Cat smell advice

[IcelandicYoghurt]

I'd be really grateful for advice from more experienced cat owners.

We have had our adult male rescue cat for about 6 months. He is neutered. He's a great cat. Clean (goes in his litter box), very confident and friendly.

He himself doesn't smell that bad, but there is a really pungent smell in certain areas of the house and I'm worried he's spraying. I've never seen him do it, and never seen any wet patches or evidence.. is this likely to be spraying? Is it likely to be him? We've had other cats come in through the litter box a few times.

I don't think he's very stressed, generally, although he may well be this week as DP (who is usually at home most of the day) is away and when I get home from work I have generally been hiding in the bedroom as it's the least smelly part of the house (and even the bedroom is starting to smell now ).

I'm pregnant and have morning sickness so really really hating this I've started not wanting to come home from work .. (I'm sure it's not just my heightened sense of smell that's causing this though, as DP can smell it to.

Any advice on what the smell is, how to get rid of its and stop it happening again would be gratefully received..

*too.)

It depends what it smells like. If it smells like piss, then it could be him. If it's that very pungent tomcat smell, then you've got an unneutered one coming in. You can get microchip operated cat flaps so that only your cat can come in. I would start there.

thecatneuterer thank you.

Yes, smells more pungent than just cat wee.

We have ordered a chip operated flap but there was an issue fitting it and it looks like we need a new door first. Will hurry up and get that done

Regarding the smell, you should get an enzymatic cleaner (available in pet stores) to remove the smell and also prevent your cat from topping it with his pee to cover the smell if it is from another tomcat.

Mia184 we have "get it off" spray - is that the right thing? Or is there an actual floor wash to use with a mop? It's really hard to pin point the exact place the smell is coming from!

Biological laundry liquid has enzymes which will break down the smells so you could use that.
It does sound like another cat has been in so hope you can get the new cat flap and door fitted soon!

That's really helpful, thank you Vinorosso74

You can buy uv torches online, in the dark urine will glow under uv.

Fluffycloudland77 that is actually a genius idea! Thank you!

Look for marks on furniture at shin level. It might be worth getting your OH to rub his hands along the carpet checking for damp, sticky areas as well.

Don't forget your smell will be heightened at the moment, I could smell things I hadn't noticed before.

You can buy a UV torch quite cheaply on amazon etc to highlight urine marks.

Before you go all detective though, can other people smell it too, just wondering if it's pregnancy hyper-smelling!

Thank you all so much - we ordered a UV torch on Amazon prime (awful monopoly but incredibly useful) and when my wonderful DP got back last night he did some detective work and washed the marks he found off with bio laundry detergent. The smell has improved immensely .

HardAsSnails - he could smell it too, but I think it's the pregnancy hyper-smelling that meant it was actually "ruining my life".

@thecatneuterer - could you just confirm what I think you said: if it was our (neutered male) cat, it would just smell of cat piss? The fact that it smelled pungent and not piss-like at all means that it was coming from an un-neutered male, is that right?

Thanks again!

Cat spray is extremely pungent, it catches at the back of your throat and is unmistakable.

Neutered cats can spray, I've seen mine do it outside but never got the pungent smell when he did it.

Cat spray is also very corrosive as well as smelly, we had an unneutered male coming in to socialise with my neutered females (they seemed to really like him). He spayed on the TV stand and it ate through the chrome.
One of my neutered females used to spray, that “just” smelled of cat pee. She was in the early stages of dementia and would stand on the sofa arm next to me and spray up the curtains.