Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cleaning and cat

Faint of butt

ignignokt — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:14:09 -0800

While I was driving him home from the vet yesterday, the cat took a dump in his carrier, which was made of cloth. (He was in the front passenger seat.) After taking care of that, I noticed it still smelled like cat feces in the car. I didn't see any stains on the seat, and I had to go, so I just rolled down the windows and went to work.

Later that night, it still smelled like cat poo in the car, but I had a bad, tiring day, so I left it alone and hoped it would be better today.

Unsurprisingly, it's not. So, I guess some secret poo liquid got onto my car seat. What method for getting rid of it and the smell maximizes efficiency and minimizes effort?

How do I remove caked-in cat poop from wood floors?

Braeog — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:24:53 -0800

A bout of constipation and butt-dragging resulted in my cats rubbing their poop into the poorly-surfaced hardwood floors of my apartment, and no amount of scrubbing or Lysol will remove the poop caked into the grain of the wood. This is not a stain, the poop is literally caked into the wood. What do I do to remove it with a minimum of damage to the floors? Is there some way to dissolve the poop?

Don't piss just because you're pissed off.

greta simone — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:24:33 -0800

How does one salvage a suitcase from cat piss? My cat pissed in my suitcase (this is the second one she has fucked up). The first time, it was a light colored suitcase, so it stained the outer fabric and I had to toss it. My present suitcase is black, so I'm wondering if there is any special way to clean it and de-stink it so that I don't have to purchase yet another one.
Specs: It has a thin nylon inner lining and a normal what-ever-it-is textured exterior. It's of a really cheap quality, considering I got it for free from my grocery store during some VIC card deal.
It's nasty, and she likes doing this to me when she knows I'm leaving town. So any suggestions are welcome.

How often do cats need teeth cleaning?

Asparagirl — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:03:57 -0800

Do our mostly-indoors, otherwise healthy cats really need to have their teeth cleaned at the vet's once a year? At our recent vet trip, he checked our cats' gums and felt that we should have their teeth cleaned, even though it's been no more than a year since their last cleaning.

Some facts:
-They get wet food once a day, but eat dry food otherwise.
-They're unrelated genetically, but the vet says that they both seem prone to plaque and gum irritation.
- They're six and five years old.
-They seem to have no trouble eating, particularly the male, who eats like a wolf.

I can't help but feel like the vet is playing the role of auto mechanic and pushing the teeth cleaning with scare stories of "they could have pockets that would be really bad if we wait another year". He showed me some redness in their gums, but since I don't look there every day, I have no idea if it's normal or not.

Of course, the reason I'm hesitant to just go ahead with it is that it's frighteningly expensive and the cats get totally zonked out of their minds on tranquilizers. Also, my family had an older dog die from the anesthesia during a cleaning, so I'm perhaps irrationally soured on the whole thing.

So, in your varied experiences with cats, is this yearly cleaning really necessary, or are we being pressured for profit?

Cat pee, and how to deal with it.

griffey — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:04:04 -0800

How can I eliminate cat pee smell without damaging the fibers of a nylon rope? There's a bunch... So, our two cats decided to use my caving/climbing gear as a restroom. Probably for weeks, given the scope and amount...I had the gear stored in a canvas army backpack, inside was two other packs, 250 feet of climbing rope, aluminum and steel carabiners, two figure eight descenders, a Petzl descender, two mini-maglite flashlights....plus helmet,Petzl headlamp, and other random gear. It was all nearly completely soaked.

I've look around at other AskMeFi's on this sort of subject (get cat pee out of X), but the big question is: is the rope, especially, ever going to be safe to actually use again if I soak it in vinegar, or even one of the enzyme treatments?

Some of the carabiners are a lost cause...the urine ate the aluminum completely away. Can I expect the steel ones to be ok?

This is something upon which my life literally hangs....I'm concerned about getting rid of the smell (oh am I) but if it destroys the usefulness of the rope, I won't bother to clean it at all, and just toss it now. Same with the 'biners and descenders...any caving or climbing chemists out there want to take a guess at how to deal with this?

This sucks

bilabial — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 08:40:56 -0800

Why won't my Shark HEPA vacuum roller spin on it's own any more? The last time this happened we fixed it by getting rid of all the people hair that had twisted around the roller, which was at the time keeping it from spinning. Now, it only spins for a few seconds after I flick it into action. Currently, there is no obstruction, on the roller or the little spinner thing that seems to move the roller. The hose seems to suck just fine now that we've cleared the giant hairball/ plastic bag combo that one of my old roommates left for me to find.

The machine makes no ungodly noises, and I've checked out some other AskMe threads, notably this one. I have also not done any upkeep for this machine besides banging out the filter with each use (which I know is counterintuitive with my allergies). It's clearly time to order another Shark brand filter from the internet, but I have to wait for a paycheck on that one.

Because we've lived in this apartment with cats for almost 2 months without using the vacuum, I'd like to take care of this.

Litter Me This

abbyladybug — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 14:45:52 -0800

I use Fresh Step Premium Cat Litter and a Littermaid litter box for my two cats. Recently, when emptying the vacuum cleaner and cleaning the AC filters, I have realized just how much litter dust there is in the air. I really like the scoopability of the brand I'm using, but I'd like to find another type of cat litter that works well with the Littermaid, yet doesn't stir up so much dust all the time. Got any recommendations?