Which smells worst?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I had an argument with my sister a while back about animals and which breed smells worse.

- She has a male cat that has been de-sexed. Her cat is mostly inside or on the balcony and her house smells SO BAD and she doesn't even notice it. She also had him de-sexed late... he'd already started scent-marking.

- We have a female de-sexed mini fox terrier (and now another dog but the first only existed at the time of argument) who is mostly inside except for walks and "toilet time" and apparently our house smells "like dog".

Back story -

My sister lived in a little apartment and the first thing that struck you when you walked in was the smell of .. I don't know kinda of hard to explain. Urine/something else/marking territory smell. If you ever visited her house you had to wash your clothes immediately (well I did and so did my brother... ugh).

After she moved overseas for a while she stored some of her things at our house (we have a large house) in a room we rarely use. We had to seal the doors because the smell of her things.

When she got back she didn't notice the smell of her things but anyone who visited noticed it when they walked past that room (awesome :S) and I mentioned it to her. She said our house smells like dog.

---

My personal experience (and I've owned a cat before) is my cat didn't smell but if I walked into a house where someone had a cat I KNEW. I could smell it instantly. But dog owners you don't know until you see the dog.

I think cat's but that's probably more to do with the kitty litter. I also prefer dogs on a whole but I don't HATE cats. I also don't think this is a "people don't clean their house often enough" issue (especially not in our case) I honestly think her cat just scent marked everything. I don't want this to turn into "you just don't clean your house or your dog". My dog is regularly bathed. She has gorgeous skin/body condition. My sisters cat is also bathed (it's fun to do :S) and bathes itself. My dog is a picky eater and doesn't dig and/or roll around in dirt/mud/garbage. She's very much a princess. Our house house is also very clean.. things you just need to take our word for

I assume this is much like a smoker who doesn't realise they smell until they quit but I wondered what everyone thought. I'm not talking about the REALLY bad cats, or the REALLY bad dogs. I know cats wash themselves and dogs depend on their owners to bathe them. I'm talking cat same conditions, dog same conditions, which smells worse if you left them in a "clean room" for the day (excluding toilet breaks and assume fed basically same non-smelly food)

Pics of my adorable dog that's still in Australia :

Edited March 24, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[Rhiannercakes 14]

We own a dog and a cat.

Neither of them smell and the house doesn't smell like anything.

Maybe it depends on the breed of cat/dog?

My dog gets a bit smelly when he scratches his ears too much, but it's not that noticeable unless you're next to him.

I used to own guinea pigs.

Their cage gets smelly really fast.

Edited March 24, 2010 by Rhiannercakes

[alex and astrid 38]

I can't stand the way guinea pigs and the like smell. I think it's because of their little cages. Rabbits I am okay with.

Alex and I have a cat (Sammi, a rescue from the pound as a kitten three years ago), and I have a cat with my family back home (Chelsea, a Siamese we got when I was 10). At my parents house, I can never smell the cat, or any cat smells, even when I have been away from the house for weeks and then come back into it. She is a clean cat, but my Mum also keeps a very, very clean house. Her litter tray is also kept in the garage, and Chelsea has a trap door she can get to it by.

Sammi is also a very clean cat....I can press my nose into her fur and she smells fine. I don't think our apartment smells, but being in such a small place I do get very conscious anything smelling. So I make sure I keep her litter clean and have windows open to get air in. Her litter is kept in the bathroom too, so that window is almost always open.

My old flatmate also has a cat, a long haired tabby, and her place never, ever smells. And her place is even smaller than mine, with a litter try inside.

I have been in places where they have had cats, and the smell is pretty funky. I think male cats are worse than females though, since they mark everything.

[DanielParul 50]

We own 2 dogs now and people have commented how nice our house smells. No dog smell at all.

I used to own 2 rabbits and the cage smells pretty bad. I personally can't stand rodents.

I do have a lot of experience with animals because of voluntary work I did. Had a vulture, a cow, a black buck, dogs, lizards each for sometime and mostly they will smell if their cages were not kept clean.

[trillium13 84]

Intact male cats are the worst smelling in my opinion. I don't know how anyone could have one in their house, or even outside.

Of course there are more than just odor issues with intact male anything, but that is a topic for another time and place.

I have 2 cats, indoors, and the only time you notice them is if they don't cover their poop in the box.

[raymaga 25]

I think it really does depend on how clean your pet is.... are they bathed regularly, teeth cleaned regularly, cages changed regularly!!!

I had pet mice as a child, and no matter how often you changed the cage, they always stunk.

My current 15-year-old dog (miniature pinscher cross) has VERY bad breath.... but we still love her anyways!!!

[Dave and Helena 0]

I answered dogs smell the worst. Not really sure they do or if it's just because I don't really like dogs that much. I'm not a fan of the smell of a litter box and indoor cats. My friend have indoor cats, she's very neat and cleans the litter box often but you can still feel the smell when you get to her place. I have no experience with guinea pigs etc. Now, one animal I really LOVE the smell of is horses.

Having outdoor cats and cleaning the litter box was my solution back in the day when I had cats (though I have noticed some cats don't seem to realize I want them to do certain things outdoors which is why I let them out ). I'd assume bathing a dog often would minimize the smell.

Smelling or not, we both love animals. Dave wants a dog and I want a cat so as soon as we get a house with a backyard we'll get one of each.

Edited March 26, 2010 by Dave and Helena

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I think it is actually a combination of the animal and the owner. We have 5 cats and invariably whenever anyone visits they always say 'I would never have known you have animals in the house'. We have 3 neutered males and 2 neutered females, all of whom use the litter box and none of whom spray. We have 4 large litter boxes throughout the house and the only time you smell anything is immediately after it has been used. The boxes are cleaned at least twice a day. We don't bathe the cats - they do that themselves - but they are definitely combed and brushed regularly and we have more of a cat hair problem than an odor problem since 3 of them are long haired.

I've always found that dogs tend to have a body odor that permeates things more than cats do, but again, that very much depends on the dog - some are smellier than others. Even then, if the owners are on top of things you generally don't notice a 'doggy' smell in the house, just when you are near the animals.

I would have to agree, though, that an unneutered male cat indoors would probably be the most offensive smell there is - that 'aroma' just doesn't come out without a lot of work and special enzyme cleaners. I find it hard to imagine anyone would have an un-neutered cat indoors either male or female (male because of the male territoriality and behaviour and female because of coming into heat - they are not pleasant company at that time unless, of course, you're a tomcat).

Edited March 27, 2010 by Kathryn41

[The_Dude 1,142]

Since it wasn't clear from the post, just mentions "other", I chose other. Homeless people smell the worst by far. This of course wont' effect my decision to buy a dog (we have two).

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Since it wasn't clear from the post, just mentions "other", I chose other. Homeless people smell the worst by far. This of course wont' effect my decision to buy a dog (we have two).

Two homeless people? They aren't really "homeless" if they are in your home lol.

J/K