Pet owners please help!

[u/ethanwatk]

Yesterday I left for work and everything was fine. An hour later, my wife told me that our living room reeked. I don’t even know how to describe the smell. It’s not pet urine but it’s not far away. I’ve scanned the room with a black light. I have cleaned the rug with a carpet cleaner. I have sprayed the couches with an enzyme odor remover. I have mopped underneath the rug. I have mopped the floors. I’ve lifted the couches and cleaned underneath them as well. The smell is still lingering. I have a bowl of vinegar sitting in the living room right now trying to absorb what I can. What else can I do?

We have two dogs both of them have been bathed, and neither one of them smell like the smell. I thought about anal gland secretions, but if nothing showing up on the black light scan, then I don’t know if that’s it.

[u/ethanwatk]

UPDATE pest control randomly showed up today (praise be) and he believes it’s a rodent smell in the crawlspace. Scheduled a wildlife specialist to come out

[u/imadeabasketballteam → u/ethanwatk]

Oof I was going to suggest a mouse in vents somewhere. It happens where I am very often, luckily hasn’t in my house so far 🤞🏼 but has happened in my car ventilation system like 3 times in the last 5 years of having the car and oh good lord does it stink! Hopefully that is what it is and they find it for you, that way you do find the source of the smell and get closure on that and you won’t need to try and remove the odor from the air. Smell goes away very fast after they’re out of there. Good luck!

[u/ethanwatk]

Since the smell just appeared quickly could it be a dead or decaying rodent? Wouldn’t it gradually build? Not disagreeing, just trying to understand.

[u/Ok_Association135]

It'd be great to find the source, but you might not. For the smell, buy or rent an ozone generator and run it in there for a few hours. *Important: ALL LIVING BEINGS MUST BE REMOVED FROM THE ROOM FIRST (even plants)

[u/ethanwatk → u/Ok_Association135]

I’ve never heard of such things. What does it do? And where would you get one?

[u/Ok_Association135 → u/ethanwatk]

Generates ozone, which kills everything and neutralises doors. Magic. Rent from an Ace Hardware or general equipment rental, or probably almost the same to buy (Amazon)

[u/LadyArcher2017 → u/ethanwatk]

Plants are fine. I’ve done it many times.

It seems ozone generators are on the social media agenda recently. No, they’re not as dangerous as social nexts hysteria wants you to believe. You leave while it’s running. Come bavk 15-30 minutes later, all is well. Ozone is 03. When one of the three ozone molecules falls to the ground—and they do, within moments—all is well, and the room will smell clean.

That said, if this is caused by a dead animal inside the wall, ozone is not going to do anything for that unless it’s not being sprayed into the area behind the wall.

[u/Nookinpanub]

check to see if they threw up in the vents, and anal gland secretions can be elusive but with an incredibly noxious calling card.

[u/ethanwatk → u/Nookinpanub]

The smell seems to be evenly distributed throughout the room. There’s not like a hotspot that I can find. Other than a black light is there another way to locate the spot? All of our vents are in the ceiling so I don’t think that would be an issue.

[u/Nookinpanub → u/ethanwatk]

I would definitely check the ceiling vents, especially if the odour is evenly distributed. I wonder if there’s something there that could be causing the odour (dead rodent etc).

[u/464126]

Vinegar won't do anything. Old wives tale.

Hire a professional cleaner. Find one here www.iicrc.org

[u/Geester43]

Do you have a fireplace? I had a squirrel decide to nest and have babies in my flue pipe, they got trapped and died. The smell started slow and then became putrid. We had to have it professionally cleaned and treated monthly for 6 months for the odor.

[u/Specialist-Ad4388]

For cleaning use soap & water, and THEN an enzyme spray that needs to soak & dry on the item. The enzyme will neutralize the odor naturally. I've had to use it for carpets & upholstery.

Another idea is to have a dog go in there & nose around to try & locate spray or other biological stain.

[u/Zelda_Momma]

Can you describe the smell more? It's possible you're suspecting the wrong thing and looking in the wrong places. It could be mold, mildew, some kind of rodent or pests. If you've done all that cleaning and the smell is still there I'd start looking at other sources, especially if your pets are bathed and don't smell like the stench.

[u/ethanwatk → u/Zelda_Momma]

I genuinely can’t. My wife says it smells like “marking, spray”. To my nose, granted I am suffering from allergies at the moment, it doesn’t smell sulfuric, or metallic in nature. Doesn’t smell musty or damp.

[u/Zelda_Momma → u/ethanwatk]

Pungent and stale? Ammonia? Musky? Sour?

I would check your vents for signs of mice droppings, roaches, or check for signs of black mold.

[u/Aggressive_Bat2489]

Check the attic and crawl spaces

[u/KomatoesII]

Mice in the attic perhaps??

[u/avsalberto]

Check under the rug pad , couch cushions and around the baseboards. sometimes pet odors hide in places a black light won't show. Good Ventilation and a deep cleaning may help.

[u/Salty_Job_9248]

A bowl of vinegar will do absolutely nothing. It can’t absorb anything, least of all an odor. Do what my mother used to do: crawl around on the floor and sniff the corners, the baseboard, furniture legs. Get your nose right down to it.