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Comment by smacktoward | Hacker News Reader

Fascinating. I was shopping for new sneakers the other day and was shocked at how many people over the last couple of years had reported new pairs of New Balance shoes having exactly the same "smells like cat urine" problem (see: http://ask.metafilter.com/182458/Something-peed-in-my-sneake..., http://reviews.newbalance.com/9328/M990/new-balance-new-bala..., http://www.zappos.com/product/review/7944390/page/1/start/5, or just Google "new balance odor").

The prevailing theory is that it has something to do with the glue they use when assembling the shoe. I wonder if the same glue is hidden in these laptops somewhere...

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Oh my god I had those M990s in black. I thought there was something really wrong with my feet. Thanks for the closure.

Not restricted to New Balance it seems:

Nike Complaints & Reviews - Shoes smell like cat urine (2009) [1]

[1] http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/nike-c255626.html

I have found that orange-flavored Trident gum and a certain type of evergreen bushes commonly used in landscaping around shopping centers also smell like cat urine from a short distance.

Cat urine smell is such a pervasive entity.

"cat urine" and "gum" should not be used in the same sentence. I'll leave that one out of my breathe freshener options.

Many people find the smell of durians equally repugnant... and you can buy durian flavored gum.

Many years ago I had a pair of Nike sneakers smelling of cat pee. I remember the shoe store saying it was not uncommon. They said it was glue.

Had the same conclusion with regard to carpeting in a commercial property where a small amount of entrance hall carpet was glued down.

my own experience: some air freight allows transfer of pets in the same hold (on top of the freight). I had my boxes pissed on by pets before. This may be a similar issue.

PS: My experience was freight from China to Thailand. And the airline wouldn't compensate because I didn't purchase their insurance.

Interesting. I get the same "cat urine" smell from neoprene (a rubbery material used in a lot of athletic equipment, like pads and such). I wonder if that has something to do with it.

Since Dell is offering a fix that consists of replacing the laptop's palm rest, it might be related - maybe the palm rest is made of neoprene or something similar.

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