Hey everyone! My husband and I recently moved into a rental property about two months ago, and since then, we've been dealing with a few issues, including plumbing troubles, likely because the place sat vacant for a while. Just last night, out of nowhere, we started smelling a strong cat pee odor in the kitchen and living room. I had just been airing the house out all day, and everything smelled fresh. After making dinner and running the dishwasher, the smell hit us. We checked everywhere for any signs of our cats peeing (they're usually good about not having accidents), but we couldn't find anything amiss.
This morning, the smell lessened but came back strong in the afternoon, and it seems to be coming from a specific wall in the kitchen that has a heater. It's hard to pinpoint exactly where the smell is coming from; it's like it's wafting in the air. We even used a UV light to scan for cat spray but found nothing. We sniffed around the outside of the house, too, in case it was something from stray cats but no luck there either.
What's really confusing is that it smells exactly like cat pee. I'm hesitant to bring it up with the rental agency since I've already had to call them for plumbing issues before, and I don't want them to blame our cats. How should I approach this issue?
3 Answers
I didn’t read your whole post, but I've had a similar issue. The gunk that builds up in my fridge's evaporator drip pan smells just like cat pee! I clean it out every few months. Perhaps check under your fridge? Might find something nasty lurking!
That cat pee smell could actually be linked to electrical wiring issues, which can be pretty serious. Make sure to investigate that area thoroughly because it could be a fire hazard. Better safe than sorry!
Landlords can be sneaky and sometimes cover up smells from previous tenants. Could there have been a previous resident who didn't clean up properly? It might be worth checking if they painted over any old stains before you moved in. My friends had a similar issue, but it was from covering up smoke odors.
Good point! The landlords seem to have cut corners a lot. It’s definitely something I could look into.
Yeah, I read about that too! Some sites just mentioned urine but didn’t specify what kind of urine, which left me a bit puzzled. Could be worth checking out more.