Mary Allen
Stinks from the litter box are extremely unpleasant for both cats and humans. Read here what causes the stench and how you can best eliminate the bad smell.
Cats are very clean. Bad odors from the litter box can make them avoid that place and do their business elsewhere in the future. A smelly litter box is also a major burden for the cat owner. Here are the causes of bad odors from the litter box and what you can do about them.
Causes Why the Litter Box Stinks
If the litter box starts to smell unpleasant despite regular cleaning and changing the litter, these reasons can be the cause:
- Too little litter in the litter box – recommended value: 5 cm
- Not enough litter boxes in multi-cat households – benchmark: one litter box more than cats in the house
- Cat litter that binds odors poorly
- Replacement of plastic toilets too infrequently – recommended value: once a year
- Food intolerance or illness: Smelly feces or excessive urination can be an indication of an illness and should be clarified by a veterinarian.
Instead of masking bad odors with scents, the causes of a smelly litter box need to be eliminated.
7 Tips Against Bad Smells From the Litter Box
Unpleasant odor from the litter box puts a strain on cats and humans. Cats are very clean and will eventually avoid the smelly place and become unclean. How to proceed to permanently eliminate bad smells:
Empty As Often As Possible
The droppings should be removed from the litter box with a litter scoop at least twice a day, ideally even after each toilet visit. Make sure you catch even small lumps. Removed litter must be replaced regularly so that the litter is always about five centimeters high.
Regular Full Cleaning
The litter box should be completely cleaned once a week. To do this, the litter is removed and the litter box is scrubbed vigorously with hot water and a neutral cleaning agent. Before it is refilled, it must be completely dry.
To neutralize the urea, the litter box can also be washed out with vinegar. However, it is important to then rinse it off particularly thoroughly with clear water.
Regular Exchange
Plastic litter boxes need to be replaced regularly. The guideline is once a year. As soon as the plastic floor is roughened up by the scratching and the aggressive urea, the smell stays there particularly well. If you notice this, consider replacing the toilet.
Ceramic or enamel litter boxes are more expensive than plastic litter boxes, but are more durable and easy to clean.
Place Garbage Bags at the Bottom of the Litter Box
In order to protect plastic litter boxes from concentrated urine and to make complete cleaning even easier, there are hygiene bags for the litter box. These resemble a garbage bag and are clamped under the edge of the litter box as an insert and then filled with litter. They are scratch-resistant so that the cat does not tear holes in the hygiene bag when it buries.
Choose the Right Bedding
The choice of litter also affects odors from the litter box. Clumping plant fiber cat litter is particularly good at absorbing odors, while clay-based litter is less effective. In addition, the litter box should be filled with at least five centimeters of litter.
There are specially scented types of litter for the litter box on the market. However, not every cat likes these artificial scents.
Odor-Controlling Litter Boxes
There are some odor-removing filter litter boxes on the market that need to be plugged into an outlet. Even in closed litter boxes, an activated carbon filter prevents the odor from escaping. However, it remains in the toilet. Closed litter boxes are also not accepted by every cat.
The Right Location
When setting up the litter box, you should also make sure that it is in a place where you can just air it out for a short time. In this way, bad smells disappear in a short time.
Scented Aromas Against Smelly Litter Boxes
Many cat owners try to mask bad odors from the litter box with pleasant scents. But aroma lamps, automatic aroma diffusers or aroma stones next to the litter box are not a good idea. Cats are very sensitive to essential scents and may start avoiding the litter box.
For long-term success, it’s better to target the source of bad odor from the litter box than to try to mask it.