Hi! I started a sit yesterday with two cats. I knew they used a litter box and I’ve looked after cats with indoor trays in the past…but the smell in this case is next level. I’m due to be here for a week…and have my mum coming to visit for Xmas dinner. I’ve bought baking soda and added it to the litter tray, hoovered some into the hallway carpet and sprayed odor eliminator around…plus made coffee to try and help clear the air!
Has anyone else had an experience like this? What’s the etiquette with dropping out of a sit? I don’t think I can cope with the stink for the whole week. And the weather is too grim to spend the time outdoors.
This is a tricky one because cats are often partial to a specific type of litter and may not adjust to a different one. At the same time I think it’d be unfair if you just decided to pack up and leave because of this.
A few ideas:
Does the litter look clean or is it time to toss the whole thing, wash the tray and start fresh?
Have you discussed this with the HO? Ask if they may be open to your trying a different litter, maybe they have been successful with the one that forms “pucks” in the past, which greatly absorbs odours.
If it were me, I would buy some white vinegar, dilute it in water and wash the floor. Then buy a bag of litter, toss all of the litter, soak the litter box in vinegar (not diluted), dry then fill with new litter.
I can’t tell from your description if it smell so of urine or poo. If urine and it doesn’t go away with a clean fresh litter box, it could be that the cats have pee’d outside the box. If you find the area, clean with vinegar water and there is a produce in the US (not sure where you are) called Nature’s Miracle that can be sprayed directly on floor or furniture and it breaks down the urine and stops the smell.
It’s a very unpleasant situation you are in, but I do think if it were me I would tough it out and be honest in communicating with the HO that you are having issues with the smell and are going to clean and put new litter in the box. And PLEASE mention the smell in your review, it will save someone else down the road and fingers crossed the HO will learn a lesson from this.
Just want to add that if it is poop smell at the next level it could be a medical condition – malabsorption or ibs, so you should definitately discuss with homeowners as they might have become noseblind.
The solution is probably still to clean out the box and put in fresh litter. There also are products you can buy to add to the litterbox as well as room fresherners.
I agree with others that abandoning a sit because of a smelly litterbox is not cool. But HOs not cleaning the box before a sit started is also not cool. Please discuss with the HO and look for a solution that doesn’t feel unfair to anyone. Personally, if the issue is the box smells because they haven’t changed the litter in months and don’t wash the box, I’d negotiate to: “Please pay for a new box, fresh litter, an additive to help diminish odors in the box, and some air freshener.” If given a choice being paying for that or finding a replacement sitter on Christmas Eve, I think most HOs would choice that option.
For two cats I would recommend at least two litter boxes. Maybe they don’t like to share and one of them goes elsewhere. If not, two cats can really fill one box. I would check with the HO first, but would offer to buy another box. Even for one week.
Thanks for this response… really helpful. Yep…it’s the urine smell that’s the problem. I’ll give the litter box a complete clean out as you suggest and wash the wood floors around the area (hopefully the HO has some white vinegar…not sure I’ll be able to buy any til Wednesday… everything will be shut here in UK!) I’ll stick it out…the cats themselves are amazing and the house is tidy enough. I’ll wait til after Boxing Day to message the HO, I think…I also don’t want to spoil her Xmas with worrying
If you’re in the UK, Zoflora make a pet safe disinfectant that’s specifically designed to neutralise pet urine odors. It’s their Mountain Air fragrance.
Ditch the current litter, let the tray steep in a combination of Zoflora and boiling water (anything from 15 minutes to an hour), then drain the liquid, rinse the tray with fresh water, fully dry, and refill with fresh litter.
You can use the Zoflora to mop floors too. It’s quite a heady fragrance (I don’t actually like it!), but anything that can beat the smell of cat pee needs a bit of power behind it!
Uff, this is intolerable @Petsitter-P . Refer to T’s and C’s - the home should be in a clean state for you, not unliveable.
Here’s what I would do:
Notify THS member services about the stench, and that you will request the owner has it professionally cleaned ASAP.
Request that the owner have it professionally cleaned ASAP or you will leave as this is intolerable. Give them perhaps 48 hrs to arrange alt pet care.
If they don’t, let them know your decision (to stay or go) and be clear about it. They will have to activate their Plan B set up for pet care emergencies. Liaise with THS member services if you need help; they will launch an investigation about the cleanliness of the sit - this will protect future sitters from having a holiday/ homestay ruined.
This is absolutely unacceptable and I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this. I hope it doesn’t ruin dinner with Mum too much.
@Petsitter-P I feel for you! We had that situation on a sit esrlier in the year. We did a split sit with another sitter- he did the first two weeks and we did the second. On arrival the stink of the litter box hit us as soon as we walked in! And the litter box was downstairs in the basement with a door (plus cat flap) inbetween!! There were 4 cats & only one litter box! Though the owners had said on the video call that the cats did most of their business outside. The sitter we took over from appeared oblivious to the stink. He said it was like that when he arrived!! We had no way of knowing if that was infact the case. Certainly he had not changed, or even scooped, the litter prior to our arrival!! (He had also not cleaned our bathroom at all or vacuumed the house!!! But that’s another story…!)
First thing we did was to chuck out the old litter, thoroughly scrub, disinfect and air the tray, mop the floors and spray air freshener around…After that there was never an issue with smell. So obviously no medical issues with the cats- just lack of cleanliness.
We informed the owners the next day about the handover and how we’d found the place, the lack of house cleaning, and the smell etc, and what we’d done to correct the situation. Even sent a pic of me mopping! They apologised on behalf of the other sitter but must have felt insulted/embarrassed/angry (who knows?!) Because the next day they gave the first sitter (who they’d met on arrival) a great review and gave us, 2 weeks delayed after their return, a poor review!! All very unfair. One of the dangers of a split sit! And also of sometimes of being brutally honest (before you have a 5* review in hand!!!)
On another sit (our first actually) we had 2 cats and only one litter box. During a month stay we had 10+ episodes of finding cat poo or vomit around the house- usually in annoying places like on the sofa or carpet!! Totally disgusting but as we were so inexperienced then we did not dare to say anything to the host- so we just put up with it. We eventually got a fabulous review which including how great we were with dealing with their ‘high maintenance and complicated’ cats!!! They even admitted on their return that the cats like to leave ‘offerings’ but they ‘love them anyway’!!! We’d not been told any of that before! Again very unfair…
Take aways… Ask more questions pre-sit- e g does each cat have a their own litter box- this does usually help. Ask what the habits are with vomiting/pooing outside the box.
Scoop the litter box asap after its used and change/clean it regularly. Now with more experience we’ve learnt to deal with these situations quicker & more effectively!
Good luck! Hope you manage to get it under control enough over the Christmas days!!
Tangentially, one of the things I look for in listings for cat sits are references to how frequently the litter box(es) must be cleaned or the litter is replaced.
Why: The less frequent the cleanings (or too few boxes for too many cats), I figure the hosts are more oblivious to cleanliness and smells. The exceptions are when a cat is spending a lot of time outdoors and does its business there.
I try to weed out listings with the above, so I can spare myself.
If you clean as other folks have suggested and there’s still a strong smell, it might because because the pee has seeped into rugs, carpeting, carpet pads, wooden floors and such. If that’s the case, it probably won’t be feasible for a sitter to clean.
This makes me feel less like a micro-managing nut for having: 3 litter boxes using the World’s Most Expensive Litter, 1.5 pages of litter instructions in cat care guide plus .5 pages of litter odor mitigation suggestions, and a 3 minute video scooping and wiping down litter box area. (Also boxes are always cleaned prior to sitters arrival and changing littler/cleaning box is never something sitters need to do or have done.)
Thanks everyone - so helpful. I cleaned out the litter box this morning, sprayed it with some enzyme spray and used zoflora on the wooden floors and around the skirting boards behind the box (these were filthy). There was a mat under the litter box and I’ve put that outside and put plastic underneath as a temporary measure. All in all the smell is significantly reduced. Certainly tolerable away from the hallway where the box is.
If this was another time of year, I’d have spoken to the HO immediately (I’ve been a sitter with THS for years and have never had a situation like this before). But have decided to leave the her out of it for now - she was really nice when I met her on Friday - welcoming, interesting, kind etc
For me, the value of having a place to stay in the city with my mum for a couple of days (I live in a one bed flat and mum has a small house miles away) outweighs the hassle with the catboxes for now.
I will message the HO after my mum leaves on Wednesday morning and let her know about the measures I’ve taken and the money I’ve spent on cleaning products and will advise that in future she has the place more thoroughly cleaned before asking someone to sit.
My experiences with THS to date have all been overwhelmingly positive and I’ve stayed in some beautiful homes, so this feels like a bit of an affront!!
Wishing you all a very merry Christmas - thanks again for your sound advice and support.
P x
Your call, but if she takes the information well – and it sounds like she will because you seem very tactful and kind – and you really think she’s going to mend her ways and do better in the future, you might consider leaving it out of the review altogether. Sometimes people do go noseblind!
People can go nose blind, but OP mentioned that there was filthiness that she had to clean, because the owner hadn’t. That seems like a disservice to not mention in a review, because another sitter could unknowingly walk into a similar situation.
So…an update…I’ve messaged the HO this eve and she came back saying she was sorry and hadn’t realised there was a smell. She reckons she cleans the area every few days (I beg to differ as the skirting boards were actually thick with dirt!) She suggested I clean the litter box every other day. I’ve suggested she gets two litter boxes or builds a little shed outdoors for future.
Will let you know what happens next. P x
