Best Covered Litter Box And Litter For Odor Control

[altairose]

Hi,

I have 1 kitten who has the stinkiest poops. We are feeding her high quality food (Nature's variety Instinct dry kibble plus Nutro or Blue Buffalo wet food). Currently, we have the Purina tidy cats pellet litter which does a good job of controlling the urine stink, but not the poop! The poop stays on top and she only partially covers it, so it really stinks up the whole apartment.

Any advice on a good odor-control system with a covered litter box and type of litter? Yes, I've read the articles on covered vs uncovered boxes. She was previously using a covered box with her siblings so I think she'll be fine with a covered box.

 

[altairose]

Also, the kitten is right now 3 lbs and probably will not grow to be over 6-7 lbs as a cat.

I don't like scents, so I'm looking for a litter that's not heavily scented.

 

[GoldyCat]

I've found that crystal litter controls odor better than just about any other litter I've tried. I think it's because the crystals dry out the poop really fast.

 

[She's a witch]

Kittens should use not clumping litter and as I don’t have an experience with it, I won’t give you any advice, but I want to comment on the stinkiest poops. Obviously they will never smell pleasantly but if they’re truly stinky, I’d investigate if there is reason behind that like parasites. Was she dewormed? Is the poop consistency solid or softish? Even if she doesn’t have any parasites, certain food may create the stink, but it seems you already use rather high protein diet, but you can check the ingredients carefully, maybe something does not agree with her.

 

[altairose]

No parasites (poop was tested 2 weeks ago). Poop is normal in consistency (solid but not hard). Any specific recommendations on food that creates the least stink? (other than raw food)

She also doesn't cover her poop consistently - any tips on how to get her to cover them more?

 

[She's a witch]

No parasites (poop was tested 2 weeks ago). Poop is normal in consistency (solid but not hard). Any specific recommendations on food that creates the least stink? (other than raw food)

She also doesn't cover her poop consistently - any tips on how to get her to cover them more?

I have limited trust in fecal floatation poop testing, it only shows if the parasites are present in the sample and it's totally possible that no eggs/worms are caught. So as a general rule kittens should be dewormed with wide spectrum wormer anyway, you could ask her previous owners if they did that, if not, I would totally talk about doing it with your wet. But if her poops are solid you shouldn't worry about giardia, which causes very smelly diarrhea, which is super good.

As for food, cats have smellier poops when they are fed food with grains, so check if blue buffalo has them. In general, the more fillers (wheat, corn, rice, peas, potatoes, tapioca, vegetables), the more possibilities of messing with intestines - cats are strict carnivores and should only eat meat. My cat also doesn't tolerate carrageenan and agar agar. The smell was generally much worse when he ate dry food, so you can limit it in favour of wet food and see if that makes any difference (although small kittens should have unlimited access to food so it may be practical to have some dry food anyway until she's around 1yo). You can browse through Nutrition forum to look for good food options that would fit your budget (chewy.com is a good place to shop).

 

[altairose]

Yes she has been dewormed. And she’s about 4 months old now, so ok for clumping litter.

We are still having problems — now with allergies. We got Fresh Step unscented cljmping litter but it’s very dusty. We (me, my boyfriend and kitty) all have been sneezing note and I think it’s because of the litter (I get massive sneezing fits when I scoop the litter).

Recommendations on clumping litters that are dust free, hypoallergenic and still have good clumping and odor control?

 

[She's a witch]

We currently use Smart Cat grass seed litter, it’s the least dusty I managed to find so far. It’s clumping perfectly. But it tracks and it’s expensive. My kitty has asthma so I’m constantly looking for dust free litters but it seems they don’t exist. You can browse through this section of forum and you’ll find different recommendations.
I don’t recommend clay litters because of the risk of breathing crystalline silica.

 

[maggie101]

I use Arm&Hammer Slide. Dust free and it slides! I just ordered some purina beyond turkey,liverr and quail for my cats to try. $15 for 24 3oz cans. Check out the catfooddb.com

 

[Spookyandsammy]

Hi,

I have 1 kitten who has the stinkiest poops. We are feeding her high quality food (Nature's variety Instinct dry kibble plus Nutro or Blue Buffalo wet food). Currently, we have the Purina tidy cats pellet litter which does a good job of controlling the urine stink, but not the poop! The poop stays on top and she only partially covers it, so it really stinks up the whole apartment.

Any advice on a good odor-control system with a covered litter box and type of litter? Yes, I've read the articles on covered vs uncovered boxes. She was previously using a covered box with her siblings so I think she'll be fine with a covered box.

Omg same spooky stinks up my room I have to open. Up my window to air out my room

 

[bitkit]

If I just serve Nutro dry chicken and rice, my cat's poop smells good, if I start adding other stuff the smell gets worse.

Out of the 5 or so litters I've tried, I found Dr Elsey's litter seems to control the odor the best.

 

[GoldyCat]

If I just serve Nutro dry chicken and rice, my cat's poop smells good, if I start adding other stuff the smell gets worse.

Out of the 5 or so litters I've tried, I found Dr Elsey's litter seems to control the odor the best.

My experience with Dr. Elsey's was the opposite, absolutely no odor control. It may be I just got a bad batch, but the stuff is too expensive for me to give it a second try.

 

[bitkit]

I try to just use unscented litter, maybe that's the reason and I thought Dr Elsey's was one of the cheapest until Frisco came around.

 

[daftcat75]

I’ve always heard that kittens just have stinky poops that they grow out of as they mature and their gut matures. I can’t say because it’s been two cats’ lifetimes since I’ve had a kitten. And back then I wasn’t the one on litterbox duty.

I would caution against using a covered box. It traps odors inside which is what you’re looking for. But it’s misery for the poor kitten. Think a gas station bathroom with no windows. I think your kitten may learn to bury her poops with an uncovered box because she won’t be in such a rush to get out of there.

When she’s old enough for clumping litter, World’s Best does a fantastic job on odor control. I never smell Krista’s pee. And her poops, I make her a homemade meat stock (like bone broth but not cooked as long) to help with her arthritis and IBD. The unexpected side benefit is that I no longer give her a probiotic. Even her bad poops aren’t so bad anymore. She has open boxes and buries her poops. The only time I smell her poops are the runny ones when something didn’t agree with her. Her regular poops can and have sat in the box all night long for me to clean up in the morning.

 

[Uncled]

If you have a Tractor Supply store near you, try their brand called Paws and Claws, works great for my two cats.