Cats & Cleaning

[livinitup]

Update 3/18: Thank you for your good advice. For those interested, I thought I’d give an update.

The cat went home on Saturday at 8 AM, a few hours after the owner returned from vacation. We could not return the cat to a locked room bc DD said none of the doors closed bc debris was piled too high in all rooms and the hallway. Even the bathroom. So, the cat lived in our laundry room at night and porch during the day. One more incident with marking but only on the cat bed which was easy to wash/clean. I learned a lot about enzyme cleaners! It did the trick to clean the marking and the black light worked to find the spot (hallway wall).

I do not recommend using a black light in your home unless you enjoy a hyper fixation of cleaning all your floors and rugs for a few days, and have Stanley Steamer money, haha. Our Stanley Steamer appointment was Saturday at noon. They did a great job.

It was hard work and a bit expensive but now I have very clean floors everywhere. It’s a great feeling. And we are ahead of schedule for hosting for Easter.

DD added $150 to her cat sitting fee and the neighbor paid it, no questions asked. Good life lessons all around.

Thanks again for the posts and advice. Also, the cat has a vet appointment for neutering today. Praise be.

————— ]


Our neighbor is on vacation until Saturday and feeding their pets turned into suddenly taking in their cat for a few days. I don’t mind, he is very sweet and gets along well with our cat and dog. However, he is not neutered and it smells like he sprayed in our hallway (or maybe the basement). The smell is better today.

I’ve always had cats but have never had one spray inside the house. How do I clean something I cannot see? Just wash all of the floors with regular disinfectant or do I need a bleach solution, too? Is the “source” a spot I can find?

Can I trust him to walk around the house again? Right now, he is limited to the laundry room and screened-in porch. He likes both but what are my options for letting him walk around - realistically.

Thanks for any advice.

[circa1978]

Black light and enzyme cleaner. Sorry!

[gottadobe]

That cat would be back next door! At the very least he would not have access to the full house again. You will need a black light to find the source if it's not obvious by stain/color.

[NewGirlNic]

a.co/d/gwd94T3

If you don't know where he sprayed, then a black light will show you 

[Jalapeñomel]

I’d bring the cat home, because he’s clearly pissed and then use a black light.

[SwimDeep]

Cat spray is so foul, both in smell and color. And I'm not surprised he's marking if he's not fixed and suddenly in a home with other animals. It's natural instinct to mark territory.

Nature's Miracle is a well known enzymatic cleaner that works well, and there are others specifically for urine. It absolutely has to be an enzymatic cleaner. Nothing else will break it up.

[Patsy Baloney]

UGH, don’t let him back out in your house, he’ll just keep spraying. He’s marking territory against the animals who live there.

Once you find the source, absorb as much as you can of the pee, I really like to use straight up Palmolive and elbow grease and scrub the hell out of the whole area, use a boat load of water to rinse/dilute any pee that is still remaining, dump a ton of vinegar on it, wait for it all to dry, and hit it with an enzymatic cleaner.

Be prepared to go several rounds with the pee. Sorry, it sucks!

[cville]

The goddamned cat should be neutered.

Nature's miracle is the best.

[wildrice]

Gross! Can you just take him home? Saturday is only a couple of days from now so he would be fine. Or take him to the vet to get neutered, lol.

Natures Miracle works great for smells, but I don't know anything about cat spray.

[livinitup]

I am surprised he is not neutered. That’s unusual for an in-home cat in our area. He seems well cared otherwise. He also recently fathered a litter of kittens. I don’t understand people sometimes. Maybe she took him in from some sordid place. I don’t know.

The issue with returning him is the same as why we got him. My DD and another teenager agreed to help while the owner is on vacation - this cat and 20 pet birds. (Yes, 20). One of the bird cages broke and the birds are flying around the house. The cat may or may not have broken the bird cage (lol). So, it seemed risky to leave him in the house with birds flying around.

Thank you so much for the cleaning advise. I will scrub with enzymes. I guess I am going to own a black light today. Goody. I hope Target sells them.

[meowmaps]

Another cleaner recommendation - Earthworm

[mofongo]

OMG! Their house is going to be full of bird shit!!!
You're a kind neighbor!

[cricketwife]

Omg, everything about this situation is horrifying.

A cat who has sprayed once in your house will 💯 do it again. I would not allow that cat back in my house. Can you put him in a bathroom or other enclosed space in the owner’s house? I’m assuming you could chase the birds out first?

[livinitup]

cricketwife That’s a good idea. My DD can lock him in a room without birds. I can send her with the extra litter box and food bowl. Thanks!

[7costanza]

This cat sounds like a menace, lol. And 20 pet birds!? I agree with others to try to take him back and put him in an enclosed space. I’m afraid if you keep him, even just in the laundry room and porch, he will destroy your walls, baseboards and floor with pee.

[karinothing]

I would accidentally take the cat to the vet to be neutered.

[TR]

Take the cat back and put him in a room with no birds and his food/water/litterbox.

[SwimDeep]

Honestly, if I had a cat and 20 (!!!) birds and found out this was happening while I was on vacation - I'd be getting my butt back home pronto.

Combine that with an unaltered cat, and my side-eye is about to give me a headache 😒

[lab7979]

Black light and enzyme cleaner. I would not let this cat roam your house. He will continue to spray. That's been my experience with unneutered male cats. Do you have other pets in your house currently? My cat sprayed all over my house until I got him neutered. I think one of the main reasons was because we had other cats that roamed free in the neighborhood. They'd come up to our back door and drive him nuts. He was marking his territory.

[livinitup]

Good news. My local hardware store had the black light and enzyme cleaner.

[cville]

These people are fucking bananas. Distance yourself. Or you'll be taking their favorite parrot for a walk in one of those insane birdcage backpacks while also caring for 6 litters of kittens by June.

[livinitup]

Update in original post (3/18/24)


Also- I don’t think I made this clear in the original post. DD is a teenager and she’s been running her own dog walking business for about a year and a half. Her clients are local and within walking/biking distance to our home. She added pet sitting (dogs and cats), too. She has a nice book of clients in the neighborhood and it’s good money. This is the second time this neighbor has booked DD’s time. I don’t think DD is ever going to schedule her again.

[nicolewi]

WOW this was crazy. Glad your DD asked for, and got, extra $$! And they got the cat neutered!

[circa1978]

Oh yeah, I should have included that warning about a black light. My DH "lost" ours after my last freakout. Sometimes if a spot has been treated, it will continue to glow, depending on what was used, just FYI.

[mysteriouswife]

I hope your kid gave you the extra $150. I would almost be willing to charger her 1/2 the cleaning fee.