We had very good results with the “Worlds Best Cat Litter” a deep box and Wellness canned. Our two cats were indoors for alomost a year and the litter boxes were not an issue. Good luck, I love cats (and dogs) but cats are just so sweet and full of personality.
Maybe “Kismet” ?
I agree that the Arm&Hammer litter works well. Interestingly enough we also used stuff called “Yesterday’s News,” when we got our new kitten recently which is made from recycled paper. It’s a pelleted litter, with zero dust and NO smell at all (I was amazed) so that might be an option as well.
If the litter box has to be out in the open, you may want to find something like this to use.
Patsy Cline
Actually it was Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight” that I was thinking of. Patsy the Catsy?
How’s it going, French Fry? What did you end up doing?
When I was buying cat litter today a man with his maybe 7 year old son got everyone’s attention in the aisle and recommended the Arm and Hammer Clump and Seal litter. He literally held a little seminar with his son piping in “We have THREE CATS!” and raved about the stuff and practically insisted we all try it. So I have the boxes loaded with the stuff just waiting for a deposit to test it out. :yes:
Add high quality cat food and worming to your list of “must have’s” and some time. I think it was 4 months before my BF’s house became cat-fragrance free.
Also, even if you get clumping litter, it makes a huge difference to dump and completely refresh the box once a month.
Changing dry food to a grain free has also made a big impact on our little pride.
I just bought a litterbox with the hole in the top. I bought it because the cats spray litter EVERYWHERE, but the unknown benefit is NO SMELL! Amazing! I use Blue Something or Other Walnut shell litter which is nice because it’s low on dust and natural, but doesn’t necessarily control odor better than anything else.
Thank you all for the advice! Here is where we are:
Using Tidy Cats Multicat clumping litter for small spaces. I’m not a huge fan of the perfumey odor but it is relatively mild and this litter really seems to kill smells on contact. I think I will try the Arm & Hammer next and go from there.
Litter box with a hole in the top. We just got one and I can’t wait to switch her to it tonight (fingers crossed for no confusion!) since our shallow plastic litter pan is not containing the exuberant litter kicking.
Wellness kitten wet food*. This did not agree with her street cat stomach and we had one yakking incident but we backed off the amount and are working her up to a full can slowly with no further issues. May put her on the adult food since the kitten food seems very rich. We are planning to transition her off of the cheap dried kibble and onto a small amount of a higher quality kibble once we get the wet food settled.
I also purchased two air purifiers targeted towards odor issues - one standing one and a small one that plugs directly into an outlet. The standing model will go in the room with the litter box and the plug in will go in the bedroom, where we occasionally shut her in.
We still scoop at least once if not twice or more per day.
Our vet wanted to do a fecal before we dewormed her but we should be getting results back today and we will go from there. Great thought, thank you!
So far so good! I had to take a trip over the weekend (BF stayed with the kitten) and knew the true test would be walking in the door after three days away. No smell!
To whoever mentioned that it may be a moisture issue more than a kitten issue, I think you hit the nail on the head. It was raining quite a bit the day I first noticed the odor and we have definitely battled some post-rain must in the past. I think I will be getting a dehumidifier for the main living area so hopefully we will be smell-free in all circumstances going forward!
Thanks to you we were able to come up with a name for her that is not Stinky!
*Funny story about cat food. I went into this taking the advice of my vet, which was (to paraphrase) “literally any wet food is going to be better than the best dry food” so I told myself I was not going to obsess about it too much and just grab something mid-range (you know, not 30 cents a can but not $2 a can.) An hour later I was still reading labels in the aisle of the pet store and couldn’t conscience coming home without something grain-free. (I am having issues justifying keeping her on some dry kibble but we are occasionally going to have to leave her overnight in the future and want her to have something to graze on when this happens.) Clearly this former alley cat has me wrapped around her paw already!
I posted this elsewhere, but I got one of those big round shiny plastic tubs with useful handles, used in the summer for beer-and-ice, which is nice and deep, and piled in LOTS of the clumping pine cat litter. Sit it on a big shaggy bathmat from the thrift store for 50c, replace that manky thing once a week or so, and it’ll catch most of the flying debris as kitty practices her lobbying skills.
Here is the article about the danger of clumping cat litter.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Clumping-Cat-Litter-Dangerous?&id=557635
Here is the article about the danger of clumping cat litter.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Clumping-Cat-Litter-Dangerous?&id=557635
I, too, hate scented cat litters. Look for “fragrance free” or unscented. I am always surprised that the default seems to be to have scent. blech. Also, some cats don’t like it.
All of above posters have good advice: giant rubbermaid with high sides. Scoop very regularly. If you use a cover, don’t let yourself cheat - the cat doesn’t want to go in there if it gets dirty & covers can trap the gases & make it even more unpleasant.
WHen I had just one cat, I LOVED the pine pelleted litter. No smell at all. In fact the new litter had a good, clean wood smell. It isn’t working for my household of 3 (two big ones & one oldie with kidneys that aren’t working so hot anymore), but I wish I could still use it. Same with the Swheat scoop. With one cat, I would try those first.
So, out of necessity I am now a huge fan of the Arm & Hammer, too. Fresh Step would be close second, as is Dr Elsey’s (all unscented). Dr Elsey’s you can’t get at Target or the like, though.
When you fill your box, sprinkle a good coating of baking soda along the edges, esp in the corners - this helps prevent the wet from sticking.
fyi, kitten poo smells extra bad. so that aspect, at least, may get better.
I have one of these in the cat’s powder room:
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-TrueAir-Room-Eliminator/dp/B002SHCEVG/ref=pd_tcs_compl_hg_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WS4EA9T50WK1M9RSPWV
Same, just smaller: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-True-Odor-Eliminator/dp/B000H0Y4XM/ref=pd_tcs_compl_hg_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0Z5Q8MSB1ZJMHBTMDD7K
You don’t want anything that makes ozone - this is a simple carbon filter. It def helps.
To reduce tracking surrond box with door mats that look like fake grass - they do a good job of trapping the litter (cheap at Walmart). Some cats may not like the feeling on their paws, so just make sure it doesn’t make kitten avoid the box.
You will be amazed at what you shake out of these mats.
Hippolyta, so funny - I got the exact same Hamilton Beach air purifiers! Well, I got the larger model of the standing one but I literally ordered the exact same plug in model via Amazon. They seem to make a difference.
The astroturf mats are a great (and inexpensive) idea. Once the new top-entry litter box has found a permanent place (it is currently bouncing around based on where we are containing the kitten - fortunately this hasn’t caused any confusion on her part) I will definitely be adding a mat.
So far we love the Modkat top entry litter box. We got a hand-me-down for a friend, otherwise we would have gotten the much less expensive Clevercat version.
I use World’s Best cat litter, it’s corn based and seems to be working really well, and a bag lasts me a month with daily scooping. I get the multi-cat clumping, as I have 2 cats. I live in a small single wide and have the litter in my master bath/bedroom and haven’t had any issues, as long as I scoop daily. I also use the Arm & Hammer powder that you put in the litter as a deodorizer. That stuff is amazing.
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