Cat owners- how do you keep the smell and fur at bay?

[piddocktrumperiness]

Hi everyone
Just that really- My brother has two cats, a year old now. He lives in a 1930's semi, and keeps a litter tray in the back of the kitchen (close to the outside door, by the bin).
He's not able to keep onto of them and is getting frustrated with how they molt, and how to ensure the house is super clean. I try and help but I don't have pets so don't know.
We don't know where to put the litter tray for example- I said keep it outside but he won't fearing the cats may do something inside the house. I said hoover twice a day but I know in the interim things will get cat hair on it. They don't like to be groomed either, they just can't sit still.
I also said leave the tray of food and litter tray outside in a cat house/shed type of thing he could buy, and only let them in at night, but he thinks that's cruel.

Their cat food stinks too- He buys Whiskas pouches.

So for those that have cats, how do you ensure your house is clean from smell and hair?

Thank you

We have an outdoor litter tray, it has a lid and is waterproof. It's right next to the cat flap in the back door so she doesn't have far to go. We much prefer it to either an indoor tray or piles of cat shit all over the garden

Outdoor Litter Tray

A mix of dry and wet is best for cats- dry for their teeth and wet because they’re crap at drinking enough water, male cats especially are prone to UTIs so I wouldn’t go all dry. Whiskas is basically junk food for cats, it might take some experimentation to find what they get on with. My chap does best on Royal Canin indoor. When they’ve eaten the wet remove the bowl and wash it up so the residue isn’t out all day.

Litter trays should be indoors, ideally one per cat plus an extra, although I have had pair bonded litter mates before that would share, it’s unusual. I like Worlds Best litter but the biggest difference is by being meticulous with cleaning the tray, right after every single use. Whatever brand you decide on, clumping is best so you can get the pee out as easily as the poop. For the lazy but happy to throw money at it cat slave, you can get robotic self cleaning ones.

It’s easier to get the fur off the cat than every soft furnishing in your house. I have a long haired and we aim to brush him daily, definitely no less frequently than every other day. Even a short hair I would do once a week. We also have a robot hoover but that’s more to do with kids biscuit crumbs, we genuinely don’t have fur problems.

I have 2 short hair cats. One I barely groom but there is cat hair about just where he sits a lot.

The other has clear moulting seasons - in the hot weather she was blobbing hair everywhere. She gets brushed but only when she's moulting. However again, there will be small amounts of hair whenever.

If you don't like cat hair, don't get a cat.

I feed wet food and it's down for as long as the cat takes to eat it - about 5 minutes. If there are leftovers, it's too big a meal. Plus in summer leaving uneaten wet food around attracts flies.

Finally anyway saying high quality food doesn't smell has not smelled Canagan Chicken and Herring. The herring smell is quite something. However it lasts seconds as cats hoover it down.

I weaned mine off the litter tray. I put it close to the cat flap for a week and then outside for a couple of days under a cover. Then just got rid of it.

With food, mine has dried food available all day and some wet food in the evening - but only enough so that she eats it all immediately. Then the wet food dish gets washed.

1yo isn't too late to change the food habits, I only got mine at 1!

I have multiple long haired cats, they don't use litter trays but I can advise (and empathise!) on the hair problem.

If they don't like being brushed, you can buy special gloves for this so it feels as though they are being stroked and they are more likely to tolerate. If you can "train" them <hollow laugh, maybe I mean bribe> to lie/sleep in certain areas with their own special blanket, it reduces the amount of hair they get everywhere else, and the blankets can be washed.

Most importantly, but the best hoover you can. We have gone through lots. A Miele cat and dog model is the best for us. I don't really care about cat hair but DH hoovers everywhere twice a day (including sofas) and it does help keep on top of it.

Clothes are my biggest problem (foolishly I have black and white cats so they show on all colours of clothing). Buy the best, and as many, lint rollers as you can! I also keep one by the front door and one in the car. Washed clothes go straight in drawers (but still get cat hair on them, how?!) Fabric shopping tote bags are fuckers for attracting cat hair, my DC use them as bags so we put them high up/in a cupboard when not being used.

Hoovers, lint rollers, and a huge amount of love for them (the cats).

I have a febreze ambi pur 3volution plug-in which is on all day. Few windows ajar (my cats are indoor). I take out their poo's from the litter tray after I feed them their lunch. and then do a proper sift before bedtime.
I occasionally use a squeegee to get rid of some pet hair, or hoover around, sweep the stairs with a dustpain and brush. It's hard to embrace the fur when you want the house to be clean.

Get them a good quality complete dry food like Iams. Buy when it's on offer.

My cats don't use a tray (thank god) but when my old cat did, I used Cats Best litter. It is more expensive but will make SUCH a difference. Use a large tray, snd have a slitted scoop to pick out pops and also the wee clumps so you can ivk it up with the scoop in a lump. It really doesn't smell. Then just top u the tray as needed. You won't need to empty abd clean it out often as the wee doesn't reach the bottom of the tray if you have enough litter in.

I've never had an issue with hair even with long haired cats.

It doesn't sound as though he really did his due diligence before getting cats and is now being unrealistic. Everything he seems not to like about them is, essentially cats being normal cats. Really he should have tried to acclimate them slowly to contact and brushing if their breed needed it when they were kittens, they can't be blamed for it if he didn't bother. Never to late to slowly start introducing it and rewarding them for it in short bursts increasing to longer efforts.

If he wants cats but doesn't like evidence of having them basically he needs to just start cleaning his own house more often, if you leave cat poo in a litter tray then your house will smell of cat poo- litter trays aren't self cleaning and the cats certainly aren't going to empty them into the bins themselves. If you feed cheap food to cats it will smell worse. Taking the tray out to the bin regularly, a quick wipe around and a vacuum for the cat hair regularly with a decent vacuum. Air the house out when possible and use pet odour neutralising products when cleaning. Get a cat flap.

I would consider whether the cats would be happier elsewhere.

Mine don't use a litter tray anymore but when they did I used a hooded one. I do still have one but they prefer my garden 🙄Always made sure it was cleaned regularly. Their food does stink. Other than that I genuinely don't think there's any smell from my house. I know all pet owners say that but I honestly don't think it does. When I had a dog I could smell it as soon as I walked in the door, off of blankets etc so it's not like I'm just immune to pet smell. My mum used to always tell me she could smell the dog when she came in and has never mentioned cat smell. When they used the litter trays I was always paranoid m7 house might smell so would ask her and she would say no and I know she would have been honest if she did. People have this misconception that cats are disgusting smelly animals but they are actually really clean. They are disgusting when they bring in mice, rats and pigeons though

Also, if he goes for a good clumping litter like Cats Best and removes the 'wee balls' and poo as soon as he can the rest if the litter shouldn't smell

A better quality dry food should be ok for males, cheaper quantity ones not so much. Ours have a water fountain they love

I have a cat that digs for England in her outside toilets. She comes in with dirty legs but soon cleans it iff

Sounds exactly like my house. I have 2 cars and two covered litter trays 1930s semi. I have the ammonia absorbers stuck to the top and a plug in air freshner nearby that I turn on now and then. I pick the poo out as soon as its done. If I am at work then it stays until I get in.

I totally change it completely every 2-3 days.

Also use whiskers may change it though after reading this thread. It does smell but theu eat it straight away so the smell is short lived.

They do shed hair that's just a thing they do. I hoover once a day it's not that bad. They are so cute and cuddly they are worth it.

I have now and again noticed a smell but I just change the tray and its gone.

If you have cats, there will be cat hair around, no matter how much you groom the cat and vacuum the house! I have 5.... I vacuum a few times a day. All but one of mine will tolerate some sort of brushing (typically, the long haired one that needs it most 🙄). Decent cat litter and cat food can cut down on smells. I sc

Oops. I scoop their litter trays several times a day, and do a deep clean once a week. Clumping litter works better for us. I also have a freestanding air filter machine placed just outside their litter room (small, windowless old pantry) to keep litter dust and smells down. It works well! I have a family member who is highly allergic to cats but they stayed over Xmas and didn't suffer. There's no magic formula for keeping clean and tidy in a multi cat household - it really is just actively cleaning along with quality supplies.

My cats get fed Applaws or Arden Grange dry food, and I split a couple of wet pouches between them a day as a treat - i do this outside though, not inside. They are inside/outside as they please, but always in at night. I only have 3 litter trays between them all and they're all fine with that, they've never gone anywhere they shouldn't.

Beware of going too mad with air fresheners and plug—ins.

our cat detests them,and makes her feelings clear by pissing on the floor in front of any air freshener. It then cost us £££ in petsafe odour removers to get the smell of piss out of the floors, and a feliway plug—in every month till she’d settled down again.

cats are nob heads.

Rubbish. Many cats happily share. Mine do. It depends on the type of litter you use. As long as the poo is covered, my tray doesn't smell.
Don't leave wet food lying around as it stinks. And regular brushing helps with the fur.

This. Not sure why he has them. He should consider rehoming to be honest, sorry.

I am the expert at this! (I hope!)

We had to move temporarily into a 2 bed terrace, with 3 house cats (FHIV) and a spaniel. It’s unfortunately ended up being a lot longer term than we thought.

I hoover everyday first thing. We have a dyson pet hair hoover. I also hire a carpet washing machine every few months and deep clean carpets. Cats are fed fairly expensive dry food only, designed for indoor cats, which the vet recommended. We have three hooded litter trays, which are all emptied and cleaned every morning. I also remove any poo during the day. I use wood chip litter which seems to smell the best.

Anywhere the cats sit, such as back of sofas, have a ‘cat blanket’ which are scraped with those hair scrapers you can get every morning, and washed every weekend. I also scrape the sofas every weekend. We have a cat tree which means they hardly ever sit on the furniture now, and the cat tree gets scraped daily. Food bowls are washed and disinfected once a week.

We have a plug in diffuser or two in each room which really helps.

litter trays aren't self cleaning
Our is! But £££!

Other than that i agree with everything else you’re saying though @dontgobaconmyheart

We have a Dyson Animal vacuum and no litter tray inside the house.

Dry food. Wet food occasionally. Cat flap (best investment ever) train the cats to do their business outside, they prefer it anyway. Lint roller for clothes when coming out of the house, hoover obviously but not obsessively it's just cat hair.

I noticed less cat hair in the house since my two cats became indoor/outdoor as opposed to when they were indoor only. Cats can get messy if they're ill, accidents happen it's all part of life

Mine have Hills dried in the morning and Untamed in the evening, which they hoover up. Litter tray for nighttime under the stairs. Wood pellet cat litter and a Moodify deodoriser nearby.

I find your brother not realising that cats produce smells or hair odd tbh.

I have one cat, feed a quality food (Canegan) and buy a decent cat litter (Cats Best clumping). I vacuum the room the cat favours more than anywhere else in the house and brush him daily.

My house doesn't smell, it isn't hairy. I take poo and wee out of the litter tray a couple of times a day or when it is used if I am there. Poo smells, wee doesn't smell with Cats Best, nothing smells if you take it out of the litter tray. I only change the litter about once a month and fill it to a 5" depth.

He sounds clueless to be honest.

Totally this. Cats rely on their sense of smell much more than humans do.

Making your house smell of plug-in, air freshener, candles etc is basically making your cat miserable.