What exactly is the problem?

Odor?

If so, scoop more often and ventilate. You can open your windows for
a while each day, even when it is cold.

Don't try to cover up the smell, just clean the box more often.

Simple, eh?

How many cats and exactly what is the issue?

I have one cat and two litter boxes. She likes to pee in one and poop in the
other. When it comes to litter, I use one that is clumping and flushable.
When I detect an odor, I scoop and flush. Usually twice a day. I use the Arm
& Hammer on occasions when she's taken a notion not to bury. Don't just
sprinkle it on top, mix it in.

As a result of my regime, the odor is around for as long as it takes me to
scoop, flush, sprinkle and mix. About 2 minutes?

You didn't mention how many cats you have, but if you only have room for one
box, perhaps consider a flushable clumping litter and scoop more often.

I prefer Precious Cat "classic" or "ultra" scoopable -
http://www.preciouscat.com.  I have tried everything on the market.
You need to scoop daily and clean the pan completely at least every 3-4
weeks.  I suggest replacing the pans about once a year as the plastic
can retain odors (as all plastics can).  As for cleaners, I use
ODOKLEEN and ODOKILL which are both available through pet supply stores
or online.
http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?sku=30309&R=323&enemerch=1

-L.

Suddenly, without warning, ensoul exclaimed (12-Feb-06 3:09 AM):

You don't mention exactly how many cats.  Many people suggest you should
have one more litterbox than you have cats.  I do realize that it may be
a space issue, but you should have at least as many boxes as cats.

If the problem is odor, try a different cat food.  I've just recently
put Meep The Non-Burying Cat on Royal Canin (Mature Indoor, I think),
and she's gone from Oh, My God What An Amazing Stink to Oh, I didn't
Realize She Had...

As for litter, World's Best Cat Litter is, well, the best.  Flushable,
covers smell well when she does bury, lasts a long time if I clean
regular, clumps just enough.

Are they both using the boxes, or do you have a problem with one or the
other going outside the boxes?

jmc

I like SwheatScoop. It's wheat, plain wheat. The others use clay or
other things which are somewhat associated with serious medical
problems. I gather you're really asking about the smell? I don't
smell anything with the wheat product for some reason. It's much
more expensive unless you can find wheat on farms?

Arm & Hammer, was that ordinary baking soda? Put some in the
bottom of the box before filling. Might help and it's inexpensive?
You would sprinkle this on the bottom of the litter, not the top,
according to ShweatScoop. Maybe sprinkle both ways. But it's the
bottom if not deep enough that accumulates nasty stuff.
Are you filling to at least 3 inches deep too? That helps a lot.
Measure with a ruler, 3 inches is very, very deep.

You might try scooping more than once a day. Basically that's all
the $100 machine does. Scoop, poop, scoop, poop, scoop, poop...
Or is that poop, scoop, poop, scoop, poop, scoop, poop, scoop...

About your sig, Anne Sexton sure did not take her own advice in
regards to trusting her soul to her the_rapists. Especially that one
in Boston. What an unethical bastard, and directed the family clinic?
And the previous one in Philly who released her tapes but did nothing
about the bum in boston? Very sad.

i just thought of something. parasite can make a big stink. have you
ever check them for blood parasites beside stool parasite?

Clumping clay litter that contains sodium bentonite is extremely dangerous
for your felines as when ingested during normal grooming from the paws, it
forms hard clumps in their digestive tracts which can cause anything from
pain to death.  If you're using a product that fits this description and
most especially if you have a long haired cat that gets quite a bit of
litter stuck to their fur, I'd say that was a pretty dangerous combination.

Besides the obvious health concerns with the clumping agent, these kinds of
litters have harmful silica dust that your cat and you inhale that damages
breathing surfaces permanently and is also a known carcinogen.  Several
years before I educated myself on this matter, I had a cat die from the
effects of clumping litter in her system and it was a slow and painful death
that I will feel guilty about for the rest of my life.  As if all of that
wasn't bad enough, clay mines are not eco-friendly either.  I really have
nothing good to say about clay litters, and most especially about clumping
clay litters.

My veterinarian was NO help whatsoever with figuring out this problem, so
don't expect yours to be!  Don't put yourself through the guilt or your cat
through the pain.  What seems like common sense in hindsight was something
nobody figured out at the time, and so many cats are suffering needlessly
while the makers of these products count their blood money and insist their
customers are perfectly happy injuring and killing their beloved pets with
their "convenient" products.

***Alternatives***

Try pine wood pellet, corn or wheat litters.  They're natural and safe as
long as the pine kind is only made from kiln-dried (natural oils-removed)
pine sawdust formed into pellets and the corn/wheat varieties don't have any
pesticide residues.  (i.e. buy commercially prepared ones, don't try to make
your own.)  I buy a very large bag of it twice a year and that's it!  It's
$20 or $25 but that's Canadian money too, so it should be even cheaper if
you're in the States.

The shelter I got Tashi from was using a pine wood litter so I got the same
thing to ease her transition and I'm so glad I did.  It's amazing.  There is
NO unpleasant scent whatsoever!  Not right away and not two, three or even
four weeks later.  After a month I change Tashi's litter, even though I can
literally pick up her litter box and sniff it and still detect no scent at
all.  By then the pellets are mostly saw dust and that's when it's time to
replace them.  I do remove solid waste right away, and a little saw dust
usually sticks to that, but it's perfectly safe to flush small amounts of
saw dust.  When I dump out the litter into a big green garbage bag, I place
the pan in the tub and pour boiling water all around the sides and into it
and let it sit for a while.  Then I dump the water down the toilet and dry
the pan with a paper towel.  Because I'm using soft wood instead of hard
silica, the pan stays in perfect non-scratched condition so it's easy to
keep it hygienic.  It always looks brand new to be honest.

Pine litter is environmentally friendly and 100% natural and safe to use.
It's so long lasting, controls odors perfectly and is affordable.  It has no
dust during use or while cleaning and replacing for you or your cat to
inhale.  It doesn't stick to your cat or track all over the house.  I never
thought a litter would come along as perfect as pine litter.  Even the most
finicky nose can not even detect it's presence in the home and almost too
good to be true, it's inexpensive too - it's like a dream come true if you
ask me.  You pour out pellets and as the litter gets used up, it turns to
saw dust.  At no point along the way does it have a bad smell... just give
it a stir when removing poop (if you want, usually I don't even do that) and
when it's more sawdust and less pellets, replace it... very simple and easy
to use.

Messing with the litter a cat is used to can be problematic, so if you want
to switch to pine litter, put an inch of it underneath a layer of your
current product without stirring and slowly reduce your current product
until nothing is left but the pine pellets.  If your cat has any setbacks,
simply slow down the process.  Another option would be to toilet train your
cats.  Some say it's not natural and no cat would ever do such a thing
willingly, which is not true.  When I was growing up, we had a cat that
taught himself to use the toilet, so don't let someone with an agenda (or
maybe just jealous?) tell you what's normal and natural and what isn't.  If
your cat doesn't want to learn toilet training, trust me, it won't.  Cats do
not humor us with stupid pet tricks.  They leave that sort of thing to dogs
and humans.  So you see there is absolutely no need to put up with indoor
cat smelly litter anymore, those days are gone forever for me and I love it.

The above was taken from Tashi's website and reworded slightly.

==================================================