Sorry for any repeat, but I previously posted this in Introduction, which won't get many responses there. But now that I can post outside of there, I'm doing another run at this...
In about 1.5 months, me and my two cats are moving to a new house. The current owners of that house have two cats and a dog. I went for the inspection last week, and there are poo stains all over the basement concrete, within the last 2 weeks.... one angry cat was down there. My black cat utterly hates the smell of any other cat, and takes revenge by peeing on stuff. So, I'm kind of concerned about the move. Plus, the whole house is going to have cat smells; I can't easily smell them, but my allergies triggered some after being in the house for a few hours so they are there (I'm allergic only to other people's cats, not mine).
Any suggestions on what to do? I want this to go as smoothly as possible, with the least pee and fecal matter outside the litter box as possible.
My thoughts are on moving day to get one of the bathrooms thoroughly cleaned, then stick the cats in that room and lock it so movers don't open it. They'll remain in there for a while. The basement is a disaster thanks to all the current cats, but the mud room looks okay... I'm thinking clean that thoroughly next (that same day after moving in), then lock them in there for days or longer until they calm down a bit. This will give us time to clean the rest of the house before eventually trying to release them into it. The mud room is very nice and has several windows, and a door on either side so they can be locked in. Once the rest of the house is clean, we can introduce them to more of it and see how they react. The basement will be the worst since it requires the most cleaning. And, I'm a bit concerned about the upstairs since that is carpeted (harder to clean, absorbs smells, and is a more inviting target for a cat peeing in anger).
Is this a reasonable approach?
And what's a good cleaning product to deal with the pet smells? I use Nature's Miracle for spots but I'm not aware of it being appropriate for washing entire floors, counters, etc. Other thoughts include Pine Sol, Simple Green or this "orange" cleaner. I don't want to make them angry from cleaner smells either. But, I want to reduce the other cat smells as much as possible.
In about 1.5 months, me and my two cats are moving to a new house. The current owners of that house have two cats and a dog. I went for the inspection last week, and there are poo stains all over the basement concrete, within the last 2 weeks.... one angry cat was down there. My black cat utterly hates the smell of any other cat, and takes revenge by peeing on stuff. So, I'm kind of concerned about the move. Plus, the whole house is going to have cat smells; I can't easily smell them, but my allergies triggered some after being in the house for a few hours so they are there (I'm allergic only to other people's cats, not mine).
Any suggestions on what to do? I want this to go as smoothly as possible, with the least pee and fecal matter outside the litter box as possible.
My thoughts are on moving day to get one of the bathrooms thoroughly cleaned, then stick the cats in that room and lock it so movers don't open it. They'll remain in there for a while. The basement is a disaster thanks to all the current cats, but the mud room looks okay... I'm thinking clean that thoroughly next (that same day after moving in), then lock them in there for days or longer until they calm down a bit. This will give us time to clean the rest of the house before eventually trying to release them into it. The mud room is very nice and has several windows, and a door on either side so they can be locked in. Once the rest of the house is clean, we can introduce them to more of it and see how they react. The basement will be the worst since it requires the most cleaning. And, I'm a bit concerned about the upstairs since that is carpeted (harder to clean, absorbs smells, and is a more inviting target for a cat peeing in anger).
Is this a reasonable approach?
And what's a good cleaning product to deal with the pet smells? I use Nature's Miracle for spots but I'm not aware of it being appropriate for washing entire floors, counters, etc. Other thoughts include Pine Sol, Simple Green or this "orange" cleaner. I don't want to make them angry from cleaner smells either. But, I want to reduce the other cat smells as much as possible.