Not wanting to offend a friend

I think she is more likely to be upset if you refuse to come to her house ever again without an explanation. Be honest, explain that the smell of cat food makes you nauseous, and what a struggle you had last time. Add that you certainly value her as a friend, and hope to see her again soon, either at your place, or at hers with the food out of the way!

She is probably so used to the smell that she just doesn’t notice it.

What a very tricky dilemma.
Yes, she’s definitely gone nose blind.
I wonder why she isn’t feeding them in the kitchen?
And it’s not a good idea to have food hanging around either.

You are going to have to tell her; but easier said than done.
Sorry Peaseblossom

If you really don’t want to offend her and thereby have to go to her house, put a dab of vick up each nostril, you won’t smell a thing.

Tell her it was lovely to see all her moggies but you noticed that you've developed a real sensitivity to the smell of wet cat food.

I once had a friend's large German shepherd for a few days - the overwhelming smell from the tinned food was awful and I resorted to binning the tin straight away rather than rinse and put in the recycling as the smell made me nauseous!

I don’t agree with Fanny please don’t say anything she will be mortified If you care about your friend you put up with it for an hour out of your life I have a friend not close close but she has dozens of cats and the house reeks but it’s not my house and it’s only for a short time
Put plenty of perfume on so that that’s in your nose have a hanky with perfume on it and every now and then have a ‘runny nose’
It’s not as if you’re going regularly once in a while s manageable
When I lived in the tropics we lived near some stagnant water I thought I d spend my life yukking but I went nose blind very quickly and stopped noticing it very quickly

I know what you mean BlueBelle
Im probably wrong, as you say, she will be mortified.

I woukd mention it, people will stay away because of it, better that than let her know why you don't visit,

I wouldn't say anything now as that serves no purpose - you don't meet that often, you eat lunch out and it was just this occasion that she invited you home to see her now grown cats.

If invited again you could follow my suggestion above.

Hmmm, difficult 1, i am inclined to think ( if it were me ) - she is my friend and i do not want to upset her, its her life, her way of doing things and i either accept her the way she is or view the friendship as meaningless and severe it which i am sure you don't want to do that.

I would put up with whatever it was for the sake of my friendship, in your case, the smell of cat food.

I have friends who dont conduct themselves, their life, as i do, but they are my friends, i love them for who they are not what they do.

It could go either was if you were to say something to her, but is it worth it for the sake of 1 hour ?

Oh dear, I like cats but they were fed & the saucers washed and not filled until the next feed. There was always a small bowl of dried food next to the water bowl.
If visits to your friend will be short & occasional then I would do as others advise re perfume on a hanky or use of Vicks!

I agree with a previous suggestion, put some Vick vapour rub up each nostril next time.

However, you could use the approaching milder weather as a starting point to kindly advise her to not leave wet food out for the cats due to the risk of flies contaminating it which could potentially make the cats really sick.

I am not a cat lover, in fact I don't even like cats but I can relate to how some peoples animals make their houses smell. It would be a shame to lose the friendship over a smell but as someone already said, the friend is nose blind to the stink of cat food.

I would have said in a light hearted way ......'that cat food's a bit strong isn't it'...... That's all! she may be unaware!

Was the rest of the house “hygienic” ?

Our cats food is in the corner of the dining room. We had to stop putting it down in the kitchen as a neighbourhood cat would come in the cat flap and nick it.
Our cat never eats his food in one go, so it has to be left for a while

Honesty is always best. Why lie? I would appreciate it if someone told me something like that.

My granny got like this with her cat(s) as she became more elderly. I think she liked to see them eat and worried if they didn't.

I have a friend who is a chain smoker and her house and everything in it stinks. Others have made the same comment.

I feel bad because we could be good company for each other, but on the odd occasion I have had to go in her house I found it very uncomfortable and when I returned home I had to wash all my clothes and hair to get rid of the smell.

I know she is missing out on company in or out of her house and I know she will never stop smoking now at 77. We just talk on the phone.

I have a friend with four cats too and she has cat food everywhere, even upstairs on the landing! Often we will be chatting and one of the cats comes into the room and she will ignore what I'm saying and start talking to the cat! It annoys me, but I put up with it and the smell because she is lonely and I only see her every few weeks. Other than her mad cat obsession she's a lovely friend. So my advice is grin and bear it

Too late in my view, it would have been better to react immediately and in a friendly honest way. She would be better knowing what people thought.
Maybe if the situation arises again you can say no thanks, but don’t fib.

Yes, I would have said something, probably lighthearted, like, oh goodness, how can you stand that cat food smell?
I wouldn’t have been able to spend an hour there, never mind eat cake!
We have a cat, and if there was a cat smell we’d gotten used to, I would rather someone told me.

Drop a subtle hint by producing a peg from your handbag and putting it on your nose just before you go in...

It is only meat, I suppose, but that'll be lovely in the hot weather with flies all over it.

I'd probably try to put up with it, for the sake of the friendship.

Why don't you just meet outside or arrange meetings to places of interest. I wouldn't meet someone inside who hasn't been vaccinated. We are not over Covid by any means

I think that the thing is, like perfume that you spray on yourself but don't notice the smell after a time ( in my book, if you still can, you've used too much !) , it's the same with other smells!
As a cat owner and lover, I know how some, especially wet, cat food can smell absolutely revolting and nothing like it is supposed to be!
Your friend probably doesn't notice the smell at all, and while I don't really understand why she has the food in her lounge, rather than the kitchen, it is her home!
If she invites you to her house again, I think you will have to honest with her and just say that you found the smell of the cat food rather overpowering - or maybe concoct a story to say that another friend has been advised by the vet not to have pet food in certain areas of the house as it can cause cross contamination or something ?
Only other thing you can do is to refuse to go to her house that she may find even more offensive!