# Bad, bad, bad, what's that smell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 27, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685 "2023-05-27T22:55:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/21 "2023-05-29T13:39:53Z")
Sewage has heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and…stuff. Industrial waste often is dumped down drains instead of processed or deposited correctly. The Bronner name was probably sold to ConAgra, or somebody like that. Burts Bees was bought out by Clorox, I think, 《saunters over to Wikipedia》 ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/22 "2023-05-29T16:00:30Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Milorganite is sewage sludge. And, specifically, sewage sludge from Milwaukee, hence the “Mil” in the brand name. (The name is a contraction of “Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen.”) ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/23 "2023-05-29T16:08:05Z")
Is there anything special about Milwaukee shit? Better shit, than say, Chicago shit? An enquiring mind wants to know. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/24 "2023-05-29T16:12:12Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Is there anything special about Milwaukee shit? Better shit, than say, Chicago shit? It was the folks at the Milwaukee waste treatment plant who were the first to process that sludge into plant fertilizer, and built a brand around that. > **[Milorganite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milorganite)** > > Milorganite is a brand of biosolids fertilizer produced by treating sewage sludge by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The term is a portmanteau of the term Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen. The sewer system of the District collects municipal wastewater from the Milwaukee metropolitan area. After settling, wastewater is treated with microbes to break down organic matter at the Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The byproduct sewage sludge is produced. This i Th... ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/25 "2023-05-29T16:40:09Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > The Bronner name was probably sold to ConAgra, or somebody like that. Nope, the company is still family-owned , and as Cecil said, > As you can probably tell from the copy (can you imagine a slogan like, “Eternal Father, Eternal One! Exceptions eternally? Absolute none!” on the side of a Tide box?), “Dr.” Emanuel H. Bronner is inhabiting a different plane of being from the rest of us. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I couldn’t find anything about Israeli fruit trees associated with it. Yeah, hard to parse out Bonner’s thought processes. And yet here I am, wondering about the “Swiss 6000 year Universal Military Training” guarding those fruit trees. If the training lasts 6,000 years, how do you ever make captain? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/26 "2023-05-29T16:55:28Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > OK, maybe he wasn’t wrapped too tight, but I remember buying a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Castile shampoo Is there any connection between Dr. Bronner the person and Dr. Bronner’s the soap company? I mean, Jethro Tull the band don’t know squat about agronomy. > [@Baker](#): > > I was at our local dog park recently and while there a tank truck pulled up to empty the port a potties in the parking lot. We didn’t notice it until we all started looking around saying "What’s that smell? It’s happened before, [big time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stink). ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/27 "2023-05-29T17:22:38Z")
Well, that’s probably gross. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/28 "2023-05-29T18:04:02Z")
Poop fruit? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/29 "2023-05-29T19:39:29Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Is there any connection between Dr. Bronner the person and Dr. Bronner’s the soap company? I mean, Jethro Tull the band don’t know squat about agronomy. Yep. Bronner came from a long line of soapmakers. He originally gave out his family-recipe peppermint soap to people who came to his soapbox (yuk, yuk) speeches. When he realized people cared more about the soap, he started selling it in bottles with labels crammed with his “All One God Faith” diatribes. The soap sold the religion. The good doctor (an honorific Bronner gave himself) died in 1997, and the company is now run by his grandsons, David and Michael, who continue to promote Emmanuel Bronner’s philosophy and are committed to environmentally responsible manufacturing. David drives a Mercedes painted in rainbow colors that runs on French fry grease. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/30 "2023-05-29T21:52:42Z")
I can’t help but wonder if the bad smell you got was due to a cat with a poorly functioning anal sac. This gland can cause big problems for some cats and stinks unbearably, especially if there is a problem with emptying the contents. One of my previous cats had such issues, poor boy. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/31 "2023-05-29T23:50:46Z")
Wondered the same. I’m gonna have them checked soon. I’ll bring it up to the vet. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/32 "2023-05-30T15:50:36Z")
@Beckdawrek When discussing feline anal sacs with the vet, ask if he or she knows which cleaning products (personal, household, commercial) can obliterate the smell. This sounds like a perfect topic of discussion at the AM coffee gathering of the neighbors. (“What do you use for anal sac stench?”) ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/33 "2023-05-30T17:50:15Z")
Based on my dog’s experience, I suspect that clearing a cat’s anal glands involves sticking a finger up the unfortunate feline’s bum. This is not something I would do. Better to have the smell than the emergency room hospitalization, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/34 "2023-05-30T18:02:34Z")
Well, I’m not gonna do that! That’s what vet techs are for. I think it’s Hari. I smelt a faint odor on her this morning. She has long feathers back there so I wasn’t able to get a clear visual on her booty. They go in tomorrow afternoon. Barn Cat might be a problem to get boxed up so she might have to wait. We’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/35 "2023-05-30T18:46:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I think it’s Hari. I smelt a faint odor on her this morning. She has long feathers back there so I wasn’t able to get a clear visual on her booty. She might also just have some dung stuck in that long fur. Sometimes with older long-haired cats it’s pretty much necessary to trim the fur, and sometimes also to help clean them. I suspect that if needed you can get the vet tech to do the trimming. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/36 "2023-05-30T18:53:04Z")
I’m gonna ask them to trim her up. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685/37 "2023-05-30T19:16:26Z")
I had a long haired cat the would defecate whenever he was put into the cat carrier going to the vet. The vet would usually give Vladimir a “sanitary trim” as it was called, but hearing that whirring noise back there didn’t make him happy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-whats-that-smell/984685.md?page=1)