Cat owners?

WookieesCookies · November 2013

What do you do to control the cat box smell in your house? We keep one box in a open closet with a gate up off the laundry room and I can't even go do laundry without gagging and puking. It gets cleaned everyday. Is there a better litter I could be using, a better place to put the box, something that works better to cover the smell? I can smell it when no one else can and I'm about to toss the cats out in the garage because I'm tired of throwing up my breakfast every morning! I can smell it in the kitchen, in my son's playroom, in the bathroom. When I go to feed them in the laundry room I always end up throwing up!

BB0214 · November 2013

We use fresh step litter. But we also keep our litter boxes in the basement in a closet. It's in a place that's furthest away from everything. If you don't have a basement, I don't know what you do.

clozgoblu · November 2013

We only have one kitty. We use Precious Cats senior litter (even though sh'es only 1). Our litter box plugs in and self cleans throughout the day. It scoops everything into a plastic shopping bag that my husband throws out each evening. Never any smell!

shellbell3845 · November 2013

Try a different litter? Or arm & hammer makes a litter deodorizer that I've used before -- it does help. You might also want to clean out the box with bleach or some other kind of cleaner.

halfthetree · November 2013

We have ours in the basement but out in the open, so the smell doesn't condense. We change it everytime we walk by, about once every day. I use baking soda sprinkled in there to absorb odours, not sure if it works but it makes me feel like i am helping lol

shellbell3845 · November 2013

Also, do you use clumping litter? I prefer that. Our cat box is covered, and I think that helps also.

RondackHiker · November 2013

How many cats do you have? Are you smelling pee or poop? How many boxes?

I know you're scooping daily but I'd scoop twice a day and change the litter fully twice a week.

Then I'd start looking for other litters. What litter are you using now?

There are odor absorbers out there you can try placing beside the box.

TM14.defunct635821369925797514 · November 2013

I have 4 cats too. We use fresh step. And after my fiance cleans it each day we use Febreze to freshen the air around the box. There are a lot of good ideas on here. I hope you figure something out!

ahare2009 · November 2013

I found the smell was dependent on the litter I used. I've tried several kinds and for our cat Tidy Cat or the Arm & Hammer litter works the best.

littlepig2 · November 2013

we have 2 cats and 2 litter boxes. we also use Fresh Step multiple cat clumping litter and we never smell it. it's downstairs in the laundry room but there isn't a door. have you recently switched your cats food? we found that one brand is too rich for my one cat and he smells way worse, so we changed it.

notreal2 · November 2013

World's Best Cat Litter. It truly is everything it's name implies.

Kedra231 · November 2013

A relative swears by activated charcoal, but I haven't tried it, yet. We have 4 cat potties (5 cats, all rescues), & we blend Tidy Cat Odor Control with Special Kitty to make it stretch further. We use some Arm & Hammer Baking Soda sprinkled on them once in awhile, but, for when I'm on bed rest & DH is gone for a day or two, I spray the potties with Odo-ban. It's good for a variety of smells (also if you have a little one who's wet the bed, or missed the pee-pad on the bed, it works great to totally remove the smell).

Jecca07 · November 2013

We have 3 cats and 3 giant storage bins converted into litter boxes. They are in a living room closet. They get scooped every couple days. If you are smelling rank poo, it could be the food your cats are eating. I have 2 cats with perfect poo that never smells when they cover it up. The other cat has a very sensitive digestive system and gets smelly diahrrea a lot. I usually scoop as soon as I notice smell AND light a scented candle. It helps a ton.

cattuccino · November 2013

notreal2 said:
World's Best Cat Litter. It truly is everything it's name implies.

This!!! I can never use clay-based litter again. The odour control, clumping etc of this litter is phenomenal. Also; one big bag lasts way longer.

JoCountry · November 2013

I'd second what previous PP have said about trying different litters and cat food. Both have made a difference for me. Clumping litter is also helpful. And (some of the really careful scoopers will cringe here) if you are only scooping clumps and not dumping the whole thing pretty regularly, the smell will get bad. Learned that the hard way.

WookieesCookies · November 2013

RondackHiker said:

How many cats do you have? Are you smelling pee or poop? How many boxes? I know you're scooping daily but I'd scoop twice a day and change the litter fully twice a week. Then I'd start looking for other litters. What litter are you using now? There are odor absorbers out there you can try placing beside the box.

We have 3 cats, 2 litter boxes. I know more boxes is better but we just don't have anywhere else to put another one. Its pee that I'm smelling. The nasty ammonia smell, it gags me. If I were able to do it I would definitely be scooping multiple times a day but DH doing it, it gets done once a day, after I have gone to bed so I don't have to smell it get stirred up in the air. Right now we are using Fresh Step, it is not cutting it. We use a covered litter box because my male cat doesn't squat, he stands and pees straight out the back and it hits the wall, so he has to have a covered box to go in. I've had so many litter box problems with these cats, we have to lock them in the closet(its a big walk in closet) at night so that we don't wake up to a huge pile of shit in the middle of the floor every day. The poop smell doesn't bother me at all though, its the pee, I can't stand it.

CarissaA · November 2013

We have one cat, but have been using Tidy Cats with no problem for years.

melissaf22 · November 2013

clozgoblu said:
We only have one kitty. We use Precious Cats senior litter (even though sh'es only 1). Our litter box plugs in and self cleans throughout the day. It scoops everything into a plastic shopping bag that my husband throws out each evening. Never any smell!

I have this liter box too and the smell is not bad because it is constantly cleaning itself

emar129 · November 2013

We use Tidy Cats and it gets scooped at least every other day into a "Litter Genie". We also mix a litterbox powder in that is supposed to help with the smell.

WookieesCookies · November 2013

FarmBoysWife said:
We actually switched to non clumping, as long as DH cleans daily/EOD, and changes the whole litter once a week I cant even tell its there. We have 4 cats, a small house and one box. Our cats are super pee'ers (like they would clump the whole box in two days before we switched, something about it held the smell) Before we used Tidy cats in the big yellow bins.
I think we are using fresh step. We thought we got clumping and it was totally on accident. However, my nose which can detect poo in DS's diaper from halfway across the house is happy with the litter!

Dang, 4 in one box, cleaning eod, I will definitely have to try it your way. I have the super pooper smell too. I always know when DS has pooped.

Sweets11 · November 2013

We have two cats, two litter boxes, we use Purina small spaces kitty litter and arm and hammer deoderiser. We clean every day and change the litter every three to four days.

We keep everything in the mud room.

DC2011 · November 2013

We use Fresh Step, and his litter box is strategically located beneath a window.

starlyte12545 · November 2013

Fresh step for me too !! I swear by it . Also I use wallflowers plug in from bath and body works . Don't smell a thing

WookieesCookies · November 2013

psk said:
@WookieesCookies I hate to ask this, but is it at all possible that they peed on something outside of the litterbox? About two years ago - not pregnant - I kept smelling pee and I swore it was everywhere. I was on my hands and feet sniffing my entire house because DH said he didn't smell it. I found that one of them had peed on something in the bedroom and then something I kept in the living room. They were washable items, and once we did that it was fine, but it explained the smell.

Oh trust me, this happens too. We can't leave clothes on the floor for 5 minutes and we keep all bedroom doors closed from the cats and like i said they are getting locked up at night. But what is bothering me is definitely from the litter box, it's an old pee mixed with litter smell, nasty nasty smell. I made DH clean out the box completely while I napped today and bought a couple little air freshener things in the pet aisle today that were specifically for cat smell. I didn't notice anything too bad when I woke up. Hoping it works and I've been reaearching some things today. I have found sometimes when I was cleaning the box I need to mop underneath it too but DH won't think of that unless I spell it out for him.

kimmerz424 · November 2013

I never had a problem with smell until my DH brought his cats into the mix. We have a spare box or 2 and probably twice a month he swaps them out and soaks the dirty ones with disinfectant and water. Then we have a clean one for the next swap. What a difference.

poppyjill · November 2013

I use worlds best. Im so sick of the litter, im training my cat to use the toilet.

RondackHiker · November 2013

For ladies saying your H doesn't clean the box enough... One, smack him. Poor cats! Two, you can clean it yourself. Use gloves and wash your hands after. If you own cats or garden, chances are you've already had toxoplasmosis. Just don't change the box and then eat without washing your hands. :-)

As for strong ammonia smell, I might get the cats checked for UTIs or crystals in their urine. Most animals don't have a super strong ammonia smell immediately, unless the box isn't well cleaned.

Even though you smell litter, dry wall or tile grout can smell like litter so I'd invest in a black light and look for pee spots.

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