My house smells so bad :(

Hello guys,

My house smell is terrible because of the 2 cats I have. Everyone comes it complain about the odor, and tell me the same thing. I am so embarrassed.

What can I do about this?

Does the electric self-cleaning litterbox really work? What about the chemical stuff that can be mixed with the litterbox sand?

Please advise. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Is it possible that one of them is eliminating outside of the litterbox. You can get a black light and see if there are any spots glowing. If you find some, make sure that the cats aren't suffering from a UTI. Then clean the spots with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle or Zero Order.

Also, clean the litterboxes daily. I also try to wash mine out weekly (turns out to be more like every two weeks)

Um... what kind of litter are you using? How often do you empty the little collecter bin where it cleans itself into? Are people complaining about it smelling like cats or like cat bathroom?

I use fresh step and my apartment never smells.
And try some febreze.

How often are you scooping out your box? How often between complete changes of the litter and washing out the box?

I scoop Dori's litter every morning, and do a complete litter change every 2 weeks at the very least. I use Fresh Step clumping and have never had a problem with litter box odor.

Another thing to consider is the type of food you are feeding them. Lower quality foods tend to make the litter box much more smelly than premium foods.

I use Arm & Hammer litter. It works pretty good. I bought a Booda Clean Step litter box for my two kitties and it helps with the smell since one of mine doesn't cover their stuff. And like others said, you have to scoop a lot and clean out the boxes, etc.

I use feline pine with the tray...when they urinate the pellets turn to sawdust and fall down below...i scooop as soon as they poop. But with feline pine you can just throw it in toilet and flush. My house never smells and I havent used any cover ups. Are your cats spayed because sometimes that odor is pretty bad when they are not.

First what are you cleaning habits in regard to the litter box - how often so you scoop / change the litter and clean the box? Do you have a covered box - which will help with odor.

What kind of litter do you currently use?

This is my experience with LitterMaid.

1- noone should use them for a cat under the age of 10 months. Due to the cat's size the sensor might not be triggered and this has caused some accidental deaths.

2- they are ok to use with females (they squat) NOT males due to the pee positions the males assume and quite frequetly spray and cover the electronic eye so they do not work properly or not at all

3- if your cat has loose stool or if you don'y use the right kind of litter it cloggs up the rake so causing it from working propperly and you have a mess and a half on your hands.

In my opinion it's not worth the money and too much work - I'd rather scoop

....one more thought what does your house smell like? Does it smell like cat pee and poop or just like cat litter? Most clumping litters do have a smell of their own which people who are not used the scent will notice.

If it is not just the scent of the liitter itself how do you dispose if the pee clumps / poop? Mine go into a cheap plastic baggy and then straigt into a sealed container - therefore no smell. Basically what I am asking is how do you contain the pees and poops before they are at the curb for pick-up since your house can also smell depending on how airtight your "storeage" is.

Let me start by saying, I FEEL YA!
Unfortunately Cheeto is a STINKER, the kind that makes you gag. I tried fresh step (eeeew there he goes he just went to the litter #2 as we speak ) and the arm & hammer litter, it worked ok but then someone on TCS suggested pellets or feline pine, which is also pellets. Its FANTASTIC with odors. Its also very economic I buy some that is made here locally, it doesnt have a name but the people that sell it to me call it "the exploding kitty litter" because when it gets wet , it turns into sawdust, so when there is more sawdust then pellets I empty it out in my garden. Its a fantastice fertilizer, its all natural, flushable and helps alot with odors, also there NO TRACKING. You just remove the solids 2 or 3 times a day. In my case, I have to empty solids as soon as Cheeto goes, cuz he likes to perfume my apartment. They all love it and I know that they arent stepping on chemicals either.


EIther way you go, do purchace a small black light ( got mine on ebay) and an emzyme cleaner as suggested above and DO take clean the litter 2-4 times a day and eliminate the whole thing by the end of the week. That should about do it.

Good Luck!~

Quality food and litter.... no smell here

www.citypet.com neutering helps if you have males and they are intact. Feeding quality food, and using more than one box will help as well. Keeping the boxes clean and the litter changed will also work
zero-odor.com is a good product

Originally Posted by reddicequeen

I use feline pine with the tray...when they urinate the pellets turn to sawdust and fall down below...i scooop as soon as they poop. But with feline pine you can just throw it in toilet and flush. My house never smells and I havent used any cover ups. Are your cats spayed because sometimes that odor is pretty bad when they are not.

Click to expand...

What is the tray? I might look into getting that.

I use Arm & Hammer Scoop Away clumping, and I religiously scoop once a day, plus I use high quality dry like Nutro to cut down on smelly poops.

You can't even tell I have a cat - unless you trip over the cat toys I have all over the house...

I use litter bags and change the litter compleatly once ever two days
I am a clean freak yes

It could be you are not cleaning the pan often enough - scooping at least twice a day and washing it out with Clorex at least every few weeks.

It could be the type of litter you are using. Plain clay litter will hold smells a lot more then the clumping kind - no matter how many times you scoop.

It could be the type of food you are using (dry or canned) - the cheaper foods will produce smelly elimination.

And it could be that your cats may have worms - again, that will produce a smelly elimination.

What sex are these 2 cats? if they are both male have they been fixed? if they have not been fixed the smell will probably be from them spraying your furniture.

We use Tidycats Scoop for multiple cats (yellow container w/ blue lid). It clumps hard and does a great job with the odor. We scoop daily, and do a complete change-out including washing with vinegar and baking soda once a week.

Between that and a little scented oil nightlight nearby, we never smell anything and none of our guests have ever complained. We have two neutered boys.

Sounds more like they're peeing/pooing outside of the box. I scoop twice a day, use clay litter (which doesn't exactly have outstanding odor control), in a covered litter box with a swinging door. I live in a small studio apartment and people have never complained about kitty odor. In fact, I make it a point to ask since my sense of smell might have acclimated.

Mop your floor with a solution of a bucket of water plus 1 cup of bleach and 1 cup of Nature's Miracle. Do this once a week.

Put an Oust Fan (or similar product) near each litter box.

I've PERSONALLY noticed that World's Best + baking soda outdoes any clay litter I've used as far as odor control goes.

Scoop AT MINIMUM once a day.

Feed as high quality a food as you possibly can.

Get the kitties vet-checked for conditions like IBD, IBS, worms or anal sac leakage.

Wash linens and couch covers as often as possible.

22 cats here I use fresh step scoop and put in 4-5 inches of litter to start with..i add litter to it everyday. After about a week and a half-2 weeks I dump the whole thing. I have 5 Rubbermaid 18 gallon totes witha hole cut into the side and a couple sterlite under the bed(the older cats appreciate that) I space it out so I don't have to change all the boxes on one day. They all eat a steady diet of Science Diet dry. I admit sometimes it smells...like first thing in the morning right before i scoop boxes. Also I do always have either a open window(during winter) or air contioner on. I think steady diet has alot to do with smell-ive seen cats fed "whatever is on sale at grocery store" and they have tened to have the smelliest houses. Also male cat spray is stinky no matter what(i had a unneutered boy who was to sick to ever be neutered-thankfully he wasn't a sprayer but still you KNEW there was a boy it the house. RJ