That litter box is going to kill us!

[AngelZoo]

WOWZA!

Over the past maybe 1 1/2 - 2 weeks now, there has been a mighty amonia (pee) smell coming from my cats litter box, sure I scoop it enough, I have good litter and deoterizer in it, and changed it all out and scrubbed down the box only a week ago.

You bend down to scoop it and your eyes start watering.

I can not figure out why this is happening, I've thought one of my cats might have a UTI, but the most likely canidate just got a clean bill of health.

Can you think of other causes for this and other ways I could get rid of this problem? Thanks!

[Kater]

Maybe the litterbox itself just needs replacing. If it is plastic then when kitty scratches at the bottom of it, these little scratches can hold odor. But that doesn't really explain the suddeness of the change, so I'm not really sure.

[PaysForIt]

Change of diet?

Consider getting a covered tray, we got some with a carbon filter from a local catalogue shop for very little. The house is a nicer place now

[moosmom]

All my litterboxes are covered and I have a air purifier with an ionizer on it. I use Feline Pine and it works really well.

Sounds like your cats might not be drinking enough water. A concentrated ammonia smell is usually an indication of that.

I have 8 cats. I keep a PetMate Water Fountain going all the time and I also have 3 bowls of filtered water that I change at each feeding time.

I really have no suggestions except to maybe get them a water fountain (my cats LOVE it and it's paid for itself already!!) and covered litterboxes.

[AngelZoo]

I just got them another brand new litter box, so I know it's not because it's old and like I said, this JUST started, They have 2 large covered litter boxes already.

Is there anything else I can do TO this litter to prevent it from smelling? It's driving my fiance nuts, he's very sensitive to this stuff.

I have a waterer for my cats they have always seemed to drink enough, but it's not one of those fountains, I can not afford the $50.00 right now.

[Tonya]

Maybe soak the box in something to get the smell out? Are you sure one of the cats didn't pee outside of the box? Every once in a while, the bathroom will stink after I've cleaned the box and I find cat pee next to it. I think sometimes Raven can't hold it if Ron's in there. lol.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Have you tried sprinkling baking soda in it? This is supposed to really help. Good luck and I sure hope it's not a health problem with one of your cats.

[ScantyNebula]

I have the same problem. Its such a potent smell isn't it? I have to hold my breath while I change the litter it is that bad. I use Yesterday's News (recycled newspaper) litter at the moment and I have to change it just about every week, with two cats and two litter boxes. The smell just gets so unbearable. I line the bottom of the pan with both baking soda AND litter deodorizer, but yet still after only one week its smelling "ripe" my fiance likes to call it

I really don't know what to tell you cause I have tried things and they never seem to work for me. I will think about getting them a water fountain tho, if I can find one here in town .. I haven't seen any - Rosemary, any ideas?

[emily_the_spoiled]

I am not sure how old your cats are, but I have found that kittens tend to be a little more "fragrant" than older cats. Maybe you need to look at chancing their wet food?

[ScantyNebula]

Yea I'm assuming too that its because Lily is a kitten, thats probably why her pee is so rancid. Peeeeeeewwwww

[AngelZoo]

2 of my cats will be 4 years old in Dec, and the other is 2 years old.

They have always been fine before, except Tage, his pee got that very over whelming ammonia smell when he was eating Pro Plan Dry. I removed him from that food, and everything went back to normal.

So it's not an issue with the litter I use, or deoterizers etc, it's a problem with one of my cats, I need to figure it out so I can fix it.

Even after they use a fresh clean box just one day I can't stand it when I scoop it, let alone a week!

I can't think of anything which has changed in the past 1 1/2 - 2 weeks however. Perhaps they will benifit from more wet food in their diet right now then dry, to make up for the lost moister.

[2kitties]

Crystal litter has helped us out quite a bit.

[Russian Blue]

Originally posted by AngelZoo

I can't think of anything which has changed in the past 1 1/2 - 2 weeks however. Perhaps they will benifit from more wet food in their diet right now then dry, to make up for the lost moister.

Did you open a new bag of food in the last while? Maybe the formulation of the food is slightly different? I would try adding more wet food and if it still continues maybe a vet visit is in order.

[AngelZoo]

Nakita!! Oh how I have missed your darling face!

[dukedogsmom]

I certainly know what you're talking about! Over the weekend, I cleaned a giant litterbox..........my horses' stall. People haven't been cleaning it like they should and it was horrible.
I just thought of something. Go here: http://www.sweetpdz.com/
This is the stuff that you should get to put in the bottom of the litter box. You can get it at a feed store. I would check with your vet to make sure it's safe for the cats first, though.