Lady has urinary incontinence and smells. How can I help?

She probably cannot smell it. Kidney failure will cause the urates to seep out of the skin and the urine smell will permeate clothes and furniture. The best thing you could do for her would be to ask your county office of the aging to send out a social worker to check her welfare.

These answers seem off track to me. Yes, she is incontinent, you would easily know and you said she is. Please do not "hint" at protection, pretend she isn't incontinent or some other method that fosters shame. She know she is wet and stinky and sticky.
You said you wanted to help her.

Make a visit , tell her you have noticed that she is having urine problems as many of us (normalize it) do tell her and you can help. If you really care, bring some products with you and help her clean up her place. This will tell you how extensive the problem is and it will give her a chance to get into some new habits with support.
The pads and pants are expensive. This may be a drawback and food pantries can help as having a urine problem is very serious, causes skin breakdown and it is obvious she is not supported well enough.
I recently went thru 3 years of 'pussy footing' around this with my parents and it is NOT a one step solution. You see this woman every month and you can open the door to this subject. It is so unkind to let others sit in their pee just cuz we are embarassed. Most of the solutions to life's problems are one difficult conversation away.

My mom is completely incontinent. We have spent literally thousands of dollars on pads and diapers. It is a shame they are so expensive. I think that is the reason my mom tends to wear them longer than she should. Her dr. Has told her to use the rest room every two hours whether she feels the need or not. She does not do this. Her dr. Also told her to stop drinking liquids after six pm . She does not adhere to that either. My dad wanted her to get the surgery years ago. I asked her one day why she didnt have the surgery and she told me that she was scared. I change the bathroom trash every day sometimes twice. The smell is awful. Her bed is wet every morning even though I bought a pad for it. I requested her dr. To give her a test for memory loss and she missed six out of thirty. I took her for an MRI yesterday and now we are just waiting for the results. She's eighty three and I think she has dementia, possibly Alzheimer's. her mom died from Alzheimer's . Dad died on August sixth and she says she wants to go be with him she has expressed several times how miserable she is even though dad left her very well off.. Now, it's just the two of us. I take care of everything although my sisters step up now and then. She has no filter left. She swears like a sailor, gets mad over nothing and sometimes I'm the target. All I have to do is say something, anything at all and she yells at me to shut up. Then, she catches her self and apologizes. My dr. Told me that I'm going to end up the patient if I don't make some changes. My sister wants to sell moms house and buy her a condo or a mobile home. Its just way too much for the two of us to keep up. She has lived here for thirty years and can afford to stay here but is willing to consider moving to something smaller. Sorry, I got way off the topic but sometimes I just need to vent. Thanks for listening. God bless

Slightly off topic but my husband wears Depends and I bought a baby diaper container made by a company called Munchkin. (There is also one called Diaper Genie. Walmart sells both.) A collection bag clips on to hang down the length of the container and every time the lid is closed a shot of soda bicarbonate is released. The bags can be bought--10 to a pack--and each bag holds 10-12 of my husband's extra large diapers. When the bag is full, the two sides are locked and this full bag goes into the garbage--no further handling needed. Here in Canada the diaper container costs around $30, the bags around $4 for 10. No smell. Great convenience

My local $ store also has perfumed diaper bags on roll. Great if you are travelling and only need a disposal bag a few times on your journey. If you are really stuck you could also try dog "poop" bags--$1 for 50. Each one will hold one extra large Depends--you can also get bio-degradable ones!! (I am not sure if the Depends is bio-degradable!!)

Be aware of using kitty litter--especially the clumping type--you will end up with a load of "concrete"-- almost impossible to remove!! (Those of us with cats will know what I am talking about!)

Are you sure it's her or perhaps animals in her house? I knew a lady who smelled of urine, but it was her cats that overran her home. She told me one day that is what smelled. I hadn't said a word, but she knew. I felt bad for her, because it was bad enough that anyone with good mental health would have done something about it. I later found out she was a cat hoarder.

If it is her and not her pets, then it makes it difficult since she is your landlord. If something happens to her, then you may lose your place to live. That's a tough call, but if you really feel strongly about it, you could report for a welfare check to the county adult protective services. I think you can do this annonymously. Perhaps they could bring her attention to the matter. If it's that bad, she is probably on her way to having other more serious issues like eating spoiled food, ignoring medical problems, etc.

I know that the early stages of dementia with my cousin included her refusing to bath, refusing to brush her teeth, wearing the same clothes day after day, not doing laundry or changing bed linen, etc.

Good luck.

I have almost no sense of smell. It could be a lack of the ability to sense how strong the odor is. I will ask others to help me be aware of scents. I tried this example with someone who was nearly deaf. She wouldn't hear & would act as is she did. I am near sighted. I cannot see even a big screen TV without glasses. If you ask me about something that is too far away & I cannot see it, I will tell you that I cannot see it, I don't have my glasses on. How would you know that I cannot see something, unless I tell you? You do not see what/how I see. I cannot tell if someone else cannot hear. I will need to be told. And if a person acts as if they have heard, how would I know they did not know what was said? I think we forget that we do not all have the same strengths in the same senses. Or the same weaknesses.

Pee
this is one of the big issues coming all of our way

Since you do not mention she has any pets in the house, if you are on good terms, you might mention there is a smell and you can't figure out what it is. Yes, urine gives off an ammonia odor and if it smells slightly sweet, that is a diabetic's urine. You don't say how close this lady is to you, so I'm not sure how much to suggest, other than for you to ignore the smell, talk to her about it, offer some Depends (hint, hint), or help clean her house. One who lives in an odor after awhile does not smell it themselves. Good luck!

My mom wears Depends, and used to try to "recycle" them by hanging to dry on a hanger (!). I somehow got her to just throw em. But there's a new problem with smell coming from the "diaper pail".
I need to empty her diaper pail every day, into the household garbage can by the garage. But there's still a stink in the pail, which is plastic and we do use plastic liners.
I don't remember my kids' diaper pail smelling this bad.

Someone had mentioned the other day to use scented cat litter to help with the smell of a potty chair.... so I was wondering if that would work in a diaper pail or anywhere else a Depend or used pad is placed. Those light weight scented cat litters would be helpful.

And if someone isn't drinking enough clear water, that could also cause the urine to have more of a smell. Yes, more water will mean more urine, it's a catch 22.