Litter box stink

meg_2006

We just got a cat this morning and I already HATE the stink.  I have a sensitive nose and even two rooms away can smell it the moment he uses the litter box.  We have Arm & Hammer litter.  For one thing I hate the smell of the litter itself, so add the poop and urine and it's just a festival of favorite odors.  What litter do you guys use, and any tips for hiding the odor?  We already have an air freshener in the pantry with the box.

Amt2109

We've tried a number of different litters and my favourite has to be one we bought from Safeway. I don't remember the brand (sorry!) But it was in a white opaque jug with an orange label, and it said 'small spaces'. It has a pleasant smell going clean into the box and hides odours pretty well.

We've been recommended fresh 4 life and a couple others but they stank more after one day than any other brand we've used.

chrisnjay05212010

ive tried a few different brands. My favorite is the Fresh Step. I very rarely smell anything even when i'm in the room with the litter box.

Sharpschruter22

The best thing you can do is to buy a covered litter box. We actually have what's called a cat wash room. It looks like a piece of furniture and hides the litter box and the stink! We found ours on Amazon. Merry Pet Cat Washroom is what it is called.

 Another thing that helps is an automatic litter box. It's nice to not have to scoop poop! The box has a rake that goes through and sifts the poop to a holding container and all you do is dump it out. Very handy.

 Congrats on being a kitty parent! Good luck with your new baby!

quiltedinky

I use clumping Fresh step. The cat box is right between my toilet and bath tub. I keep a Re-newzit Super Odor Killer scented air freshener on the back of the toilet and the only time I smell anything is if I go in the bathroom right after she poops.

danielleper03

Amt2109:

We've tried a number of different litters and my favourite has to be one we bought from Safeway. I don't remember the brand (sorry!) But it was in a white opaque jug with an orange label, and it said 'small spaces'. It has a pleasant smell going clean into the box and hides odours pretty well.

We've been recommended fresh 4 life and a couple others but they stank more after one day than any other brand we've used.

 

You are referring to Tidy Cats. That's the one I use. I do rotate between the ones they offer and that one works quite well. Or the red one "Fast Acting".  I have 2 cats in an 800 sq ft apartment. I use baking soda in the litter to help absorb some smell, a baking soda based odor absorber above the litter, we have an enclosed box, and I've got an automatic sprayer in there (laundry room with litter) going every 36 min with a commercial odor eliminator (my FI has a very sensitive nose, too).

Ideally, I'd love to get one of those automatic ones and construct a little "house" for it to go in. Like the ones in this link.

http://lauramakes.com/2012/05/22/making-furniture-to-hide-those-litter-boxes/

Best advice, is to try different litters and empty it every day. Otherwise the ammonia in the urine will really build up. 

KenziK

I would suggest possibly switching to pine litter! That is what we use for our two cats and I'm so glad we decided to try it. We used to only use the clay litter but the smell was always terrible, even without poop or pee in it. We use pine litter, do not scoop at all (when the pine gets wet it basically turns into saw dust), and completely change the two litter boxes once a week. We don't even use real pine litter, which is also extremely cost-effective. We buy 40lb bags of the pine pellets used for fireplaces at Home Depot for $4.99 and it lasts us a month, unlike the actual pine litter you will buy from PetSmart for $17 per 40lbs. It works great and the best part is even after a whole week of not scooping, all we really smell is pine.

spikeinc

We have tried many different litters over the years and found that the newish World's Best Cat litter is the least smelly. Also, you can scoop it straight into the toilet and flush it down which you cannot do with any other litter. Is your cat covering its waste? We have one cat that does not and you can smell that as soon as he goes unfortunately. I usually try to just go in and scoop it right into the toilet and flush away. We clean the boxes at least once a day if not twice, once in the early morning and once before we go to bed. If you are not keeping it by the toilet, the best bet is to keep it in a room where you can place it next to an open or semi open window. Otherwise you will just trap the smells in a tiny space which is not so pleasant.

RedheadBaker

What food does the kitty eat? That can contribute to the problem. 

Kaiene

Covered boxes are nice for people but some cats refuse to use them.  I have one.  Automatic boxes can be scary for them.  I am fairly certain at least one of my cats would be massively traumatized by this.

I second RHB, what food are you feeding? Our cats' poop doesn't smell.  We feed raw.  The higher quality food you feed means less smell and amount of poop.

Check out dogfoodanalysis.com.  Most dog food makers also make a cat food that is similar quality.  Look for a food 4 stars and up.

We use A&H and I actually think it's done the best job of keeping the smell down of any other litters we've used.  A&H makes a deodorizer (which I think is mostly baking soda) that you could try.

bonjour2u2

Did you get a kitten or an adult cat? When I adopted my cat, she was only 4 months old and had the smelliest poop in the world. Thankfully it stopped once she got a little older, the vet said it was because she was still a baby and probably stressed from trying to adjust to a new environment, new food, new routine, etc.

I use Arm & Hammer double duty litter and also their litter box deodorizer (which I'm pretty sure is just baking soda in a different box). The litter does a really good job of covering up the odors, and the deodorizer helps even more. Also agree with PP about getting a covered litter box, that helped a lot.

Oh, I also keep a can of air freshener handy in case she has an extra-stinky day.

tiffanysbride

Fresh Step is the best for us. The cat we adopted was using World's Best, DH and I found that the scent was horrid (yes the pine). We've actually got a mix of the 2 and it works well. Smell is reduced but the cat isn't covered in clay. 

tmp-748484812502092

I use the unscented clay litters, either the Arm and Hammer brand or the Petco brand. This way it doesn't have that gross kitty litter smell that lots of litters have without poop or pee in them (and just get worse the more poop or pee that is deposited). I also scoop every day into a Litter Locker since the litterboxes are in the basement I don't want to take a baggie outside to the trash can every day.

I used to have a Littermaid, one of the automatic litter boxes, and it was nice for one cat but doesn't keep up with two. Plus its a pain in the butt to clean. I find just scooping once a day into the Litter Locker is more efficient.