sure if it's a real odor or just my nose working overtime.

I switch out the litter box every few months in addition to cleaning it out several times a day. My one cat Tigger won't use it if there is anything in it....he'll just sit there beside it till I notice him there and clean it out! But I do get one of my boys to hose it out every once in a while just to dislodge stubborn stuff that seems to cling to the sides....yuck!

Are you sure one of your pets didn't piddle on a rug or somewhere you can't see? Sometimes that odor comes back to haunt you when it gets warm or stuffy (like around a heating vent).

Maybe you could call a pest control company to come out and inspect your attic to see if anything crawled up there and died. That odor would be very recognizable, though.

Good luck finding out what's causing it. I hope it's easily corrected!

[Curious]

Hi Snoodles.

We had a pet store move right smack next door to our gym.

It's hard enough keeping a gym smelling good, but with a connecting wall to a pet store? ACK. They are not good at keeping their store smelling even ok.

We use a product we get at Sam's called Odor Ban. It kills the germs that are causing the smell, without masking it with a heavy scent.

Fabreeze is a good product too. You can spray that on fabric andit doesn't hurt it. Great for curtains and furnature.

You might want to check if you have any mold in the duct work.

I have a super sensitive nose.

[snoodles]

Good Morning Kitty !
I think I will start with getting new litter boxes - I haven't done that in a long time - these boxes are rather old - they both have the hoods on them.

I only have 1 small rug in the entire house. I love rugs but one of my babie came to me after years of being passed around from one person to another and she seems to think that rugs (especially bathroom rugs) are for her own use and she will use them. The one rug I do have is in my granddaughters room and she has only used it once so I keep an eye on it. I did go around smelling my couch / love seat and chairs - even turned them upside down to inspect and vacuum and had my daughter come over to sniff also. All the furniture and anything fabric seems fine.

Calling the pest control is a good idea - I do have a service and I will give them a call. My parents wanted me to call the gas company but this is not a rotten egg sort of smell and I have carbon monoxide detectors anyway.

One of my kitties will go anywhere she desires if the boxes are not clean enough to suit her (or if she gets upset) and I have found spots on occasion but I have mopped every inch of floor in my house. There are a few pieces of furniture that I cannot move and cannot get behind but likewise - the cats could not get underneath or behind this furniture. I have no carpet anywhere.

It is so frustrating...
Thank you for your response - we cat people know the importance of a cat or two or three in our homes ! But, I don't need a dead rat or varmit of some kind in my duct work if that is the problem...

Snoods

[snoodles]

Hi Curious !
I will definately try Odor Ban from Sam's - I will try and go there today ! I need something to kill the odor and yes, I have done the dreaded - burning of candles and smelly things to try and "cover" it up - and honestly, that just made everything worse and made my asthma act up !!!

I hadn't even thought of mold in the duct work - we have had a ton of rain this winter making for damp conditions and more rain coming. That is a thought - I will have to talk to my son about how to get that checked out - he may be able to check it for me.

Thanks so much for the suggestions !!!
Snoods

[Blessings2You]

Are you the only one who can smell it? It might help to bring in an independent nose, trusted friend or family member with a reliable sniffer to confirm. (I smell ghosts, also)

I don't think a litter box smell and a dead critter smell are anything alike. Maybe someone else could pin down the "type" of odor.

I'm chuckling at your misunderstanding with your mother, and picturing a big snail crawling around in your attic. My brother lives in the south, and he would say "smail" for "smell" and I probably would have thought he said "snail", too. Hee hee.

[Curious]

Snoods, you wrote that you smell it from the vents...try checking where the intake is.

I can make my whole house smell like cookies.

My intake is near the kitchen. Unfortunalty I can also make it smell like fish.

[snoodles]

I have to run and get ready for work but wanted to make another quick post before signing off for the day.

B2Y - yes... I am rather Southern and sometimes even those of us from the South have trouble understanding each other. I think I must have said "Smaaaeeelllll"... LOL

I have brought in independant noses and yes the odor is definately there. I had 2 family members and 2 friends sniff and all agree, there is an odor. Several have mentioned something in my duct work. Yesterday during our meeting - several of us did some sniffing and we definately noticed that the smell got strong when the heat came on but disappeared when the heat was not blowing.

As for the intake - I hate to admit this - but I don't know where it is. My parents mentioned that to me also. Is that where you change the filters ??? I am going to go change the filter right now when I log off my computer.

Also - I agree, something dead and litter box should not smell similar but I am no longer able to distinguish I have sniffed so much. I guess that I keep going back to my litter boxes because that is a known area of concern.

Got to get ready for work - my body is so stiff today that I am moving rather slowly.

Thank you all for your help - a smell seems like a silly little problem but when you cannot contain it and get rid of it - it becomes a big deal - especially when you have a bunch of people coming to your home weekly !!!

Snoods

[Dejibo]

sorry, but if you have a squirrel, or other type of dead animal in your attic, next to the venting system, the only way to really fix it is to call a company to come get it, OR send a big strong nephew, or brother in law up thar. Pay um well in beer or cooking.

As for kitty boxes, you can mix baking soda in with the litter, and that really helps keep down on the odor. My baby kitty tend to hang her fanny over the edge of the box, and drop presents on the ground beside the box, the lil monkey! so,be sure to pull the box OUT, and check around it or UNDER it to be sure urine didnt dribble down the edge and under the box.

they sell stick up type products that you can open a vent and slap it into the duct work till someone can crawl up there for you. Just make sure that you buy all from the same family. if you get fruity, use all fruity, or all flowers, dont mix them up, or the mess of perfume odors can be just as bad as the dead critter. You can also stuff dryer sheets in and around the radiators, or the vents. Cheap and cheerful. Dryer sheets are amazing! If you actually have a dead critter, make sure you send some one up there to stuff dryer sheets around the openings. I close up my RV with them, and the mice/rats hate the stuff, and will boycott my vehicle.

If worse comes to worse, make sure to strap on a sense of humor, and realize that sometimes critters do what critters do, and you will get to it when you can.

[tkrik]

I saw a show on TV once about refrigerator odors. They tested both baking soda and charcoal fish filters. The fish filters worked great. I decided to try them as one of my neighbors smokes and I can smell it and it stinks up my apt. The show was right.

I like them because they don't irritate my allergies and take care of all the odors.

Just something to try. . . .