Nose fatigue

This is a question for those who have had cats for years. Do you think you suffer from nose fatigue of kitty odors specifically cat litter related?
A catperson friend of mine is having problems with her new neighbor who complains of the cat smells coming from my friend's house. My friend is a tidy person. I visit her home and I don't smell anything. But then I have cats too. So perhaps both of us are just immune to the smells. The new neighbor dislikes animals. What do you think?

I really doubt the neighbor smells anything. If you and your friend don't then more then likely neither does the neighbor.As you say shes not a animal person. So she probably just wants to gripe. Is this apartment building?

My place smells. It doesn't smell like gross cat pee, but it smells like a cat lives here.

I definitely think you get nose fatigue. If you smoke, you don't notice the smell at all, which sounds impossible to people who don't smoke. I always can tell if someone has a dog, even if I can tell that they also try really hard to not have a house that smells like dog.

I have a ridiculously good sense of smell, though (I can smell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, for example, and remember what things smelled like even if I can't remember what they looked like).

Your friend's neighbor is probably just being whiny and annoying. I can't imagine how unclean your house would have to be to smell it outside. Maybe have a friend or other neighbor come by who doesn't have cats and see if they can smell it?

I have 4 kitties but when you walk into my house you can't "smell" that i have kitties I scoop out the litter pans 2x a day and clean regurally.

I can't imagine that your neighbour can smell anything! No one can tell that we have kitties until they show themselves! There's certainly no smell here and I doubt that there is at your house either! Your neighbour sounds like a real pill!

You can "smell" my litterboxes at times as I keep in basement. However if I run my de-humidifier it seems to help!! I'll have to ask opinions of people when they come over!!

There is a real thing called olfactory fatigue. It kicks in when a smell is really unpleasant. If you've spent time around cadavers or a dissection lab, then you well know that eventually (usually after just a few minutes), your body isn't picking up the horrible stench. I'm not sure if this phenomenon correlates to scents that you smell everyday or if it is something other mechanism.

Your friend should get a sibling or close friend who doesn't have cats to have a sniff around, then swear them to secrecy.

Originally Posted by AnnasMom

There is a real thing called olfactory fatigue. It kicks in when a smell is really unpleasant. If you've spent time around cadavers or a dissection lab, then you well know that eventually (usually after just a few minutes), your body isn't picking up the horrible stench. I'm not sure if this phenomenon correlates to scents that you smell everyday or if it is something other mechanism.

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Now that's interesting. I was driving along today in my rental car with two full bags of golden retriever poo next to me and I was marvelling at the fact that I wasn't being stunk out. I have to return the car tomorrow -I'm hoping the rental people have dogs!

Thanks everyone!
We suspect the neighbor is just being unneighborly. In time, he'll probably develop nose fatigue too!