Litter Box HELP!

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October 4th 2010 4:36 pm
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Mommy would like some help figuring out why the litter box smells HORRIBLE lately. I use the one upstairs and you can barely smell anything. Albie uses the one downstairs and for the past month it has smelled like 10 kitties are using it instead of just the one!!! I use it every now and then, but it is mostly just Albie. We have a third litter box that neither of us ever uses, but Mommy leaves set up just in case. When she scooped yesterday she did find a couple pee spots and a couple poopies for the first time in that one in a while. We are on a grain-free and chicken-free diet and we have been eating canned food a lot more often lately - Our appetites seem to have increased a little when it comes to the canned food and we always drink a lot of water, so Mommy is not too concerned about the smell being from a decrease in our intake of water. (again, I do want to point out that ALBIE is the one stinking the place up, though! MOL)

Oh, and a couple weeks ago, Mommy found two big pee spots outside the box...At the time, we had the litter box facing the corner since the doggies like to "eat" out of our litter boxes, but after the pee spots showed up (and after numerous times of Albie standing in the litter box and pooping OUT of it) we turned it back around thinking that maybe we had confused him. He has only pooped outside of the box once since then and we don't think he has peed outside of it again. (We have an extra large box but he can't always seem to keep his whole body inside when he is pooping!)

Does anyone have any suggestions about what we should do about the smell? Mommy really does not understand why it has gotten so bad all of a sudden. Albie just has to use the litter box once and it smells like it hasn't been scooped in days! We are using World's Best Cat Litter which really is the best that we've used, but even it can't mask this smell... Also, Mommy can't decide if it is the urine causing the issue or the poopies... One time it seems like it is the urine, but the next time it will seem less ammonia-like or more poopie smelling...

Any ideas? Suggestions? Advice? Anything? Thank you, everyone!!

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Purred by: Skylar db#39A (Catster Member)

October 4th 2010 at 7:27 pm

Maybe it is time for a new box. Plastic absorbs odors over time. We use plastic storage containers, because we need higher walls than a traditional litter box, (some with lids and some without, and some with lids cut back) with holes cut in for us to get in and out. Mommy replaces our boxes every 5 or 6 months. My brother Ivan never covers his poop in the box and that sure stinks and my brother Rusty has strong smelling pee and we all eat and drink the same things. Maybe you will get some good suggestions here. Let us know what works for you and Good Luck. Also clean the spots outside the box with something like Nature's Miracle so that they are not drawn by the smell to going in the same spot. A black light will show you where there are stains. Purrs, Skylar

Purred by: Harry (Catster Member)

October 5th 2010 at 5:24 am

That's a really good idea, Skylar! Mommy never realized that plastic could absorb odor like that...We used a pet odor remover on the pee stains, but we're not sure if it is that still smelling or the box now...we'll have to pull out Grandma's black light and check! And using a storage container would be so much better for Albie since it would have those higher walls and be a little bigger for him! We think he has a hard time with the litter box since he was taken from his MommaCat when he was just a few weeks old (he had been rescued from a hoarder's house). So, even though it is in our nature to use the litter box, he was still never really shown how to use one. Like your brother, Ivan, he also doesn't cover his poopies...he used to though! I used to be the one who didn't but somehow we switched...MOL Thanks for your suggestions and we will be sure to let you know what works! Purrs!!