Paco and the mysterious odor

It's nearly one hundred degrees today and although the a.c. is on now, it was off a few days ago and the humidity unlocked from our carpeting the foul stench of our family's own unique miasma. Softball cleats, wet dog, dry dog, teenage feet or dirty socks (take your pick), sweat, puke, warm wet garbage in the disposal, armpits...all represented in a complicated bouquet with a delicate finish of cat pee emanating from Ally's carpet during our cat's recently diagnosed bladder infection. While dog accidents clean up with little or no real lasting odor, I agree with my friend Cathy who likens cat pee to nuclear waste. Its half life is incalculable and it is just easier to sell your house than deal with it. I think ten years ago I might have been embarrassed by this idea that our house smells bad sometimes but I know enough families with pets and kids to understand this is family life, love it or not. We're doing all we can to keep control around here. Now why Ally's room smelled the worst was perplexing but we chalked it up to a targeted hate campaign by the cat wreaking havoc on the youngest child.

Unrelated to recent global warming issues, I cleaned the insanely neglected hamster cage yesterday because I felt bad for poor, ignored, tiny Paco (although no animal has ever been happier by the looks of him). Late last night, I wandered into Ally's room to commune with her stuff (she's at camp) and say a phantom goodnight to her and I strangely found her room odor free. Now this is an odor that has prevented friends and mothers from visiting her in her room for the past two months so its absence was as noticeable as the smell itself. As I am a genius, a bit of sleuthing and checking of vent placement in her room and Paco's across the hall, I quickly connect the hamster cage room vent and the prevailing cross breezes and tail winds of chez Hunter and voila, I have found ze killer! A small victory.



Relief and major kudos to my brilliant deductive mind that quickly turns to panic as I realize we have just contracted with a flooring company to replace supposed urine soaked carpet (which it now appears is not) with wood flooring to the tune of thousands of dollars. Blurgh.