Outside litter box

Now that my outside cat pen is inhabited by 4 felines, I have found a problem I didn't anticipate.

All of these cats are former strays. They are used to digging in the dirt. They have been provided litter boxes in the house but they prefer to go outside. They were using the back section of the pen but it was difficult to clean up after them. I put in a box with an open bottom and 150 pounds of play sand.

They use this most of the time and I scoop it often. But the odor is getting pretty bad.

I thought the rain would wash the smells down through the sand, into the dirt underneath. Since this isn't working, what can I do to clean up the air? One suggestion was a big box of baking soda. Would this work? I don't want to use lime if it could hurt the cats.

I'm hoping the colder weather will bring the cats inside and they will get used to litter boxes over the winter.

Any suggestions?

Mary

As strange as it may sound, put dirt (soil) on top of the litter in the boxes that you prefer them to use. The dirt should attract them to the box and you just put in less and less dirt as the days/weeks go by.

I think I was misunderstood. I have no problem getting them to use the outside litterbox. They do that very well.

How do I deodorize it without harming the cats? A week of rain diluted the odor, but it doesn't rain THAT much.

Mary

Mruffruff , I think that Jenluckenbach means your INDOOR BOXES !! This might work !!