Cat litter box smell

Goldehwolfeh

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Now that I am in my own 1 bedroom apartment and have a litter box for each cat plus one (as recommended) I keep open litter boxes to prevent any cats from not liking it and not using it.

I clean the boxes every day (I also have cat litter mats that I also try to clean everyday) however, I still notice the cat urine smell and it sometimes feels like it’s burning my nose when I breathe in or try and smell to make sure they didn’t pee outside

is there a way I can prevent this? My air purifier seems to semi-work but that is mostly to help my seasonal allergies
 

tabbytom

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I clean the boxes every day (I also have cat litter mats that I also try to clean everyday) however, I still notice the cat urine smell and it sometimes feels like it’s burning my nose when I breathe in or try and smell to make sure they didn’t pee outside
Small fragments of litter soaked with pee is often spread around while clearing the litter box and therefore the pee smell still lingers on regardless of litter type used. If your cat is a corner pee-er, urine is plashed on the walls of the litterbox and if when you clear the litterbox without wiping the walls, then the pee smell will also linger on.
If you can, use a wet disposable wipes with no alcohol and fragrance to clean the sides of the litterbox wall each time you clear the box.

I try to to be very careful while clearing the pee clumps and pick up as much fragments as I can. I have visitors to my house and I often ask them if they smell cat pee and they say no.
 
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Goldehwolfeh

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Small fragments of litter soaked with pee is often spread around while clearing the litter box and therefore the pee smell still lingers on regardless of litter type used. If your cat is a corner pee-er, urine is plashed on the walls of the litterbox and if when you clear the litterbox without wiping the walls, then the pee smell will also linger on.
If you can, use a wet disposable wipes with no alcohol and fragrance to clean the sides of the litterbox wall each time you clear the box.

I try to to be very careful while clearing the pee clumps and pick up as much fragments as I can. I have visitors to my house and I often ask them if they smell cat pee and they say no.
I didn’t think about that, my cats use the litter box oddly each time they use it (corners, normally using it, perching on the side to use it etc) that I didn’t think much about any back splash.


do you also happen to use litter mats? Could that also cause particles that are pee soaked to still linger?
 

tabbytom

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I didn’t think about that, my cats use the litter box oddly each time they use it (corners, normally using it, perching on the side to use it etc) that I didn’t think much about any back splash.


do you also happen to use litter mats? Could that also cause particles that are pee soaked to still linger?
If they use the corners, likely tiny drops will splash out and also if their legs, say may soak a little of the pee and when they come out of the box, litter with pee and on leg is transferred to the litter mat.

I often watch if I can when my boy pees. I will see if he pees at a high angle or not and after that I'll wipe the floor too. Use top have litter mats for him but I decided not to use the mat because sometimes when he pees a lot, his leg get soaked in the pee and it'll be transferred to the mat and if I don't clean the mat well, there's bound to have stain and pee smell. It's easier to clean the floor than the mat and I use a roller broom sweeper to pick up all the scattered litter.

Here's some articles for you to read :-

how-to-get-cat-urine-smell-out-of-carpet-effective-non-toxic-solutions

how-to-remove-cat-urine-odor-from-your-home

the-litterbox-what-every-cat-owner-needs-to-know

how-to-minimize-litterbox-odor

how-to-remove-cat-urine

The rest of the articles on litterbox is here :- litterbox-care
 

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Some brands of litters re not very good at controlling odors. Have you tried a different litter? Or add baking soda or activated charcoal to the litter? Are the litter boxes in well ventilated areas? Try adding an unscented odor absorber near the litter boxes. Wipe down the sides of the litter box to remove any dried urine. There are products just for this purpose. Do the cats cover their pee? Some cats don't and that results in odors.
 

di and bob

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Some brands just aren't good at all at controlling odors, no matter what they say! Walmart's Scoop Away is the one brand I keep going back to and Fresh Step. If I can smell the urine, I switch brands. More expensive doesn't always mean better. Sometimes the composition of your cat's urine interacts with the ingredients in certain litters and they just don't work. If you can smell the urine strongly, switch brands and find one that works for your cats.
 

KittyFriday

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Agree with all of the above, and also - some cat litters just stink on their own! I was having trouble with cat litter smell, thinking there was urine or something I was missing while cleaning. It was just the litter. I changed brands and had no issue at all.
 
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Goldehwolfeh

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If they use the corners, likely tiny drops will splash out and also if their legs, say may soak a little of the pee and when they come out of the box, litter with pee and on leg is transferred to the litter mat.

I often watch if I can when my boy pees. I will see if he pees at a high angle or not and after that I'll wipe the floor too. Use top have litter mats for him but I decided not to use the mat because sometimes when he pees a lot, his leg get soaked in the pee and it'll be transferred to the mat and if I don't clean the mat well, there's bound to have stain and pee smell. It's easier to clean the floor than the mat and I use a roller broom sweeper to pick up all the scattered litter.

Here's some articles for you to read :-

how-to-get-cat-urine-smell-out-of-carpet-effective-non-toxic-solutions

how-to-remove-cat-urine-odor-from-your-home

the-litterbox-what-every-cat-owner-needs-to-know

how-to-minimize-litterbox-odor

how-to-remove-cat-urine

The rest of the articles on litterbox is here :- litterbox-care
Thanks! I will look through all the articles you have linked (and I mean all) to see!
I actually noticed that some peed on litter manages to land outside the box (my cats like to cover their stuff up for like 10 minutes it feels/sounds like)
I will be cleaning as much as I can Friday and I’ll potentially try a new litter brand then.

Some brands of litters re not very good at controlling odors. Have you tried a different litter? Or add baking soda or activated charcoal to the litter? Are the litter boxes in well ventilated areas? Try adding an unscented odor absorber near the litter boxes. Wipe down the sides of the litter box to remove any dried urine. There are products just for this purpose. Do the cats cover their pee? Some cats don't and that results in odors.
I noticed only my female cat doesn’t cover her pee but I think she got into that habit when she was struggling with Pyometra when I first got her back after giving her to my moms close friend when she was a kitten (I thought she was a good fit for an owner I was wrong) so that could definitely be it.


Some brands just aren't good at all at controlling odors, no matter what they say! Walmart's Scoop Away is the one brand I keep going back to and Fresh Step. If I can smell the urine, I switch brands. More expensive doesn't always mean better. Sometimes the composition of your cat's urine interacts with the ingredients in certain litters and they just don't work. If you can smell the urine strongly, switch brands and find one that works for your cats.
My mom recommended Pretty litter to me when she saw it. My fear on switching to a different kind of litter is one of my cats (or all) not liking the new litter and potentially relieving themselves elsewhere.

but it certainly doesn’t hurt to try!

Agree with all of the above, and also - some cat litters just stink on their own! I was having trouble with cat litter smell, thinking there was urine or something I was missing while cleaning. It was just the litter. I changed brands and had no issue at all.
I usually use Tidy Cat litter but I can definitely see it being a possible issue - just hasn’t happened before.
This would be a first for me with Tidy Cat if that’s causing the issue.
 

tabbytom

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Thanks! I will look through all the articles you have linked (and I mean all) to see!
I actually noticed that some peed on litter manages to land outside the box (my cats like to cover their stuff up for like 10 minutes it feels/sounds like)
I will be cleaning as much as I can Friday and I’ll potentially try a new litter brand then.
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Yes, sometimes when they are covering up the pee, they may also dig some of the peed on litter and splash it out if the box or it could also be their leg is soaked a little in pee and they bring it out as when they are done.

My boy will cover up his pee like a mountain high almost to the brim of the litterbox.
 

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I'm personally pretty sensitive to the tidy cat litters. That's what I recently had as it was on sale but after a bit I notice it starting to smell. I use the more expensive line of the Arm and Hammer litters - the only thing I don't love about it is that it's really fine so it's easier for him to track, but it doesn't smell the same way and honestly he tracks the tidy cats as well.
 

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A cat's urine will smell more if it isn't drinking enough water.

Our cat, Casper, has the tendency to get urinary crystals. One of our means of controlling it is to get him to drink more water. One result of this is that his pee doesn't smell so much.

Essentially, when a cat drinks more water, its urine is more diluted. That's good for Casper because more dilute urine has less likelihood of causing urinary crystals and we don't have to worry about him getting sick again. The bonus for us is that his litter box doesn't smell nearly as strong, provided we keep it clean.

Try to encourage your cat to drink more water if you can. It'll help keep your cat healthy and your house will smell better. :)
 

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I wash and disinfect my litter box each month and use fresh litter. Even if you’re vacuuming up the litter around your mats, you will want to wash those occasionally. I have a big air purifier that is located right next to the box. I use Dr Elseys, which is unscented, but add in some Arm and Hammer deodorizer. She won’t tolerate a heavily scented litter.
 

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Get the black light. One of mine is ‘high shooter’. Occasionally I will look with black light just to make sure that I’m not missing while cleaning.
 
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Goldehwolfeh

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I'm personally pretty sensitive to the tidy cat litters. That's what I recently had as it was on sale but after a bit I notice it starting to smell. I use the more expensive line of the Arm and Hammer litters - the only thing I don't love about it is that it's really fine so it's easier for him to track, but it doesn't smell the same way and honestly he tracks the tidy cats as well.
I think I must have been pretty sensitive to the tidy cat litter as well, now that I have switched to fresh step I don’t have issues waking up in the morning and smelling ammonia or being all stuffy from it in general.
The fresh step with baking soda has been working wonders so far!

A cat's urine will smell more if it isn't drinking enough water.

Our cat, Casper, has the tendency to get urinary crystals. One of our means of controlling it is to get him to drink more water. One result of this is that his pee doesn't smell so much.

Essentially, when a cat drinks more water, its urine is more diluted. That's good for Casper because more dilute urine has less likelihood of causing urinary crystals and we don't have to worry about him getting sick again. The bonus for us is that his litter box doesn't smell nearly as strong, provided we keep it clean.

Try to encourage your cat to drink more water if you can. It'll help keep your cat healthy and your house will smell better. :)
I’ll have to encourage the behavior more, they drink water usually as much as they can but they also like to play in it and spill it when I’m not at work (go figure that it isn’t when I’m around)

thank you for letting me know about that!


I wash and disinfect my litter box each month and use fresh litter. Even if you’re vacuuming up the litter around your mats, you will want to wash those occasionally. I have a big air purifier that is located right next to the box. I use Dr Elseys, which is unscented, but add in some Arm and Hammer deodorizer. She won’t tolerate a heavily scented litter.
If Fresh step stops working for me, I’ll try Dr Elseys! My cats usually aren’t picky about litter so when it came to tidy cats they were perfectly fine aside from me and the smell

Everyday that I have off at least once a week, I dump the litter box and replace the litter after giving it a nice scrub. I also clean up the area around the litter box with Seventh Generation Multi-Surface cleaner.



Get the black light. One of mine is ‘high shooter’. Occasionally I will look with black light just to make sure that I’m not missing while cleaning.
I will have to get one! I honestly never thought about using a black light to see if I have missed any spots
Thanks for the recommendation!
 

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Scented litter makes your apartment smell of litter. Do you use at least 3 inch. Some cats like to cover their pee. It will help. Is it big enough so they can cover their pee and move around? Putting it in a small space like a closet makes the odor worse. It needs to breath/vaporize
 

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I'm personally pretty sensitive to the tidy cat litters. That's what I recently had as it was on sale but after a bit I notice it starting to smell. I use the more expensive line of the Arm and Hammer litters - the only thing I don't love about it is that it's really fine so it's easier for him to track, but it doesn't smell the same way and honestly he tracks the tidy cats as well.
I would stay away from the tidy cats lightweight litters. They track like mad, leave sludge all over the bottom of the pan and leave stains everywhere. I have Indy's box next to my washing machine and it has stains from this litter four years after I stopped using it. I think it took the paint off it in places

It also was causing Indy to have weekly asthma attacks.
 

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I alternate between Dr. Elsey’s Ultra Unscented clay litter and Frisco’s (Chewy.com) Unscented clay litter. I also use Nature’s Miracle litter box scrubbing wipes. My female cat always likes to pee on the walls of the box so the wipes are good when it gets really bad (it’s only 30 wipes per container). She also has an elevator butt and sometimes misses and goes slightly outside the box. I don’t notice too much of a smell unless they do a number 2. I have litter mats similiar to what maggie101 maggie101 recommended. It’s the Up & Up version from Target. It’s similar in size but only around $13. Here’s the link.

My in-laws use Tidy cats and the dust irritates my throat. It’s super messy too and their cat gets litter every where.
 

maggie101

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I alternate between Dr. Elsey’s Ultra Unscented clay litter and Frisco’s (Chewy.com) Unscented clay litter. I also use Nature’s Miracle litter box scrubbing wipes. My female cat always likes to pee on the walls of the box so the wipes are good when it gets really bad (it’s only 30 wipes per container). She also has an elevator butt and sometimes misses and goes slightly outside the box. I don’t notice too much of a smell unless they do a number 2. I have litter mats similiar to what maggie101 maggie101 recommended. It’s the Up & Up version from Target. It’s similar in size but only around $13. Here’s the link.

My in-laws use Tidy cats and the dust irritates my throat. It’s super messy too and their cat gets litter every where.
I use storage bins 18 inch high. What wipes do you use? Just saw the answer!
 
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