Author Topic: Stinky Booth  (Read 3305 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

babens

  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 320
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA/AGMA/SMA
  • Experience: Professional
Stinky Booth
« on: Sep 03, 2010, 06:46 pm »
So, I have a query for any cat owners out there.  In the theatre I'm currently in a cat has somehow made its way in and taken up residence, and, after at least a week, has eluded capture.  My booth currently smells really, really strongly of cat urine.  Anybody cat owners have any tips and/or products to recommend to help eliminate this odor?

We first noticed the smell last Sunday.  At first I couldn't tell for sure what it was and just attributed it to an exceptionally damp few days we'd been having and the fact that we are in a basement space.  However, during the show when my company manager, who was watching from the booth with me, and I heard the cat meowing we knew there was more of a problem than just the smell.  Unfortunately we did not find it that night.  The theatre management has since put out a litter box and been leaving food out in one spot in the hopes to get the cat to sort of centralize to that spot and allow itself to be caught.

It's definitely not a situation I would have expected to come across outside of the outdoor summer theatre venues.

maximillionx

  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 270
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Experience: Professional
Re: Stinky Booth
« Reply #1 on: Sep 03, 2010, 06:51 pm »
I assume it's a stray - I would call animal control first and not try anything yourselves.  Stray animals can be very dangerous and they most likely have techniques and products to speed capture.

babens

  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 320
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: AEA/AGMA/SMA
  • Experience: Professional
Re: Stinky Booth
« Reply #2 on: Sep 03, 2010, 08:46 pm »
I assume a stray as well.  Unfortunately we only have so much control in what the theatre management does (we're a commercial production renting space in an Off-Broadway house).  However, if the situation does not improve soon I will be urging (forcing?) our general managers to go to the theatre managers and forcing a more professional solution.  I'm sure if worse comes to worse I can also get Equity involved, since I'm willing to bet the prevalent smell violates the "safe and sanitary" conditions in the Off-Broadway contract.

nick_tochelli

  • Loved and Missed.
  • Permanent Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 448
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
    • Nick Tochelli's Blog: The Backstage Ballet
  • Affiliations: AEA, SMA
  • Current Gig: PM- Godlight Theatre Company/Inside Sales:Barbizon Lighting
  • Experience: Former SM
Re: Stinky Booth
« Reply #3 on: Sep 04, 2010, 02:40 am »
Sorry to hear about your cat problem. It took me right back to the days when I was boarded for Summer Stock at a local resident's house who had 8 cats and all of them used every surface as their litter box....thankfully my room was exempt from that as it had a door.

Are you in an open air booth right near the audience or are you closed off? If you're in the open, it's harder to recommend any cover up solutions because some people have nasty reactions to scents that are that saturated.

However, if you're closed off, To cover the odor in the immediate: I would suggest an air wick fan (the tiny ones you plug into an outlet that use scented oils). They can sort of cover up the smell of cat urine. Any Oust spray product should work out ok too, however you can still sometimes smell the cat pee through the cover ups making a nauseating ocean breeze smelling cat pee...But you could certainly do much worse than those two products. 

To Eliminate: I use Nature's Miracle (Advanced Just for Cats) for everything our cats do (hairballs, puke, pee etc etc) and with two cats in our tiny one bedroom apartment, you can't smell them at all except when you stand in front of their litter box. Has a lighter smell than most cleaning supplies I've used, and so long as you can find the spot the cat has decided to use as its bathroom, you should be able to eliminate the smell eventually. It's not exactly the fastest working solution, but I've had cats for my entire life and the fact that this works at all, is a wonder. You can get it at most pet supply stores and a 24oz bottle is about $12. (Here's the link to it at Petsmart: http://tinyurl.com/2vco5nl)

The elimination is obviously much easier if the booth isn't carpeted....just as simple as making sure you get into the cracks of the tile or hardwood floor. If you are carpeted, make sure you let the spray penetrate deep enough before you try to wipe it clean. Good luck!

VSM

  • Forum Moderators
  • *****
  • Posts: 714
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
    • http://www.vernonwillet.com
  • Affiliations: AEA, SMA
  • Current Gig: PSM - Laguna Playhouse
  • Experience: Professional
Re: Stinky Booth
« Reply #4 on: Sep 04, 2010, 03:41 pm »
Amen to that.
"Nature's Miracle" is indeed just that!
Saturation is the key...
Ordo ab chao