Spooky won't cover his poop!

Today I went to clean out his litter box as I do daily and lately his poop is not covered! Plus the litter box has a very very strong odor like pee but it's making my eyes water! What's this all about?

He's scheduled to be fixed march 1 btw

The neutering will resolve the smelly pee.  I noticed an immediate decrease in the odor when I picked up Shortstack from his neuter, and it took about 2 weeks before it went away.  Now it has virtually no smell at all.  I've read though on these forums that in some cats it takes 4 weeks, so be patient if it doesn't decrease in odor quickly.  I guess I was lucky with Shortstack, it was, like I said, an immediate difference.

My other male was neutered when he was about 1, and his pee has no odor either. 

I'm not sure what to tell you about the uncovered poo.....I have one that never, EVER covers his poop.  We know when he has dropped a stink-bomb immediately!  I backtrack often daily and go flip kitty litter over it with the scoop, then scoop it out.  He is 13 years old, and has always been like this.  I think some cats do, some don't.

I totally agree with Hbunny, your pee smell will disappear. One of my cats doesn't cover her poop either, it's a common thing. The best thing I can say is to feed your cat a premium food that doesn't cause it to smell as badly as if you fed it Iams, for example.

That cracked me up!  I'm still giggling now 

Dudley doesn't cover his poo either, and I also know the moment when he's dropped a stink bomb, hahaha!  As mentioned, some cats just don't cover, or do cover with one type of litter and not wth another.  

I agree that feeding a high quality (dry) food reduces poo smells.  Wet food seems to increase it.  I'm progressing from dry kitten food to dry food for long haired cats, as it has a fur ball reducing ingredient, which also helps to lessen smells.  I do give him the odd sachet of high quality wet food here and there but if I give it too often he gets the stinky runs.  And, what with him having long hair and a ridiculously fluffy bum, we both prefer the dry option!  

Hopefully, his reeking pee smell will disappear quickly after neutering.  

The poop [emoji]128169[/emoji] covering is a learned behavior.
The easiest way to assure they learn is
To have them watch another cat bury. I know it sounds funny but it works. If you have no cat you can teach him yourself by taking ahold of The cat's wrist and burying for them while they are in the litterbox. Again sounds funny but it worked for me. But your cat may suddenly not burying anymore due to his hormones as peeing and pooping are ways to mark territory.The neutering may bring the burying back.

@hexiesfriend  hmmm, sounds like a plan.  I'm going to try that.  Thanks for the tip. 

High quality wet food is much better for your cats than dry. They usually load dry food with all sorts of crap that ia not good for your cat. High quality wet food should not make your cat's stool smell bad.

Like others have said, wet food is better and should cause more formed, less stinky poos, if it is a good quality food.  We had to change wet foods several times due to stinky, loose poops with the old guy.  He cannot handle some of the very high protein ones, they tear him up every time.  We had to actually go to a lower quality food just to get one he could tolerate.

His main staple is wet food 3 x a day, and I supplement him with raw several times a week, and that doesn't affect the odor or consistency either.  It took us a while to get a good balance.  He too has the long fluffy britches, so runny=very bad in his case!  He also free feeds a very high quality dry food during the day due to his reflux problems.  He's an old man. But this works for us.

Please don't give up on wet food.  It's just so much better for them.  If it does cause stinky business, try another.  It could be a food intolerance or even an allergy, or it could be too high in protein.  Work up to a better quality one if need be.  The fishy flavors are the worst for this!

That being said, poo is poo...it just won't ever be odor free, or smell like roses.  If it did I would definitely be alarmed.  But, if I'm in the kitchen, my old guy seems to take great pleasure in going in the laundry room, leaving me a gift, and rocketing out of there.  I swear he laughs as he runs past me in the kitchen.

I think your main smell problem will go away once he is neutered.  I really do.  There is a HUGE difference!!!  Pee is overwhelming! I can tolerate poo, but not that full-blown tomcat pee, whew

From what I've read, a cat with an alpha personally often won't cover because they are saying "this is my house, stay away!" to any other cats who may or may not be lurking nearby.

My oldest cat doesn't cover but Indy digs to China in her box.

Although my oldest is the most layed back cat I know. I think he is only alpha by default.

IndyJones said:

From what I've read, a cat with an alpha personally often won't cover because they are saying "this is my house, stay away!" to any other cats who may or may not be lurking nearby.

My oldest cat doesn't cover but Indy digs to China in her box.

Although my oldest is the most layed back cat I know. I think he is only alpha by default.

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That must be true!  My old guy is definitely the "alpha cat" around our house.  It's his way or the highway.  That goes for us too.  It's his house, he just lets us stay there!

My other 2 respectfully cover...and dig to China every time.  I keep those small dustpans with the little brooms inside them in several spots around the house!

If, after everything else, the poop is still uncovered, you may want to try pellet litter.   I (and a lot of people) love how much easier (and less smelly!) it is, but you have to manually remove the solid waste at least once a day, so it not being buried is actually kind of an advantage!