Litter Control, need help bad

I literally , no pun intended, have no clue what to do. I have tried everything possible for three cats, and my house has a smell that is indescribable, please any help is welcomed ASAP!!

 

Are they spraying? Going outside litterbox?

 

They are only going outside the box, sporadically, maybe once a week. it is the smell and litter everywhere.

 

Have you tried the Arm and Hammer litter box deodorizer power. Do you scoop the litter at least 2 times a day? Litter box, is it a deep one?

 

I haven’t I use just regular baking soda and I have Luup boxes I shake and wash once a day and have been using some natural litter but have tried at least four other kinds

 

Hi Chris, have you tried odor eliminating sprays? I use Odoban because it’s easy to find locally (homedepot) but @JanetNJ has recommended Anti Icky Poo (I think it’s called?). I get Odoban by the gallon and occasionally wash the boxes and spray them and any place they mark as needed.

 

My current favorite litter, and I've tried a LOT, IS FRESH STEP ALOHA.

I used other fresh steps in the past, but at some point they changed the formula, and within a few days of changing our the box it stunk no matter how often I scooped. Then I switched to Dr elsley's litter.... I found the blue bag didn't do much, and the purple bag was slightly better then the fresh step. I've used world's best, but didn't like the wet corn smell. Feline pine works good but my goodness it tracked everywhere. I did not enjoy vacuuming my couch every other day.

So I used dr elseys for a year or so, then noticed the house started stinking after just a few days of changing the box. Don't know what they changed about it. Tried a few others then a few months ago decided to give fresh step another go with their new Aloha Breeze formula. So far so good! I have six cats and don't smell the boxes at all when I walk in the house. Knock on wood they don't change the formula. I order it on chewy as my grocery store doesn't always carry it.

Hands down best cleaner, and I've tried many when I had Zimmy who frequently made his mark, is Anti Icky Poo Unscented. I get it on amazon. Got a spray bottle quart size and a gallon refill. You don't smell the mess OR the cleaner! It's great! Even on my couch... When I took in two stray kittens two years ago, one christened my couch... I POURED the cleaner on it.... By morning absolutely no smell at all.

 

I love Okocat Natural Wood Clumping Litter. I had used clay litters forever, but became concerned when an xray of my civvie, Willow, showed some particles in the pylorus (connects stomach to small intestine) which could be ingested litter - not from 'eating' it but from ingesting it when grooming herself. I then started researching and realized I did not want to have clay anymore. Anyway, I was scared to try a wood litter, but it was been great. It has a very mild, pleasant wood scent, and it clumps very well (which I had not expected). I do not have any odor issues with it. I always scoop it out at least once a day, sometimes I do it twice, but I would not have to. (It is flushable, but I have not flushed it.) It might not work with your type of litter box due to the larger particles. I bought a different scoop to use with it (has holes rather than slots), and it works great. I think the larger particles lead to less tracking. There is some tracking, of course, but the little wood flakes are easier to see and clean up than gritty clay particles. I use the original kind, but they also have one that is clumping pellets, if you need even more tracking control.

 

I have one of those outdoor "carpets" next to the litter box. It has 1/2" plastic pieces sticking up - and is meant to clean your shoes when you walk into the house. The cats have to walk on it to get to and from the litter box. It mostly cleans out their toes when they exit, and it reduces most of the litter in the house.

 

Thank you! Tr

yung all I can!!

 

I also use a mat, an x-large Petmate Litter Catcher.

 

This worked for us when we had 9 cats including the beast, a 28 pounder!
We live in a house with an unfinished basement so we had enough room for 5 big boxes, draped sheets of 8' poly plastic from the joists to the floor for dust control, used a plant spray bottle to keep the dust down (misting so as not to get the litter wet) and used Purina Maxx. The cheap supermarket litter didn't work because the pee clumps were way too big. We have a super stiff push broom that's more like a wire brush and a laundry tub came with the house so lots of hot water, baking soda and elbow grease. Get a good quality furnace filter and leave a cheap oscillating fan running 24/7. Eventually the beast had arthritis so I built a ramp to his own box 2 steps down from the main floor.
It can be done! Sacrificing a Tofurkey didn't help though, good luck.

 

I keep different litters in different boxes. It seems that our cats like a variety to choose from.

 

16oz spray bottle, 1 tbsp baking soda, up to 10 drops pure essential oils safe for cats, (i use NOW organics or regular, they are good and affordable) and fill bottle up with distilled water. shake before each use. Works truly awesome, at least mix i make with geranium & lavender (4 drops of G & 6 drops of L). the baking soda kills the odor & the oils leave a nice lingering smell in the air (and furniture) for awhile, you can spray it over litter box but, i prefer to mostly just use the non-toxic kleen-free enzyme mixed at 2 oz per 8oz bottle in cat's litter box and outside of it.. safe 'pure' oils are geranium (very strong usually only 2-3 drops needed), lavender, chamomile and frankincense are suppose to be safe around cats when dilluted a lot. you can avoid the oils and distilled water if you want and use just hydrosol (floral water) with baking soda instead but, that will cost more and there's not much concrete info on their safety with cats even though they are thought to be safe.

If you prefer not to spray around the house all the time, a simple cheap 200ml cool mist diffuser with distilled water & 2 drops of geranium oil works even better at quickly covering up smells in room regularly without having to use too much oil but, i doubt it helps kill the odor itself though but, since i started using this our house has stopped regularly smelling like fresh wet baby diapers (that is how the new micro crystal clumping litter i stocked up on on BF smells to me so will be trying out grass seed clumping litter when it gets here and if that fails than am going back to clump & seal mutli-cat that didn't stink up our house except with its perfumey smell that i can't stand).

for urine marking outside litter box, i now only use kleen-free. have tried almost every urine odor remover out there and none of them got rid of urine smell permanently and most left a chemical or perfume scent along with the pee smell. After months of trying different products including DIY ones, the kleen-free enzyme concentrate was the only thing that finally got rid of urine smell on the new cat tower my darling cat decided to mark on first day..


yikes i wrote a book, sorry about that!

 

tHANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What a fabulous ramp idea!! lots of good info here!!! thanks!!!!

 

Neat idea!, thank you!!!

 

Love this!!! ordering now!!

 

Great idea! thanks!!!

 

Great ideas, thanks!!!

 

I just came up from the pit of filth, despair and dust. It doesn't always work out.
Think I need another shower. Blechhh

 

I use OKOPlus Cat's Best wood-based clumping litter.




It is brilliant! No pee odour at all (and it quickly deodorises poop 'aroma', too). The litter is fairly fine-grained and lightweight:





It clumps really well and the clumps are very easy to remove; very different to the heavy clumps of cement you get when using a clay-based clumping litter.

It tracks a bit but placing a litter mat in front of the box cuts that down (as per suggestions above). It's also much more economical to use than clay litters because you put a good base layer into the litter box and top it up as needed. Every couple of weeks you refresh the full box contents.

I did try wood pellet litter. Once. It is awful stuff. It balloons and gets really soggy when it's wet, it's very hard to scoop and it's very wasteful.

For cats that are cool with them, a nice roomy covered litter box goes a long way towards keeping litter in the box - especially good for JCB kitties. Assuming no mobility issues, the ones with deeper trays allow you to put a decently deep layer of litter in the box but they have high enough sides to keep the litter contained in the box. The ones with flip-up lids on the top make for quicker and easier access at scoop time, for example:




Litter boxes with high rear walls are very helpful for keeping urine in the box if you have a kitty who pees standing up. Putting a puppy pad under the box is helpful for catching any drips that might manage to escape.


Mogs
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The best litter that I have used is Sweat scoop. It is a little pricey but well worth it

 

Here's a high-sided litter box alternative for kitties who don't like covered boxes. (Not used one of these but it's the sort of product I'd buy if a cat wouldn't accept a covered box.)





Mogs
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That looks similar to Okocat.

The Okocat wood pellet litter is a clumping litter, not sure if the one you used was. I have not had a need to try the pellets, but the reviews are good. (It's their one for long haired cats.)

 

It was a different brand of pellet litter. Bought it when my pet shop was out of stock of the OKOPlus Cat's Best fine grain litter. I'm in lurve with the Cat's Best litter.


Mogs
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Thanks!!

 

The scooper. I wish we could use the 99cent spatula size scooper needed with one 8 lb. cat but when their combined body weight gets up around 150 lb. you need something else . We found a metal rake with adjustable handle length that's great for DW not having to bend over so far and when you've got a pee blob glued to the side of the box it will scrape it off without hearing that snap/broke another one noise. I can't remember the brand name but you'll know it when you see it.

 

Great advice! Where did you get it?

 

Petco but it maybe cheaper to order from chewy.com, I’ve done thatbtoo

 

The mondo-sized scooper came from a Pet-Valu in Canada. I believe it's made from stainless steel and is indestructible. The tag with the brand name is gone but it looks like this.

 

Metal scoops are great. I got mine on amazon.

 

What I said about furnace filters... It can help, look for a MERV rating, the higher to number the better. If your thermostat has the switch for it you can leave the furnace fan on. It's not recommended for 24/7 operation, those fans are expensive. The one thing that won't work in a power blackout.