[Mark E Schell]

My girlfriend and I have 2 new loving, furry members in our family, and they are our first pets ever! Two little beauties name Chy and Henry, we adopted just 4 days ago and we LUVVV them. Totally awesome little dudes. BUT... dude, I never quite knew how crazy terrible these dudes can stink it up. So... on a scale of 1-10, PLEASE rank the kitty litters you have some familiariety with (and do tell why and how they work / don't work for you and your babies). Also, please list any other tips you might have to prevent smells!

Our situation: two 13-week old cats, we live in a small 1-bedroom apt., we scoop after every deposit (if we're aware of it) and change the litter / clean the box every other day (using johnny cat litter now), and heard about the wonders of baking soda (are they true?).

sorry if there are other posts with similar info, but this is urgent Thanks so much everyone!

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[Shaquada]

Atm I have 4 older cats and 9 kittens varying from 5 days to 5 wks in the house...and I scoop every time I see a ...do not have any smell. What are you feeding your babies...as sometimes diet can be the cause of some pretty smelly

Almost forgot to CW


Veronica.

This post has been edited by Shaquada: 10 July 2009 - 06:17 PM

[CatsRU]

Yes diet can affect the "outgoings" - if you are feeding Whiskas then it will smell bad. Most of us feed premium dry like Royal Canin or Hills and raw meat. For kittens you would be feeding them three times a day so I would maybe leave out biscuits 24/7, wet food a couple of times a day or raw meat the same.

I use Breeders Choice litter but a lot of people like Oz Pets.

[flipflop]

Are you talking about #2 smells or #1 smells?

I use Ozpets and #2's get scooped as soon as they happen/get noticed so a brief stinky, #1's very little smell, people who visit will often comment that you wouldn't know I had cats as there is no "litter" smell

[Kristen]

I use breeder's choice, and there is no litter smell in our two bedroom unit. The only time it gets a bit smelly is when our cat does a no. 2 and doesn't bury it! We clean it out 2 or 3 times a day.

[Leigh]

I agree that diet is a huge part of it. I've always used Hills dry food and find it really good. I have a hooded litter tray with a flap door and find that it rarely smells (also much nicer to look at than an open tray). When my cat was a kitten I took the flap off until she was big enough to push through it. The regular scooping definitely helps too. Good luck!

[Steph & Atticus]

I'm glad I read this post...
I have tried SO MANY CAT LITTERS and they drive me nuts!
Atticus is a flicker, and we have only just got a hooded tray with a flap.
I have tried Breeders Choice (before hooded tray, ended up EVERYWHERE), clumping (ended in kitten with a piece in his paw), saw dust sort of stuff (also went everywhere) and now crystal. Thanks for letting me know crystal litter is not good - It also gets tracked out of the litter tray (even with lid, flap and non-slip mat) and I HATE the feel of it underfoot.
So, tomorrow I'm off to buy some Breeders Choice again and see if, because it's bigger pellets, it won't end up on my bathroom floor.
Stepping on crystals in the morning when you get out of the shower is not nice.

Again, this site has served me well - thanks everyone!

[Tobkah]

We use Max's kitty litter.. and it is by far the best kitty litter we have used.

[Rob]

Awww.... it's so easy to blame the kitties, maybe it's your girlfreind? .......but I've heard boys are worse

We use Natty cat Lucerne for poo and Ozpet for wee. Our cat just prefers it that way and never makes it smell if used as recommended. Just be aware that natural fibers, especially Ozpet can leave marks when wet.

[oriental cats]

I have 4 cats here in a 2 bedroom cottage, we have 2 trays, and I have used probably every litter available in a life time of cat ownership (mum used to rescue) I have changed to OZ PET and I love it, I work all day so I scoop and shake the trays morning and night and no smell here at all, the diet is paramount though, we use Royal Canin, Hills, Advance and Pro Plan (depends what we win) and raw meat, a diet of cheaper dry and canned will result in foul faeces. My next choice after OZ PET is Breeders Choice, but even with the hooded tray we still got tracking with BC and it is more work as you need daily litter tray changes, I only do the bottom trays twice a week and the tops about once a month.
OZ PET can stain, but it doesn't track.

[alicia83]

We use breeder choice & I think it's fabulous.

I scoop everytime I see a #2 and change the litter completely every other day, which i know is a little excessive BUT I have two cats using one tray. They (strangely) like to share and will continue to use the one tray even if I have two out for them!!

Sometimes they even go at the same time!!!!!! lol

[bluesnip2000]

I think its very much about diet. I can tell when one of the cats has helped themselves to something they shouldn't have and licked a bowl clean (pheweee! stinky poo!)
After trail and error for a few years, we now have perfected a system -

Diet - good quality dry food, with a bit of raw meat now and then
Water - changed daily to keep them drinking lots of clean water
Tray - hooded tray (it has one of those carbon filters but I think they do nothing at all and I don't bother to change it anymore)
Litter - Breeder's choice paper pellets
#2 Cleaning - empty pooper twice a day (sometimes three, once when we get home and once before we go to bed, and good stirring to airate and soak up and spread out wet litter)
Total cleaning - whole lot gets emptied to compost down, then sprayed out with bleach spray and wiped out once or twice a week
Litter tracking - we have a carpet mat in front of the tray that catches most - but if its tracking a lot it means its time to change it cos the pieces are getting small enough for the cats feet to pick them up!
And get the dishes in the dish washer before any chance of a pre-wash cycle (a la cat tongue) ha ha ha

Plus the whole lot is in the laundry, with a cat flap to the rest of the house, so there is no smell at all.

Good luck!

[Xenacatte]

Until recently I have used the Woolies generic clay litter but recently decided to change to Breeders Choice-I have a cat with chronic renal failure on a special diet, but part of the condition is increased weeing. With the BC there is no smell, it is so easy to change daily and the wee is better absorbed. Plus there is no dust as with the clay litter. It is a bit more expensive but worth the results. It is also lighter in weight which makes lifting it easier.
Chris

[Rockpool55555]

Ive had 3 cats using kitty litter indoors and the best results for us with the minimum smell is Breeders Choice (recycled paper pellets). This is available in 35L bags at bigger pet stores but phone ahead as sometimes they dont have it in stock. You can also buy smaller bags at Coles or Woollies. I always have 1 extra tray than the number of cats although they all share and one tray usually stays clean (unless Ive been slack cleaning out the other 2). I fill tray about 4 cm of litter. I scoop daily and empty when most of the base of the litter is damp -daily to every 2 days. When the trays get smelly - or about every1 -2 weeks, I use a spray made up in a spray bottle of 1/5 bleach, 1/5 dishwashing liquid, rest water. Spray trays, scrub with brush, then rinse thoroughly (so cats dont get bleach on their paws) and dry before using again.
If you have access to a garden or compost, once the poo is scooped out you can recycle the pellets by spreading onto the garden beds.
Other kitty litter Ive tried and dont like are sand (smelly), crystals (really weird, gross and cats hated it), recycled wood pellets which turn into powder when wet (really really heavy)

[jemkatz]

i use oz pet and have no odur problems at all jusr scoop every day and shake seive and its great