I think a cat may have broke into my garage (thru an old doggy door) because there is a horrible smell in there but I cnt find the source. What should I do to resolve this? Please please help! It's so bad we cnt open the inside garage door because it smells up the entire house! - thanks so much!

Please describe the smell -- rotting meat or spoiled food or poop or urine?

How else would you approach this other then facing it head on, unless you want to pay someone to do it for you and find out it wasn't a big deal. What do you want us to say?

The cat would have come out the same way it went in if doggy doors still operate the way they are supposed to, inside and out ?

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Please describe the smell -- rotting meat or spoiled food or poop or urine?

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Frm what I can remember it smells like cat pee... There's not a moldy or any other type of odor it's just the entire garage smells soooo horrible as soon as you even crack the door open. If it were a animal/ cat it could've came in through a doggy door that was installed by previous tenants- but I cnt find one specific area and that leads to how to eliminate the odor?

If it's cat pee, the cat was probably an unneutered male that sprayed urine who knows where, so that will be almost impossible to track down and clean. We've used warm diluted bleach water to scrub our basement floor and walls (and then rinsed well), and I know pet stores carry an organic cleaner that works well (but I don't know the name -- someone else will chime in soon). If it's a dead animal trapped somewhere, time will gradually take care of the smell.

You're going to have to do the obvious - empty everything out of the garage first. See if you find a dead animal or other smelly item that's still in there causing the problem. Once the garage is empty, you will need to sweep it out and thoroughly clean and disinfect every surface - walls, floor, door, etc. I would use a bleach solution, keeping the garage door open so that you do not have issues with chlorine gas because that's a big area to bleach. You will also need to clean every item that was in the garage because if a cat marked the garage, they will have marked these items as well. Wash everything off before you put it back in the garage.

You may have to dispose of some items, particularly things that are fabric and cannot go in the wash such as golf bags, patio umbrellas, etc. unless you can clean them some other way.

Only when you're sure everything is odor free put the items back in the garage and make sure that the doggie door is sealed and there's no other entry to the garage or the cat or whatever other animal who was making themselves at home in there will return.

Also make sure that you don't have food sources around your house such as bird feeders or pet bowls as it could have been a different type of animal such as a raccoon.

You would have to empty the area to find out what is lying in there. But if the smell is unbearable then I would say you can spread a generous amount of bleaching powder all over the place or ignite a bunch of inscence sticks and then after some time leave the door open. May this help you.