topic Re: best litter for odor control? in Community Chat

best litter for odor control?

redtabby — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 17:21:35 GMT

Although I clean solids from the pan quickly after a deposit is made and I clear liquid clumps many times during the day there is still a slight pan odor in the house. The pans are completely cleaned once a week. Unfortunately there is no basement for the pans, so they are in one of the bathrooms. Is there a clumping litter that really contains the smells? We have used Precious Cat and Nature's Miracle clumping, neither was great for the job. The Nature's Miracle pine litter was a total fail, one cat would not use it for pooping, instead he would leave the pile outside the pan. I am also concerned about the dust issue, Tidy Cat Light was horrible, dust everywhere in our two story house.

Maybe the pans need to be replaced? They have been in use for 18 months, that is not long at all. I clean them with either Murphy's or XO, whichever is handy at the time.

Re: best litter for odor control?

grandkidsrgreat — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:35:05 GMT

I recommend World's Best. The one in the black bag with green NOT red. I've used many different brands over a lot of years. So far, that is my favorite. Good luck!

Re: best litter for odor control?

mewsmomtoo — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:48 GMT

Fresh Step is very good at controlling odors, but it is dusty. No matter what they claim, all of the clumping litters are dusty. I don't think anyone wants to go back to clay litter and the only other non-dusty litters I know of are Feline Pine (original, not the clumping version) and Yesterday's News, which is made from recycled paper. As you probably know, they aren't the best at controlling odors of solids.

Since they are all dusty and I am able to put the litter boxes in what I call the cat room (it is supposed to be my office/crafting room) I use Worlds Best because at least it isn't supposed to be toxic if it is on their paws and I don't find it as dusty as others. I don't really know if the other dust is toxic, there is a lot of literature and conjecture saying both yea and nay and I think dust of any kind is not good.

I think if odor control is your primary concern, I would try Fresh Step.

BTW, I don't believe your pans need to be replaced. I've had mine for years and they clean up just fine. I always smell the bottom and there is never an odor and it sounds like you clean yours often and well. I bought the large boxes that Lowe's carries b/c they are large, a pretty sage green and only $10.00.

If you find the perfect litter (no dust, great odor control), let us know!! It might be out there, I've tried many but definitely not all. If $$ is a big concern, you can get 42 pounds of Fresh Step at Sam's Club for $14.47 and WalMart sometimes has special packs of 38 pounds for around $12.00, plus Fresh Step has a points program. Both Fresh Step and Worlds Best have coupons pretty easily available. Good luck!!

Re: best litter for odor control?

jaxs mom — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:44:42 GMT

Tidy Cat Breeze litter system. You need to buy their box, which holds pads underneath and litter pellets on top. You just scoop the solids, and the urine stays separate in the pad, which you change once a week. As with any other litter system, one box per cat + one extra is recommended.

I've been using it for a few years and really like it.

Re: best litter for odor control?

mewsmomtoo — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:52:35 GMT

On 6/17/2014 grandkidsrgreat said: I recommend World's Best. The one in the black bag with green NOT red. I've used many different brands over a lot of years. So far, that is my favorite. Good luck!

Is that the Forest Green as opposed to the regular World's Best? I have never tried that and would like to know what does it smell like out of the bag? I know that people don't generally like the multi-cat (red bag) or lavender scented. Thanks!

Re: best litter for odor control?

grandkidsrgreat — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 01:21:25 GMT

Just went and checked out the bag. It is mostly green with black. Says Worlds Best Cat Litter, clumping formula. Not scented - just the original I think. Little bit of odor when you first put it in pan but doesn't last. A little more expensive than some but it clumps well and seems to last a long time. Again...good luck!

Re: best litter for odor control?

lilypadfrog — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 02:36:58 GMT

Like jaxs mom, I use the breeze system too but I have 5 cats so I change the pads every other day. I have 3 boxes around the house. No smell except for poo, but I can clean that up quickly. No dust either. My daughter has a breeze but she didn't want to buy the pellets so she uses dry beans. Seems to work well too.

Re: best litter for odor control?

jaxs mom — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 14:03:08 GMT

I have 5 cats too. I use 7 litter boxes and change the pads weekly.

Re: best litter for odor control?

gardenman — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 14:52:46 GMT

I find all of the clumping litters are pretty darn good at containing odors. I pretty much never smell anything from any of the pans. We have two cats and three pans and they get scooped out every morning. When I do smell something it's typically because our older cat has decided not to use the pan and use the sofa instead. (A quirk she picked up a few years ago that she only does on rare occasions, but it's a pain when she does it.) You might want to follow your nose to the smell and be sure it's coming from the pan. It's entirely possible one of your cats may be skipping the pan and using something else (houseplant, furniture, dog/cat bed, etc.) on occasion.

Re: best litter for odor control?

beauty junkie — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 16:55:37 GMT

After trying everything and I mean everything Tidy Cats red clumping is the best.Our litterbox is out in the open in the hallway and it never smells.People are always amazed,I scoop right away and scrub it every week and replace the litter but my baby can lay down the law and stink out Disney World and this stuff is amazing.

Re: best litter for odor control?

lilypadfrog — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 04:12:08 GMT

Wow jax, I don't think I could find the room for 7 boxes although I know that's recommended for 5 cats. Good for you to have so many, wish i had the room. One thing I forgot to mention about the breeze is that I no longer have bits of kitty litter on the floor around the house. And I don't wake up at night with a cat at the end of my bed chewing the litter out from between his toes.

Re: best litter for odor control?

jaxs mom — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 22:49:10 GMT

Yes, that is a benefit of the Breeze system. My cats used to track litter even onto the bed. I don't have all 7 in separate areas. I have one in the hall bath, one in the bath by the kitchen, my daughter has one in her room for the cat that sleeps with her and the rest are all in the enclosed patio which they access through an open window into the living room. I had to get creative to keeps the dogs from bothering the kitties when they do their business lol.

Re: best litter for odor control?

mewsmomtoo — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 23:08:32 GMT

I really like the idea of this Tidy Cat Breeze system, but I do have one question: Sorry to get graphic, but how do you deal with the pellets and diarrhea? Does scooping work or do you end up throwing away a lot of the pellets? TIA

Re: best litter for odor control?

jaxs mom — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 00:53:16 GMT

I've been using the Breeze system for a few years. The only time I've had to deal with a bad case of diarrhea in the cats was when I was fostering a rescue mama and her kittens last year. But they were isolated from my other cats and I was using non clumping litter for them as it's recommended for little kittens.

There have been a couple isolated incidents of runny poop but I just let it dry and it had a lot of pellets stuck to it. I think I've had to wash the box as a result of that once.

Re: best litter for odor control?

GCR18 — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 01:17:41 GMT

I switched to arm and hammer clump and seal. Little to no dust. I don't have smell issues, but think it's a little better. I wasn't so sure at first, but I kept using it. I'm now sold, we're sticking with it. I used to have a big dust issue with regular arm and hammer clumping litter.

Re: best litter for odor control?

lilypadfrog — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 05:32:32 GMT

We had a problem when I switched foods. Cats didn't sppreciate good food. Like jax, I just let it dry then scooped it from my breeze box. I lost more pellets than usual but you have to remember that you don't buy pellets often. I suppose that between the pads and the pellets, it costs about the same. For me, though, even if this cost twice as much, I would do it. This is so much cleaner with no dust and no tracking.

Re: best litter for odor control?

CritterKeeper — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 19:08:37 GMT

This will sound odd, but trust me. Get some food grade diatomaceous earth. I got mine on amazon.com fairly cheap. It is an all natural odor eliminator. If you do some research, it has many uses. I sprinkle about a cup in the litter box and mix it in. Just be careful to not breath in the little bit of dust that happens when you mix it in. It will not hurt kitty. In fact, I have put it in my dogs food for parasite (worms) control. MUST be the food grade type. NOT the kind for swimming pools. Check it out and see if this helps. I'm all about using all nature things.

Re: best litter for odor control?

kittymomNC — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 23:45:49 GMT

I've used a combination of Tidy Cats and Arm & Hammer litter for a number of years. They control the odor just fine - I never smell anything unless they've just "gone" - once the litter dries it out, no odor. I find that the Tidy Cats has much less dust, but the Arm & Hammer is dustier but makes it clump better. I've had some coupons, so I'm trying the Arm & Hammer Clump and Seal, and it does have much less dust than the regular. It's more expensive, so I just stock up when I can - for instance, today I had coupons for $2.00 off the 19 lb boxes. The store was having Super Double coupons which they double up to $2.00, so $4.00 off each box. Then I had an ecoupon for $1.00 and they take both kinds combined. So I got a total of $5.00 off each box. I go on the company websites sometimes to get coupons. My baby has kidney disease, gets fluids 3 times a week, and drinks a lot of water, so I go through a LOT of kitty litter! This is the best combination I've found.

Re: best litter for odor control?

1MrsT — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 03:17:32 GMT

I stumbled across something I thought I'd share. My 17 year old cat had the nastiest smelly BMs and her litter would smell awful. I could be in another room and I could smell it. I used to use natural ingredient sprays when I cleaned out her litter box, which is would clean 1-2 times a day (she has 3 boxes). Then because of a recent health issue we switched her food from Royal Canin Special 33 to Royal Canin Intense Hairball. There's been NO odor what so ever since we made the switch. AND no puking now for 11 days. That's a record. So maybe her food is the culprit.

Re: best litter for odor control?

susan423 — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 06:41:15 GMT

On 6/27/2014 wendiC said:
This will sound odd, but trust me. Get some food grade diatomaceous earth. I got mine on amazon.com fairly cheap. It is an all natural odor eliminator. If you do some research, it has many uses. I sprinkle about a cup in the litter box and mix it in. Just be careful to not breath in the little bit of dust that happens when you mix it in. It will not hurt kitty. In fact, I have put it in my dogs food for parasite (worms) control. MUST be the food grade type. NOT the kind for swimming pools. Check it out and see if this helps. I'm all about using all nature things.

I ordered this just on this recommendation. I'm always interested in new things :-) It arrived today. I put it in just one litterbox to try it out. Oh, my. This stuff sticks to the paws and I have powdery pawprints all over the house. I can't tell yet if it helps much with odor control but it has to be enough to counteract the dusty prints so we'll see.