Someone has peed on my Christmas Decs

[Debbit]

But who?! I can’t believe I just wrote that, this is a problem I’ve not hitherto encountered in my fairly problem-filled life!

Decorations are stored in an attic room on the top floor of our house. Youngest ds brought them down for me earlier today. Thought I could detect a whiff of something but put it down to the decorations having been packed away for a year.

Got to the crate with the Christmas lights stored in it, and the smell was getting stronger. Pulled the lights out, and sure enough, at the bottom of the crate was, well, piss .

The dc are all adult (youngest is 15), there is no dh, there is an elderly cat but think he probably couldn’t be bothered to climb into what is quite a deep crate, there is a young dog who I would definitely suspect if he wasn’t a sausage dog and would (I think) find it physically impossible to get into (and out of) the crate. All human suspects are denying any knowledge and I have to say I believe them! Wtf?!!

Over to you folks!

I've got one who pees in the sink and another who pees on the dining room table (if we don't put bacofoil down). Maybe they used your crate too?

I don't think you can mistake cat piss for anything but what it is.

If it ain't got that distinctive aroma the cat's out of the frame.

The dog definitely looks guilty, maybe the cat gave him a leg up to the crate!

Could there have been a leak into the box?
We had a similar situation with what looked and smelled like pee in one of dd's toy boxes.
I even excused dh of doing it as he had been out a few weeks earlier and came in worst for wear.
It turned out to be a leaky boiler, the box was stored in the boiler cupboard.
It had been leaking slightly for a few months and we hadn't noticed. The water had gone stagnant and it really stank.

Yeah the dog's all like "Box of piss? I've never seen a box of piss. Anyway I don't piss. And I was in pizza express all that year" while the cat's giving it "Whatever. Keep singing, Fido."

We just got ours out of the garage and I had to throw loads away. Mice had got into the box and weed/pooed over most. I was gutted.

Hmm. Have your dc had any drunken friends staying in or near the attic room in the past year? I think the cat should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

I vote for a rat.

I'd say mice ... but are there really no droppings?

Have you got a missing baluster that the dog fills in for?

Have you had any tradesmen in recently who went into the attic room?

You folks are funny :). I was feeling perturbed and aghast, and other over-the-top things but now, thanks to you, I’m laughing.

Absolutely no other signs of mice - no droppings or chewed up stuff. As it happens, I’ve had a lot of tradesmen in this year but a) none (that I’m aware of) on the top floor, and b) I’m more than happy for them to use the toilet thus negating the need for crate use!

Do have a missing spindle Benny, yes. It’s proved to be a godsend for the dog - just the right sized gap for him to look through!

Glad we've cheered you up OP. In all seriousness I would be having a little look around to see if you've got a leak because the water left standing + insulation thing accounting for the rank smell makes sense. But alternatively one of your animals the dog doing it unnoticed before the box went back up is also possible. Sorry your decorations are fucked though. ☹️

My money is on the cat op. They will use something tucked away that looks like a litter box ( speaking from bitter experience 😂)

I feel silly for not suspecting the cat now - but he’s never given me so much as a second’s trouble. He’s obviously been playing the long game!

My cat got freaked out and pissed in odd containers a couple of times when there was too much going on for her. I can see how she'd have done that in the getting everything cleared up, stuff all over the place post Christmas melee. I think they get a bit overwhelmed sometimes if there's too many strange smells (especially given their sense of smell is terrifically sensitive compared to ours)/noises/goings on in an familiar environment and have a quick widdle somewhere to put their own smell into the mix so it all makes a bit more sense.

*makes a bit more sense to them, obviously - cat piss doesn't make sense to anyone else.

Hah Adenosine. Was just on my way to widdle in the crate to add my scent to the mix when you qualified your post

It was probably my dog. Sorry. He's going senile. He's obviously creeping out of the window at night time.

Ah, I forgive him Old. He doesn’t know what he’s doing god love him.

Yeah the dog's all like "Box of piss? I've never seen a box of piss. Anyway I don't piss. And I was in pizza express all that year" while the cat's giving it "Whatever. Keep singing, Fido."

LOL!! This is hilarious

Dd and I took the pissy crate to the tip today. I had to have the crate on my lap and I’m almost sure now that the cat is the culprit. Had to stick my head out of the window all the way there to try and stop gagging at the smell.

Did you take the crate with the liquid still in it? Or did you at least empty it out. Some rubber gloves and a hose and you'd be fine. I really hope you didn't chuck a crate full of unidentified pee into the dump.

Am I the only one who came on expecting to say:
LTB
Onwards and upwards etc

Lulu, no I emptied it and cleaned it but could still smell it really strongly. Couldn’t really clean the lights which had been in it, and peed on. Some of the lights were in cardboard boxes too which had evidently been impregnated. So put them back in the crate and took to the tip.