My house smells like cat pee

Did you know that stray cats like to pee in sandboxes? I learned that years ago and have never trusted stray cats, or sandboxes, since.

When we moved into our current home 4 years ago I noticed the smell of cat urine whenever I walked up to our front door. I was miffed the realtor never told me we had stray cat problem in this neighborhood. So, I began, what has now become, my four year journey researching and and looking for solutions to fix this problem.

I learned, on the internet, that stray cats not only pee in sandboxes, they pee on your front doors and bushes to mark their territory!!...and its not even their territory!...seriously, the nerve of these strays!

I've cycled through various methods of deterring these cats over the years..... I've tried everything, ...bleach, orange peels, lemon peels, coffee grounds, vinegar, spiky cat deterrent mats, recording loops of barking dogs, fireworks, BB guns. Okay, I made the last three up. But, seriously, if you name a cat peeing deterrent you know, Ive tried it already. And Nothing has worked. Every summer and fall, I smell cat pee as Im approaching our front door. Mind you, Ive never actually seen one of these stray cats before, I've just smelled the evidence of their existence.

We even got our own two cats, I figured our first world domesticated and territorial litter trained house cats would drive the strays away. It did not. Now I started to become suspicious of our own felines. Could they? Would they?! They must be!! It STILL smells like cat pee!!! I'm forever doomed to live in a house that stinks like cat urine.

Last summer, I was in Chicago walking around some of the old neighborhoods north of the city. I recognized the putrid smell. You've got to be kidding, these damn stray cats are destroying Chicago now!, I thought to myself.

Then today....I stumbled across this article about boxwood bushes, and how their oily leaves smell like cat pee. I looked at a picture of one, immediately recognized it as the same exact bush we have between our front door and garage along the walkway. I walked out the front door , leaned over and sniffed the top of the bush. This bush I never even suspected of stinking all these years (I always thought it was the bushes on the other side of the door!) , and sure enough, it stinks like cat pee. But, its NOT cat pee!!!!!! Its actually a really sharp looking piece of shrubbery in our landscape ....the same kind they use in fancy northside of Chicago neighborhoods evidently, lol. Case closed. And just so Ya'll know if you ever come to visit....that smell IS NOT cat pee!!!!!!!!!