First of all, I scoop my cat's litter twice a day. Once in the morning before I leave the house, and again when I return about 9 hours later. It is in this time span that a white, fuzzy fungus starts growing on his urine clumps in the box while I am away.
Litter is Dr. Elsey's Respiratory Relief, which is the best for him as he has respiratory issues. I completely changed the litter about every two weeks (even though I'd like to do it less frequently, because the litter gets expensive), and I wash the interior of the box with dish soap in the process. The fungus doesn't start appearing for a few days after washing out the box, but then inevitably starts showing up.
An important point I'm certain is related: I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, right along the lakefront. Our winters are cold, and in winter months, the air is super dry, and this problem does not occur. But in summer, since I live right by Lake Michigan, the air gets damp. It's during the summer months when this problem starts happening.
I could close my windows and run the air conditioner to keep the air cooler and drier in summer, but my cat really enjoys the open windows during the day while I am gone.
Another point: it is a covered box. I started him with a covered box early in his life because it led to the best litter box habits. He always used the box when it was open, but he wasn't always getting all of his business inside the box. He would climb inside, but squat with his butt along the edge, leading to messes outside the box. I would guess that uncovering the box might help this issue, but it's something I haven't tried yet (after years with a covered box, maybe he has trained himself to climb deeper inside and will do so with an open box, now).
Is there anything I could add to the litter to prevent this? I considered trying baking soda to keep it drier inside.
Also, is this fungus potentially harmful?
Litter is Dr. Elsey's Respiratory Relief, which is the best for him as he has respiratory issues. I completely changed the litter about every two weeks (even though I'd like to do it less frequently, because the litter gets expensive), and I wash the interior of the box with dish soap in the process. The fungus doesn't start appearing for a few days after washing out the box, but then inevitably starts showing up.
An important point I'm certain is related: I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, right along the lakefront. Our winters are cold, and in winter months, the air is super dry, and this problem does not occur. But in summer, since I live right by Lake Michigan, the air gets damp. It's during the summer months when this problem starts happening.
I could close my windows and run the air conditioner to keep the air cooler and drier in summer, but my cat really enjoys the open windows during the day while I am gone.
Another point: it is a covered box. I started him with a covered box early in his life because it led to the best litter box habits. He always used the box when it was open, but he wasn't always getting all of his business inside the box. He would climb inside, but squat with his butt along the edge, leading to messes outside the box. I would guess that uncovering the box might help this issue, but it's something I haven't tried yet (after years with a covered box, maybe he has trained himself to climb deeper inside and will do so with an open box, now).
Is there anything I could add to the litter to prevent this? I considered trying baking soda to keep it drier inside.
Also, is this fungus potentially harmful?