Pine litter - how to keep down urine smell

sarah430

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I have two 5 year old cats (adopted at 6 months) and we use 2 litter boxes side by side. We've always used pine pellet litter and the cats are fine with it. Never had a problem with poop smell, even when I forget to scoop, but the urine smell seems to get bad quickly. I think part of the problem is they tend to pee mostly in just one of the boxes. I don't use any type of system - just litter in a tray. We do a full clean out once a week (saving some of the pellets that remain) and scoop the rest of the time. Anyone have a good system that they use with pine? Trying to keep costs down too. Thanks!
 

maggie101

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I use clay litter. My litter boxes are not together. They are in bedroom,bathroom and a long and tall one in the living room 25-30 inch long 3 inches of litter and 2 small er ones 18 inch high. All storage bins cut. So spread out your boxes and make sure there is plenty of litter
 
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sarah430

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I use clay litter.
Thanks for your response! However I should clarify I’m planning on sticking with pine and also don’t have a different spot for my boxes (wish I did! Really small house.) So mainly wondering what others who use pine do to keep the pee smell to a minimum. Thanks again!
 

blumarine916

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I don’t have the filter for pine litter so when I scoop daily, I’d remove as much of the wet dust as possible and replace it. They always seem to pee on the same spot so I guess the smell gets concentrated. I also spray a bit of scented disinfectant after each scooping. But regular scooping is the key. I can’t stand the idea of letting all that wet dust collect there for more than a day.
 
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sarah430

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I don’t have the filter for pine litter so when I scoop daily, I’d remove as much of the wet dust as possible and replace it. They always seem to pee on the same spot so I guess the smell gets concentrated. I also spray a bit of scented disinfectant after each scooping. But regular scooping is the key. I can’t stand the idea of letting all that wet dust collect there for more than a day.
Thanks! Agreed…it grosses me out when I realize how wet it’s gotten. Also I’m wondering if we should also use less pellets…especially if adding fresh daily. My husband usually does the weekly full clean out and I’ve wondered if he’s putting too much in. I don’t think the cats would mind less. He actually forgot to put the litter in one time and they still used the empty box until we realized the mistake. 😝
 

CaliFosterMom

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I just started using the pine pellets, I was given them with my recent foster cat. I find that scooping the powder out every two days and any solids that are there too helps with the smell. Then I do a full cleaning once a week using the actual sifting part of the litterbox and adding fresh litter then.

If your cats tend to urinate in one box more than the other then maybe just adding an additional weekly cleaning to the problematic box may help the smell.
 

Kflowers

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I don't know how well baking soda will mix with the pine pellets, but baking soda is a good way to remove some of the odor. With clay litter you put a thin layer on the bottom of the box before putting the litter in. In truth, you mix the baking soda in with the litter when you scoop out the box so it couldn't matter if you put it in the bottom of the box or just mix it in. I don't really know how pine litter works (how you clean the box, it seems to me it might be different from just scooping) so consider that when you are thinking of adding baking soda.
 
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sarah430

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It sounds like I need to do a better job of scooping the wet sawdust more often. But I’ll see if the baking soda would work too next time we change out. It wouldn’t really mix in since the pine is pellets, but a layer on the bottom might help. Thanks!
 

blumarine916

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I’ve wondered about how much litter to use too. The instruction says to fill about an inch thick. But when I imagine if a cat moved that 1 inch into a 3inch mound then another one happily pees on it. That little 3 inch mound becomes dust. Quite wasteful. That has actually happened.

So I just replace as much as I removed daily and do the weekly full cleaning.
 

BucDan

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I have 2 cats on pine pellets. A sifter makes the biggest difference. I always use more litter than recommended as well because my cats shuffle a lot.
 
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