Quote:
Originally Posted by kmleong
I kept my cats all indoors I don't let them out I don't leave the windows open cause last time they fell off one her mouth now got gap at the upper jaw and two of them nearly get lost found him on the stair case on the 6 or 7th floor (I'm in 2nd floor) while the other got lost for 5 days and my neighbour found her.The neighbour keeps complaining bout his family or son fall sick. complaining about the smell. The thing is I don't smell anything. Ppl say cause we are use to it but even then we sure can smell poop right? I don't think is the poop smell cause the litter will absorb the smell right? So what is he complaining about?
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Let us look at the situation rationally and fairly. Empty rants don't help at all.
Firstly, my cat friend, you are doing the good and correct thing in keeping your cats completely indoors because you stay in an apartment. Not every one loves or tolerate cats loitering around.
We start by examining your premises because even if any relevant authorities i.e. building management or local council people do sympathise with you and want to help you will have to do that, kay?
Now, you say that you do not smell anything (I presume you mean in and outside of your apartment). Yes, what people say to you that you are probably immune to the smell i.e. you do not notice it even though it is there, has truth in it. You see, that is the way the human body works concerning odour or noise. After a while, you notice it less. It is nature's way of reducing the stress impact in our bodies. Example, after a while, you do not smell the new perfume you put on your body. When this happens, some people start spraying more and this overpowers the people around you, even to the point of making others nauseated, especially if it is cheap perfume with horrible undertones and base. Do you realise that when you go to the washroom, you yourself are not too affected by your own smell after some time, but if somebody else were to use the washroom, you get blown off for a very long time? You get accustomed to your own familiar smell but it takes a longer time for your nose to adjust to someone else's (unfamiliar to you) odour.
So it is very possible that others will find the smell of your cats' poop and urine (especially unneutered cats) overpowering while you will hardly notice it.
So, the important question is: is the smell there?
You mention that litter sand is supposed to absorb smell of poop and pee. Yes, supposed to, but the question is how much of the percentage of the smell? Being a person familiar with cat poop and pee myself day in and day out, I myself have many times been overpowered by the pong of cat owners living in apartments the moment the front door opens during my visits. And mind you, these cat owners are among the cleanest and use the best cat litter money can buy. And I have always recommended that they use diluted garbage enzyme because enzymatic cleaners are the most effective though expensive if bought. But you can always make them cheaply yourself and clean your whole house with it without burning your wallet (not to mention it being non-toxic to your beloved cats and environmental friendly). It makes a drastic difference odorwise.
Don't get me wrong, friend, just like another forumer earlier, I am not saying that you are not clean enough with your cats. I am simply saying that when your neighbour says there is smell, there IS a degree of truth. But the important fact is that of course lah even with the cleanest owners, all animals have smell, even humans, but the question is: is your neighbour being reasonable about the smell inside of your house.
As for your neighbour and his family falling sick, blaming it on your cats, if I were you, I would haul him to court to seek proof that it is indeed the cats of yours are the source of their problem. I would also seek proof that before moving in next door to you, they never had any such health problem. I would also seek medical evidence of substance from your house flying across to their house making them sick. How on earth do the substance travel the distance across to their house if your cats do not venture outside? If indeed the smell and dust particles do travel across, my oh my ... your house must indeed be very, very dirty and smelly in order to accomplish the feat! But it is still possible and you need to really sit down and objectively determine if this is really so.
If I were you (but you are not me
) I would also demand to know why they knowingly moved in next door to you knowing full well that you are such a dirty, smelly neighbour that they say you are and should rightly take accountability for their own actions. Remember I advised you to survey the area carefully? You said you could not do so with your current premises but you did say you are scouting for a new place, so make sure you do your homework. It is like investing your money, you need to do your homework well.
Even though I live in a large spacious fully detached house with a very big compound and good space all round my house for my cats to roam around and lepak amidst plenty of carefully landscaped plants, with a huge distance between neighbours' houses, I still take care that smell and hygiene is at an optimal level.
Fastidious as I am about cleanliness to avoid diseases and illnesses, as well as to cut unnecessary costs, I do not use litter sand, only old newspaper with sprayed garbage enzyme, all totally changed at the end of the day and put into the garbage bin to be carted away, leaving absolutely zero smell. My maids are very happy with the arrangement.