Several Dell Latitude 6430u users are complaining that their Ultrabooks "smell of cat urine."
Customers reportedly first raised the issue with the Ultrabook in June. Now users have taken to the Dell support forum to vent their ire and complain about the issue.
"A few weeks ago I got a new Lattitude 6430u for work," user Three West complained on Dell's hardware support forum. "The machine is great, but it smells as if it was assembled near a tomcat's litter box. It is truly awful."
Some users blamed their cats for the smell.
"I thought for sure one of my cats sprayed it, but there was something faulty with it so I had it replaced. The next one had the same exact issue. It's embarrassing taking it to clients because it smells so bad," said another user.
Initially, Dell support technicians had suggested that users needed to clean the air vents on the Ultrabook with compressed air. However, even after doing so users complained that the smell lingered.
"Remove the keyboard and try to clean it with a soft cloth. Also use a can of compressed air to clean the Keyboard area. Please follow the instructions from the manual to remove the keyboard," said Harish M who works for Dell.
In September, a customer by the name of Malioz raised a concern that the smell could be due to the polymer used in the laptop's plastic. Malioz also inquired whether the smell was a health hazard.
Dell engineers, however, have "ruled out biological contamination" and said that "the smell was not a health hazard," per a BBC report.
Apparently, per Dell, the problem was in the manufacturing process of the Latitude 6430u, which has now been altered.
"The smell is not related to cat urine or any other type of biological contaminant, nor is it a health hazard," Dell support technician Steve B said. "If you order an E6430u now, it will not have the issue."
Users who are affected by the stink of "cat pee" are advised to send their laptop for replacement of parts.
