These kittens have pushed my patience with many things but they have grown on us, especially the girls, to be part of the family.

My least favorite part of this whole endeavor is the smell of a litter box. We keep one in the basement and one on the bottom floor based off yalls recommendation for multiple boxes. Our house isn’t big, multiple levels but small footprint.

Based off what I ready online I started with scoop away scented and we put baking soda in with it. Doesn’t help. The whole basement smells like shit and pee. We clean the litter box twice a day. No change. Is this a kitten stage problem? I know puppies have extra pungent poop, food-related maybe?

I just need something that masks the smell.

Litter boxes are stainless, I figured that was easier to clean, and they are covered with the little scotch pad looking filter on top. Thought about putting some smell good on that pad.

Any suggestions from experience?

You sure they're using the litter box and not going in a corner someplace? I only have one cat. I use 2 litter boxes. Read somewhere one box for each cat and one extra. I use Dr Elsey's Ultra Unscented. No odor at all. Scoop the boxes each day, change out litter maybe every 6 weeks.

My wife has scoured the basement and first floor. No surprises to note. Plus Jelly easily finds spots, especially her favorite treat, cat turds. And she hasn’t located anything.

This thread needs pictures!

I’ve trained several cats to use the toilet. No litter required – just flush. No odor, no litter tracking. Best ever solution. Necessary to leave the lid up, seat down, though.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pipe Smoker,

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I’ve trained several cats to use the toilet. No litter required – just flush. No odor. Best ever solution.

Are you BS’ing me? Can you explain this process to me?

I’ll try to compose a description after a while. You could likely find it on the web though. When I did it the Internet was available to few folks, and I wasn’t one of them.

When I caught my mildly feral, late, Momma Kiki and her feral kittens, they took to the litter box like kids to a sandbox. They loved it and used it.

I did notice that my feeding cat food to momma was different than her wild diet and for a few months, walking into the entryway by her litter box was like walking into a stanky wall.
I loved her but wow!

Her dookies smelled and she wasn't very good at the burying part.
Her system did normalize, like I said, it took a few months.

Her kitten's stools didn't seem that bad but like I say, their tummies might still be working out their new food.

Otherwise, sorry, I got nothing.

ETA: I used Tidy Cat for Momma Kiki and kittens.
It was scented but they didn't seem to mind.

Yeah, I think they are breaking the house rules and going somewhere else. We have a litter box in our basement and there is no smell whatsoever. Shoot, I buy the cheapest litter Walmart sells.

It's weird because my feral kittens loved the litter boxes for bathroom and playing.
One of them would start to assume the position for a bm and another would start crouching down to pounce on them.

I’ll search the basement, maybe there is a crack somewhere I am missing.

The one upstairs isn’t smelling as bad as the basement so maybe I am missing something down there.

But there are also ACs up here moving air. And it’s not humid and hot. The basement, while normally 65-70 degrees, is abnormally hot this summer with the 90+ degree weather here.

I’ll take a look Sunday when I’m off. Close off any areas they are sneaking off to.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I’ll try to compose a description after a while. You could likely find it on the web though. When I did it the Internet was available to few folks, and I wasn’t one of them.

My method:

* Bought an aluminum cake pan 10” x 8” x 1” deep with a flat rim.
* Filled it with litter, put it in place of the original litter box.
* Began moving it closer to the toilet, about a foot per day. Only a few feet away in my case.
* Constructed a light wooden frame that securely suspended the aluminum litter pan in the toilet. Put the toilet seat down.
* Lifted my cat up to show him where the litter box was.
* Watched cat closely. No need – he figured it out immediately.
* After a couple of days I cut a 1” x 1” hole in the pan.
* Enlarged the hole a bit every day with tin snips.
* After two weeks or so there was nothing left of the pan but its rim.
* After several more days I removed the light wooden frame. DONE!

In high school I had an after-school job. The guy I worked for had a cat that had learned to use the toilet entirely on its own. That’s what gave me the idea.

quote:

Originally posted by pace40:
You sure they're using the litter box and not going in a corner someplace? I only have one cat. I use 2 litter boxes. Read somewhere one box for each cat and one extra. I use Dr Elsey's Ultra Unscented. No odor at all. Scoop the boxes each day, change out litter maybe every 6 weeks.

We have 2 cats, one box. Might explain why one of them rather consistently leaves an overnight gift right in front of the box...


He'll pee in it but that's it.
If I put him in the box, it's about 30/70 chance that he'll go.

To the OP, we've been using the World's Best Litter. Best deal around here seems to be Walmart. Was available in a big bag at Tractor Supply, but they haven't had any stock in a few months.

quote:

Originally posted by pace40:
You sure they're using the litter box and not going in a corner someplace? I only have one cat. I use 2 litter boxes. Read somewhere one box for each cat and one extra. I use Dr Elsey's Ultra Unscented. No odor at all. Scoop the boxes each day, change out litter maybe every 6 weeks.

This.

We have 5 cats and 6 boxes. Three upstairs and three downstairs. The ones in the basement are spread out from each other.

The other thing we do is use the plastic ic storage boxes. We just cut down one side for access. Another thing we do is put pee pads in front of the box to capture any overspray or walk off litter. It really has helped a lot as if one pees or poops on the pad, just replaced it with a fresh one.

To find urine in the house, use a black light. The cat pee will glow in the black light. Best to check when the room is dark.

Hope that helps.

I've been using Naturally Fresh Quick Clumping Walnut Shell Cat Litter, for years.

It has low odor, clumps, but you have to be "gentle" when you scoop, so it does not "break/crumple" and fall though the scoop.
(you get the hang of it pretty quick)

It does not clump fast/hard like some other litter, but it sets harder after a bit of time after the cat pees. If you try and scoop within a short time after, it will crumble (and fall though the scoop).


It is very good about not letting odors escape far from the litter box. (and I cannot abide that "cat urine smell"...)

Scoop every day (try to figure out the cats crap/pee schedule, so you can get it after it has had time to clump).

It does have some "dust", and the cats will track a bit of litter out of the box, but the trade off of not having a strong "ammonia" or other litter box odors is acceptable.

You can give it a try and if it does not work, it's a small price to see if it works.

Smell will be reduced once the entire crew is spayed/neutered. I use the largest cat litter box I can find and fill it with corn based Worlds Best Cat Litter. Its flushable and is great stuff. I scoop every day.

A better quality of Food may also help. And Scoop twice a day.

Yes, cats like a clean box.

Refresh the litter every few days by adding a bit of fresh litter, and change the litter altogether once a month, and scrub the litter box with something like Simple Green when you do so. I hose the boxes down in the driveway and let them air dry in the sun. Make sure you have at least one litter box available at all times for your cats to use, because they'll improvise if they have to go.

Yes, high quality food is a must. We have three litter robots and use Dr Elsey's as well. You will never have things odor free

We have five cats currently, down from seven. Thankfully right now we don't have one that likes to piss where it pleases

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Smell will be reduced once the entire crew is spayed/neutered. I use the largest cat litter box I can find and fill it with corn based Worlds Best Cat Litter. Its flushable and is great stuff. I scoop every day.

^^ THIS! Worlds Best Cat Litter is made from corn and goes right into the toilet! We have two cats, and two litter boxes (one upstairs on the 2nd floor, and one downstairs on the 1st floor) located in low(er) traffic bathrooms, one of which is also the laundry room. I ritually scoop twice a day, once early(ish) in the AM, and once before going to bed, and any other time I notice scooping is req'd. As para recommends, I refresh/replenish w/ some fresh litter every few days, and do a thorough clean (I use Lysol wipes) when replenishing the litter box gets me to the bottom of a 15# bag and I need to open a new one, which is generally about once a month. You do get some dust/litter tracking out of the box w/ Worlds Best Cat Litter but it's a more than fair trade-off IMO to be able to just flush everything I scoop down the toilet.