Litter Question

I have one kitten with a deep, covered litter box. I typically keep four inches of litter in there--I feel bad admitting this, but it gets scooped about every two days, or if I notice an unpleasant smell.

One thing I wonder about though: her litter often starts smelling as soon as she uses it. It doesn't matter if I've just put in a new tray of clean litter--and I use liners, so the pan itself doesn't really need cleaning much. Could it be the food she's on? Because she stayed with my mother for a while, and she fed my kitten dry food--her litter quit smelling, as a result. I've used many kinds of litter, clumping, non-clumping, cheap and expensive, all sorts of stuff. Still smells as long as she eats that wet food, doesn't matter what brand.

Also, I've started using non-clumping litter. How often should I change the litter completely? Every couple of weeks?

What litter are you using? I think it could be a combo of litter and food, depending on what you feed her.

I know when I used non-clumping litter, it used to smell faster because I couldn't scoop the pee out, so that could be a contribution to the odor factor. I used to change it weekly but now with a scoopable litter, I do it every 2-3 weeks.

Originally Posted by MesmerizeK

What litter are you using? I think it could be a combo of litter and food, depending on what you feed her.

I know when I used non-clumping litter, it used to smell faster because I couldn't scoop the pee out, so that could be a contribution to the odor factor. I used to change it weekly but now with a scoopable litter, I do it every 2-3 weeks.

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I've used three different kinds, all with very bad results. I used some variety of Tidy Cat, which was clumping litter, and my DH bought some sort of clumping litter with cat attractant, I can't remember the name--Dr. something. (Sorry, I'm very forgetful!) Currently using "Special Kitty", very cheap. It's the only non-clumping litter I've used, it just has to be changed more often, about every week and a half I guess. The cat's litter box smells wretched no matter what litter I use, no matter what wet food I feed her.

It's not that terrible, but I can scoop all I like, change litter all I like--it still smells overpowering, even though I use Arm & Hammer litter deodorizer.