cat litter?

Question

What is the best cat litter to use in order to keep down the smell? I have a very old cat and I guess that contributes to strong urine...not sure about that but..I can clean her litter box everyday and when I get home from work I can smell it. I have my house on the market to sell and do not want potential buyers to smell the litter box. Only positive answers please. Thanks!

Gosh you have all pretty much given some great advice. It seems to be a tie between Tidy Cats and Fresh Step. It's going to be hard to pick a best answer as well. Thanks so much to you all.

Answer 1

Well I also use fresh step and have a covered litter box without the flap(my cat isn't that bright and didn't know how to use it). But I also have a plug in air filter, I think it's called true air by hamilton beach. I bought a 2 for 1 deal at target one time and it works great. They're usually $20 or less.

Answer 2

I use Tidy Cats for Multiple Cats. I have 2 cats, a male and a female, and 3 litterboxes. I do a complete litter change in the boxes once a week and scoop at least twice a day. It helps cut down on the smell. Yeah I spend more on litter, but I'd take that over a smelly litterbox, because it drives me crazy. The females urine smells way worse than the males, I only know this because I know which litterboxes they use for which "occasion". When I do a complete litter change I clean the entire box with Simple Solution (for cats and dogs) and put in fresh litter. When I scoop, I also clean off the sides of the litterbox where urine also gets. Any surrounding walls and the floor I also clean. I have 2 litterboxes that are on carpet, so I'm totally anal-retentive about cleaning them otherwise the carpet around them will smell as well. I keep those plastic sheets that are meant for keeping the litter track from escaping the litterbox area underneath the boxes. It saves the carpet from smelling, and me from getting a headache.

Crystal formulas allegedly work well too, I haven't used them myself, but I used to work in a pet store and those brands sold like wild fire. Tidy Cats also has a new litter on the market for "Small Spaces", I believe that's what the name is. It's supposed to help with smell and all as well.

Good luck selling your home! And good luck with the litters!

Answer 3

I see nobody here has mentioned pine litter. I used the traditional clay litter for years, including the clumping type and I would start to smell my cats' (two cats) urine after 2 or 3 days. The other problem was the dust that was kicked up whenever we changed it. I read about pine litter and was amazed at how well it absorbed the odors. Now I change the litter not because of the smell but because the pellets break down into small pieces and the cats tend to track it on their feet ---that is the one drawback, but I think that is true about any cat litter. Also there is absolutely no dust. Two pine litter brands are Pine Fresh and Feline pine. I do hope you try it even if you don't give me the 10 points. Also I would agree with the others who suggest that you take your cat to the vet just to be on the safe side. Or you might simply call and ask whether a strong urine smell is normal for an older cat.

Answer 4

1. Get a covered litter box, or better yet, a litter box that is covered and has a pet flap. This will help to contain odors.

2. The stronger the litter, the better. They make litters for "multiple cats" which are just stronger formulas, and they work just fine for one cat. Also, Tidy Scoop makes a cat litter called "Small Spaces" which is VERY good about odor - I have a tiny apartment, and smells tend to linger here, but the litter box is never on the list of stinks in here. It's a clumping litter and it has little scent particles in it that actually make clean litter smell fresher than no litter at all. It's about $7-10.

3. Febreeze and other companies make air sprays that are supposed to "deodorize" the air or neutralize odors. I can't tell you if they honestly do that, but when the litter box is freshly used and stinky, a quick spray of that stuff masks it wonderfully. They're cheap, around $3 or $4 each, but they last a long time.

4. I don't know if you already do this, but if you put a litter liner in between the litter and the litter box, it will help the plastic box to not absorb the yucky smells, so when you start fresh, it actually is still clean.

Answer 5

The scoop able liter with blue crystals is better on odor control, also use cat litter deodorizer for the cat box made by Arm and Hammer, it smells great and works excellent! It cost around two dollars a box and you add it to the cat litter. It can be found in the cat litter section of your stores. Also, Arm and Hammer's Carpet and Room Pet Fresh Odor Eliminator works excellent for carpets where odors get trapped in. We own many cats and no one could ever tell! Best Wishes!

Answer 6

I use Tidy Cats (there's also Arm & Hammer brand) cat litter _deodorizer_ with my scoopable litter. It's worked really well. I mix a bit in with the litter after each scooping.

(Anyway, you might want to be careful with these, since I think the smell might deter some cats from using the box normally.) Just be sure to keep the box well scooped out and change the litter and bleach out the box itself fairly often, perhaps every two weeks.

Answer 7

I have 2 cats and smell has been a problem for me too. I tried every brand of cat litter under the sun, and I highly recommend Tidy Cats... Seems to be the best at keeping the smell down..

Answer 8

I used to use Tidy Cats clumping litter, but a few months ago I switched to sillica gel 'crystal' litter, and I love it! It keeps the smell down amazingly well, and is easier to clean. It's slightly more expensive than clay litter, but I think it's worth it. I've tried a few different brands and so far I like Tidy Cat crystals the best. I believe Trader Joe's carries a crystal litter as well.

Answer 9

Fresh Step is the best, out of all the other brands I've used it hides smells the best.

In fact, when we sold our house a year ago we mentioned to our realtor that we had a cat (we didn't want her to escape when she bought potential buyers over). She commented that she never would have guessed, she couldn't smell the litter box.

p.s. My cat is 9 (almost 10) years old, but we haven't noticed a strong urine smell... maybe you should have that checked out...

Hope this helps :-)

Answer 10

Any sort of clumping litter will keep the smell as low as possible. I like Fresh Step or Tidy Cats.