Best way to hide the litter box? And the smell?

Question

I have had cats my entire life, and I am still trying to find the best way to hide the litter box and the smell.. What have you found that works best for you? Which litter products? What about those cat cabinets that you can hide the litter box inside of? Do you use a litter liner or no litter liner?? I have already tried the litter maid and did not like it so much... Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

By the way - I use Tidy Cat Multi Cats litter and it works great. I am just looking for the best way to hide the actual litter box. Something like this: http://www.moorepet.com/Refined-Cat-Litter-Box-p/refined-cat-litter-box.htm

Answer 1

We have four cats and we use "Scoop Away Clumping Litter for Multiple Cats".
We have a spare room that we use as an office, we took the closet door off and put the litter boxes in their..it's a big closet.

Three of the boxes are open and the fourth has a cover...for some reason the girls won't use a covered box, but that's all the male will use.
I clean the boxes three times a day and completely dump all the litter once about every three weeks.
People come into our house and can't believe that we have four cats because there is no odor at all.

As for those cabinets, I wouldn't waste the money everyone I've ever known who did have one got rid of it because it seems to trap the odor.

Good luck

Answer 2

My sister has had the same cat for over 5 years and it is a huge cat. We have found that it doesn't matter as much which litter you use (as long as it isn't the cheapest out there) as much as the cleaning habits. Every time we clean we sprinkle baking soda in the box as well as keep a small box of it on the top or side of box. You could also try a less attractive method we have used. Put a cardboard box around the entire litter box leave the front open and with a razor blade cut a few small slits close to the baking soda box. The smell will be neutralized as soon as it exits. We also cleaned the box every night before bed. Where most people left the box in the kitchen or bathroom we didn't. The bathroom already has enough bacteria and the kitchen is your cooking environment it is not very healthy for you. A spare room or warmed porch with a little doggy door or a basement would be perfect. Cats carry many different bacterias the cleaner the litter box the better.

Answer 3

If your litter box has odor, it is because it is not being kept clean - pure and simple, especially with the clumping litter products available on the market today.
I use the Petco store brand clumping litter, non-scented and find it works great, I have tried your brand and was not pleased with it. If you are using your box for kittens, do not use the clumping brand until they are a few months old as kittens tend to play in it and it is something that can clump in their air passages &Dont flush the clumping litter down the toliet - it can and will cause problems. Litter liners are a waste of your money.
My household has 6 cats in it and NEVER any odor.
A dirty litter box is the same as an unflushed toliet - its disguisting & unexcusable.
Every time you walk by the box, it only takes 2 seconds to scoop out any visits the kitty has made. Make sure you are using enough litter for the cat to be able to cover up his visit to the box and at least once every 2 weeks or so, dump out all the litter and wash out the pan with hot soap and water, and you can return the unused litter to the pan as long as you have removed all the clumps.

I would suggest you start feeding your cat a higher quality food. It sounds crazy but the cheap brands really do create a smeller waste, and the nutritional factor of the higher foods is better for the cat as well .

as far as hiding it, i think that would have alot to do with the decor of your home. Ive always felt the size of the litter pans to be somewhat too small, or perhaps my cats are all too big, so I use a painters box from Home Depot for mine and have it in the corner of a hallway next to the bathroom and have placed a few fake plants around it for the animals privacy.

Of course the best solution to the whole problem is to place the box outside or eliminate it completely, but then again i think about how i wouldnt like having to go outside in the cold or rain or snow when i have to use the facilities and thats why I keep one in my home - a clean one.

Answer 4

First of all I would not recommend you to get the ones with a top hat (full box). I have seen way too many cats that don't want to go inside there. But then again, you have all the cats that will go in there......
But, it's not so easy to keep clean.

I would recommend cat sand/litter that will stick together when they have been to the toilet. It's very easy to remove, and you just do that right after they have been there. Fill a little bit extra sand/litter, so they think it's more or less newly cleaned.
In other words, remove what they leave behind all the time every day, clean the box with soap for the floor once every week.

Also fix your cat. The pee smell will be reduced VERY much....

Answer 5

Hiding the box, well I just keep it in the master bath since I am the only one who sees it no big deal. Smell-ugh, the constant work of owning cats. I have good luck with this-
covered cat box with door flap-replace it every 6 months as the pee gets into the plastic and the smell won't wash out
good litter-I like tidy cats with crystals or for small spaces
scoop every day:)
put a plug in freshner close by and keep it full and working
change the litter completely every 3 weeks and wash the pan with warm soapy water

I can't stand the smell and I ask close freinds when the come in "do you smell the litter pan" to make sure it is clean.

Answer 6

FELINE PINE brand litter.
It looks like sawdust (and tracks like it as well) but there is virtually NO ODOR. Since it is a totally natural product, there is no need to worry about your cat ingesting chemicals that might harm it, when it cleans its paws later.
I work in a doggie daycare facility, we also board cats (separately obviously) - we have had as many as 10 cats at a time, 3 litter boxes with the feline pine, and no odor problem at all. It is the only litter we use and/or sell.
We do use covered boxes as the litter is lightweight and if a heavy cat steps on the edge of the box as he/she is exiting it may tip and send litter across the floor.
It is flushable; the store cat Peaches has her own covered box next to the toilet in the bathroom, it is really easy to scoop and dispose of the litter that way.
Scoop the box daily and totally empty it and change the litter once a week. We wash them in the bathtub in hot soapy water (after emptying, of course!) Hard calcium-like deposits can be removed with a product like lime-away or even toilet bowl cleaner. Rinse thoroughly.
Unless your cat is declawed, I DO NOT recommend the use of liners; they will be a waste of $$ as the cat's natural instinct is to scratch about and cover it's business; this puts tears in the liner and then when you lift it out of the box it is like trying to hold water in a sieve. The only thing they are good for, is to dump the used litter into for disposal, IMO.
A cat cabinet sounds like a good idea, thought I've never seen or heard of it before. I also know of people who put a small cat/dog door into the garage and keep the litter box there, although I would be afraid of the cat escaping if I came home and opened the overhead.
Besides the bathroom, a utility or mud room is also good place for the cat box, if it is between the garage and house you could put the kitty door through the door into the utility room, and keep the door beyond that into the garage, shut.

Answer 7

I buy scoopable liter that clumps right away at Menards. I also keep my cats litter box inside of a dog kennel, that way when they scratch around the litter is contained and the smell is contained very well. The litter I buy, I think is called Tidy Cats and it is deoderized and it clumps very well. I use this for 2 cats and never smell cat poop/pea in the room where their litter is. I think that keeping the litter box inside of a dog kennel really helps too. I think the cats think its kind of neat too. They like it... Don't buy the cabinets, unless they are cheaper then a dog kennel that has solid sides with little air holes at the top. You might be able to find one at a goodwill or garage sale for really cheap. I do not use a liner, I just clean it every other day and we don't have any smell problems. Although, about every week to week and a half, I completely clean it with soap and water and put all fresh in for the cats. They love the fresh stuff, my one cat likes to roll in it!

Hope this helps!

Answer 8

Getting rid of the cat like one responder mentions is not the answer to the problem. It IS a problem for the cat!!

Scoop at least once daily -- probably twice.

Wash the litter box at least once a month. Hot water and a tiny bit of a bleach solution is the best -- some people just use hot water. Stronger cleaning solutions can be harmful to the cat.

I use Yesterday's News, but Tidy Cat is GREAT too.

Go online and look for a screen to put in front of the litter box. Many different types are available.

Here's one at Drs Foster and Smith --

Kitty Litter Screen for $17.99 and $11.99

Answer 9

Charcoal - I found the perfect product that I've used for years and know dozens of other people that use it. It is a product called FRIDGE IT carbon odor absorbers. It is a little purple cube with an incredible activated carbon filter inside that is really, really, great. The carbon literally absorbs and eliminates the odors and works for a long time. It works so much better than all those sprays and fragrances that just cover up smells and doesn't get rid of them. Also, alot of sprays have warning statements about being eye irritant. and gels that say keep away from fabric, etc. and just don't eliminate odors. Just clip a couple of these to the litter tray. I use this product everywhere including car(smoke and pet smells), storage, closets, my fridge and also under sinks, near trash and have friends that use it on cat litter box and also diaper pails - it's that good. I really recommend it. You can buy it in kitchen gadget sections in stores like walmart and linens and things. I also think camping world sells it. Someone else even said available in England. Definitely worth trying

Answer 10

My litterbox is in the upstairs bathroom. It fits right into a nook that has shelves above it. Works out great for me because all litter supplies I need are on the shelf above. The cats like this area because it's out of the way of heavy traffic (we mostly use the downstairs bathroom, except to shower/bath), but we obviously are in there often enough to keep it clean. I had two litter boxes - one in the downstairs bath, but they never used it.

In my experience, I found the "hooded" boxes not helpful. It really kept any smell inside the box, which is nice for humans, but then the box smells worse than it actually is and the cats wouldn't use it. Plus, the cleaning process was a pain in the neck. The liners didn't work well for me either because when they covered their feces/urine, they just clawed holes in the liner.

Best bet is maybe to experiment with different litters. The one I use now is excellent. There is no odor, no dust, it's really soft on cat paws, and environmentally friendly. It's called Feline Fresh.
http://www.felinefresh.com/felineSc.htm