Piss and Vinegar

Our cat Moose is a free cat. He comes and goes as he pleases. There are a few perks to this: no litter box to clean, no mice around the house, and an overall happy cat. There is also a few bad things about this: a dirty cat, dead animals in the house, and the occasional “other” cat who comes in the cat door.

There is a brown and black Mainecoon that has been entering our house with increasing frequency. It started out as every few months he would pop up, then monthly, now it is about twice a week. It’s usually late at night when we are either sleeping with Moose in the bed room or in the evening when we are watching TV. So for last few weeks we’ve been awoken by Moose screeching at the foreign cat in our house. Then last night we were once again awoken both by Moose sounding the alarm and also a very unpleasant smell. Apparently one of the cats (Steve thinks it’s the intruder) peed in the house to mark territory.

As I have found out, the pee that cats pee to mark their territory is a special kind of pee. It’s almost straight ammonia and one of the most difficult smells to get out. We found a website that stays that apple cider vinegar will remove the smell from rugs and bleach (with water) will take the smell out of wood work. So we have now washed down the rugs, and walls, and now are working on the couch with oxyclean. I’ve also made cookies to cover up the smell and it seems like it is getting better. Or at least we tell ourselves that until we leave and come back and smell the stink again.