Content
- Sodium bicarbonate
- Weekly and monthly cleaning
- sand agglomerates
- Self-cleaning litter box
- Self-cleaning sandbox
- Activated charcoal
The odor of cat urine and feces is very pervasive. Therefore, daily cleaning of the box and the agglomerating sand with a scrap collector is essential to eliminate the most pestilential residues.
With this simple maneuver we are able to keep the rest of the sand in good condition and we only have to add a little more every day, to make up for the amount removed from the box.
This is a simple trick to keep cat litter in good condition, but it's not the only one. In this article by Animal Expert we show you several tricks for the stench of cat sand.
Sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate absorbs bad smells and it is disinfectant. However, in large amounts it is toxic to the cat. Therefore, it will be necessary to use it with caution and in a specific way that we tell you below:
- Distribute a very thin layer of baking soda across the bottom of the clean box or container used to hold the sand.
- Cover the thin layer of baking soda with two or three inches of cat litter.
In this way, the sand will act more effectively. Every day you must extract solid waste with the shovel for this purpose. Sodium bicarbonate should be bought in the supermarket because it's much cheaper than in pharmacies.
Weekly and monthly cleaning
Once a week, empty the litter box and wash it thoroughly with bleach or another disinfectant without any fragrance. Thoroughly clean the container. Repeat the baking soda sequence again and add the entire amount of new sand. The scented sands are often not to the liking of cats and they end up taking care of their needs outside the box.
Monthly cleaning of the litter box can be done in the bathtub. The water temperature and detergent must be able to sterilize the litter box.
sand agglomerates
There are some types of agglomerating sands which form balls when they come into contact with urine. Removing feces every day, with this type of sand it also ends up eliminating the balls with urine, leaving the rest of the sand very clean.
It is a slightly more expensive product, but it is very efficient if you eliminate the agglomerated waste on a daily basis. You may or may not use the baking soda trick.
Self-cleaning litter box
On the market there is an electrical appliance that is a self-cleaning sandbox. It costs around R$900, but you don't have to change the sand once the device washes and dries it. Feces are broken up and evacuated down the drain, as is dirty water.
Periodically you must replenish the lost sand. The company that sells this sandbox also sells all its accessories. It is an expensive product, but if anyone can afford this luxury, it is an interesting product for its hygiene and convenience.
According to the information, there is a period of 90 days to prove that the cat gets used to it without problems to fulfill its needs in the device. This self-cleaning sandbox is called CatGenie 120.
Self-cleaning sandbox
Much more economical and very efficient is a self-cleaning sandbox. It costs about R$300.
This self-cleaning appliance allows a very good cleaning of all residues, as it uses agglomerating sand. It has an ingenious system that, using a simple lever, throws solid waste to the bottom, and these fall into a biodegradable plastic bag.
The demo video is very worthwhile. This sandbox calls it e: CATIT from SmartSift. It is ideal when there is more than one cat in the house. There are other more economical self-cleaning sandboxes, but they are not as complete as this model.
Also read our article on how to get rid of the smell of cat urine.
Activated charcoal
Activated charcoal added to cat litter can be an excellent method for decrease feces odor. Many tutors use this method, which has been shown to be very effective.
In addition, a study was done to see if cats liked the presence of activated charcoal in their litter box or not. The results of the study showed that cats used sand with activated charcoal more often than sand without this product.[1]. So this method can be very effective for preventing elimination problems. in other words, it can help prevent the cat from urinating outside the box.
Another study was carried out to compare the preference between sand with added sodium bicarbonate and activated charcoal, demonstrating that cats preferred boxes with activated charcoal[2].
However, each cat is a cat and the ideal is for you to test different alternatives, providing different litter boxes and see which type your cat prefers. You can, for example, add baking soda to a litter box and another activated charcoal and notice which of the boxes your cat uses most often.
If you liked this article, you can continue browsing the Animal Expert to find out why your cat does paw massages, or why cats bury their feces, and you can even learn how to bathe your cat in your home.