Smelly cat litter !

[BruceAndMarley]

As some of you may have read the other day, my husband and I have now got two kittens . They’re very cute. They’ve settled really well and are now very happy with their food set up (thanks to the advise on here!)

One thing that is really bothering me though, and my husband says it’s just me as he is convinced he can’t smell it, but is how smelly their litter tray is!! They have one of those litter boxes that has a hood and a little flap to go in, and it’s stopped them kicking it out everywhere which was the issue with their other tray that we got initially . Poo litter was getting all over the floor .
I am almost 30 weeks pregnant so my husband is cleaning the tray daily , 7:30am before he leaves for work and 9pm when he gets home at night.
It doesn’t smell in the morning particularly .But I’m mopping twice a day to try and keep the floor smelling nice as I’m feeling so OCD about it and I‘m using the clumping litter.
Any tips at all on how to keep the smell away? Luckily it’s in the dining room that we don’t use often but will when baby is here and obviously not got guests at the moment . So the house doesn’t smell just the dining room- very potent. Not got anywhere else for it really other than the downstairs loo/utility room but that would mean keeping that door open so probably would still smell anyway.
Thank you! Any advise at all we will try anything !

Pics of the little monkeys attached :)

[LadyFeliciaMontague]

unless poop is removed quickly it will smell tbh so probably something you will just have to try to ignore with you being pregnant. If he’s cleaning it out twice a day, how often is he emptying the whole tray and washing it?
Is it kitten litter you have? Clumping cat litter can be dangerous for kittens

Kittens should not be given litter products that contain fragrances, harsh chemicals, or clumping properties. While clumping litter might be the standard for adult cats, it's a risk to kittens if ingested, and should not be provided until the kitten is at least 2-3 months old and well accustomed to the litter box

Have you tried wood based litter? The wet just dissolves into sawdust and sinks to the bottom of the tray so the whole fresh pellets stay on top, poop can be lifted out with a poop scoop bag. I don’t have any smells & I only totally clean out and replace with fresh pellets twice a week by scooping the large whole pellets into a new tray and topping up with fresh.

[HappytheElf]

I also use a wood based litter, I chuck the lot twice a week and give the tray a good wipe down. There are sifting litter trays available that I plan to buy when they're back in stock locally. I give the litter a stir after each wee and take the poo out immediately/first thing in the morning. Also give it a spray when tending to it – this one (I usually hate the artificial smell of sprays but this one is pleasant): HARTZ Nodor Litter Spray Clean Scented.

[Clymene]

Wood litter smells much better.

You're going to have your hands full with a newborn and kittens!

[Elouera]

Unfortunately that is the smell any guest will smell whenever they visit! My MIL is immune to the stench, but its like a wall of smell when we visit. After a few hours though there, we too can't smell it as badly. Other than cleaning it out more often, I don't know of anything else that helps- other than having it outside/covered courtyard etc.

I'm sure you are aware to not touch the cat litter tray yourself without gloves due to the risk of toxoplasmosis?

[MrsCatE]

I would think about using the downstairs loo - it sounds like you're doing everything right but maybe very sensitive to smell given you're pregnant and a newbie?

When my cat was a kitten he was obsessed with covering his poo - to the extent litter would fly everywhere and more often than not, he'd step in it! I had a relatively small tray (he was teeny - 6 weeks - a rescue) which we changed everytime he went. I did try Wood litter and the poor cat refused to use because didn't recognise as his new loo and got constipated; so clean in his habits that he didn't go anywhere else either and I had to revert back to his normal litter very quickly!

Jackson Galaxy is a brilliant cat behaviourist and I'm sure he was very anti any 'self-cleaning' litter trays i.e the ones that sifted out the poo and churned litter around; something about cats hate the wee being mixed.

Cat now has ginormous litter tray in family bathroom (takes a whole Catsan bag), no hood. Poo is taken out immediately and whole tray changed and cleaned thoroughly every five days.

[IndiaMay]

Perhaps because theres two cats its extra smelly? Do they use the same tray or have one each? We have a kitten at the moment, 4 months old and her tray doesnt smell. It's a big enclosed box with a cat flap to it. I poop scoop with poo bags first thing in the morning and last thing before bed and then also in the day if I'm in when she poops. Every time I've poop scooped I give the litter a rake/stir so the fresh stuff is on top. I only change the litter and clean the tray once a week. She buries her poo so it doesnt always smell through the cat flap unless it's a particularly potent poop. As she buries it, when I poop scoop a lot of the litter comes up too so mid week I have to top up with fresh litter just because it gets a bit shallow. I think as she gets bigger I may have to change it twice a week but at the moment the box is so big compared to her it doesnt seem to get so bad. I'm only using aldi own brand non clumping litter and it's fine.

[IndiaMay]

Also, our tray is by the front door and next to it we have an abi pur pet friendly air freshener plugged in and on a low level at all times. I actually think our house smells better since we got the cat because of that!

[Imcrapwithusernames]

I've been using Catsan litter for my kitten and there is zero smell it's fantastic. I had been using a wood based one but much prefer the Catsan, it was around 5.99 in b & m for a huge bag.

[Imcrapwithusernames]

My kitten is a little tabby too!

[cosmo30]

I would recommend catsan litter. It's the best one I used. Compared to others it doesn't stink almost all

[cosmo30]

At all*

[Voice0fReason]

I prefer the wood pellets to the clumping litter.
Poos always have to get removed straight away, the rest gets cleaned morning and evening with a wash out once a week.
I use a garden sieve and a bucket to filter out the sawdust - works perfectly.

[BruceAndMarley]

Thanks everyone I’ll try a mixture and see which works best .
It’s really depressing me and it’s me that’s mopping the floor three times a day and hoovering just to stay on top of the scattered litter as my husband is working . He changes the litter tray and I am aware of the risks of me doing it (although I was told that because they’ve never been outside the risk to toxoplasmosis is very slim).
It just smells so bad , I am thinking of using the downstairs loo but we would have to leave the door open for them to get in so would it still smell the rest of the downstairs ?

[IndiaMay]

The scattered litter isn't forever. My kitten outgrew her kitten litter tray in three weeks so we then got a big covered one with a door. It sits on a litter catch mat but only the occasional granual comes out now. So theres no need to hoover, mop etc anymore

[BruceAndMarley]

Hi all, just to let you know, we moved the litter tray to the downstairs toilet / utility room and picked up a deodorising thing from b&m today that absorbs pet smells and it’s made a huge difference . Thank you :) happy owner happy kitties

[MrsMcCarthysfamousScones]

OP you need more than one litter tray for two cats, even though they are siblings.

a multi-cat household should have the same number of litter boxes as the number of cats, plus one extra box; in other words, for two cats, there should be three litter boxes

www.petmd.com/cat/centers/litter/evr_why_multi_cat_households_need_multiple_litter_boxes

[BruceAndMarley]

@MrsMcCarthysfamousScones Really ? We were told one large one will be ok for them both ? 😭

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

My cats have a covered tray in the hall, and I bought them a honeycomb rubber mat which traps any tracked litter .
Its like an open en pouch so you can pour any litter back in.

I noticed mine will very very rarely miss the tray (and usually get it on the mat) if there are too many clumps for ther liking so very regular cleaning works for them (though one of them left a lump of turd at the bottom of the stairs yesterday . Possibly poohing on the run? )

They come in from the garden, pooh/pee and go out again.
So I was able to tell my NDN that I was 99.99% sure that the cat pooh in her garden was not my cats Not 100% but I'm confident .


we had an old cat when my DS was born ( cat was 11yo) her behaviour changed a bit when DS came along , but there was never any soiling . More a look of haughty disgust

7.30am & 9pm wouldn't work for ours - but they are adults .

[MissMaple82]

Its because your pregnant. Heightened sense of smell. Your meant to have a litter tray per cat though, they dint like to share, maybe get another then theres less waste contained in same space, may help

[MissMaple82]

P.s I get an aloe vera one that I think is good at eliminating smells

[thecatneuterer]

Wood based litter has no smell at all. Standard clumping litter honks in my opinion.

[CloudyGladys]

You’re meant to have a litter tray per cat though, they don't like to share

At least this. The usual number advised is one per cat, plus one.
You may find that, rather than using one tray each, they come to an arrangement whereby they use one tray for poo and the others for wees.