Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with urine

Plants that like cat pee?

mmmmbobo — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:38:44 -0800

Are there any plants that will actually thrive from regular doses of cat urine? And that would grow in pots outdoors in Western Oregon? We have an enclosed deck off the second floor of our house. My cats like to go out there because it is safe from the aggressive neighborhood strays who frequent our main yard. Last year I planted some passionflower in pots, hoping to train it along the wire 'walls'. At some point the cats decided that peeing in the flower pots on the deck was better than using their own litter box and they continue to do this whenever they have the opportunity. The passionflowers look pretty sad and I'm not optimistic that they will be coming back this spring. Is there anything else I could put in the pots that would do ok with the cat pee? Bonus points if it is semi-attractive and will climb along the wire mesh. Thanks!

How do I wipe "front to back" without making a mess?

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:33:47 -0800

Ok. I can't believe I'm even asking this question, but here goes: How does a woman effectively wipe "front to back" after urinating? My whole life I have bunched up toilet paper and wiped back to front. More or less put the "poof" of toilet paper on my vulva, soaked up whatever urine is there, swiped it forward one or two times, and I'm dry as a bone. No muss, no fuss.

However, after a string of UTIs, I have decided to learn to wipe properly, front to back. The problem: I can't seem to get things dry.

I bunch up the toilet paper and wipe front to back one or two times, going from the front to the back of my vulva. My arm doesn't comfortably go further back than that, so there is moisture left near my anus (or maybe it is pushed there by the movement front to back). So I bunch up a new piece of paper and reach around from the back. This doesn't work at all: I tend to get moisture (well, pee!) on my wrist as I awkwardly reach in there and somehow I just can't get things dry. Once I stand up, there is always a little bit of moisture left between my butt-cheeks. Or, worse, on my thighs!

Can female Mefites walk me through the mechanics of effectively drying off after a pee?

(Fwiw, I do not think this is a hair issue. I keep everything down there trimmed very short.)

Seeking suitable plants for an awkward flower bed, zone 8a.

reverend cuttle — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 13:45:53 -0800

My flower bed gets full sun in Summer, full shade in Winter, and plenty of dog pee. What can I plant? I have an awkward flower bed (approx 8'x12') up against the north side of our house (in a fenced backyard). It gets full sun in the summer, and is fully in the shade of the house when the sun is low during the winter months. The bed also is a favorite place for our dog to pee. We are in Central North Carolina, zone 8a. Soil is sandy clay, slightly acidic.

I would like to plant something that's cheery and relatively maintenance free here. Small trees, shrubs, and ground covers are all options.
-Evergreen is preferable to deciduous
-Bright foliage is preferable to dark foliage
-Flowering is preferable to non flowering
-Perennial is preferable to annual

Things I and my dog have killed in this bed:
azalea, rhododendron, coral bells, loropetalum, japanese holly

Thing that has thrived in this bed:
common japanese maple, acer palmatum (now too large for the bed, given the proximity to the house, and will be moved)

My only idea is to plant an Summertime bed of varying sizes of lantana. But Id like other suggestions, especially for other seasons. Thanks!

Bobcat traps and human urine

Manjusri — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:10:55 -0800

What effect would a human peeing on a bobcat trap have on the efficacy of the trap. Would it tend to repel the bobcat, attract it, or neither?

why do men spit in urinals and keep flushing while pissing?

cmp4Meta — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 08:44:47 -0800

OK, weird question this week, but I have wondered about this for a while. I've noticed in public bathrooms there are a lot of men who either 1) spit in the urinal continuously while peeing or 2) keep pulling the flush handle while standing there pissing or 3) do both of these at the same time. I'm sure there are multiple reasons for why to do this, but I am curious as to your speculations about why they are doing it. Is the spitting some way of being macho? Is the constant flushing some way of disposing that which is "dirty"? the "normative" behavior is to piss and then flush, so why this variant (which also wastes a lot of water BTW)? Why the combination of both spitting and flushing? I think we may reveal something about male psychology or social ideology here.

Is there such a thing as a toilet seat pee deflector?

Lokheed — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:37:10 -0800

Warning: this question involves icky bodily fluids. Read at your own peril. My (now adult) autistic son if fine with using the bathroom unprompted on his own, but I have one recurring issue for which there must be a solution. He only urinates sitting down, and I will frequently walk into his bathroom only to discover a puddle of urine at the base of the toilet. I am positive this is happening because he is not aware enough to "aim" downwards while sitting, and so the urine flow is striking the top edge of the toilet bowl and then running down the front side of the toilet and onto the floor. I have tried searching for a solution, but I have no idea what keywords to use. "Urine shield" seemed promising but did not yield any useable results. Basically I am looking for something that I can affix to the inside front edge of the toilet seat in order to guide the urine downwards into the bowl. Does this thing I am imagining actually exist, or do I need to somehow invent it myself?

Cat peed on my suit. What now?

neksys — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:18:19 -0800

How to remove cat urine from a dry-clean only suit? Long story short, we got a rescue kitty. For some unknown reason on its first day it pulled down two of my very best suits (I wear em for work 5 days a week) and urinated on them.

I tried taking them to the drycleaner, but the smell is still there, strong as ever.

Does anyone have any insight into how to get this smell out? I obviously can't just chuck them in the wash. They are made of wool - will any of those enzyme cleaners work, or harm the fabric?

Throwing them out isn't really an option either, this is like $1600 worth of clothes.

Pet Urine Soaked Carpets — Cosmetic or Sanitary?

mmdei — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 11:25:13 -0800

Urine (pet) saturated carpets in our new apartment. Merely cosmetic? Or is this an un-sanitary living condition? Initially, we asked the for the carpet to be replaced due to what we felt was an excessive amount of staining and wear. We were told that the carpet was inspected by a 3rd party expert who determined that the carpet was in salvageable condition. The carpet was then professionally cleaned.

While moving in, we noticed a pungent odor, which, under blacklight inspection, revealed a significant number of concentrated (dog?) urine stains which were confirmed with an sniff test, as well as dribble strains leading outward from the spots.

We've perused the WAC, the new SMC, the tenants union, and solid ground's websites, but we can't determine if this is in fact considered an unsanitary living condition or a cosmetic issue.

Also, given the management's insistence that the problem has already been professionally remediated, must they now move on to replacing the carpet, or can they just endlessly attempt to 'solve' the problem with more cleaning?

Non-helpful answers would include instructions on how to use Natures Miracle.

Bladder control: gone

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 14:07:20 -0800

My dog has started urinating out of control from time to time. What's wrong with her? She is a corgi/heeler mix, housebroken. The past couple days she's started peeing in the house with a guilty look, walking while squatting so it dribbles everywhere on the floor. Her urine has a particularly pungent odor, more than normal and it's yellower too. We haven't changed her diet at all (a cup and a half of dry food once daily, and water). On rare occasion she'll get a bite of human food if we drop something.

She has defected in the house a few times lately too, with the same out-of-control look and squat-walking. I don't know if that's related. We moved to a new home in a different state, her first move, about two months ago and that disrupted her routine quite a bit. I'm not sure if this may just be a lingering effect of that.

Is this something that will go away on its own or do we need to seek veterinary help?

Is it alright to piss in a wetsuit in the sea?

sockpim — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 02:36:46 -0800

Is it alright to piss in a wetsuit in the sea? I'm in my early twenties and am bad at holding on for the toilet. When I'm in the sea it's even harder and sometimes I will just need to go after being in the sea for 30 minutes or so. The problem is that the beaches I go to are quite public, so getting out to take a piss takes about 10 minutes in itself.

Can I get some answers or pros and cons of pissing in a wetsuit please.

(I'm aware that the question itself is stupid, but could I get at least a couple of serious answers please.)

Cheers,

LT

My apartment is not your toilet.

Urban Winter — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 08:00:32 -0800

I'm out of ideas - help me convince my cat that the litterbox is a good place to be. Long explanation with as many details as I can think of inside. I've had my cat for about two and a half years now. She's been litterbox trained ever since I got her - mostly. Every now and then she decides that she's found a new and fun place to pee (she defecates exclusively in the box; it's only urine that finds its way elsewhere). For a while it was the gas stovetop until I covered it with a panel of plexiglass. Then it was a space by the trash can in the laundry room until I stopped leaving the door open. Then it was my shower, which I actually am pretty okay with since she does it right in the drain and I can just wash the smell away with a quick spray, so I never bothered to stop her from doing that.

It's been that way for months now, and she seemed to have settled into a pattern of urinating where she's supposed to. Then, about three weeks ago, she randomly stopped using either the litterbox or the shower. Now she pees in one of four places: the floor right next to my toilet, the sink counter opposite the soapdish, the corner of the kitchen (right next to where I feed her), and the corner of the living room right smack dab in front of her litterbox. This last place (the only one where her urine can damage the floor, naturally) is her favorite. It's also the hardest to see, the hardest to clean up, and the smelliest. Of course.

I took her to the vet when I found blood in her urine one day, and she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection (very mild; the vet said I caught it way earlier than most owners do). She was given a round of antibiotics, and that was that. I figured okay, she'll take these and be back to normal.

No such luck. I've wiped every square nanometer of the places she urinates with vinegar multiple times - she goes right back again later. I added a second litterbox thinking that maybe she now had some kind of fear of her old one since she hurt while using it before - but she's been completely ignoring the new litterbox, and has been using the old one to defecate the entire time without fail. She's even urinated in the old one twice - but only twice in the last 2-3 weeks.

I can't watch her all the time; if I see her starting to pace around where she usually urinates and put her in front of the litter box (either one), she gives me the evil eye and leaves to take a nap, then pees on the floor later when I'm not around or actively watching her. Her issue isn't the litter - I've been using this litter (Feline Pine pellets) for a year and she still defecates in it with no issue. There has been no new stress whatsoever - no diet change, no notable increase or decrease in the amount of time I'm home. No new pets in the house, new furniture, new anything, and nothing removed either.

I have no idea what to do at this point. This issue needs to be fixed, and soon. It's disgusting, it's damaging my apartment, and since she sometimes steps in it as she's leaving the scene it gets tracked everywhere, which is not remotely healthy. Please, tell me what else I can do.

Help! My flat stinks of cat pee! The UK edition.

Helga-woo — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:44:11 -0800

What can I do to clean up cat piss and stop a tom from coming in and spraying? Tell me about products you can buy in the UK which work. I went away for a week, with a friend coming in twice a day to feed my 2.5 cats. When I came back this weekend it smelt of cat pee. This isn't the first time this has happened. Yesterday, I did what I usually do, vacuumed and mopped the floors. Usually, a good cleaning and my presence back in the flat has been enough to deter whoever it who's been spraying. But not this time...

When I came back from work today, the tom has obviously been back and sprayed again, and more, because it reeks.

I've wiped and mopped as much as I can tonight with a mix of vinegar and warm water (which has the added bonus that my house now smells like a chippy instead). But I don't have a great sense of smell, and I can't see where he's been spraying (apart from one suspicious drip down the bin, which could as easily be the result of a badly-aimed teabag).

Tomorrow, I want to do a more thorough clean (I'm assuming that he'll be back between now and then as well). I am going to buy a UV light from Maplin, they sell a few different ones, will any of them do?

And then I'm going to clean...

There's lots of information about different methods you can use, and I'm not sure what's best. I often clean with vinegar or bicarbonate of soda, so I'll happily use them for this, but I'm not sure if they are going to be enough.

Nature's Miracle is often recommended on Ask, but it doesn't seem to be sold over here. There are several different cleaning products from online shops in the UK that do seem to do similar things. Have you used any of the UK brands? Do they work? Are there any that you can buy in shops? I'd prefer to pick something up on my way home tomorrow. One site I was reading suggested a biological washing powder would work as well as any enzyme cleaner that's sold specifically for cleaning urine. Have you tried this?

He's only been spraying in the kitchen and the bathroom, on laminate and vinyl floors, kitchen cupboards and painted walls.

And once it's clean, how do I stop him from coming back and spraying?

I have two neutered female cats, Cat No. 1, the tabby, is 13 years old and is an attention queen, and Cat No. 2, the tortoiseshell, is 4 years old and is pretty laid back about life.

Cat No. 2.5 is a stray who refused to be caught when her owners were moving out and has been living in the backgarden for 7 years. She hasn't really let humans near her since, until recently. She gets feed by me and a couple of other neighbours, and when we had the cold snap this winter she started coming into my flat overnight. I assume she's neutered, or she's spent the last 7 years keeping her legs crossed as she's not had kittens.

Now, although she still spends most of her time outdoors, she's pretty much moved in. This has caused a bit of consternation from my cats, particularly Cat No. 1 who does not take well to Her World Order being disrupted.

I have a pretty strong suspicion about who's doing the spraying. There's a tomcat who's often in the garden and he is very talkative. He tends to keep out of my way, but I hear him a lot and I have seen him spraying outside near my catflap. This weekend he came into the flat a couple of times, but scarpered when he heard me moving. He seems young, maybe 2 at the most. Last year he seemed a bit timid, even around my fairly laid back cats, but now he's throwing his weight around a bit.

Is there anything I can do to discourage him from coming into the flat and spraying when he's here?

I don't lock the catflap, and I'm not going to start because, given the opportunity, Cat No. 1 expresses her emotions via a litter tray (well, not via, next too), and she has A LOT of emotions. Tomcat spray is (just about) more preferable to a cat who consistently misses the litter tray.

I'd prefer not to install a catflap with a sensor because my cats don't like wearing collars and I doubt I'd be able to get near Cat No. 2.5 with one. But I suspect I'm going to have to do it eventually, and Cat No 2.5 will either have to bow to authority or I'll make a shelter for her in the garden.

Before I do that though, is there anything else I can try? I was thinking about using Feliway to try and help everyone to calm down a bit about Cat No. 2.5 moving in. Will that help with the spraying?

Smelly urine with no pain - cystitis?

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:28:07 -0800

Smelly urine with no pain - recurrent cystitis? What should I do? I (female, early 30s) had cystitis back in January - I've had it a few times but not many, and recognised the signs of painful urination and frequently needing to pee. I was prescribed antibiotics and it seemed to clear up.

Since then, though, my urine has smelt funny. Not sweet-smelling or anything, just strong and unpleasant and not like normal urine. Difficult to describe the exact nature of the smell... I don't have any pain and I'm not needing to pee more often than usual.

Could this be cystitis that hasn't fully cleared up? I'm wondering whether to go to my GP but don't want to fuss about nothing, as I'm otherwise fine.

Other relevant info (this is anonymous as I'm a bit embarrassed): I'm in the UK so cost of medical attention isn't an issue; I am probably not drinking enough water at the moment, though the smell is not the usual "strong urine" smell; sexually active, not pregnant, in good health, no other symptoms.

How do I protect my monitors from my cats?

sodium lights the horizon — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:55:38 -0800

Over the weekend, one of my cats managed to destroy two TFT monitors. How do I protect the replacements from a similar fate? At some point between late on Friday and lunchtime Sunday, one of my cats decided that both of monitors needed their screens doused in urine.

By the time I'd discovered this (Sunday lunchtime) both monitors were completely ruined. The foul sticky mess has gone down the front of the screen and worked its way in to the electronics and switches. PCBs were corroded, switches were all either stuck off or randomly flicking between states, the minuscule wires and connectors are knackered, and the capacitative switches on the newer monitor are just completely fried.

They're dead.

Replacements are on the way.

How, oh great hivemind, can I stop the replacements falling to the same fate? Trying to remedy whatever triggered the flood is one thing, but how do I protect the electronics from a bath they were never designed to endure?

How to remove urine from carpet to pass black-light inspection?

starfyr — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:50:11 -0800

Need advice for getting urine (and other?) out of carpet for blacklight inspection by landlord!! We are moving our of our apartment in a few weeks, and we had a pre-move out inspection (so we can fix anything before hand to keep as much as our security deposit as possible). Since we have a cat I was informed that they would be using a blacklight to locate any urine stains, and if there were any we would have to pay to replace the carpet. Okay, that's fine, but our cat hasn't peed on the carpet; unfortunately our 18 month old toddler has (a few times, maybe 5). I happen to have a blacklight so I took a look tonight to see how bad it is ... WOW! There are stains everywhere. I know for a fact that our kid has not peed THAT MUCH on our carpet. There are a few very suspicious areas that are very large - too large to be urine stains. I don't know what they are. The carpet looks okay without the blacklight.

I have already shampooed the carpet a few times prior to this, and I know that the carpet wasn't new when we moved in. I don't know if the previous residents had pets. I'm just wondering what to do- I know that there are MANY things that floresce under a UV light, not just urine & bodyfluids, and I don't know how I can argue that many of those stains are NOT urine! The carpet doesn't smell, and it doesn't have any other visible staining in regular light ... so what would you do in this situation? I really can't afford to pay for the entire carpet to be replaced. I want to get the stains out enough that they don't show under the blacklight, and I need to know what to say to the landlord since I am pretty sure we are not responsible for the majority of what is glowing. Thanks!!

Kitty Potty Training?

LN — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:59:05 -0800

How to make a litter box smell more like a garden? I know this sounds backwards, but bear with me.

We have an elderly cat, Signy, who has long had an issue about peeing outside of her litter box. She'll go poo in the box, but not pee. Instead, she decided that the effervescing spot on the concrete floor in our basement was a good place to pee. She's been checked out by the vet, and no UTIs were detected. So I figure it's behavioural. We've been managing this behaviour with washable carpets and puppy pee mats, as she seems to like peeing on soft, flat surfaces rather than grainy or sandy ones.

We've recently had our basement renovated, brand-new wood floor down there, and tile in the laundry room on both floor and walls. Once the space is complete (very, very soon), the litter boxes will be moving to the tiled laundry room. But yesterday we found that she'd peed in one of the few spots in the basement where the smell of the old concrete is still there, the trapdoor to the water mains.

I know that the reno is stressful for her, and she's keen to mark the new room as "hers" and all, but I also don't want this to become a thing with her, that she pees on our new floor!

Added complexity: This past fall, she had a bad experience getting lost outside, and the vet has said, "no more outside for Signy". The trouble is, she ADORES the outside. Once the weather is nice, our flower and vegetable garden is her favourite spot to pee in.

Now that she's a wholly indoor cat, and trying to cope with a house reno, I've been thinking...what if I could make her litter box(es) as close to "garden" as I can? If it smells like her preferred place to go, she might be more inclined to pee there, rather than on wood floors or carpets.

Ideas? Experiences? Advice? Alternate ideas?

Oh, because of the prerequisite, our two cats.

What happens when human urine ferments?

gray17 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:08:56 -0800

What happens when urine ferments? I am interested in the chemical formulas, health effects, and agricultural fertilizer applications. More specifically: one gallon of human urine stored for 7 days in a plastic milk jug at room temperature.

What are some ways that foods diagnose health issues in non-obvious ways?

unmodern — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:44:48 -0800

Apparently, 10-14% of the population get red/pink urine after eating beets and this effect is an indicator for potential iron metabolism issues. What are some other ways in which foods can diagnose health issues in non-obvious ways?

Blood in urine can't be good.

hellameangirl — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:44:43 -0800

My 18 year old cat has blood in her pee, but the vet says she is fine. How can this be? My cat has already been diagnosed with chronic renal failure last year, which means her kidneys are going downhill but not completely yet. She still looks good (clean, soft coat and bright happy eyes) is not deaf or blind or lame, and she still eats (perscription food) a drinks a decent amount.
But one night last week she was meowing loudly and constantly, and peed against the wall of my apartment. When I went to clean it the paper towel turned bright pink. I rushed her to the emergency vet and they took a blood test. They said besides her renal failure which has advanced, she is 'fine' (ie, not on death's door) but they weren't able to get her to urinate.
I took her to her regular vet the next day and got her urine tested. They also said she was 'fine'..no UTI or anything. The nurse suggested she could have just been stressed.
Today, she peed blood against the wall again. This time more of a rusty color.
What gives? This doesn't seem 'fine' to me but I'm also hesitant to torture her by bringing her to the vet again (I swear she hates it even more than the average animal).
Anyone experience this kinda thing? Can stress actually cause blood in the urine? Nothing in her environment has changed btw. If it is in fact stress its not from anything external. (no other pets, no moving of furniture, I'm around the same amount etc)
Please help!

Pissed off owners?

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:56:19 -0800

Housesitting a stinky house... How to deal with the owners? I'm house-sitting for some people who have gone off on a month-long cruise. They have four cats and two dogs, and a lot of mess; stacks of junk around, filthy couches and carpets, and most pertinently, the house stinks of cat and dog pee. (I have caught one of the cats spraying, I don't know if they all do) The owners seem to have had no problem living like this, and probably don't even notice the smell anymore. But it's so bad I can't even stay in the house for more than a few hours unless I open all the windows, spray Febreeze around, clean the litter boxes every couple of hours, and I am working on the 'problem' areas with Nature's Miracle, but there's only so much I can do (the couch, for example, should be thrown out, but I certainly can't do that.)

My main concern is that, when they come back from their cruise, they're going to walk in the door and go "GAAH! THIS PLACE SMELLS LIKE PEE!" because no matter how hard I try, it's going to. And then they'll blame me, because they'll have forgotten how bad it smelled when they were here. Not that I particularly want to house-sit for them again, but I worry that they'll tell everyone in our close-knit community that I made their house stink and then I won't get hired by anyone ever again.

But on the other hand, I can't seem to come up with a polite note or way to say, "Hey, welcome back. You might notice a pee smell. That's because you were living in a pigsty and while I've tried to clean it up, nothing short of a direct nuclear strike is going to help after you've let it go this long. Please don't blame me. Here, have some Febreeze."

Any advice?

Signed a lease and now the place stinks of dog urine

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:51:02 -0800

Renter's nightmare: Just signed a one year lease for a fairly expensive condominium. Deposit and partial first month are paid, not moved in. When we went to do a pre-move cleanup this weekend, the place stank of dog urine. What now? Help! We are moving and thought we'd found a nice place. Yesterday we went over to clean it prior to move in (lots of dust, bits of paint, etc. from recent work, etc.) and when we opened the front door, there was, in the main area, a significant animal urine smell that was we had not noticed on our two previous visits. Even opening the windows and the sliding door helped but did not really clear it.

On Friday, it was time to pick up the keys and write the check for the rest of August and the deposit. We did a walkthrough and noted a few problems here and there with the paint and a few points where the Pergo [used to floor the whole place] was damaged by swelling; I had asked on inspection if that was water damage and the answer the landlord gave me, while vague, was ~that yeah Pergo is sensitive to water. I am an easy going guy and the landlords (a husband and wife couple) seemed like nice, easy going people so we didn't really make a big deal about it - they seemed to accept that the floors weren't in great shape and didn't seem at all worried about it. We had been in the place once before for all of about 10 minutes when we decided to rent it, mostly based on location.

There was a little white tower shaped battery powered automatic air freshener device in the middle of the living room/dining area each time, and the windows and sliding door were always open. The air freshener seemed to give the place a bit of a musty flowery smell and I assumed it was there because they had recently painted the place. The landlords took this with them when they left.

On Friday night, when we were leaving, I was closing/locking the slider and windows. The landlord sort of suggested that we leave the windows open to "air it out" (~"it's not like anyone is going to come in"). I locked the windows and slider just the same out of habit since we may be two weeks before we are fully moved in and it is on the first floor.

The smell seems to come from two places. There is a strong smell in the main iving room area which seems to come from one of the a "water" damaged areas. There was also a very strong odor in the kitchen area -- which we tracked to a sort pool of a slurry made of a dark reddish/gold sticky urine-smelling liquid and half-dissolved dog food kibble under the refrigerator. We cleaned this up (gagging) so I don't know if the odor will persist.

The two bedrooms seem (for now) to be clear; the Pergo flooring in the bedrooms seems new and the landlord mentioned replacing it recently.

The landlord never said outright that the damaged areas *were* water damaged -- just that the flooring is sensitive to water and dampness and they hadn't replaced those areas due to the size of the strips that would need to be replaced when I asked about the damaged areas. They asked about pets (we do not have pets) and it is clear they had a dog but never discussed it.

Details: Renting questions always ask location: Mountain View, CA.

Complication: the landlord is *lawyer* specializing in *rental-related* law. I am not a lawyer.

What should we do?

Take on faith that the odor will go away (quickly) and not get stronger now? Some sort of spray (how? which? recommendations? I have asthma)? Contact the landlords and ask outright (see complication above)? Just live with it for a year and hope our furniture doesn't pick up the odor?

I feel quite deceived and stupid for having signed the lease.

TL;DR: we just singed a 1 year lease on a place that stinks of dog urine, which we didn't notice because of an air freshener, recent cleaning and an all-windows-open showing. Feeling stupid, deceived and worried.

throwaway: escapeornot [at] gmail.com

Cat peed on backpacks and tent.

DakotaPaul — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 10:13:26 -0800

I just discovered that our cat has been urinating on a nylon duffel bag our garage, a bag which contained our backpacking packs and a tent. Can any of it be saved? Everything reeks. Can I throw this stuff in the washing machine (front loader) with something to get the smell out? Will bleach damage the packs and tent? Do I need to start saving up for new gear?

Grout sealants that will repel dog urine?

Jacqueline — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:06:16 -0800

Grout sealants that will repel dog urine? I already know how to get dog urine stains and odor out of the grout on our ceramic tile kitchen floor.

But once the grout is clean, every sealant we've tried (either on our own or having professionals come in) hasn't been effective from preventing the grout from getting stained again. The urine just soaks right back in, even after "sealing" -- and yes, we do wait the requisite time for the sealant to dry.

So it seems that we need a substance that is totally waterproof to apply to our grout / floor.

Any ideas? I'm willing to consider "thinking outside the box" solutions as long as they won't poison our dogs or us.

Also, ideally the sealant material would be heat-resistant, because I would like to be able to use my steam mop (regular floor wax melts).

Please advise, thanks!

Please help, I'm 21 and I have incontinence problems.

sockpim — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 02:59:17 -0800

Please help, I'm 21 and I have incontinence problems. I'm 21 years old and I have incontinence problems (I don't have them because of any medical issues/conditions), but I am very bad at holding on to go to the toilet.

From when I was a young boy I have always struggled with holding on. When I was about 12-16 years old I would regularly go every hour and only be drinking about 2 pints of water a day.

Now that I'm 21, I drink about 3 pints of water a day and still need to go every 1-2 hours. I've asked my doctor about it before and had relevant blood tests and such but they have all been clear. I also find that on long bus or car journeys (where I won't be able to go for a long period of time) that I can hold on for even less time. It does vary however, as sometimes I can hold on for three hours, and other times I'll only be able to hold on for 45 minutes.

Due to being in situations where I must go and then hold on for a long period of time I have tried to push out the last few drops of urine whilst going and badly pulled a muscle around my bladder by doing so. I have almost sorted that now. I'm pretty sure it is a psychological problem, but I have no idea how to make it better.

I'm at ease with needing the toilet so much and I'm not bothered by other people trying to make fun of me for it, but as I'm heading into the world of full time work soon I feel that I need to do something properly to make it so I don't need the toilet every hour. I have tried to train myself, but there is very little improvement after doing this for months.

Can someone please recommend something that I can try/do to sort this problem out as it is an unnecessary burden on my mind and is stressing me out as I thought it would of disappared as I became and adult.

(Note, I live in the UK)

Will the guilty party please raise a paw?

andrewcilento — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 10:38:55 -0800

Did one of my cats ruin my Tempurpedic pillow? I got a Tempurpedic pillow last year around Christmas... had a gift card and a coupon, so a fairly expensive pillow became only a slightly expensive pillow. It served me well until yesterday, when one of my cats decided my bed was more convenient than the litter box, and urinated on my pillow and mattress.

I sprayed it down pretty well with pet odor remover before I left for work today, and it's drying out, but the odor was pretty well in there last night when I first noticed it. Am I going to end up having to get a new pillow now? Does anyone else have experience with this sort of thing?