10 Tips for Keeping Your Home Odor Free With Cats

If you keep your cats in the home all the time, then you’ll probably begin to notice odors from the cat litter box or from the natural behaviors that they display. Fortunately, you can follow a few suggestions on how to keep your home odor-free when you have cats inside.

Vacuum

You might have to vacuum every other day, but this is an easy way to keep odors from spreading. Make sure you vacuum any cat litter on the floor. A carpet cleaner or deodorizer that you can sprinkle on the carpet before vacuuming can help as well.

Clean Furniture

Keep surfaces that your cats have walked on clean. A cleaner with a citrus scent often deters cats from getting onto the surface in the future, but you might have to clean with these products several times before the smell lingers.

Bathe Your Pets

Most cats don’t like to get a bath, but there are sprays that you can get that act like shampoo. Gently wash your cat with a cloth and the spray to keep the fur clean. Wash the paws when you’re cleaning as well.
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Wash Linens

If your cat sleeps on your bed or has a special bed or blanket to sleep on, you need to wash it at least twice a week. This will help to remove any lingering odors that your cat leaves. It can also make the bedding feel warm and soft so that your cat only wants to lay on this material instead of getting on the couch or other surfaces.

Keep Toys Clean

Your cat probably has a few toys to play with. Wash these toys a few times a week with warm water because the scent of your cat can transfer to them. Any toys that are made of fabric instead of plastic should be washed in the washing machine and dried.

Change The Litter

Instead of simply scooping the cat litter, you need to change it out with new litter. It will feel better to your cat, and there won’t be any lingering odors from the same litter that you’ve used. The litter box should also be cleaned about once a week. Put a small amount of vinegar in the litter box with water, letting it sit before rinsing it out.

Circulate The Air

When it’s warm outside, open the windows to allow fresh air to circulate. This is one of the easiest ways to get odors from your cats out of the house. In the winter, you can open a small window to get odors out instead of opening all of them at one time. Put a dryer sheet on the screen to circulate the scent through the house.

Air Purifier

An air purifier circulates the air in the home as well while trapping odors. This is a solution to consider if you can’t open the windows because of allergies.

Absorb The Odor

You can get small containers and fill them with everything from baking soda to vinegar and water to combat pet odors. Place the containers in areas of the home where your cats frequent the most to eliminate smells.

This comment was added in the comments on my LinkedIn profile from a cat parent and I wanted to share it here as well so it may help others.

No one ever knows that I have two cats unless they make an appearance. One is because they are short haired and I have hardwood floors. Two, no smell ever! The easiest and least expensive way is to mix “food grade” diatomaceous earth in the kitty litter. You will never smell urine or feces or your cat odor again. It also keeps pests under control like fleas etc. The litter will last longer and is beneficial to animals ( rid parasites) when indigested, so no worries on the ingestion part from cleaning their paws or fur. It is very important that it is mixed in- I use 1 cup in a large litter box with non-clumping litter. My litter lasts a very long time. Absolutely no smell! You determine the ratio but the power is very fine so you don’t want it sprinkled on top then them kicking up dust. Once well mixed there are very little particles that are getting released. Save your money or buy the lovely wildflowers because they make you feel good and the aroma enhances your home. This one is not in any pet care book- read up on its application, I use it for way more than litter! Remember Food Grade!

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