Cat's litter box stinking up whole room!!! How to fix this?

[Serenityinaz12]

Can anyone recommend a specific litter or maybe a deodarizer or something to help with this? Even after emptying my cat's litter box, which I do daily, it stinks. Even if I replace the litter box, mop the entire room and walls and clean the towels his litter box sits on.................... it will stink after just another use or two. And I mean stink regardless if it's empty or not. It didn't used to be this way. Did the litter change or something?

Please, I work-from-home in the same room where I have his box. What can I do?

 

[Meowmee]

Which litter do you use? I use world’s best cat litter which is not too bad. Every so often I need to throw it all away, clean and wash the box, and start fresh. Baking soda added to the litter can help. Sometimes the clay litters are worse. Some litters have deodorants and odor eliminators added in too. I don’t usually use those ones because they have perfumes and I am allergic.

I also use hollister m9 odor eliminator spray which works fast, and I try to remove the poop and pee asap after they go. Two of my cats are have stinky runs sometimes on and off due to food issues.
You need to have one more box than cats also so if you have more than one cat you need more. I have now 5 cats having taken in three outdoor cats over the past year. And I have several boxes in different rooms.

Can you open a window after they poop etc. ?

There are also automated boxes which scoop for you and keep the waste in an enclosed compartment like the Litter Robot… the Cat Genie is a toilet and drains into a sink or toilet, and there are some where the pee goes on wee pad below- I have never use the last one.

Also what you feed your cat can affect the smell of the poop if it is the poop that is really smelling a lot. I have been switching my guys to eating some dry food and that is what is causing the runs I think with two of them. I’m not sure really, but it seems to have coincided with adding some dry food in so I was searching for a brand that they can tolerate and I thought I had finally found one but then Merlin is still getting some runs and so is Zena. I just had to give them some of Quinn‘s dry food because we were running out of theirs, so, that could be the cause but probably not.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I have the same problem! My cats’ litter is in the bathroom, right next to my bedroom. I use enzymatic tofu litter - it’s made of pea fibre, with activated charcoal and baking soda. Doesn’t completely eliminate the urine smell but it’s the best I’ve found so far. I’m home all day and scoop as soon as I see a clump, too.

A while ago I bought a black-light torch to see if there was any urine sprayed around, because I could smell it under my bed. There were specks, which must have been in dust tracked from previo litter I’d used (clay). So that might be adding to the problem.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Trying different litters is something you probably need to do. I use Fresh Step clumping litter and while there is some dust involved, despite it saying that it is 99% dust free, it does not pose an issue with any odors - and my cat does not even cover her poop (or pee, for that matter). Her box is also in the room where I spend hours on the computer, and it has not posed a problem. I only have one cat and one litter box, but as noted above, a lot of folks have at least two boxes for one cat.

But, if you have been using the same litter for quite a while, maybe it is not the litter but the cat's output. Also, as mentioned above, any changes in food that might be attributing to the problem? It doesn't have to be causing loose stools but some foods in some cats can still impact the odor - ditto with the pee smell too.

 

[maggie101]

Can anyone recommend a specific litter or maybe a deodarizer or something to help with this? Even after emptying my cat's litter box, which I do daily, it stinks. Even if I replace the litter box, mop the entire room and walls and clean the towels his litter box sits on.................... it will stink after just another use or two. And I mean stink regardless if it's empty or not. It didn't used to be this way. Did the litter change or something?

Please, I work-from-home in the same room where I have his box. What can I do?

Do you have tops on the litterbox? That can make the smell worse. My litter boxes are storage bins. 3 inches of litter,2x his length and high. My female cat pees standing up so her box is 13 inch high. I use arm&hammer slide. Only buy unscented

 

[Meowmee]

Can anyone recommend a specific litter or maybe a deodarizer or something to help with this? Even after emptying my cat's litter box, which I do daily, it stinks. Even if I replace the litter box, mop the entire room and walls and clean the towels his litter box sits on.................... it will stink after just another use or two. And I mean stink regardless if it's empty or not. It didn't used to be this way. Did the litter change or something?

Please, I work-from-home in the same room where I have his box. What can I do?

Another factor could be if it is an older plastic box which has absorbed pee smell. In which case toss it. In general stainless steel is better. Scoe is a great probiotic odor eliminator to clean both plastic and ss boxes.

 

[arr]

That doesn’t sound normal. If a box is kept clean, urine clumps and poop removed, it shouldn’t smell at all. There wouldn’t be anything in the box to cause a smell. I use Tidy Cats unscented litter and I smell nothing other than right after they poop, which is no different than a human. The only things I can think of are, either the material of the box must have absorbed the smell, and you need a new box, or maybe the cat is going elsewhere in the room, causing an odor.

 

[arr]

Or I also thought of something else, maybe your cat has an “elevator butt” and some of the pee is going over the sides and under the box, causing an odor. We have a cat who does this so our litter boxes sit on puppy pee pads and then we can just throw them away if they get soiled, thus protecting the floor.

 

[Serenityinaz12]

I appreciate the feedback, here are some pictures of his box area and I’m open for ideas. Someone said to NOT have a top on the box? I thought that would help keep the smell from spreading but I guess not? Also, the issue is mainly with pee smell.

So his box is in the closet. I mostly close the door after he uses it and he just pushes the door open and goes in when he has to go. Pictures:

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, I'm another who is wondering if a change of diet might help?
I apologize if you mentioned already but is she getting only dry food?
Also, if you remove the lid, you could tape pee pads on the walls if that might be a concern.

 

[Serenityinaz12]

Hi, I'm another who is wondering if a change of diet might help?
I apologize if you mentioned already but is she getting only dry food?
Also, if you remove the lid, you could tape pee pads on the walls if that might be a concern.

no he’s wet food only. And he wasn’t peeing on the walls I just thought the kid would help contain the smell

 

[MeezeIfYouPlz]

We have to use an unscented litter because of my chemical and fragrances sensitivitys but honestly, having tried many, many brands of litter over the past 40 or so years, they all work on odors about the same, IMO. The scented ones smell worse to me after awhile, but that could just be my sensitivity talking.
I invested in several plug-in odor eliminators (Hamilton Beach is the brand, if you're interested) and I religiously change the charcoal filters when the red strip on top of the machine tells me it's time. I buy the brand name filters directly from the company, the version they sell specifically for pet odors. The knock-off brands are inferior. These great little odor eliminators, DIFFERENT from air purifiers, don't remove 100% of the odors, but they do help alot. We have two in the cats' room, but it's a large room, and another on the other side of the house. One would probably do ya.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I haven't heard anything about a possible health issue, or how old your cat is. It might be worth it to have a urinalysis done just to see if something shows up, maybe even a blood workup that includes a Chemistry Profile to check kidney values. If nothing else, you might find his urine is more concentrated than it used to be - as is typical as cats age because their kidneys lose efficiency over time, even with cats who do not have kidney disease.

Concentrated urine will always smell worse, linger longer, and likely cause the litter to need changing more often. Urine decomposes as it dries (which it does even in litter), and during the decomposition process cat urine actually becomes smellier and smellier. I am sure you also thoroughly clean the lid to the box when you do all the other cleaning. But, if not, it might be that the lid is retaining the urine odor, particularly if he ever accidentally 'hits' the lid at all.

Very high protein levels in cat food can also make urine smell more, and it seems to be the case more with chicken than any other protein.

 

[GranolaLouise]

I use Arm & Hammer Slide Platinum. NO SMELL.EVER after she buries it in the litter.. I ask people who come up the house!
The only odor is immediately after a poop which tends to smell when she has Fancy Feast Fish with gravy. God it is awful! But it is just while she is going. I light and blow out a match and then burn a candle I got as a freebee with a purina order .
These candles are so great and is designed to be a pet odor candle, but I use them as a home fragrance candle rather than the floral ones I have .
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B6RS7XBK/?tag=thecatsite
But give the Slide Platinum a try!

 

[Timewarpcat]

I agree with the Hamilton Beach carbon filters.

 

[iPappy]

I appreciate the feedback, here are some pictures of his box area and I’m open for ideas. Someone said to NOT have a top on the box? I thought that would help keep the smell from spreading but I guess not? Also, the issue is mainly with pee smell.

So his box is in the closet. I mostly close the door after he uses it and he just pushes the door open and goes in when he has to go. Pictures:

View attachment 440156View attachment 440157

I had a very similar problem with my female and the elevator butt syndrome. Turns out, she was peeing "while in" the box just fine, but facing towards the back and peeing outside the entrance/exit hole of the box. (A bigger box might help if this is the problem.) Have you checked the towels to make sure there isn't any urine on there, or, if it's possible your cat is stepping in urine clumps and tracking the odor across the floor?
If that's not the case a new very strong urine smell would indicate a trip to the vet, but hopefully it's just a "toilet malfunction."

 

[maggie101]

I appreciate the feedback, here are some pictures of his box area and I’m open for ideas. Someone said to NOT have a top on the box? I thought that would help keep the smell from spreading but I guess not? Also, the issue is mainly with pee smell.

So his box is in the closet. I mostly close the door after he uses it and he just pushes the door open and goes in when he has to go. Pictures:

View attachment 440156View attachment 440157

My female cat pees standing up. Right at the 13inch marker. it was very messy to clean and made the top stink bad since it had pee all over it. I occasionally watch my cats use it to make sure there are no medical issues creeping up so a urinalysis incase he has uti

 

[maggie101]

When my cats had to stay at my parents house it stunk bad but I think it's because it was in the bathroom. I moved it to the bedroom. No smell. I guess from being in a small room with walls/doors all around except entrance

 

[rubysmama]

I appreciate the feedback, here are some pictures of his box area and I’m open for ideas. Someone said to NOT have a top on the box? I thought that would help keep the smell from spreading but I guess not? Also, the issue is mainly with pee smell.

So his box is in the closet. I mostly close the door after he uses it and he just pushes the door open and goes in when he has to go. Pictures:

Looking at your pictures reminded me of an issue I had with the first litter box I had for Ruby. It wasn't covered, but it was 2 pieces and because Ruby is an elevator butt pee-er, pee would leak between the seams and get on the floor. So check to see if that is happening with your 2 piece covered box. There could be pee in the seams. That would also explain how it gets on the towels.

 

[Alldara]

Or I also thought of something else, maybe your cat has an “elevator butt” and some of the pee is going over the sides and under the box, causing an odor. We have a cat who does this so our litter boxes sit on puppy pee pads and then we can just throw them away if they get soiled, thus protecting the floor.

Puppy pee pads here for a senior who pees over the edge sometimes too

I use paper litter which generally works for the smell. (Okocat - both versions were fine for smell, but paper absorbed faster) I also just keep a scoop and paper bag nearby and scoop a smelly poo when it happens. I roll the bag top and set it inside the litter to the side if I can't take it out immediately


Also multiple boxes help. However, the cats all pop in my wife's office without fail when she's working. You know, so it's safe to poo.