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.
That's the reason I can't have a kitty. Allergic to cat fur for some reason.
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
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.
We were fur free with regular vacuuming and a roomba.reallt depends on the type of cats
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.
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.
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 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's only a problem if you leave the litter box out. Ours are all in the master bathroom, so that the living room doesn't smell. The bathroom certainly smells, I'm extremely sensitive to smell so I straight-up go in with my nose covered, but the rest of the place is fine.
I also recommend wax melters. Wal-Mart sells this "Orange Buttercream" wax that smells exactly like Froot Loops, it's amazing.
It doesn't make the whole house smell. Just the room it is in.
Clean ya damn litter boxes, people. Twice a day if you have to. Imagine if you only flushed the toilet once a week.
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.
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
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".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
I have "the choice". It is one cute choice.
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.
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...
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.
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.
