# ammonia smell from the litter?



## OsnobunnieO (Jun 28, 2004)

I've only really been around ONE cat who has very strong ammonia smelling urine... a cat I pet sit for. You walk into the room his litter box is in and it hits you like a wall. Even working at a vet and being around tons of cats and litter boxes, I've just never smelled it much. Stinky tom cat pee yes... but straight up ammonia not so much.

Until lately.

I think I've traced it to the litter. I've used a ton of different litters and never really had a problem with any of them, but still haven't found that "perfect" one. A while back I bought a big bag of World's Best. A while later, I bought a box of Swheat Scoop. The plan was to use one in the box in my room and another in the box in the dining room. It seems like ever since I started using the Swheat Scoop there has been a strong ammonia smell whenver I scoop the box, but I never have that problem with the World's Best.

I'm also not sure if its just that she uses the box in my room (Swheat Scoop) a lot more than the other box so the fact that there is just more urine is attributing to it. Next time I'm due to dump the litter I'll try World's Best in both to see if I still smell the ammonia.

Its not a really strong odor that can be smelled from far away, just when I get down and start scooping.

Any thoughts?


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

this happens to me too, but i have 2 cats using one box.... so i cant say if its one cats pee or what. i thought it was normal though... :?:


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

I think it's the litter. I noticed a slight smell when I tried chicken feed as litter, and Swheat Scoop would be similar.


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## Kittys Mom (May 7, 2004)

Well if it's coming from the actual litter...I don't have any suggestions. 

But, I thought I'd add my two cents anyway. Thomas has an elevator butt, in fact, lately it seems like he's in a one cat contest for highest reach using his "stream". :roll: He can almost hit the top edge of the litterbox upstairs (he's been getting the handles lately). It's a rubbermaid tub with 18 inch high sides, no door - they get in over the top. If I don't wipe down the sides with bleach wipes, the box reaks like ammonia. I can't smell it unless I'm down there scooping...which is a plus. 

Are you sure it's the litter and not the box?


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## OsnobunnieO (Jun 28, 2004)

I don't think its the box as I don't smell anything once I'm done scooping.


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## harry (Jan 25, 2006)

its just the cat urine. have to scoop more often and get another litterbox or 2. I have 2 large litter boxes for my 3 cats and they both get scooped every day. if i go 2 days without scooping they will have a fairly strong ammonia smell.


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## OsnobunnieO (Jun 28, 2004)

but it seems very individual to the cats. I NEVER smelled ammonia with Addison (bridge kitty) and admit I was never all that faithful with how often I scooped, and I only had the one box. And this is really just a very recent change, plus I never smell it when I clean the box in the other room, just my room.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I posted a while ago that my litterbox developed a bad odor when I bought a container of multi-cat litterin Tidy Cat, I think.... I wanted the container for bird seed. The odor was terrible, the litter was wet and "icky" (whatever that means!), and the cats did not like it at all.

I couldn't wait to go back to PLAIN Arm 'n Hammer. This doesn't seem to make sense. but it happened when my husband accidentally got multi-cat Arm 'n Hammer too. I know some people really like The World's Best, but it's more expensive, and I'm very satisfied with what I have.

Perhaps this is the problem some of you are having...multi-cat litter.


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## Smirkitty (Apr 19, 2008)

I've noticed a HUGE difference between the big square yellow tubs of Tidy Cat and the smaller bottles of Tidy Cat of the exact same variety. When we buy the big tubs, it just doesn't clump as well. The bottles come in 2 sizes, so we use the larger of the bottles and buy two. I'm sure it's more expensive that way, but since the big tub doesn't clump very well, it gets nasty very quickly, and we end up going through more anyway.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I'd switch to Arm 'n Hammer, if I were you. The larger quantity is more economical, and I think you'll like it.


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