Natural Ways to Freshen Cat Litter

One of the most unpleasant aspects of cat ownership is scooping cat litter. However much you love kitty, you will not relish the daily task, as you plug your nose and set to work to keep the cat litter smelling fresh. But there are a number of natural ways to freshen the smell of cat litter without spending a fortune buying premium bags of cat litter.

Change the Cats' Diet

Pungent litter tray odours can be unpleasant and hard to handle, however often you scoop to keep the tray smelling fresh. One way to deal with this problem is to change the cats' diet. Choose a higher quality cat food that meets your cats' exact nutritional needs for their age, activity level and health, rather than cheaper brands that often contain "filler" ingredients.

Once you switch to a higher quality cat food, you will often find that the cats do not leave behind as many messy, smelly stools, and the litter will be easier to tolerate when it comes time to scoop. Moreover, your cats will not need to go as often.

Use Baking Powder

Baking powder is a very versatile ingredient, that is great to have on hand when baking, cleaning or while you are performing many other routine household tasks. It is also relatively cheap, which means you can make liberal use of baking powder when trying to freshen cat litter. Sprinkle baking powder into the litter and as the cats use it the baking powder will be evenly distributed throughout, which in turn will help freshen the environment for pennies.

Scoop and Clean Often

It is important to scoop and clean often when you have cats, especially if you have a multiple cat household. Do not wait until the cat litter is rank before you pull out the cat litter scoop. When you are home, scoop as soon as a cat has used the litter tray, to reduce the incidence of cat odour and clean out each litter tray at least once a week with warm soap and water.

Scooping cat litter is not a task that cat owners relish, but it is an important part of cat ownership. If you have to regularly deal with foul-smelling litter, there are some easy ways to freshen cat litter. Start by changing the cats' diet, to include cat food that contains higher quality ingredients and using baking powder to sprinkle into the litter. Do not forget that it is also important to scoop and clean often to keep the cat litter fresh.

More from this contributor:

How to Encourage Better Litter Tray Etiquette in Your Cat.

How to You're your Cat's Room Sanitary.

Time Saving Techniques when Cleaning Your Cat's Litter Tray.