Getting rid of a smell without opening the window

[Catquestion]

I’m looking after a friend’s cat for the weekend in my house. The cat used its litter tray last night the downstairs of the house still smells ‘interesting’ after it’s been emptied. I can’t open the windows as the cat can’t go outside....how can I get rid of the smell?

I’ve lit a candle but it just seems to have mingled with the cat poo smell (not envy)

Don't you have doors? Just close the door to one room with the cat inside and open a window elsewhere for a bit. Or open some windows an amount that is smaller than what a cat can squeeze through.

Cat shit is disgusting. Febreze Febreze Febreze and then don’t look after the cat again.

Is the litter tray in the kitchen? If so, cookerhood extractor fan switched on full.

If the tray has been emptied and swabbed down then there shouldn’t be any smell. Have you washed out the plastic tray itself and where is the binned litter?

Just shut the cat in another area/room (with a a littler tray!) and let the other area air out.

Thanks everyone! you’ve made it sound so simple - I can’t believe I didn’t think of those things....I’m blaming sleep deprivation

Slight aside - I always puzzle about cat litter trays in a kitchen.
I mean, if someone asked me "where shall we put a tray of shit in the house?"
My immediate response would not be "I think the best place is where we prepare food"

@WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat

Slight aside - I always puzzle about cat litter trays in a kitchen. I mean, if someone asked me "where shall we put a tray of shit in the house?" My immediate response would not be "I think the best place is where we prepare food"

Same. My friend has her cat's litter tray in the kitchen and it puts me off eating or drinking at her house. Ours is in our loo. That way everyone's shit is done in the same room.

Is this how people with house cats live? Never opening the windows?

When we had a squirrel die in the eaves (in an inaccessible place) we put a small cup of white vinegar in a pan of boiling water and simmered it for a while, it helps deodorise the whole house.

OutOfDateAppleCrumble
I think the OP probably doesn't want to open the window because it's someone else's cat in her house.
If it escapes in a strange place it might not come back.

Bicarbonate of soda will absorb the smell

Put the cat and litter tray in another room and open the windows.

Obviously not @OutOfDateAppleCrumble 🤦‍♀️ but the OP is looking after the cat in her own home! She can't let it out as it doesn't know where it is! How would she explain that to its owner when they returned from their week in Benidorm 😱

When the cat is at its own home, it will come and go as it pleases 🤷‍♀️

Put the cat in a bag,
Open the window,
Clean litter tray out,
Let the cat out of the bag,
Dont tell anybody.

Don't Febreze it, could make the cat ill, it's not that great for humans either.

Please be very careful when useing any air freshener , they can make cats (and other pets very ill ) as PP said lock the cat in another room with it's tray and some water and open all the other doors and windows

Light a candle then blow it out over stinky area. Scented candles don't do much when lit, but the carbon released on blowing it out stops a lot of smell. Also bicarbonate of soda, although I don't know how safe that is for cats but I would've thought it would be fine.

I really don’t think people with cats realise how much they smell. You can almost always smell that a house has a cat. Unmistakable scent of cat wee.

@ShirleyPhallus

I have a indoor cat and I have to disagree with you , my house doesn't smell .

It bloody stinks ! , I have tried alsorts of litter and food combos with little effect .
It's got to the stage now where I am considering putting a cat flap in the bathroom door ( where his tray is ) to confine the pong to one room .

I have in door cats. Once I’ve got rid of the 💩 I either have to spray air fresher or put the plug in air freshener on for a bit, or else the smell of 💩 lingers for ages. But I tend just to close the door so I don’t smell it.

Wood cat litter is better at absorbing the cat wee smell, the gravel type stuff stinks once it’s been wee’d in.

Striking a match and letting it burn out is a good way to get rid of a smell.

Before you strike that match please make sure the cat hasn't got a bad case of wind otherwise it could be out through that window whether it is open or not! 🙀🚀

@WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat

Yup this is why we have a cat flap. Litter trays are gross 🤢

Do they have any febreze?