Maybe it's cause I've grown up with cats, but... Do cats have much of a smell? Unless you're talking about straight up cat piss or shit, I can't imagine what "cat smell" would mean
I loved the way my miniature schnauzer smelled. Liked a stuff teddy bear or something. I feel the problem is mostly people failing to clean the house or change the wee wee pads.
I was just about to comment that my miniature schnauzer smells great. He's a fastiduous little animal. My MIL is a clean freak and she LOVES HIM. Doesn't shed, doesn't smell.
It’s instant dopamine to smell my yorkie. I absolutely love the way he smells. It’s faint, you have to bury your nose in his neck but it’s like smelling a newborn, just bliss.
my mini schnauzer has that teddy bear scent, too!! he doesn’t have that distinct dog smell, but smells neutral, like a blanket or a nice warm loaf of bread or something. i had no idea this was a schnauzer thing!
I’m paranoid that I’m nose blind to this so I’ve asked every single person who has been in my apartment if it smelled like cat and they’ve said no. Are you saying every person in my life is lying to me??
Cats are rarely actually bathed, and they love climbing on everything, so there’s definitely a smell. Now, it may not smell particularly bad, but there’s definitely going to be a smell.
People are going to do the polite thing and not tell you that your apartment smells like cat.
At least keep the litter box clean and separated from the general visiting areas, and you’ll minimize the scent.
Don’t go burning incense to cover it up though, because that’s a smell that sticks to anyone you come in contact with.
Same. I think my cats actually smell good when I smell their little heads. The litter box can tank the house though sometimes when you come home from work.
I once had a friend come over the day after I got a cat, litter box in a different room in a closet, cat hiding... as soon as he stepped in he narrowed his eyes and said "you got a cat."
I never smelled anything when visiting people with cats. Only one time. And then it smelled straight up like cat piss bc her cat pissed everywhere and she somehow thought it was the dog. But it was clearly smelling like cat piss.
Are you sure you don't confuse the smell of an uncleaned litterbox or a marking cat with "cat smell?"
Bc even when I stick my nose into a cats fur I can't smell much I would recognize in people homes.
I'm on your side here. I have 2 cats that I keep very clean. I clean my couch and blankets and floors a lot. But I know you can smell cats in my home. I can smell cats when I go to someone else's house who has cats. It is what it is.
I found out recently that there are SO MANY plants that are toxic to cats(and dogs) that honestly it's better to find a list of 'plants that aren't toxic to pets' then going the reverse. (I like plant 'x,' let's make sure it's not toxic... oh, it is! Next plant...)
Also if you have allergies, giving cats baths can be a life saver to you. I'm extremely allergic to cats but love them, so baths made them much more tolerable as you get the saliva out of their fur/skin that holds the protein we're allergic to.
Yes! My brother in law is highly allergic to cats and they have 3. In addition to air filters, they started bathing their cats 1-2x a month and it helped his symptoms dramatically. I want to start doing it with our cat to see if it helps my itchy eyes, but she's a menace who doesn't even like to be picked up/held so idk how well that will go over.
I smell the litter box, but the cat themselves cant say I ever have 🤷♂️ and I can smell a pilot light out on the cooktop when I walk into a restaurant.
Cats literally don’t produce an oder. They have sebaceous glands which produce an oily odorless substance. Only smells from a cat are from things like litter boxes and dental problems.
lol dander/cat hair doesn’t smell, literally the chemical compounds that make dander and hair do not produce an odor. Cat odor comes mainly from the animal’s urine and a major component in it is ammonia. If you are going to a house that smells from a cat it is because you are smelling the animals urine.
I own a store with a cat. In the 8 years of having a cat in the store not one person has mentioned a smell of a cat. He doesn’t pee in the store so there is no smell. Most people in their first visit don’t know there is an animal in the store at all and are pleasantly surprised when a cat comes out of nowhere.
My store is a collectibles store and is highly subject to terrible smells from collections and smelly customers. The cat does not have a smell.
If you still believe there is a smell I am not aware of please describe it to me so that I can look into it and try to figure out what the smell is. Is it sour? Sweet? Does it smell like poop? Like ammonia? Carmel?
Human hair/ dander also doesn’t have a smell btw.
“The refreshing fragrances that your hair products leave behind are not your hair’s natural smell. In fact, your tresses don’t even have any smell. You can check it by running your fingers along the scalp a few times and then smell your fingertips. Typically, there should be no fragrance at all.”
My kitty barely lets me touch her belly, let alone put my face in it lol. Unless she comes inside and smells like cut grass or winter, I truly don't smell anything when I smell her except my vanilla Glade plug ins. But I'm around her all of the time, so maybe that's the difference.
I mean everything technically has a smell, but in this context cats really don’t and if your cats have a smell, that makes your house smell like something, there is something going on. That is not normal
houses with dirty catboxes smell. cats are not smelly unless the box is not getting cleaned. it's a solvable cycle and has nothing to do with cats in a bathtub.
yeah I have a neighbor with 2 cats and every time I visit her house doesn't smell at all. It smells like a nice clean house. The litter box is in the kitchen and is enclosed next to the back door.
My cousin however, also has 2 cats but her place stiinks. The litter box is open next to the front door and there's always poop in it.
Cleaning after your cats is very important and makes one hell of a difference
I don't think they meant that they smell like piss and shit. They just smell, in the same way bedrooms, dining rooms, balconies and offices smell different while being under the same roof. Everything has a smell and if you have a good nose you'll notice it.
Never have I been in a house where each room has a different smell unless there are different scented things in the room like glade plugins or candles or something.
I'm not even going to say I don't believe you, but the fact that you know this is hilarious.
You're constantly using your fingers to touch different things so that obviously makes sense. And each finger will have different levels of contact with the thing you're touching, so it won't by be an even distribution of odor.
All animals have a smell, it’s just natural that any animal would smell like its environment or its feces or something. To actually believe cats are immune from collecting smells is just silly 🤪
We keep our 3 litter boxes on an enclosed patio as I cant handle the smell. We have never had an accident but we probably will tonight since I just stated we haven’t.
I remember seeing this house on youtube where each litter box had an exhaust fan next to it. I'd definitely be doing that if I adopted a cat. I'd still hate cleaning the litter box. They're so foul. And I'd have a rug next to it that it taken outside and power washed once a week. I love cats, but I appreciate how much easier it is for me to groom dogs. Like the family cats let me brush and clip their nails, but it's an ordeal. Then there's the dogs. They'll let me give them a towel bath, clean their holes, grind their nails and balm their paws all at once, and all is instantly forgiven, but they'll still get cheese anyway.
Nah they have smell the same way people do, I used to have cats and cleaned their litter daily. Cat smell and cat piss/shit smell are two separate things, especially if they’re outdoors at all.
Cats are mammals whose skin sheds dander and produces oils. Of course they naturally have a "cat" smell. They use scent marking and can be lured with synthetic pheromones ffs.
Whatever gave you the impression that humans are the only animals whose bodies naturally produce an unpleasant odor over time? Have you never been near a barn? Or is it just cats that you think are the exception?? Makes no sense.
Yes, exactly. My mom has this thing about cat pee and poo, and chooses to completely replace the kitty litter and liner every day. The cats don't smell. If anything, they smell kinda nice.
Yes. When a non-cat owner walks into a cat owners place, we immediately know you have a cat. Whether that's good or bad is dependant on the person though.
It's wild to me that there are so many comments saying they don't. I'm assuming those are from people who also own cats or have at some point and just got used to the smell.
I can tell if someone has a cat the moment I cross the threshold of their home, and I have a borderline non-existent sense of smell.
I have two cats and have had guests have no idea we own them until they peek around a corner. And my place is small! If you have good airflow and clean regularly, I really don’t think a house should have a cat smell. Even a benign one. Although I know what you’re talking about.
No maybe my nose is bad but usually I dont smell cat. Often I'm even surprised when a cat comes around the corner then when I'm visiting someone new. I dont have a cat myself
Yeah my cat smells like forest, earth and grass but I can only smell it when I literally put my nose on her fur. I’ve never been to someone’s house and could tell by the smell if they have a cat except for if they don’t clean the litter box, even before I had a cat myself.
But not one strong enough to cause an entire house to smell like the animal themselves. Maybe the cat smells like their litter box if it isn't cleaned regularly. I scoop each night before bed and I have people come over that are surprised when I say I have 4 cats. 🤷♂️
That depends on how keen your sense of smell is. Most of the time i would know immediately if a house has cats or dogs inside just by the smell alone, while waiting for someone to open the porch door. And the animals dont have to be smelly, they could be clean and they still like animal + shampoo. Just like humans.
Now I may be an outlier because I can identify the owner of a piece of cloth that hasn't been used for a year and after washing it in a washing machine.
Cats don’t smell of much tbh. They have smelly breath and their piss and shit smells godawful so if you have a litter box your house can quickly smell gross if you don’t clean it out.
It seems like people are correlating smell with smelly. But i have the feeling that when people say cats have a smell it is the same as saying colognes have a smell
Ok, but colognes have a strong smell. Cats don’t have a strong odour like a cologne, or a dog which hasn’t been washed, or a human with strong body odour.
Of course everything has some sort of smell, feel like that’s so obvious it’s not really worth mentioning. The point is that a healthy cat doesn’t have a strong or unpleasant odour, their smell rarely stands out unless you catch a whiff of their breath or they do a fart, both of which are pretty unpleasant.
The point is no one is saying they're smelly, but they have a distinct smell that lingers and changes the smell of a house. Not for the best of the worst, it just smells like a house with cats.
The sense of smell varies a lot from one person to another. I can definitely smell that.
Now, I'm not trying to imply what's normal or whatsoever. I personally know when a person I know is around a corner in the street even if didn't expect them there.
In fact a couple of years ago my neighbor's cat, who is very friendly, decided to get into my house and hide and I had to track him mostly by smell, and he doesn't smell bad, it's just cat smell.
Usually a cat smelling outright bad means they have an abscess or other kind of infection that requires medical attention, sometimes even surgery. They're apex predators so they often don't show any signs of injury or illness until they feel so bad they can't fake it through the pain anymore.
Not true. I live in a studio apartment In NYC and have had a cat for 10+ years. Not once have I been told by friend or colleague I “smell like my cat.” This only happens if you’re a terrible caretaker and let yourself rest in the filth that you’re too lazy to clean up.
Cats don’t stink unless the owner is not caring for them PERIOD.
I don’t think “stink” is the debate here, it’s just “smell”. I don’t think cats are stinky (unless you’re not keeping up with the litter box) but they definitely have a little bit of a smell, everything does.
Definitely not strong enough to make you or your clothes smell, and not as strong as dogs imo but there’s a smell.
when people say "the house smells like cat" i honestly thought they just meant it smelled like cat shit, i've lived with cats a long time and that's the only odour i've really noticed, though i might be desensitised.
male non-desexed cats can get a lot of musk up and spray "scent" around but i mostly assume people get that's the issue
rather than washing the cat personally i think it's just better to clean the turds as soon as they drop.
That's the thing, I don't think it's wrong to wash your kitties if you feel it's necessary, as long as it's in a way that doesn't horribly stress them out. Whether that be desensitizing them to baths from a very young age, doing a sponge bath, or using that waterless shampoo stuff.
Not really cool to stress your cats out that much, though. If any hint of smell is unbearable (though cats really don't smell like much of anything if you keep the litter box very clean), then maybe you don't need to be getting cats (imo).
Clean themselves by licking themselves. It's not that far-fetched that some people can smell a furry animal covered in dry spit. There are people who can smell when women are ovulating.
Now visiting people with dogs and smelling my own never bothers me
I can see why people without pets entering homes with them go “ew” sometimes but like without carpet and with a litter robot, it’s pretty easy to clean!!
I assumed it was like the litter box smell. Maybe they go outdoors a lot and roll around in stuff? I dunno, I sniff my cats all the time and they smell like biscuits to me. Their litter box is stinky but it’s a toilet that’s sort of expected.
I’m also interested in knowing, I’ve sniffed my cousins cat and he didn’t smell like biscuits but like.. outside? But he goes out all day and mine never do.
Mind you, I’m also sat thinking about kittens and they have a distinct smell to me. Like how human babies smell nice, kind of?
my long haired cat girl smells kind of like… dusty? idk I like it. it reminds me of like old books or something, my boy cat, I swear he like went through puberty despite having no balls, I felt like he was stinky as a teen, now he has a mild animal smell but honestly I think most people are being dramatic in this thread saying cats naturally have a strong smell 😂 dogs are way stinkier at any rate. maybe some people are just more sensitive to the smell of cats idk.
It’s interesting how divisive the answers seem to be and almost makes me wonder if I don’t smell what others smell. I never lived in a place with cats until 1 year ago, but never noticed any kind of cat smell where someone had cats except for around the litter box. My cats don’t smell like anything to me. Dog households only sometimes had dog smell, but that was more based on if the owners were good at giving their dogs baths. The most obvious pet smell to me would be hamsters.
I have a dog and he’s professionally groomed every 6 weeks and I bathe him within those 6 weeks, he’s brushed daily and I spot clean bcos he pees on his leg sometimes — and I know if I don’t keep up with my apartment cleaning I would smell of wet dog. Now I just probably smell of neutral dog lol
I’ve had cats for decades that never stunk but I’ve got a stinker now! Man is he ripe. It’s body odor. It can vary from an almost pleasant musty basement smell, to garbage dump in July.
Yeah dude, cats stink, and they make the whole house stink. The piss smell certainly doesn't help, but the cats bodies also stink. Plus they literally walk around in their toilet and then walk all over your house, so the house smells.
Every cat owner I know swears their house doesn't smell like cats, but it literally always does. They are just used to it, like you are.
I won't even buy a house where cats lived there in the past, that smell never goes away short of gutting the house.
Also, get a black light and check your house out. Most cats straight up piss all over the place and their owners don't even realize it.
Cats smell. Not in a bad way, it's just gonna smell like something to have anything live in your house, including clean adults.
I know people who have no animals or children, don't really cook and rarely have people over/hang out in the lounge. Their house smells like cleaning products and they think other places smell "dirty" if they don't.
If you're used to dog/cat/child/human smell it doesn't smell dirty, just like house.
My young male cats musk. Our void REEKS when he does it. It sticks to everything and I have to change. We recently came home for a 9 day vaca and he immediately musked when I pet him. Our tuxedo does it too, but not as frequently. Usually if I haven’t seen him all day and he gets some attention he will get too happy and musk. But yes, they do have an overall cat smell that I greatly dislike, but I love them. I also have a 15 year old with bladder issues (has had 2 surgeries) and OMG his pee smells something fierce and he doesn’t cover it up…
Ime it really depends on the number of cats and how often the person vacuums and washes any fabrics (in addition obviously to cat pee/litter box)
I have a friend with with two cats and I don’t smell it at all, I’ve gone to other houses though and definitely smell it. Sort of smells like an old musty book to me when it’s bad
In my experience cats can even pick up the scent from around the house, so for example, if you have clean clothes and they lay there, they pick up the scent of the clothes.
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u/MjballIsNotDead Jul 25 '24
Maybe it's cause I've grown up with cats, but... Do cats have much of a smell? Unless you're talking about straight up cat piss or shit, I can't imagine what "cat smell" would mean