Catpiss Stank

[loveberry]

Let's say you are standing on someone's porch, and you realize that there is a catpiss stank coming from inside that home. You know that an infant and an older child live there. You are on very poor terms with the adults in the home, so an offer to help clean up their filth is out, so out that the mere suggestion would probably incite the adults in

Comments

[paloma_n_regina]

I very highly doubt that these people even realize there is a stench coming from their house lol......unfortunately

I have visited houses like these, and houses where the people smoked inside the home without a single thought, and they have lived like that for so long that they could no longer even smell it.......does that make sense?

It's really sad, too......but it happens, especially with pets and smokers in the home. I suggest getting in contact with maybe a friend of that family or something and asking them to say/do something, and if that doesn't work then CPS it is.

[thexphial]

CPS will laugh at you if you call saying a smell is your reason for calling. Unless the child has medical problems that could be exacerbated by cigarette smoke, a smell is not worth investigating.

[xx_kitty_kat_xx]

I would sincerely hope that no one would call children's services because they smelled cat piss when standing near my door. We live in a crazy cat lady neighbourhood - it seems like every house has at least one cat, and most of them more than that. At least one of those cats likes to piss near our door, either on the steps or just beside them, and it is hard to tell if the smell is coming from outside or in because of the way our house is designed. I'd be horrified if someone smelled that and thought we kept a filthy home because of it.

[loveberry]

I'm not giving a lot of extra detail here but the smell is definitely coming from inside. :(

[xx_kitty_kat_xx]

If you have other reasons for concern besides a nasty smell, are you able to call someone from the CPS office and ask if what you suspect/know is sufficient for making a report? Here, CYFS (CPS equivalent) workers are more than willing to discuss suspicions and whether they seem reason enough to investigate before taking a report and checking out the family.

If the smell was the only issue, I'd probably assume it was time to change the kitty litter - the first time, at least. If there was more involved, I'd start looking into whether it was enough to report it. It's a tough call, really :(

[loveberry]

That's a good idea. The situation is that all the information is second hand from a child. So, other than the direct experience of catpee stank, it's mostly suppositions and guesses based on what a little kid is saying. Maybe a call just to explain in detail and ask for some clarity would be good.

[owlsarentaholes]

Why would I be on their porch if we were on poor terms?

I wouldn't call anyway, but it doesn't make sense that I would even know if I wasn't in a good enough position to help them out.

[srs_breakfast]

My mom is a mandated reporter and she has called DSS for situations like this. She looks at the whole picture though-- let's say there are no other signs of abuse and the cat might be old or stressed and prone to accidents. If that's the case then no, she doesn't-- because it's probably not abuse. It's probably just an incontinent cat.

If the kids have bruises or haven't eaten for days or come to school with kitty litter in their hair then yeah, that's different. that's a CPS problem.

[cschick]

Just cat piss stank?

I know/have known a lot of cats who like to spray/mark by doors. Without anything else than cat piss stank . . . it means nothing.

[amberinside]

Yeah, my poor apartment stinks like cat piss because my oldest cat keeps pissing on my floors. I'd be pissed as hell if someone called CPS on me for it.

Pity my baby? Then go buy me yet another gallon of Nature's Miracle to dump on my rug.

[cryptaknight]

Haha, yes. Cat piss is the hardest smell to get rid of. My cat went through a phase where he was showing his anger at us having had a kid by pissing outside of my son's bedroom door. I have had the carpets cleaned, cleaned it with Nature's Miracle, Oxy Clean, you name it. The smell always comes back. It's insidious. I'd hate think people thought we were abusing either our son or our pet just because of the unfortunate odor.

BTW, if anyone has any suggestions for how to get that smell to go away, I'm all ears. It's not like we enjoy it.

[faecat]

BTW, if anyone has any suggestions for how to get that smell to go away, I'm all ears. It's not like we enjoy it.

Same. I have a middle-aged monster who's decided now, after seven years of being raised side-by-side with my other cat, that he wants to be an only child, and is demonstrating this by anointing my upholstered furniture repeatedly.