Smoke alarms don’t go off due to tobacco smoke.
Well, that’s the owner’s problem. If they were responsible in the first place and observed the animals-at-large law, they’d not have a problem. If they were decent animals in the first place, you can assuage yourself by imagining that they were adopted or rescued by a rescue organization.
The bit I don’t understand is the smoke rising up electrical conduits, through the walls, under the bath etc.
It sounds more like a forest fire then the smoke produced by even the heaviest of smokers, both for the amount and the penetration.
You should certainly sue the builders/the people who sold you the apartment at the very least because it sonds as though its more like a wire cage then an apartment.
Report the kitty neglect to Animal Control. They may or may not do anything about it but at least you’ll have tried to help the neglected cat.
Re the smoke: Notify the condo board, and also notify the landlord of the problem. The landlord can opt not to renew the woman’s lease if they feel like it. The condo board might (and that’s a big “might”, they quite likely won’t want to do a damn thing) opt to send a nastygram to the owner saying “interfering with other residents’ peaceful enjoyment” etc.
Hell, run for condo board. That way you get to boss all your neighbors around.
I once lived in an apt complex and across the courtyard there was a resident who smoked, and the person living above them had one of those air purifiers set up. Maybe something like that or a large fan that could be angled away from the building would help. Other than that I’d focus on sealing up your own unit as well as possible, which it sounds like you’ve already started. You might also contact the owner of the smoker’s unit and let them know about the problem and indicate that if the amount of smoke coming up into your unit is any indication, their place will be a complete stinky mess when the smoker moves out. That might motivate them to do something about the renter. I’d also check your condo rules about renting an animals, and complain if any of those are being broken. Don’t be afraid to call out the board at the next meeting if they don’t do anything. In my experience that might be the only way to get any action.
Watering the plants is also a good idea…but first I’d actually try and talk to this person and see if you can’t work out some sort of compromise.
The OP owns his unit, not the one being rented by the offending neighbor (see lines such as “The owner’s former tenants…”).
Fair and true enough.
Then he shoulda just moved/bought into a smoke free complex then 
My main point still stands. MOVE.
That’s actually a good idea - my father-in-law is just finishing up a stint as president of his condo board, and he was able to get a lot of things done the way he wanted them during that time. There usually aren’t enough people wanting to run on the board.
How on earth can cigarette smoke filter through electrical sockets? That doesn’t make sense to me unless your block of flats is built out of cardboard.
Is it at all possible there’s something more serious going on? I can’t think of any sensible suggestion for what it could be mind. Very odd electrical fault?
I assume it’s coming up through the walls and the electrical sockets are just the entry point. I’ve had ants come in through electrical sockets before.
Move.
It is less hassle.
Then with your new neighbors, you can find out what a PITA neighbor can be like.
Cigarette smoke particles are incredibly small. Computers used by smokers have more hard drive failures due to the particulate matter in the smoke than computers used by non-smokers. I’m sure her unit is not air tight. I haven’t lived in an apartment in some time, but it wasn’t at all unusual to be able to smell what the neighbors were cooking, if they were smoking (and where I lived WHAT they were smoking), sometimes even if the litterbox hadn’t been changed next door.
Giggle!
No, no…I shouldn’t have added the cat in, it was more of an aside because the neglect of the cat is not just bothersome, but against animal cruelty ordinances, at least here. Long haired pets are supposed to be groomed. It’s not so that they’ll look pretty or anything.
Their hair mats, and once it does it starts pulling the skin and causing bleeding and infections.
But yes, I appreciate all of the help. I’ve given up at this point. I am not doing anything illegal to anyone, but as I said above, hoped that some dopers, in typical clever doper fashion would have some unique (or at least funny idea to take my mind off of it) as I’ve seen in other “I hate my neighbor” threads.
To the doper that asked, yes smoke is coming in through the outlets. The inside walls are not well insulated, and insulated with that aerosol hardening foam type stuff, so there are plenty of avenues for smoke to move on up.
And to the dopers saying “sell”! I wish I could, but even Alaska has taken a big hit in the housing market (first time I can remember in forever), there are no fewer than 7 units for sale in my little association, and the neighboring associations have lots of for sale signs as well.
I am thinking subletting though and moving to the cheap side of town (I haven’t even told you about the drug dealers next door, they make Chimney Lady look like a saint). Might as well not have to pay more than slum prices if I have to live in one. 
I’m still mulling that one over for reasons other than just the two rather unpleasant neighbors, saving money, moving to the states, and so on.
When it gets too bad, I actually do use the frebreze or lysol method, the heavier mist kind of “sinks” the smoky nastiness. It might occasionally waft down onto her balcony as well, but I’ve never heard a peep out of her, I don’t think she can smell it. But I do it too often, I don’t want the residue to kill the flowers or make the cats sick.
I think you’re absolutely right! Lesson learned, when I buy again, I’ll be doing one of those “sleep on it” deals as well as checking it out at various times of the day to see what its issues are.
I would love to sell, but as I’ve said a few times, it’s a severe buyer’s market, even here (which doesn’t happen often), so my only option is to sublet it and become a renter myself.
No, but they ARE very funny ideas. I’ll just fantasize about the Furry support group and the look on her face if she saw something like that, she seems like a very conservative (personality, not politics) old lady, it would probably shock her off her rocker!
Despite my irritation and desire to magically be rid of ms. chimney breath, I am considerate. My bird feeders and planters are on shepherds hooks which lean out over the front balcony wall enough that any water or bird leavings go directly into the garden, they don’t end up on her balcony.
I’m not the owner of that unit, I’m only the owner of my unit. That’s why I said “the owner’s former tenants” earlier upthread.
Quasi-related anecdote: I had an acquaintance when I live in Ann Arbor (not so much a friend, because I kind of thought he was a bit of a jerk). He had problems with a busy-body woman in our apartment complex. He was in a different building than me, but this woman was “known” to pretty much everyone.
She was about 50 and lived alone and had a nasty poodle mix that was totally untrained and snapped at people. But it was of course their fault that the dog was trying to bite them and she often threatened to call the police on innocent people for “deliberately antagonizing” her dog. Actually, she threatened to call the police a lot for various things, like “weeding too loudly in the evening.”
The guy I knew lived above her. One day she started telling neighbors that he exposed himself to her from his balcony while she was walking her devil-beast. Now the guy was a bit of a jerk, but there’s just no way. He’s not that kind of jerk. Everyone who heard the story went: :dubious: and found it unbelievable, but she continued and continued in a doth-protest-too-much kind of way.
He went out and bought a dog whistle. Every night in the wee hours, he’d get up and blow the thing for a good ten minutes. It was summer, windows were open and her dog would go insane. Other neighbors started complaining about the ruckus. Meanwhile, she was thinking someone was lurking in the shadows. When she asked the guy I knew if he’d seen anything, he (according to him) shrugged and said: “Meh, he’s probably just barking at that thing with the horns.”
That’s how I found out about his scheme. Everyone had heard about her chupacabra/space-alien stories and I asked the guy WTF. His plan was just to get her to stop fabricating stories about him exposing himself and it worked. Added bonus, she moved to a “better building.” (Presumably one that did not have monsters.)
BTW - we found out later that the dog whistle had also been making various neighbors’ cats do nutty stuff too.
Get her to switch to some proper pipe tobacco, which actually not only don’t smell bad, actually smell quite pleasant.