The Smell Is Driving Me Crazy!!!

[Maramixi]

I clean the litter box EVERYDAY! Usually twice or more! I use Lysol to kill the germs and baking soda cat deodorizer for the smell, but it won't go away!!!

I dumped out all the litter four days ago and started fresh and it smelled alright FOR ONE DAY!

I don't get it, I've had cats before who's litter didn't smell like that and my friends who have cats don't have that smell in their house.

anybody got any ideas? I'm kinda desperate; I've been avoiding having company over to the apartment because I'm so embarrassed about that smell.

 

[Dagna]

What kind of cat litter are you using? Some doesn't work quite as well as others. I typically use one called Feline Pine which does a pretty decent job, but at the moment, I'm using Tidy Cats Small Spaces cat litter due to financial reasons. Both work pretty well and my cats have a tendancy to smell pretty badly. How many litterboxes and how many cats do you have? Has the cat been for a checkup (some diseases can cause a rather disgusting smell)? What kind of food are you feeding? Giving the kitty any extra treats? Does the cat have diarrhea? Is this new for this cat or has this kitty always been like that?


Sorry for all the questions. There are a lot of reasons that the smell may be stronger than you're used to, I just want to make sure I can give you suggestions that will actually apply to your situation.

 

[Stinker]

We had thick cat smell in our home as well. The litterbox smelled some too. We solved the cat/litterbox smell by getting the Prozone device. It is a 6in. wide 8in. tall by 2in. thick device that is placed up high in the home. Covers about 800 sq. ft. and smells fantastic! It puts out negative ions that bond with the odor particles and neutralizes them taking them to the floor. You have to vacuum a little more. It cost us about $160.00 about 5 years ago.

 

[Maramixi]

We only have the one cat and one litter box (and only one place for one). The stuff we had before was Scoop Away Plus Crystals and Arm and Hamer cat deodorizer.
We just switched to Tidy Cat for multiple cats yesterday evening and so far no smell.

He gets an indoor cat cat food that is made by Purina and he drinks a good amount of water (about one bowl full a day--about the same amount he eats).

I'm curious about this Feline Pine stuff; I almost got it when we got cat litter yesterday but I'm a little conserned about it; it says it disintigrates when it gets wet so I wasn't sure if that ment you could remove urine or not.

 

[K9_Trainer]

First, take your cats to the vet to make sure it's not a medical problem. I know with dogs, sometimes their anal glands need to be emptied and when they do, they smell really bad until it's done so perhaps there's a medical cause for super smelly cat poo as well.

Next thing I suggest is to switch to a high quality cat food if your not on one already. Nutro makes good catfood. Purina, Meow Mix and those other ones really aren't the greatest. Most cats do ok on them anyway, but there are some who may react badly to the corn fillers or another ingredient that's in there that really shouldn't be.

Third, litter. Personally, I have found that Scoop Away has had the best odor control for my two cats. I personally like the one with the fragrance as it helps too, but not all cats like it or will use it.

And finally, there is this product called Bio Odor that you can find at Petsmart. This stuff is often used for ferrets who have a tendency to smell. My friend has had great results using it with sugar gliders and another friend with rats. So I'm sure it's worth a try on cats as well. It goes in the water and it's colorless and odorless, the cat won't even notice it.

 

[Maramixi]

^ We were using Scoop Away and the smell was terrible, maybe different cat litters work better with different cats?

The Tidy Cat for Multiple Cats seems to be working alright as far as the smell goes *bursts into Hallelujah Course*, but I have what probable sounds like a very weird question; does this stuff clump for urine or not???

I can't tell if the cat stopped peeing, the litter isn't clumping, or if hubby's cleaning the litter box behind my back! (Not that I'd mind that last one.)

 

[K9_Trainer]

Does it say it clumps? Does it say it's a clay cat liter?

Most clay cat liters don't clump.

The tidy cats for multiple cats would have been my next suggestion. It's the one I buy if they don't have Scoop away.

Try digging around in the liter though. Even with liters that absorb urine rather than clumping it, you can see where they urinated because it'll turn dark.

Have you tried using a covered cat litter box? If you are willing to pay the money, there are some out there that have little built in air purifiers.

 

[Maramixi]

It's clay; grrrr, I was wondering about that. The stuff does turn dark in places but it bugs me that I can't scoop it out. Oh well.

We actually do have a box with a lid over it (a wedding present from my maid-of-honor) and I don't even want to think what it would be like without it!

I'm starting to think part of it may well be that we live in a downstairs appartment (basically a basment) and that the air down here just doesn't get changed enough because we have no doors that go directally outside getting opened and shut.

 

[Gardener101]

I clean the litter box EVERYDAY! Usually twice or more! I use Lysol to kill the germs and baking soda cat deodorizer for the smell, but it won't go away!!!

I dumped out all the litter four days ago and started fresh and it smelled alright FOR ONE DAY!

I don't get it, I've had cats before who's litter didn't smell like that and my friends who have cats don't have that smell in their house.

anybody got any ideas? I'm kinda desperate; I've been avoiding having company over to the apartment because I'm so embarrassed about that smell.

There are special cat foods you can feed your pet that reduce intestinal transit time, therefore reducing the decomposition of food that leads to really awful smelling feces.

 

[K9_Trainer]

Try that stuff I mentioned then, Bio Odor. Maybe it'll help.

 

[skunkfeather]

I buy Feline Pine. I dont think I'll ever go back to another brand. The difference is amazing.

What are you feeding the cat, and what is the cats age - is it fixed or not?

A vet check would be an excellent idea, as one has already mentioned.