Sometimes you just need a fresh perspective

by | Tuesday | March 16, 2010 | 14 comments

We got a visit today from one of my favorite families. They brought in their sweet kitty Boca because she had a cough. The family had recently been sick, and based on what they saw on the news with H1N1 they were concerned that Boca might have the flu.

The owners wrung their hands nervously as I opened Boca’s carrier. I was immediately assaulted with…something strong, sort of like Febreze. I sniffed the carrier. I sniffed the cat. They both smelled equally strong.

Boca did indeed have an irritated trachea, but fortunately she seemed to be in good health otherwise.

“When did this start?” I asked.

“About 3 days ago,” they replied.

“Do you use air fresheners?” I asked.

“Oh yes,” they said proudly. “We had the house closed up when we were sick last week so we wanted to make sure everything smelled good.”

“What about disinfectants, Lysol or anything like that?” I followed.

“Oh!” they said, alarmed. “We haven’t been doing that! Oh no! We’ll get right on it!”

Before they could rush out the door and add more fumes to the mix, we talked about pets and their sensitive upper airways. Hopefully some fresh air and rest will improve Boca’s breathing!

Filed: Health
  • Pikachu

    Oh My Goodness :-)
    I dont even let the groomer put smelly stuff ( ie doggie perfume ) on my guys. LOL

  • solange

    I don’t perfume my cats or even spray stuff in the air but I do occasionally to freshen things up. This forum is as good as any to ask if there are natural, non-irritating products to help, especially with litterbox smell? Thanks!

    • http://fur-licity.blogspot.com Barbara

      try a little vanilla or lavendar in a pot of hot water.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      I’ve tried the Nature’s Miracle cat litter additive in the past with good results, but I can’t remember if it is scented or not.

  • http://ingridking.com Ingrid King

    I’d recommend baking soda for the litter box. It’s not scented, so the kitties won’t mind it, but it neutralizes odors.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      I love that stuff. It’s so darn useful.

  • http://dearprudie.wordpress.com Ashley

    I am somewhat guilty of using scented cleaners (mostly Odoban), but I try to keep the pets away from whatever I am cleaning (but no one is perfect) until the spray settles somewhat and the smell isn’t as strong.

    I do have to laugh though at companies that try to shill “doggy cologne.” It’s obviously not for the pet’s benefit.

  • Sedna

    Man, I don’t get the whole “dousing your home in Febreeze and Lysol” thing. Maybe because I hate the smell? I worked in a DNA lab where we used 75% ethanol (rubbing alcohol) solutions to clean our workspaces and equipment. It was cheap, effective, and didn’t leave that lingering floral funk everywhere. For more serious funk I like to use vinegar solutions.

  • Lisa W

    I had a consultation with Nadine Rosin (Healing Art of Pet Parenthood — won it on the Hounds for Haiti auction) and she recommended that we NEVER use that kind of stuff — or scented laundry detergent or dryer sheets either. I never even thought about laundry stuff for example, but I’ve tried to be very conscious of that kind of thing since I talked with her.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      It makes sense, right? They have so much more brainspace dedicated to smell, and they are so much closer to the ground than we are. That smelly stuff just pummels them.

  • ShadowBunny

    ugh, I hate scented products and I’m allergic to a lot of perfumes. just walking down the laundry detergent aisle at the supermarket makes my nose itch and my eyes water. I don’t use anything to get rid of bad smells, I just open a window and let some fresh air in.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      I have that same problem in the laundry aisle. Until hypoallergenic detergents came out, it was really hard to do laundry as I was allergic to almost all the stuff out there.

  • http://learnedpawspetservices.com Rwan Hardesty

    Usually, we use non-scented everything in the house and I hate the lysol smell (but I do like PineSol). Unfortunately, now that I’m pregnant, I have to have some sort of “clean” scent (weird huh?). I settled on the arm and hammer baking soda liquid detergent with oxy-clean in it.

    That being said, we do use “doggy cologne” on the boys every once in awhile. We’ve found natural stuff and only use it when we are having guests come over and there’s no time to bathe them. If done right, the dogs don’t even inhale it and they really seem to like smelling clean.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      I got really into essential oils when I was pregnant. They were much more tolerable to me.

      Your sense of smell really goes weird, though. I bought a bottle of what I thought was the best perfume ever when I was preggo, and now I can’t stand it. It smells SO different now!