Burning eyes from kitty litter box

Hi all. I am new to this site and also relatively new to being a cat owner. I use to be allergic to cats and somehow my allergy is gone now. I am thrilled about this. I adopted a friend's cat back in September because she had to move and could no longer care for it. I adore this creature! I have only one problem and that is: I kept the kitty litter box in the laundry room and about a month or so ago, I noticed this horrible stinging in my eyes when I'd go in there to clean it or do the laundry. It also stung my nose and throat but my eyes got it the worst. I cleaned out the poops and tried to scoop out the wet areas as well on a DAILY basis. I did not clean out the entire box daily though and maybe that is the problem. the stinging got so bad it permeated into the adjacent rooms. I realized it must be from the ammonia that is in the urine. So I now have the litter box on the outside screened porch and my husband built a kitty door so she has access any time. Then why do my eyes still sting? Not as bad as before, but...it's been almost a week since I put this outside! Is ammonia from urine that strong that it takes this long to get rid of it in the air? thanks for your replies. As I sit here in the computer room next to laundry room, my eyes are getting irritated! geez!
suzie

I don't have any answers, but I do have a few questions...
Can you smell ammonia? If you can't smell it, it may not be from that.
Did you recently switch litter brands?
Anything new added to your house (or that area of the house) in the last few months? It may be you're allergic to something other than the litter


Just my thoughts.

Thank you for your quick reply! These are good questions! No I do not really smell ammonia at all but assumed it was this as I read on internet that ammonia can cause stinging of the eyes But your question about changing litter...I use to use that "pellet" type litter and then switched about two months ago to that gravely kind. I think it was cheaper and I decided what difference could it make to buy this less expensive kind. I think I should go back to the pellet brand when I did not seem to have this problem and see what happens. Maybe it IS the litter itself causing my eye irritation. Thanks. I will try this.
Suzie

Clumping clay litter has silicates in it. It is an eye irritant, and with the box being in a confined room, it probably built up as dust on all surfaces. Every so often when my allergies flare up very badly, I have a lot of trouble going downstairs where the litterboxes are. I have the same problem with itchy, burning eyes. Normally I'm okay - it's just when the seasonal allergies start, and I think it's because my allergies have gone haywire, and the little things start setting them off.

Make sure to clean your house very well - vaccuming might work, but I think that a wet mop or rag will trap the dust better. Make sure to change your vaccume bag once you switch back to the pellets, just to make sure any trace of the old litter is gone. You might even want to consider bathing the cat as well, or brushing her for a few days in a row to get the dust off of her.

Good luck!