Just got new cat and my apartment STINKS!!!

i have had Adia for over 2 months and my apartment has never smelled like urine at all. I always scoop her litter box every day. Last night, I brought home a male Maine Coon mix cat, Toby. He is wonderful and I love him to pieces, but my apartment is reeking of cat urine or something like it. I don't see anywhere that he may have sprayed (he's getting neutered next week) but i can't figure out why the scent is sooo strong. I have tried everything I can think of including scooping his litter 3 times since last night, putting more litter in the box, and spraying Febreze room deodorizer. Toby also smells kinda funky. Adia had a sweet, clean smell to her but Toby doesn't at ALL. he is very sickly thin and had ear mites which have been taken care of. he's been eating well and seems okay but i am about to throw up from the strong scent permeating my whole apartment. Any help or advice!!??

Thanks,
Candace

If hes not neutered now.. its very possible he sprayed somewhere last night? Do you have a blacklight so you can find any spots not visible to your eyes alone?

Hi Candace,
It's really common for an unneutered males urine to stink to high heavens. Recently we rescued (stray)a unneutered male, had him "fixed" and kept him crated in a basement for a few days while arranging his adoption. No matter how often we scouped his box the basement still smelled from the urine. I think it just gets in the air and whatever is around and kinda sticks. After he was sent to his new home the smell went away. His new owners did not have a problem because by the time he got to them his urine had lost some "potency".
As far as his body having a funny odor, a couple of my rescues were like that, I used the pet wipes that you can get from Petsmart to clean them and that helped a bit...

Good luck with your new boy!
Laura

Tomcats in general can smell pretty bad. It's a combo of very strong urine, and of strong scent glands. Once he's neutered, he'll reek a lot less. being sick is another cause of bad odor. Ear mites can cause their ears to stink, and since he's thin he's probably hasn't had good nutrition, so both his breath and his stool will be super stinky.

If you feel comfortable, try giving him a bath. That will go a long way to get the smell out of his fur. Like Cirque suggested, he probably sprayed somewhere, and you can't see it once the urine is dry. An enzymatic cleaner (found at pet stores) will get rid of the odor better than any other cleaning product.

Make sure to use a good litter, like Arm & Hammer, Tidy Cats, or the natural products like World's Best (I forget the other brands). You'll need litter for a "multiple cat" household. Also, you'll need to get at least one more litterbox, though two would be best. The general rule is one box per cat plus one extra. I know it sounds like it's a waste of money and space, but believe me, once I did it the stink from the litterboxes almost disappeared. The boxes can be right next to each other, by the way.

Good luck!

Thank you Toby and Adia each have separate litter boxes, and i have a third small one too. I have been using the Arm & Hammer and i bought some Ammo-Out sprinkles that are supposed to help absorb the ammonia in the cat's urine. I hope it works! I just sprinkled it in a bit ago. right now, i just have the windows open to get some air circulating in here. I hope the neutering helps him out some. I don't know if i can handle a cat that is going to smell like this all the time. My eyes are watering something awful! I'm going to go get a small blacklight and see what I can find.

THANKS!!!!

If it's any reassurance my maine coon boy absolutely STANK the few times he sprayed before he was neutered- as soon as he was fixed it never happened again. It makes you wonder who's brave enough to live with un neutered toms!

Getting him neutered will indeed help, but does not always stop the spraying. Sorry, but it doesn't.If the cat has been able to mate, he will likely continue spraying because it is instinct. You won't see the urine, you will smell it though and you need a good enzyme cleaner to knock down the urine and get rid of it.

Invest in a blacklight and also some good urine remover. Until he is neutered keep him away from your other cat and in a room (a bathroom would be good). He can't help what he is doing, it is his nature to do this. Male cat urine is highly caustic and it does smell bad.

Here are some links for products to help you:

Odor Destroyer

The Blacklight Shop

wow, i'm glad we got Marsh neutered before any of these unpleasant 'effects'. I can understand why people say ALWAYS NEUTER, wow!

OMG.. i hope this stops when he is neutered. I honestly don't know if i can handle it on a daily basis or not.

Well if he does continue to spray after the neuter at least it won't smell as bad. I know, small comfort.

It is possible that he hasn't sprayed anywhere...I have fostered male cats before and keep them in a crate(so I know they didn't spray anywhere) and I tell ya..my house STUNK horribly even when I would change the litter and clean the cage..I think the smell attaches itself to the walls.LOL.
He will still smell bad for a few days even after his neuter.
Be patient..he will start smelling better soon after you get him neutered.