Just Wondering

From what I understand, what makes cat urine smell so bad is the ammonia in it... I've been wondering if it's possible to lower the ammonia levels in a cat's urine through changes in their diet. If it is possible, does anyone know what the best diet/food for that would be?

If you have a real issue with urine smell ... I have a few questions?
Is the cat neutered? If no doing that will help greatly
what is the current diet
Has this issue been addressed by a vet

It's not that the levels are abnormal, but I do have 4 cats and the smell can get a little overwhelming sometimes, even with regular cleaning. It's more a matter of curiosity than anything else, but to answer your questions; yes, they are all neutered/spayed, and they're on a dry food diet (usually Friskies).

Likely it is a by product of their diet.. I would imagine a higher quality food with less artificial items and grains might help... I have 5 cats ( 3 males ) and NO urine smell

I have found that artificial coloring really raises the stink factor. I have 17 cats, about half of them boys, and no ammonia smell. Friskies is pretty brighly colored. Try a food without any coloring in it and see if that helps. Purina Naturals is fairly good, and is about the same price range as Friskies.

Yeah... I think this is about the food too... I have 3 cats, and live in a tiny little apartment, a no odor whatsoever... They do eat good food though... No grains, no artificial stuff...

Agree, probably food, I keep entires (girls) and neuters (boys & girls) and have no litterbox odour.

Mine are all raw fed and I use wood pellets for litter.

I have no urine smell. If the litter boxes are kept clean there should be no odor problem in your home. I have three cats and four boxes. I did have four cats and five boxes, one right up here in the living area, for a few years for my senior kitty. Ootay is gone now so I don't keep a box up here any more.

Boxes should be scooped several times a day and dumped and scrubbed weekly. This should solve any odor problems.

However getting them on a high quality canned diet will help keep the urine properly diluted. Or at least put in a water fountain to encourage more drinking. Their urine is too concentrated on the dry food, but really it shouldn't be that much of a problem if the boxes are kept clean.

Originally Posted by otto

really it shouldn't be that much of a problem if the boxes are kept clean.

Click to expand...

I don't know if that's entirely true---I've met cats that could smell up the house by peeing once in a freshly disinfected litterbox with new litter in it......

I do think it's diet related. Like I said, I think artificial colors have something to do with it. And there's some evidence that chlorophyll can help, which is why some cat foods have greens in them even though greens have no nutritional value for cats.

It could also be the type of cat litter you are using.

Five raw-fed cats, one apartment, one 120 quart litter box in the front hallway off the kitchen and another in the entrance way off the living room - ZERO smell here. (And I do not scoop litter boxes every day.)

In fact, I once had a pizza delivery guy standing less than five feet away from the box off the living room and, when asked if he could smell the box, said, "Not at all, why do you have a cat?" At the time, I had EIGHT cats! (Gotta love raw-feeding! )

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Five raw-fed cats, one apartment, one 120 quart litter box in the front hallway off the kitchen and another in the entrance way off the living room - ZERO smell here. (And I do not scoop litter boxes every day.)

In fact, I once had a pizza delivery guy standing less than five feet away from the box off the living room and, when asked if he could smell the box, said not at all, why do you have a cat? At the time, I had EIGHT cats! (Gotta love raw-feeding!

)

Click to expand...

raw feed poop most of the time doesn't smell ( I have had the lovely experience of it smelling ICKY) ....

I scoop half of my boxes daily with no smell issues ( I have four 18 gallon which yields 72 quarts roughly)