Indoor Cat Owners Beware!!

Kirblit

Kirblit

Active Member
I thought that I would post this scary little experience that I'm having concerning cat ownership to any others that may have cats. I think that this could be a pretty common problem with a lot of people out there, or I may just be the lucky one.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that I had an Ammonia spike in my QT tank I couldn't understand why because it had been reading 0 for two months and I did weekly 50% changes on it and I had just performed a WC on it and it was at .25. I immediately started looking for sources and tested my WC water and it was .5!!!!!!!!!! How could this be, I immediately scrubbed it out and let it dry out for three days. I then refilled it and tested it again and it was 0, then I tested it the next day and it was .25!!!!! What the $**% is going on I said. Well I thought it was my test kit so I took some to LFS along with RO/DI that I tested at 0 and they got the same results of .25 in the mixed and 0 in the RO. Well now I was very confused and thought it was the salt and eventually ruled that out by placing plain RO out in a bowl and testing it the next day and it was at .5!!!!!!!!!!!

I then started placing bowls of RO all over my house to find the source of the ammonia and I was disturbed to find out that it was all over the house in different levels and the highest were in the basement where I have my water barrels and cat boxes at. I immediately knew that it was the cats, but how? I only have two cats (both female so no marking) and I clean the box out every other day and there is never an oder of ammonia at all that is detectable in the air at any time. I can honestly say that I have never tested makeup water before for ammonia because it's just not something that you would ever expect so I don't know how long it has been going on but I recently changed to Tidy Cat litter in the last month and I always used to use Arm & Hammer before and I don't know if that is why. I switched back to the Arm & Hammer a couple of days ago and have been scooping twice a day but have not seen any immediate difference. I hope that it will come down because I have no idea what I will do if it doesn't change soon because I'm getting really stressed out about it. I can still do water changes because my storage barrel is completely sealed off and tests at 0 so it's fine, but I can only let the water mix in my other barrel with salt for about 5 hours without ammonia absorption into it. The disturbing part is that I know my tanks are constantly getting ammonia injections via the air and that's just messed up!!

So the moral of the story is that if you have cats you should place a bowl of RO in the same room as the litter box for a 24 hrs. and test just to see if you may have the same problem. I do and don't hope that I'm the only one with this problem because I would be happy for the rest of the cat owners that don't but would be perplexed if I was the only one. For reference the tests that I have used for the ammonia were API, Tetra Test and Salifert and all had the same readings of about .5 after 24 hrs. in the same room as litter boxes, and yes it does go up to 1.0 after two days if you leave it, VERY SCARY if I had a tank nearby but it's on the second level that the bowl of water tests in between 0 & .25 after 24 hrs.
 
Kirblit

Kirblit

Active Member
I wish you the best of luck, please post your findings in a day or two. Have you ever tested your WC water for ammonia before? I think that I should start a poll to see if anyone really does check it for ammonia before changing it out. It makes me sick to think that I'm changing out good water for bad water!!
 
prow

prow

Well-Known Member
get a air scubber to remove any ammonia from the air, as i am sure you are breathing it too, might want to get the levels with in your house checked. make sure the scrubber is designed for ammonia, sulfide and sulfur control. you can diy a unit, you will need a acidic proton donor like alum, which is the best, any form like aluminum sulfate(A12(SO4)3) or aluminum chloride-(AlCl3) or any of these compounds will work; Al (NO3) 3, Na2SO4, NaHSO4, FeSO4, Fe2 (SO4) 3, FeCl2, FeCl3, Fe (NO3) 2, Fe(NO3)3, CaSO4, CaCl2, Ca (NO3) 2, MgCl2, MgSO4, Mg (NO3) 2. many companies make them costum for your needs, yo ucan create a negitive pressure room where the cat go. careful though they can get $$$$.


my uncle bought the house next to his and set it up as a board and care for old folks when my grandma got alzheimers and need more care. anyway he has lots of cows and horses and all kinds of animals, ended up having to buy a scubber and worked great.
 
burning2nd

burning2nd

Well-Known Member
hmmmmm....
i have 2 cats 2 box's and the rodi tank and 2 other tanks in the same room....

ive never check any of them 4 NH4

the cats have there own bucket of water with movement and airation on that side of the bassment,

the cats learned that salt water is not cool, that messing around the Ro tank is a no no... ive never had any problems
this is strange, i will check it out....

and let us know
 
prow

prow

Well-Known Member
Kirby, i dont know that a couple cats alone would raise ammonia levels in the house. maybe in a small enclosed room but not the house. get your house checked and have them look for stuff like a faulty AC unit or frig/freezer leaking, backed up plumbing, leaking under the house saturating the ground ect..ect... ammonia is not something you want mess with. i think it would be a good idea to get your ammonia levels checked. a quick blood test at a clinic is all.
 
surfzone

surfzone

Member
Witfull said:
i was expecting to hear your cat was using the sump as an alternate "water closet"~
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I thought the same thing. I have a cat that would use the toilet rather than a litter box as long as the seat was down, so I guess I lucked up on that one.
 
Kirblit

Kirblit

Active Member
Prow thanks for the advice I think that I may want to look into one of those scrubbers. Where can you find them and how much do they cost? I don't know how it is possible for two cats to cause such problems either but I need to fix it quick!
 
Kirblit

Kirblit

Active Member
I wouldn't even think that I could be getting the levels that I am in that area of the house without smelling some odor. My basement has two rooms next to each other and the one with the two cat boxes reads .5 after 24 hrs and the one directly next to it that has my RO which I now keep the door closed reads .25 after 24 hrs. The room with my RO also has my furnace in it so that is how I believe that it's traveling through the house.u
 
prow

prow

Well-Known Member
Kirblit said:
Prow thanks for the advice I think that I may want to look into one of those scrubbers. Where can you find them and how much do they cost? I don't know how it is possible for two cats to cause such problems either but I need to fix it quick!
Click to expand...
i agree 100%. i only know of commercial ones for hospital rooms. i found this one with a quick search on google, on the site it would be model 5000 VOCARB. Home, Home Office, Office Away from Home Air Filtration System, Air Purifier, Cleaner that one is $600.00. but it might be more than you need. its for the whole house and used in with central air. it has stuff you may not need like positive and negative pressure settings. i know they have wet and dry type setups too. not sure but homedepot might have some. sorry i cant help more with finding a good deal on the right one for your needs. forsure though check your blood levels. have you notice anything-like in consentration, muscle twitching, HA, irritablility, visual stuff or anything?? even if not still get your blood checked.
 
prow

prow

Well-Known Member
Kirblit said:
I wouldn't even think that I could be getting the levels that I am in that area of the house without smelling some odor. My basement has two rooms next to each other and the one with the two cat boxes reads .5 after 24 hrs and the one directly next to it that has my RO which I now keep the door closed reads .25 after 24 hrs. The room with my RO also has my furnace in it so that is how I believe that it's traveling through the house.u
Click to expand...
if its that then you would only need a portable unit. the smell, one can easy get use to, to the point where only very high levels that almost burn your eye would be smelled. most doctors and nurse or anyone else that works in hospitals/care homes will attest to that. the nose doesnt always know:)
 
emo_1992

emo_1992

Member
one thing to condsider is, how close to your main sewer connection from the house are these rooms. If your house was built prior to the mid 80's your foundation and basement walls may not be sealed and you could have a sewer leak which would allow it to wik up through the concrete. Food for thought that may need to be repaired.
 
tbittner

tbittner

Well-Known Member
I don't suppose your laundry room is down there too. People tend to use bleach when they wash whites. VERY powerful stuff and I would imagine it would linger too. Especially if it spilled OR your washer drain hose has a leak.

I just find it hard to believe that two cats could generate that much ammonia especially given the fact that you clean the litter box as often as you do.
 
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