Something smells -- what do you do when something smells at 3am?

[Rajah]

I'm not sure what it is. But whatever it is, it was messing up my asthma earlier before I could really *smell* it, and now there is a definite smell on the air.

It doesn't smell like gas, and we have a C02 detector which isn't going off, the smoke detector isn't going off, the kitties aren't reacting to it. It smells kitty-related, but none of the kitties smell of it, nor does it appear to be coming from their litterboxes.

What's strange, is if I keep my head upright, I can't smell it at all. But if I tilt my head back or lie down, I smell it very strongly. Almost like the smell is in my nose itself or something.

DH is of course out of town, so I can't ask him to confirm the smell. And I don't know whether I should call someone (if so, who at 3 in the morning??) or just wait until tomorrow and see if it's still there tomorrow or what. For all I know, it's coming from outside -- but if so, I don't want to open the door/window and let more smell in.

 

[yasuern]

Do your cats go out? or could mouse have gotten in? Check under your pillow and bed - A cat I had years ago left me a dead mouse under my bed and I believe it must have been a few days later when a very icky odor was detected - and the next day - GROSS - I found the dead mouse under the bed - ICK!

 

[philaround]

dead mouse is a very good possibility and since it is so small the smell usually is very localized.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Two thoughts - Once we had a dead mouse that a cat caught, and it was stuck under our sofa bed. We couldn't track down the smell until eventually it got unbearably bad and we finally found where it was coming from. Can you believe that by this time the smell was so bad in the couch that I couldn't get rid of it. I tried commercial odor removers and everything. I finally had to throw out the sofa. Within an hour someone picked it out of my trash. I can imagine their reaction when they put it in their house.

The other thought - could you have a sinus, ear or throat infection. When you get a sinus infection sometimes it puts a bad smell in your head. You can't quite trace it but it smells off. I would bet this is the problem.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

I would wait a while and see if it goes away if you cannot find the cause.

 

[ez]

Why does stuff like that always happen when DH's are not home?Last month on a Fri. night my husband was out of town playing with his band. Well, I walk into the garage and THINK I smell gas. Not real heavy but definitely an odor. It scared me cause we had a new gas waterheater & heating system installed the day before. And of course my young DD & her friends are here, so I'm a little frantic. I call the gas company and he talks me through shutting off the gas lines. I finally get a hold of my husband and he thinks I imagined it. Well they sent someone out the next morning, and there was a leak, something they forgot to tighten! Im glad I discovered it because my husband does all his smoking in the garage. I could imagine him coming home at 3am, flicking his lighter and KABAMM!

 

[Rajah]

Yasuern -- Nope, the kitties are strictly indoors. So unless a mouse got into the walls somehow from the outside (possible, I suppose), that's not it. But good thought -- it was closer to that kind of smell than it was to a gas or smoke smell.

philaround -- It was strongest in the bedroom, but only when I lay down in the bed. And one of the two vents in the bedroom blows right on my face, so I figured it was blowing the smell my way. I think that's the case since when I went upstairs or into the dining room and stood in the flow of those vents, I smelled it again.

Only thing is, I don't think it was something dead because after an hour, it almost entirely went away.

Tig -- Yes, I could have a sinus infection. That's why I was wishing DH was home because if it was just me, he could confirm. I thought about calling my parents (who live 15 minutes away) but decided since it went away after an hour that I wouldn't wake them up. I'm thinking this is the most likely solution, though, because I woke up twice with stomach aches, and am still stuffed up today, and woke up hot even though the thermostat said it was 63 in the bedroom.

ez -- I don't know! How scary for you, and I'm really glad you acted on it!!