New kitten ... I'm very upset?

Question

I've been posting like crazy ... now I need some moral support from my cat friend network.

My problem lies in two words ... catbox stink.

My husband is freaking out over the stink.

Currently we have the box in the back hall with windows, but its right next to the kitchen.

I want to move the boxes to the furthest corner in the basement .. but my husband hates the fact that there is no air quality and circulation.

We are in disagreement as to which is the best place.

I am in tears right now ... this may mean we will need to get rid of the cats if we can't find a solution.

Thoughts ... support ... Thanks

Answer 1

Are you scooping the litterbox after the kitten poops? If not, well, hello - would your bathroom smell nice if you never flushed the toilet?

If it's urine smell - what sort of litter are you using? And how often are you dumping it? The clay litters do litter to cover urine smell not to mention track all over the place. Switch to wood stove pellets. They're made of compressed pine sawdust and COMPLETELY remove urine odor. They also absorb all of the liquid. When the pellets break down, the pan dumps out dry. You can find them at Lowe's, Home Depot and some grocery stores if you're in a cooler climate. Price? About $4.99 for a 40 lb bag!

Last thing to think about - has this kitten seen a vet yet? Kittens are often born with worms from their mothers and the worms can make them poop VERY stinky. So if you haven't already done so, get this kitty checked out by a vet.

Incidentally, I have three cats and one pan is in my utility room off the kitchen and the other in my bedroom - and I never smell a thing and friends comment on how fresh my home smells.

FYI - please avoid the new crystal or pearl litters. They really haven't been on the market long enough to be proven to not have effects on cats and since kittens are quite mouthy they may actually eat it.

Answer 2

Here are a couple of things that have been successful for me. If it is a pee smell you probably need to clean the box more often (wash the box whenever you change litter or get another box so you can switch). I also use a box with a "hood" so the stink is more contained and there is less litter scatter. The whole male has a much stronger odor to his pee than does a neutered male. There's a BIG difference.

If it is a poop smell the awful odor can be caused by what you feed the cat. My whole house smelled like cat poop and then when I changed them to IAMS dry, within 24 hours the smell was gone. (No litter will stop the smell of a "fresh one".)

I also use Tidy Cats for Multiple Cats scoopable litter because it has "immediate odor control" and scoop daily. I also use a deodorizing/cleaning spray called "X-O" that I get at janitorial supply stores (sometimes also sold at cat shows). It may seem expensive but it is very concentrated and you have to mix it 7 parts water to 1 part concentrate. I spray the litter after I scoop and then in the air a couple of squirts to clear the air. It's supposed to be organic so shouldn't hurt anything. You can also get it online from pet supply stores.

It's best to get at the source of the odor rather than trying to cover it up. Your cat's litter box needs to be in an accessible place to encourage them to use it. Next to the kitchen is not a good choice for sanitary reasons. There should be one litterbox on each level of your residence. If you have the box in a small room, you might want to install an exhaust fan, but only as a last resort.

You also need to have one box per cat. They get too stinky otherwise.

Answer 3

What comes out of a cat is directly related to what it eats. Stop giving any milk for one, it makes a huge stink. Get a good quality cat food, too, one with no by-products and only one grain (not corn!) in the first four ingredients.

We have four cats and ONE box, right in the kitchen area. I scoop first thing in the morning when I get up, and last thing I do before going to bed. I also scoop when I get home from work--all liquid and all solids. If I see the surface of the box disturbed at any other time, I take a second to scoop out the used stuff right then and there. It takes me less than 2 minutes, tops, to do this on any one day.

DO NOT put it into the kitchen garbage! That makes smells linger. I save one of the plastic type cat food bags and use that to hold the used litter, and I walk out to the outdoor garbage every evening and dump what's in the bag. I think that makes a huge difference in smell control.

People come in and they SEE the box, but they don't smell cats, and with four cats here that says a lot.

Answer 4

I finally found that Hartz Mountain makes what I consider to be the best cat litter as it has the best drying power. I live in a one bedroom apartment with my litter box in the utility room near the back door and no one has ever complained about litter box odor.

I too do not like the scented litters and some cats don't either.

You might also re-evaluate what you are feeding your kitten. A lot of the canned foods are too rich for their digestive system and their stool will really stink things up. I would switch to a dry food like science diet or I use Iams for indoor cats.

Cleaning and stirring up the litter every day allows the wet to dry. You can also add baking soda to the box and stir it in; that helps with odors.

Also, some people are more sensitive to cat odors than others; your husband may be one of them or he may not like cats. Complaining about the litter box is a good way to not have to deal with the cat.

If it becomes a really BIG issue, you can try the automated litter boxes like litter maid that use clumping litter and scoop the litter solids into disposable covered trays, BUT they are VERY expensive and of the three cats I had two were scared to death of it & wouldn't use it.

Hope you find a solution, sweetie. Don't surrender your kittie; give your husband away. (Just kidding!!)

Answer 5

I actually have a catbox IN the kitchen and nobody smells it.
The secret is, I use the "crystal" type cat litter. It is more expensive than clay, but a container of it lasts a whole month. Sure, you are supposed to remove the poop daily, but I don't even do that. I do it maybe once a week at most. I'm very pleased and impressed with this stuff.

Answer 6

Litterbox's only stink if you don't clean them. Plain and simple. Get scoopable litter and scoop it EVERDAY. I scoop mine every morning and throw the scooped litter outside in the trash. Change the entire litter when the brand you use calls for. Also if you have mutliple cats sometimes you need multiple litter boxes. Tell your husband to contribute to scooping/cleaning the box if he can't handle the smell. It's that simple.

Answer 7

Use scoopable litter and scoop at least once a day. I scoop twice. I use the cheap Sam's Club scoopable stuff. It costs me about $9.00 a month and works great. I'm paranoid about odor but can honestly say that no one ever smells anything.

Answer 8

How often do you clean the litter box? Scoop it daily and the smell shouldn't be very noticeable, if at all.

Try different litters (the scented ones are the worst). I use the crystals that absorb the urine and odor's. Never smell it.

Answer 9

Switch to Feline Pine. You just scoop out the poop daily and flush it or throw it away. The urine breaks down the pine pellets and turns it into sawdust, and you just have to shake up the box on occasion to move the dust down to the bottom. You will not notice any smells.

Answer 10

Scoop the litter daily, and if needed, put an air freshener near by, but not too close.