Tell me how to have a pet and no stink!

[Cherryana]

So I go to people’s houses and their pets and the pet food don’t smell.

We are thinking of getting a cat but I am worried mostly about smelly cat food.

What can I do? Put the food outside?

What are your pet owning tips for me?

I was also thinking of a robot hoover.

Get a pet rock! Cat food does smell slightly. And you can’t just leave it outside.

Be very very clean. Don’t leave food out which means you need to be on the ball
With feeding the cat when it’s hungry and then Cleaning up afterwards.
Change the litter tray very frequently.
Make sure your hoover (robot or otherwise) is suitable for cat hair.
Ventilate very well.

You have to expect some smell though.

Cats aren't very smelly. They're very clean animals.
Dry cat food barely has an odour. Even wet food, if you put it down for a hungry kitty isn't around for long. Wash beds often. You can get covered litter boxes that retain the smell, again - keep the litter clean anyway as cats don't like dirty litter trays.

We have windows open all year round in every room.
I only put down small amounts of food at a time, that’s more about waste.
The cat litter box is in a fitted cupboard that has had a cat flap put in it, so she has her own little private bathroom
We own a carpet cleaner and a robot hoover
DS has always loved brushing the cat and she loves her paws being rubbed and he cleans between her claws which she loves when she sits on his lap. A sort of mani pedi.

If you get a cat, Catsan is the only cat litter we've found that doesn't smell after a couple of days. A friend uses the wood pellet type and her house always has a faint smell of cat litter.

I almost googled ‘pet rock’ thinking it might be some magical smell absorption rock.

Doors open, don’t leave food lying around, pet friendly atomisers and regular trips to the groomer.

Our cat is restricted to one room mostly. She toilets outside but if she is in overnight we have a covered litter tray and keep it clean. Wet food once a day which she eats straight away but it's in a covered dish anyway and she has dry food the rest of the time. This is my first female cat and I feel she smells less than the boys despite being very grubby as she is a real outdoors cat so perhaps it depends on the personality. I find in other houses it's the litter trays that smell.

Thanks everyone!!

When I had pets when I was young, my mum did everything- and now I am the mum, your tips are great!

@evilharpy

If you get a cat, Catsan is the only cat litter we've found that doesn't smell after a couple of days. A friend uses the wood pellet type and her house always has a faint smell of cat litter.

Second vote for Catsan. All others smell after a time. If you get a tom, FFS have him neutered otherwise you will rapidly become acquainted with the very strong smell of cat pee.

Better than the best cat litter... is having a cat flap and cat going outside for toileting (if living situation allows it!) no smelly litter or poo lying around. Right amount of food and that's it.... no smelliness from cats, as cats are very clean.

Dogs, however.... ! Get rid of carpets, sweep/hoover every day, brush teeth often and bathe dog frequently.

@evilharpy

If you get a cat, Catsan is the only cat litter we've found that doesn't smell after a couple of days. A friend uses the wood pellet type and her house always has a faint smell of cat litter.

The paper litter works really well too.

Pets do smell though - it's part of the package really. Whenever I've been in a house where there are cats, I can smell them immediately. It's not necessarily a bad thing and you'll certainly get used to it and not notice it, but they do smell.
Our lovely dog died earlier in the year and he wasn't a smelly breed at all, but you could tell we had a dog.
I've noticed a real change since we no longer have him.

Some good tips on covering things over and which brands are best, but there will be a smell 😂
But it will be worth it

You’ll never get a completely odourless house. We’re a pet free house and despite what anyone says on here, whenever we go somewhere that has had pets we can always smell it. You just become nose blind if you live with it I guess.

My cat only likes dry food, so that’s a win as it doesn’t smell. It has to be a decent dry food though or it can be really bad for their urinary system to not have wet food and water much always be available.

The dogs eat their wet food so quickly it’s not there long enough to smell. Though dogs in her early do smell more than cats.

• dogs in general smell more than cats!!

You might want to take a look at 'robot vacuum and dog poo' on YouTube before you buy one of those!

My cat stinks. He has a litter tray which is the main smell but i guess if you let them poo and wee outside its someone elses problem. The food doesnt smell in a lingering way.
My dog also stinks but its a nicer smell.

Get some rats, that will drown out any cat smell, believe me?

Catsan stinks really bad, when we've used that everyone including myself can smell I have cats even though I was forced to change it daily. I now use pellets and as long as I sift out the clumps daily, the actual litter doesn't need changing for a week.

Food wise, dried doesn't stink. Wet like human food if it's left out it will start to stink.

Also ensure any cleaning products you use are pet friendly.

The best way to avoid the vague smell of cat (well, it might not be vague normally but under the smell of a dog it's totally unnoticeable!) is everything that others say but honestly the best thing is to allow them to go outdoors as they please. We have a microchip catflap that allows this and it also means we don't have to have cat litter in the house all the time, they have their lidded box under an overhang on our shed. And they don't use it anyway! Plus they do seem to come back for actual mealtimes which makes putting out wet food and it being eaten straight away much easier. The dry food, and water of course, is out all the time but it's genuinely inoffensive.

Not all food smells gross. It tends to be the big name brands that are the worst - which corresponds to poor nutrition levels as well (I wouldn't go near Whiskas, Felix, Sheba etc).

Do some research on good cat food (PetForums is great) and you should find a good one. We use Blink and it's very good; made in UK, higher meat content than most and almost zero smell. Cat is much happier on it too.

But as PPs say, outdoor toileting is the best protection!

None of my cat owning family or friends houses smell. None of them are cleaning obsessed either. I think you should be fine. Wet food will smell a bit but if uneaten food is cleared away and bowls cleaned out I can’t see any problem. If a cat is old and has kidney and/or continence problems then that’s a different matter but that’s the same with us humans too.

My friend has 2 cats and her house never smells. She doesn't have carpet downstairs so perhaps that helps? Same with my Grandmother who had 2 cats.

In my experience houses with dogs smell far worse.

Our two cats barely ever use their litter trays. They have a cat flap they can use in the day so go outside, they're not allowed out at night for their own safety but even then only use their trays maybe once every 1-2 weeks between them? They're covered trays and we use clumping litter which makes it very easy to remove the waste as it's all stuck together in one lump.

Wet food gets eaten quickly, and we use a motion-activated bowl anyway which seals everything in under a lid so no smell. Dry food doesn't smell at all. Both cats are pretty clean, they're always washing themselves.

Thanks so much - these tips are really helping me.

Covered litter trays and motion activated bowls were not a thing when I had my cat back 30 years ago. They sound fab!

Thanks too about recommendations for different types of better made food and clumping litter!!