A house with cats can smell amazing, but it does require an extra effort into cleaning and extra cash for better litter.
What’s physically completely impossible is to have a house without fur. Just learn to live with the fact that there will be fur between your ass cheeks, sandwich, computer, eye balls.
Very very true.
If you just regularly clean the litter box and use decent litter, smell is not an issue at all.
But no matter how often or thoroughly I brush and deshed my cats, there will always be hair everywhere.
It’s amazing what a roomba on a daily schedule can do for the fur problem.
Have Roombas gotten better? Last time I had one it was loud and just bumped into things. Are they smarter now?
Better? Yes. Perfect? No.
I had one of the first models and they were not good.
Now, I have the i7 and it is great at dodging items I leave out (shoes, random boxes, cat toys), but it obviously performs better when the floor is free of obstruction. I do not replace the bag as recommended and disabled the setting that prevents the tower thing from becoming overfilled. There are probably cheaper options around, but the official roomba works great these days. I have it do a deep clean (every room once and the heavy traction areas twice) on Monday and Thursday and then a quick clean every day. I haven’t had to spot clean since I got the schedule started, but I do occasionally randomly run a schedule if I have guests over. I even have a very long step it can fall off of but it hasn’t even fallen off once… well not completely true, it’s wheel has got stuck off the cliff a few times.
Tldr; it’s great. Much better than before. Get one.
Well, they supposedly come with shit detection now.
I have a j7+ and it is great. Never had a single issue. Covers the area I need it to (whole first floor) and self empties.
That’s the reason I can’t have a kitty. Allergic to cat fur for some reason.
Check out Purina liveclear food and shampoo, I just moved in with a cat and have pretty bad cat allergies, but feeding the cat that food and occasionally rubbing on some of the dry shampoo seems to have mostly eliminated the issue. I can rub my face in the kitty’s belly no problem.
Its actually a misconception, its not the fur thats causing the allergic reaction, its actually a protein the cats produce that can be found in their saliva. So when they groom themselves, the protein gets onto their fur.
Interesting fact, intact males produce more of this protein compared to female and neutered males.
Also, you can buy certain cat food that will help manage the protein (it doesn’t eliminate or stop it being produced, it just deactivates the protein). So thats one possible solution for people with allergies. Though if you’re super sensitive, it mightn’t help much.
EDIT: here’s the source
Interesting. Why did I become allergic though? I used to not be.
I think most doctors and researchers would love an answer to that question as well - allergies are weird
That I’m not really sure. I do know however that early exposure (from childhood) to allergens helps prevent allergies from developing later in life.
So people who had a cat when they were a child are much less likely to develop cat allergies when adults, and similarly children who eat nuts are less likely to develop nut allergies
We were fur free with regular vacuuming and a roomba.reallt depends on the type of cats
What would better litter be? I’ve tried about every brand I’ve seen in the past 5 years and the ones that have worked best are just regular brand. Maybe faster clumping is helpful (currently using Tidy Cats Instant Action), but I’ve never seen a noticeable improvement on smell.
I’m Brazilian, so I can’t really help you with brand names or even availability.
But mine is made out of lemon grass, corn and cassava. It smells like lemon grass, urine forms almost perfect spheres, and you can clean it super easily. Nice bonus: you can flush it without issues, and if your cat eats for some reason, it’s actually helpful fiber.
Avoid silica based ones like the plague.
Another user recommended silica, what’s wrong with it?
There are quite a few. To begin with, the manufacturing process can be harmful to the workers, and for the same reason, it can actually worsen some cat’s respiratory issues. The silica also likes to flake into sharper and smaller points when exposed to liquid, which often can cause bruises or skin irritation on paws, mouth or even eyes. Plus, it actually does start to smell quite fast compared to several other kinds of litter (though it’s usually better than the wood based ones, if they’re not properly designed they smell horrible).
The best litter is one cleaned daily.
I pick up after my dog in the yard twice a day
Daily scooping, silica gel litter. Unless you see them you can’t tell I have cats. Even my mom doesn’t complain. Silica gel litter is god’s gift to cat parents.
Is there a reason people like cats pooping and pissing inside their houses? I live in an apartment and my dog hits his button to tell me he wants to go outside. I open the door to the balcony, and he goes and does his business on an astroturf tray.
Dogs generally don’t kill the local wildlife whenever they go outside
He just got a snail…
They are referring to the litter box you can’t smell anymore due to smell blindness. I love a nice cat, but it’s really frustrating how many people insist the litter box in their house doesn’t smell.
It’s entirely possible to have a cat without your house smelling but so many cat owners get lazy with the litter cleaning. We have one cat, use corn based litter (can’t stand the clay smell of the cheaper litters) and scoop it once a day at least. I’ve had guests multiple times confirm with me that I had a cat when they came over because they couldn’t smell anything and are used to that smell you’re describing. One friend demanded to see where the litter box was because they didn’t believe me lol. As long as you keep on the litter it only takes like thirty seconds to scoop it so there’s no hassle doing it once or twice a day. Also using the correct litter makes a big difference too.
Yup, if I’m home I clean the tray 2-4 times a day, it’s a 1min job and my place doesn’t smell like piss. If I hear him going I’ll clean up directly after.
We switched from corn (“world’s best” brand) because it started just turning to dust. There would be so much unfouled litter that was basically useless at the bottom of the pan that we were going thru a ridiculous amount of it for 3 cats.
We switched to the Arm & Hammer zero dust and holy shit it’s so much better. Like I’m kicking myself for not switching sooner.
I scoop every day, usually more than once. On the weekend I completely dump them and refill with new litter. Monthly I pull everything out and wash it down outside.
We bought two huge plastic totes and cut cat sized holes in one end. One jumbo litter tray goes inside each, and it goes on this neat pad I found online that traps the litter from their paws really well. I keep both in the closet in my office (not used for anything else) which has sliding barn doors so we just leave each end cracked open.
I don’t think my house smells bad. I hope.
I don’t think my house smells bad. I hope.
Best way is to ask guests imo, since we’re nose blind to it. That’s how I know my house doesn’t smell, guests who don’t own cats tell me so. We use world’s best though and have great results from it, we also only have the one cat so that might explain the lack of dust compared to what you were dealing with. There’s definitely some dust but not enough to cause an issue or get anywhere outside the box.
Yeah I think it’s a matter of three cats, one of whom is an excessive scratcher/cover-upper-er. The corn was getting pulverized into nothing. It just seemed like at some point the formula or productionprocess changed because at first we thought Worlds Best actually lived up to the name after using fresh step for years (worlds worst!)
I vaguely remember a while back talking to my partner about the same thing when changing the litter, I think you’re right in that they did change formulas at some point.
I don’t smell it but I know it stinks.
It’s the first thing I think about when I’m about to have company.
“So, ummm, do you have a cat?”
If the answer is no I replace the litter.
If the answer is yes I freshen it up.
It doesn’t make the whole house smell. Just the room it is in.
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The effect that has on the animal population around your house is pretty devastating
That depends on where you live. Every ecosystem is different.
Australia or USA? Yes thats bad.
Central Europe? Not so much.
Source?
The source is NABU = “Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union” (the largest non-profit nature conservation organization in Germany)
Translated from german:
But you have to look at the overall picture: only in human settlement areas are cats a serious factor that can partially lead to a decline in bird populations. But in fact, bird populations are increasing there, while they are decreasing especially in agricultural landscapes, but also in forests. Blaming these declines on cats would be far too simplistic. The greatest threat to biodiversity is and remains the progressive degradation of habitats by humans.
https://www.nabu.de/tiere-und-pflanzen/voegel/gefaehrdungen/katzen/15537.html
They recommend castration to limit the cross-breeding of house cats with wild cats, but see no general problem in free-roaming house cats.
Thanks! Appreciate that.
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Ah yes, the non US cat, way different, doesn’t kill animals in droves for fun, sorry, my bad. Justify it however you want doesn’t change the fact that loose domesticated cats are detrimental to the wildlife in the area.
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It is not about how many animals a cat kills. The question is “how many kills are sustainable for the local animal population?”. And that number will always be different depending on where you are. In North Africa cats are literally native animals and in Europe they have been held as free-roaming pets for thousands of years.
Clean ya damn litter boxes, people. Twice a day if you have to. Imagine if you only flushed the toilet once a week.
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Which is kind of the point. You make it nice for them to use, they use it, you clean it, everyone is happy
So do it like a dog and clean it up after they shit Not whenever is convenient
My cat’s litter box cleans itself after every use.
Ours just goes outside.
So many years, always free to roam wherever, always chooses to come back to us.
He’s a good cat.
All cat owner places smell no matter what.
Imagine if you only flushed the toilet once a week.
that is a good line to teach people who wonder how often they should clean the damn litter box.
I fucking love cats but there’s no way I would own one of they weren’t allowed to shit themselves outside. Apartments are not the places for pet ownership.
Cats should be kept inside. They are too destructive to other local wildlife. Also people can manage to keep a pet properly exercised, entertained, and happy in an apartment.
The amount of people in this thread telling on themselves is staggering.
“I am to lazy to clean my cat’s shit and that’s their fault and everone is like that too”.apples, lemon, water, peppercorn, allspice, cinnomomomin, whatever clove or whatever bubbling on the stove makes the house smell better and then they knock that on the floor and melt the linoleum from your pan trying to set the kitchen ablaze so yeah “weird passive aggressive roommate that shits in a box” is what you got
I have “the choice”. It is one cute choice.
Did nobody realize the cat looks exactly like Trump in his mugshot?
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What the hell did that cat ever do to you?!?
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This is the response I needed. Thank you. A hearty laugh was heard here.
Don’t forget the destroyed furniture. My computer chair and curtains will never look nice.
Just lots of scratch posts and reward positive behavior with treats and praise.
Also clipping their nails from time to time helps. Unlike declawing (which is basically a surgical amputation, and is basically animal abuse), nail clipping doesn’t hurt the cat and isn’t a permanent thing, but it does help with damage control
Clean the litter box daily and move away from clay cat litter. I dont know what it is, but arm and hammer litter has been night and day for me. No dust, far far less odor. Litter lasts longer
Tidy cats clay would break apart every time while scooping, quickly ruining the entire batch of litter with urine smell.
I’ve been using pine pellets. I get them from a farm store that sells them for animal bedding but they work amazingly for cat litter and just breaks down into sawdust
Now, if we could just get the dog to not pee and poop on the couch, carpet and beds that would be amazing, but given she also will dig dirty diapers out of the garbage to eat, my hopes aren’t very high…
Cats like sleeping on perfumed clothes. Mine always smelled lovely.
Going to chime in with others and say that it doesn’t have to be this way. Daily litter cleaning is a must but I also use an air purifier with a carbon filter that I run after my cat takes a dump. It takes some planning and gear, but you can keep your place smelling nice.
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Cats are vermin. I love having one around, but they will eventually piss in your heating ducts.
My family has 3 cats, my buddy and I have 2 Bengals, and my girlfriend has 1 large dumb boi.
While the house is stinky in the years I have lived on this planet. I have never had the issue you have described and I would never describe any of the cats I know and love as vermin.
The thing is, they don’t care. Eventually it will be too much effort for them to go to the litter box, and they’ll piss on the couch, or find a spot in the carpet that they sprinkle for weeks straight until you get fed up with the smell and try to locate it. Then, you can’t get the smell out, and they key into it as a new pissing spot because it smells like piss. No matter how hard you try, they just keep pissing there. You hit it with hydrogen peroxide, trying to get the smell out so they don’t think it’s a pissing place, but you can’t, and every time they piss it renews that scent. Then they get diabetes because they’re old, and they piss every 30 minutes, and you can’t keep up to the pissing. They find a new spot, and you can’t find it because everything smells like piss. They piss on your clothes, in your shoes, behind the stairs, and eventually, in the heating vents where the warm air releases new piss smells throughout the house, so everything smells like piss. And that’s the worst place to piss, because it rolls back down the ducts where you can’t get to it to clean it up. And when that cat dies, or you have it euthed, the next cat thinks “Hey, this whole house is a place to piss” and then it starts all over again, only faster this time.
So. Anyways. Cats are vermin.
Sounds like you probably shouldn’t have animals.
Sounds like you probably never have. Or not for long enough to know what I’m talking about yet.
Huh? Cats are clean. Try getting a dog where they rub their face and ears all over your furniture.
As a cat owner, cats are nasty.
They step all over where they pee and poop and then walk all over everything, often times tracking litter with them.
Imagine thinking cats don’t rub on things.
Found the cat owner who doesn’t realize his place stinks
