Deodorising cat litter??

The 2 latest dumpees (2 5-6 month old young cats, a male and a female) are here to stay (hadn't planned to keep them, but we were down to 3 cats, so it just sort of happened, and DS is a cat-person, so he's happy to have 2 new feline friends...). BUT, we haven't had cats in the house for ages (our other 3 are outdoor cats). These 2 are in the house because 1 has yet to be tamed, as we only caught her a week ago (her brother we've had for about 5 weeks, and he's tame as now). We've tried about 4 brands of cat litter so far, from named brands to store brands, and they are all useless at helping to keep the odour down, and DS has been on litter pan cleaning 2-3 times a day. Needless to say it's getting a little ridiculous. Do the really fine clay/clumping cat litters exist here in New Zealand? That's what we used in the states when our cats were strictly indoors because of all the predators where we lived, and they did a good job with odours...

Cheers
Andrea
Oxford

Yes, you can buy clumping clay type litter but I would lash out & buy crystals if you are wanting to keep the odour down. They are very expensive but do the job well. I use crystals in the house & clay clumping in the catteries .....

I've tried all sorts of things and I've found regular changing the best. So I buy a cheaper litter - budget brand from pack and save is half the price of the others and just change it more often. there are sprays you can get, also i put the tray out in the sun (if it ever gets sunny again)
Some one told me mix baking soda through the litter but I haven't tried that.

I've mixed that powder that you sprinkle over carpet before you vac. Lavender would be the best perfume if you decide to try that ....

What about mixing baking powder into the litter (or dusting with baking powder)? I know we used to be able to get cat litter with baking powder in it. Alternatively, we use lime in the stalls for horses...might a sprinkling of that on top of the litter be workable?

Diane

Andrea,

I've been using wood pellets for cat litter for my 2 latest recruits who sound about the same age as yours. They have 2 boxes side by side, a fairly big one and a small one. Now both of them were fixed very young so they won't be as smelly as yours if they are still intact, but I'm not having any trouble at all with odour.

Apart from the odd smelly poop (unavoidable! but much better when they bury it properly!) there is no pee odour at all, the sawdust smell is obviously a good camouflage. I do a good cleanout every morning, but while they were getting used to it I'd do it twice a day to make sure they had no reservations about using a box that wasn't 100% clean like some of my other cats had in the past!
(solids get evacuated ASAP of course!)

Also the pellets are very economical if you're patient. The soiled stuff loses its shape, so I use a litter box shovel and move the clean stuff to one side and then scoop out the dirty stuff and just top it up. On the block I used to just chuck the dirty stuff under a tree or in the shelter belt as it's 100% sawdust and rots down nicely.

They do manage to flick some pellets out of the box, but I don't find they track out any sawdust at all (one is longhaired, one is short haired.. I mention this cause I remember BB saying her cats would track sawdust everywhere).

I used some clumping stuff in Canada and it always reeked. So did the clay based stuff which I used most often.

The pellet sacks are $9.20 and with the 2 little kitties using it and being frugal about not throwing out stuff that isn't dirty, a bag lasts me about 3 weeks.

why can't you just use dirt??? the dry under macro trees makes for very good dirtbox fill and you only have to clean once a day...you would need to with whatever you use....and the cats get the idea of where to go once outside so much easyer.

The best thing we ever bought for our princess (who hates to get her dainty little paws damp at all and therefore insists on a litter tray) was an enclosed litter tray. We also spray the tray (bare tray only not the litter) with Urine Off when cleaning it.

It's a little complicated, otherwise we'd just use dirt. There are 2 cats, 2 litters boxes, as one cat is now tame (we caught him over a month ago), but the other is still in a large dog crate, so has her own box, as she is still very scary (only caught her a week ago). So, until she's tamed and they're both neutered, it's 2 boxes with the easiest means of cleaning at this time (to encourage DS with the regular cleaning). They both make a real mess, even though they both use the boxes. The litter this AM was fresh as of last night, but it is probably as Jen suggested and that they are coming to their sexual maturity hence the stinky pee (poops get hiffed out straight away anyway). When she's tame and they are both fixed, they will get a covered communal box, and we'll just use dirt again, and dump each day, and clean once a week.

I did add some baking soda this AM before chores (and right after I wrote the first post), and the smell is MUCH less this afternoon.

Cheers
Andrea
Oxford

PS - Jen -- where are those pellets available? I thik I may have asked about this before, but have clean forgot!

Now, don't laugh but Malcolm in the Middle (tv show) had an article about what smells are - they are actually tiny particles of whatever it is you're smelling, so when you smell poop, you're actually breathing in poop.

Don't think about it too much.

Anyway, one tip from a germs programme I watched said if you can cover the "smell" so it doesn't emanate as much, you reduce the amount of particles floating through the air. I digress to say this is why toilets have seats - if you put the toilet seat down everytime you flush, you reduce the amount of airborne everything flying around, especially important if your toilet is part of your bathroom rather than a separate room. Think of all those airborne particles and where they could land... your toothbrush for example.

Can you tell I'm a cleaner?

To my point! I have a cat litter tray in my open plan house so emanating smells are a particular problem. To limit it, I have it in a corner and have put a cardboard "roof" over it. There are also cat trays that come with ready-built roofs and even swinging doors and charcoal filters to help cut down on emissions although even I confess this may be a little OTT [] I presume it's for people who live in small apartments.

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I have one of those PG and believe it or not it is Max's (Kate's blind boy) prefered option!
I've got a friend who uses a wood based pellet which has a pine smell when the cats scratch it up, but I think it is expensive. I'ts good to know the baking soda helps.

Also the smell gets into the plastic of the tray where it gets scratched. you can line it with a super market bag or you can buy liners. That brings about the whole bio degradable debate I know.

That is exactly what we have PG. Best investment in a long time.