Young Tom cat and very whiffy litter tray.

A question about : Young Tom cat and very whiffy litter tray.

I have a young male cat (six months old) and in the last two weeks his litter tray (that I scoop daily and totally change every three to four days) absolutely honks. It is his urine and it now has that awful tom cat pee smell... I am assuming he is approaching sexual maturity.

He isn't scenting anywhere else in the house, but the litter tray is making the whole room smell horrendous. I have taken to changing the whole lot once a day, which has helped somewhat but it still stinks.

He is being neutered tomorrow... but I was wondering if anyone else had any tips on how to deal with the odour.

He is an indoor cat (ragdoll breed) so I have to make do with an indoor litter tray.

Thank you in advance. xx

Best answers:

• If he had been neutered as soon as he was big enough you wouldn't have the whiff, it should improve a bit after neutering. Make sure he has plenty of his wet food after as the stress of the vets can cause cystitis.
  What litter are you using?
• It should get better once he is neutered. Also, you should be scooping three times a day- when you get up, when you get home and last thing at night. A good clumping litter helps. Keep the litter nice and deep so that the liquid doesn't reach the plastic tray. Use a nice big tray with high sides to keep the litter in (he is going to keep growing.) That makes it a quick and easy business.
  Consider getting a decent scoop- depending on litter, a metal one is far less likely to 'flick' than the plastic ones. Scoop into biodegradable nappy sacks and put in a bin outside as you go.
  I have tried many litters over the years and find a fine clumping one is the easiest to manage -keep the litter deep enough and there is no need to clean out more than every few weeks.
• I do remove a poop as soon as I detect one... so this can be once/twice/three times a day. But I don't use clumping litter... so I can't lift out the urine. May be that would help.
  I have just been changing the whole lot daily. I shall have a bash with a clumping litter (the one I use is lightweight clay litter - not very expensive as I go through so much of it.)
  Any suggestions for a good clumping litter?
• I think I used catsan back before my cat decide that the whole outside world was her toilet.
  Have you considered an enclosed litter tray? You could also try some sort of deodorising plug in or stick near the tray.
• I agree he will be better when hes been neutered and you have to be ontop of the litter tray situation. I use a clumping litter, scoop poos out straight away and wees twice a day.
  I disinfect his trays a couple of times per week, mop underneath nearly every day and place both trays on newspaper.
  Mine does tend to miss the tray quite a bit. Good luck with yours.
• I'm a big fan of Cats Best Oko Plus from Zooplus - I have two indoor Maine Coon cross breeds and I cannot smell anything from the trays (which are in the front room) unless they've just freshly done a poop and haven't covered it.
  I also use covered litter trays, but the litter does tend to track about the house a bit. I have wooden floors so sweep every day anyway, so this isn't a major issue. I buy 40L a time - very heavy but takes me eight weeks between two cats to go through it all even filling the trays deep. That's Ј2.50 a week for litter.
  Other popular litters on here are Golden Grey, which is clay based and personally I am worried about my two dopes ingesting it and how well it deteriorates in the rubbish, or Worlds Best, another biodegradable one.
• I use sacks of animal feed (cheap, flushable and I don't have to worry about the dogs eating it -which they will do given half a chance.) It was the only thing I could buy locally in an emergency and I have sort of stuck with it because it meets all needs (and was acceptable to my old indoor cat who would use the floor rather than litter he felt unsuitable underfoot.) Don't risk scented litter unless you are very confident it won't put him off.
  Clay litter is always disastrous though- cheap but hard work.
• Definitely agree with Fluff15 and I have two Maine Coons to. It clumps really well into ball shaped clumps and soaks up all traces of the urine - so no smell. I then top it up when needed and only change the tray and wash it out about once every six weeks. I do have to sweep the floor twice a day but I would need to do that anyway.
• Glad he's getting done & it should def help
  I use a good quality clumping clay litter https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/c...e_grain/137226 - also in an unscented version - but steer clear of the other Biokats as they're bigger grains & not so good
  It might seem expensive but, kept deep and scooped regularly, you hardly ever need to do a full tray change (and I mean literally - I only do mine every 3 months & it's really only because I feel I should at that point, rather than them being smelly or looking horrid) - so overall, it costs a fraction of using non clumping and having to change trays regularly
• Definitely clumping litter and removing/disposing off pee clumps several times per day.
  Neutering should help too but a clumping litter is an absolute must. And a good quality one.
• Thank you all... I am going shopping for the clump making litter today after dropping my boy off at the vets.
  He is currently meowing very loud as he hasn't been fed since 9pm last night (due to operation this morning) and is incredibly vocal that he is one hungry mog. He is even checking the floor for dropped cornflakes underneath my daughter's chair lol.
  Fingers crossed all goes well and the neutering stops the smelly wee.
  Thanks again x
• Another vote for Cat's Best Oko Plus. It's brilliant. Cheapest from Zooplus but also available from Pets at Home. We scoop poops when they happen but pees only once a day. We do only have one cat with two trays though.
  As it says on the bag, no need to completely empty and replace the litter very often. Every 6-8 weeks is fine. We were previously using non-clumping litter, emptying the whole lot weekly and so going through ridiculous amounts of it! With clumping, just make sure it's deep enough that the pee doesn't reach the bottom (needs to be 2-3 inches).
  We use a slotted scoop so we get the pee balls out without scooping out and wasting any clean litter.
  Hope the smell goes soon! We have a neutered male and can't smell the pee at all with the litter we're using.
  Oko Plus is quite light in weight so some (clean litter) gets tracked out of the box. We have one of those little handheld vacuums which is brilliant for quickly picking up stray bits of litter.
• Gosh, I feel like a terrible mother (slave). I have two cats and only scoop every other day - and the cats don't go to the toilet outside, either! But I have an enclosed litter tray, it doesn't smell, and the cats are absolutely fine with using it.
  I'm a fan of the enclosed litter tray, though - I couldn't imagine how smelly it would be if I didn't have one!