Cat Pee Houses

I think in every community you see breaking news at 5 pm where hundreds of cats and dogs are taken out of a house where a single woman or a family was living in filth. It amazes me every time, but Tampa, FL I think has more than our fair share. Most recently I received call from a family in a Tampa suburb. He asked me if I cleaned up "houses over run by cats". I said sure. I can come over and give you an estimate. He said the houses hasn't been lived in for a few months. I said no problem. That's all the information he gave me.

I met him at his house and I noticed a "condemned" sign on the door. No big deal right? I deal with blood, brains, and disgusting shit everyday. I made the mistake of not grilling him b/c I sensed he was a bit embarrassed. I motioned for him to come inside with me and he said, "You want me to go in with you?" That should have been my first clue this wasn't your average cat house. Well I went in with no respirator b/c I like to gauge the smell to see how much equipment and chemicals will be needed. I took approximately 10 steps inside the residence and I ran outside. The ammonia smell pierced my lungs, and burnt the hair in my nose. The guy stood in there with a dumbfounded look while I ran to the car to grab my respirator. I didn't want to cuss b/c I didn't want to embarrass him any further. I grab my trusty respirator and walk back inside. What I saw was absolutely amazing and I will never forget it. Layers and layers of animal feces covered the floors. I could not tell what type of flooring was in the house. The drywall was yellow about halfway up with the stains of cat urine. What people don't know is that cat urine smells worse than anything b/c cats don't drink a lot of water. So when they urinate its potent and it crystallizes after it dries. Its an intense smell that is near impossible to get out of soft goods.

I looked around the house and saw mounds of furniture that had been shit and pissed on. Garbage and electronics were strewn all over the place. He proceeded through the house showing me every room. Once we reached the master bedroom I observed a dead cat that still had fur on it. Must have been missed by animal control, he stated. The cat had maggots and roaches crawling in it, through it and all over it. To think this family lived her with their adult daughter.

I walked outside after seeing the entire residence. In amazement I began conversation to get my mind off of what I just saw. I felt itchy and looked down. My light colored blue jeans were now black. Completely black. I began patting my legs and millions and millions of fleas jumped like Mexican jumping beans. I looked at the man and fleas were all over him as well, but he wasn't swatting them at all. Then out of embarrassment I assume, he urinated in his pants. I pretended not to notice. I knew that I was infested with fleas and wouldn't be able to get rid of them with just a swat. Needless to say, a call to a good friend, and a call to her vet, I was told don't go in my house. The fleas were still alive despite the host being dead. Two bottles of OFF later and getting naked in my garage placing all my clothes in a plastic bag was the first step. The next day 80% of my body was chewed up. I was pissed he didn't tell me the truth and provide the real story before I went in there.

Eventually I got a call from him saying he wanted me to start the job. The city had put him on a deadline. They were going to demo the house if he didn't get moving. I said no problem. He ended up procrastinating too much and the city voted to demo the house. Sounds like a lose lose situation. I can't blame the neighbors though. The smell was atrocious and its been like that for 4 yrs.

The owners were carted off to a mental institution who was not able to keep them for very long. They were out 5 days later, and will probably start a new house in the same condition.