What on earth is Dcat doing?

[DyslexicNotThick]

Can anyone please help me solve this puzzle before I burn my house down?

On three occasions over the last couple of months, my DC's bedroom has had a really strong smell of vomit. On the first two occasions DD said she was asleep and woke to see dcat behaving unusually in one corner of the bedroom, the following day we found clear liquid on a plastic toy box.

It's happened for the 3rd time yesterday, and I can't fathom what's going on. We were out at school/work and came home to the smell. I haven't pulled out the shelves etc where the smell has come from as life is manic and the bedroom is such a mess so don't know if there is fluid this time.

Dcat is 7yrs old, neutered, generally fit and well, and very much loved apart from when she indulges in her strong hunter instinct and brings all manner of wildlife home.

The smell is really rank and while I would describe it as vomit, DD thinks it smells like poo. There is no poo, she has access to a clean litter tray, which she rarely uses as she prefers to go outside. She only uses litter tray in really heavy rain but paces and meows to let us know she wants to go out. When she can't hold it anymore she uses the litter tray. So I really don't think shes using the bedroom for toileting.

I haven't taken her to the vet because symptoms of "my DC's bedroom has smelled of vomit 3 times" will probably get me some odd looks. Dcat seems her usual self, we don't know what part of dcat anatomy this fluid is coming from etc. I'm aware dogs have anal glands that can have offensive smelling fluid, do cats have anything similar?

What on earth is this smell?

Cats definitely have anal glands, I had one who needed then emptying regularly. Don't know if they produce foul smelling liquid though.
How grim for you all - hope it's sorted soon!

Could she be trying to eject a hairball? Mine sometimes have false starts and vomit clear bile before the hairball comes up.

Cats will often eat grass to induce vomiting, and they usually come indoors to vomit in a secure place.
If they haven’t recently eaten, the vomit can be a clear or whitish liquid. It doesn’t harm the cat, but is annoying when it’s on your carpet!
DD could try keeping her door closed to stop the cat getting into the room, but she will probably just vomit somewhere else.

My cat's vomit doesn't really smell - just of his food if he's up chucked because he's eaten too quickly. His hairballs don't really have any odour. It definitely doesn't smell like human vomit.

Apologies for putting this forward but could it be your daughter? I don't know her age from your post. Is she very private or easily embarrassed over bodily functions or worrying about weight?

Sorry for raising a very sensitive issue.

This fluid smells really sour. The first time it happened i noticed when I peeked around the door, as I do every night on my way to bed. It was so strong I walked into the room and was checking my sleeping DD'S beds to see if one of them had vomited in their bed and fallen back to sleep.
DD'S are teen and pre teen and have no hygiene issues. Teen is not into make up etc but is very clean and health conscious. Pre teen is self conscious of her puppy fat and developing body but I feel it's a normal level of self consciousness. I'll admit it hadn't occured to me that it could be her purging, but it was teen DD who roused from her sleep and saw dcat being odd in the corner where the fluid is so that seems to rule that possibility out.

I had an older long haired cat who vomited a lot, and never noticed it smelling like this. That vomiting was mostly age and long hair related I think. But this cat is short haired and has only vomited twice to my knowledge, and the vomit contained grass but no hair. We haven't found grass in the bedroom.

I'm not sure she's vomiting.

Funny enough we had a very serious conversation yesterday about closing bedroom doors at night because I want to limit the spread of fire should one start. TeenDD was adamant that dcat would still sleep in her room, and is prepared to have and clean a small litter tray in her room, just in case. Their love for each other knows no bounds. It's like a cheesy American film about a boy and his dog. 😂 DD will hopefully be off to uni in the next few years and I don't know who will pine the most, DD or dcat.

Cheddars vomit smelled occasionally but like a PP, not a human smell.
When the late Fatty was in the early stages of kidney failure, she'd wee on things but it was clear and didn't smell of urine at all. I only realised what was going on when I came home from holiday to a very faint smell of urine. She'd been in the cattery for 10 days and discovered it was the hall rug. Worth getting bloods done to check kidney function?

Also when it happened yesterday we were all out. I was last in the bedroom before we left and it wasn't there then, so that def rules out it being caused by DDS.
Phew I did worry for a minute that I was missing something with pre teen.

How odd! Like pps my dcat's vomit never smells. I'm not suggesting you're dim op but have you checked the ceiling above this spot in the room?

Toddler, did Fattys urine smell sour?

Annual vaccine boosters and check up are due late Feb so I'm hoping it can wait until then to speak to a vet about it.

I know...no I haven't checked the ceiling. It didn't occur to me because the plastic toy box was on the bottom shelf of high open shelves. And the liquid was on the lid of the box. The box is too high for dcat to sit on the floor/shelf and vomit onto it. She would have to have climbed up onto it...and now that I envisage that in my head, I'm not sure there would have been enough room for her between the top of the box and the next shelf up. I know they squeeze themselves into small places but I'm talking inches.

This just gets wierder and wierder the more I think about it. 🤷

*Weirder
See username.

It couldn’t be rat or mouse urine could it? Although don’t think that would be likely to be in large enough quantity to see ( just thinking if cat had brought something in and was behaving oddly - no idea if the bedroom would have enough hiding places!). Although I guess that would be more likely then there continuously.

Another viable suggestion crumpets! Cos this cat likes to bring a wide variety in. (We've massively reduced this by locking the cat flap from dusk till dawn.)

So she wouldn't have been able to get out or in that night.
But it could have been brought in during the day and wee-ed during the night...
But I would hazard a guess from the spread of this fluid that it was a large animal if it was urine. Volume wise it would tally more with cat vomiting than a rodent weeing.
It was dried and a bit crusty and very pungent when we were clearing it up the next day.
Also when she has brought treasures home in the past, she is in proper hunter mode, never leaving them until they die and she's bored cos they no longer provide entertainment. If it had died it wouldn't be weeing...right?

I'm about 2 mins from home, I'm going to check the ceiling and pull out the shelves to see if I can find any evidence today.

I mean, if the proposed weeing animal had been brought in during the day, she would have been "on its tail" during the evening, when DDS going to bed etc.
Her behaviour is otherwise normal.
DD isn't sure what cat was actually doing those nights as she was half asleep and fell back to sleep without checking. But the fact she was near the shelves at all was weird because she's usually in DDS arms, with her head on pillow next to DDS face.

I think you have unwanted furry things in that room. Rodent urine has a very particular smell (unless you have smelt it, its hard to describe) and mice will wee as they move.

I bet they are behind the bookshelf! (not that mine have spend days and days staring behind the cabinet in the hall once because one of my stupid cats keeps bringing in live mice when I sleep.... nopey nope)

Ceiling is fine.
Dried crusty yellowy fluid on top of toy box lid again, about half the amount this time. I'd guess at about 10-15mls. From the spread of it I would say it's thicker than urine. There is 2-3 inches between the top of the toybox and the next shelf up. She could probably squeeze in but she would be completely flat like when a bird hits a window in a cartoon, no room for her to hunch over and down the way cats do to vomit.

So confused. It this going to be one of the great unsolved mysteries of my life?

Badcat, I can see why you'd say that and we have had unwanted visitors before due to dcat.

I'm doubtful though because previously she has sat and paced by the piece of furniture that the rodent was hiding behind for days until we eventually got it out. We could also hear the typical scratching of rodents behind furniture. Both the times DD noticed cat behaving oddly we think it was for short periods or DD would have woken more to investigate. Prior to locking cat flap at night we lost many hours of sleep where she continued to hunt the animal after bringing it home. And during those times, the smell was not the same.

Her treasure haulage has massively reduced since we lock the catflap, she meows loudly to announce when she does manage to bring one in if we've forgotten to lock it, we now all have our roles and stations, which means she comes in the back door and we get her straight out the front door with rodent still in her mouth without her even making it upstairs- her preferred destination. She could have brought something in when we were out but she usually doesn't leave them and we would know from that hunting behaviour.

These shelves are slatted pine bookcase style, from ground to top about 7ft. The box sits on the bottom shelf. There is far more valuable hiding space for a rodent in that room. We have had a good tidy up in there since the first episode and no sign of droppings etc. It's untidy now with clothes, school work etc but no food is allowed in the room.

I must be coming across as one of those posters who won't consider any suggestion. I'm grateful for and considering each suggestion, even one that suggests my preteen could have an eating disorder, but logic tells me none of them fit the picture.
What I think is: it's def dcat. It's possibly some bodily functions I'm not aware of eg anal glands??
How she's managing to squeeze on top of the toy box lid I don't know.
It's intermittent. We had two episodes in approx 10days, then another a few weeks later.
The smell is unreal. Like a human has vomited enough for the smell to completely overpower a double room and makes its way out to the landing.
But I'd like to know how to stop it because it smells so bad. And I'm wondering if busyness means I'm over looking something with cats health that needs attention. But not enough evidence to go to vets with on its own, as the cat seems her usual self.
It if wasn't for DD stirring in her sleep, we wouldn't know it had a connection to dcat.

Pondering looking on eBay for a cheap simple camera to monitor the shelves overnight. But so many other better directions for my sparse cash to go to.

There couldn’t be something decomposing could there? Trapped somewhere - again wouldn’t expect it to be intermittent though. But decomposing animals do leak foul smelling fluids

Although I see the ceiling is clear so not from between floorboards. Hmmm

Since this appears to become a regular occurrence and at the same place - could you get a webcam and film it?

It might be worth rubbing the whole floor over with a cloth or your hand to see if there's any sign of a liquid. Urine has a strong smell and will live the floor wet/sticky.

Unless cat vomit contains food, I've never known urine to smell. If you think it's urine or vomit (could be acidic) then do get your cat checked.

Might be worth a vet trip. Vets have often seen it all before.

I'm so glad you've been able to discount DD! If it happens again, can you get a sample for the vet? I can't imagine they'll go the whole CSI on it but perhaps a sniff will be able to identify if vermin?

If only ...the floor is dry.

I've taken a pic of the toy box lid with a felt tip pen for scale, and another to show how much gap there is between the top of the toy box and the shelf.

MrsCat...CSI!!! that is exactly what is needed!

Meant to add, the top of the toy box has enough cat hair on it to think it's her not an unwelcome guest. The white dots is some of the washing powder I put on the carpet the last time to try and neutralise the smell. She must have tracked it up on her paws. Note to self: Must hoover it in case she ends up licking some off her paws.