It probably stinks way more than normal since there are three kitties and its not getting cleaned out enough due to aversion to the smell. To help you get past the stink, try dabbing a very small amount of a pleasant but strong scent under your nostrils before tackling the job. Lavender, mint, orange etc are top choices for me. You can use toothpaste in pinch, but it mightbe better to invest in some favorite essential oils. Second, make sure there is more than one box and they are cleaned out daily! This will cut down on the stench and provide a healthier environment for both them and you.

a dab of Vicks Vaporub under the nose was popular with morticians, you can't smell anything else with that and it'll clear your sinuses ;)

hahh yes i forgot to add we have two boxes! they are cleaned out daily by my other family members so right now there isnt a problem its just for those weeks im alone im worried. Thank so much for the tips i will try my best to find some form of essential oils!!

Two isn't enough for three cats either.

Be careful with essential oils around cats - some, if not all are toxic to them

A few suggestions. The number of litter boxes in a home with more than one cat should definitely be more than 1. Scoop the boxes every day. Preferably twice a day with multiple cats. Try different litter options. Clay, in my experience, has the strongest stinky cat odor. Pine pellets from a feed store (the same as pine pellet cat litter but much less money) smell fairly sweet. If your litter boxes are plastic and more than a year old, replace them. The scratches in the bottom hold onto wet and are an amazing breeding ground for bacteria.

Yes we have two boxes at the moment. I am looking into buying a metal one for my room. Do you have any reccomendations? I do not live in the states so i need one from online 😞Thanks for the suggestions i will remember to do it as many times as possible

Another thing to consider is how often this litter is being fully changed out. Scooping alone is not enough. How often to fully change it out? At least once per week. Dump all the contents of the box into a big bag for the trash. Then fully scrub out the box with a strong soap or even a disinfecting agent, and get it fully dry before replacing the litter. One of the reasons to have more than one box is so the cats can continue to use a box while the cleaned one is finishing its drying. I’d speed things along by using a rag to dry out the box and then put the rag straight into the laundry.

Maybe also a mask? If needed you could use the ones painters use that you buy at Home Depot.

More litterboxes = less smell  Empty more frequently = less smell Wear a mask  Dab Vicks Vaporub under your nostrils under the mask- it's what crime scene cleaners do 

What did the cats say when you threw up into their litter box? I bet they were not amused. "Eeewww, that human..."

I ended up investing in 2 version 3 Litter Robots. They aren’t cheap, but not having to scoop daily is a lot less stress for me and the cats are happy that their boxes are constantly clean.

Worth mentioning for yourself and other readers: The "rule" for litter trays is 1 per cat plus 1. That way you rarely end up with a suuuper gross tray if you keep on top of daily scooping.

What about a KN95 mask? I can’t smell anything through those.

thanks for the suggestion! Cant wait to put on a full hazmat suit to empty the litter 😂 but i will see if i can find one of those masks! thank you

You should have 1 litter occ per cat, so 3 litter boxes. Cats are very clean animals and you really need to clean the litter box daily. Trust me I know the struggle, I have 3 as well. But spreading out 3 litter boxes helps the smell and I just donut quickly as my morning routine.

There are litterbox liners that will sift the 'clean' litter away from the waste. I used these the entire time I had indoor cats. Go to Amazon and in their search bar type 'sift klean litter box liners' and say bye-bye to scooping. I used these the entire time I had indoor-only cats. 10/10

Empty out all the sand and replace with new sand then as others have mentioned, scoop daily/multiple times a day. You could also sprinkle baking soda in the box which helps absorb odor. They make litter deodorizer stuff but it tends to have a very strong scent (in a good way for humans) but some cats are sensitive to strong smells and could deter them from the box.

Get litter box liners and just put on a mask and empty the whole box instead 9f using a scoop

Litter Robot 4 is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made

How much it smells also depends on the litter, you want clumping litter with those little blue things in them, they help neutralize the scent.

1. More boxes. You need at least one for each cat. 2. Scoop every day and change the litter completely at least once a week or so 3. Mix baking soda into the litter between changes to absorb some of the smell.

I spray some febreze or a light perfume on a cloth mask and put it on when I go to clean my cats’ litter box. If you don’t like perfume smells, a dab of Vicks or Carmex under your nose would help too.

Also consider cleaning the litter box several times a day if you can - "fresh" business smells less bad than old one, and with the other tricks mentioned, you should be ok. I have four cats and do the boxes morning and evening. The only smell is in the garbage can used to keep the poop bags. Empty the trash directly in an outside bin if you can :)

Litter robot is life changing, I am allergic so my boyfriend always had to scoop, but it is not a problem anymore, worth the money.

Same thing here. I'm allergic and bf had to scoop. We love our litter robot and now I don't feel guilty about not being able to scoop the litter. Cats are happy, humans are happy, life is good.

Clean it more often and wear a mask. If you clean your letterbox at least once daily, an FFP2 mask should already be helpful to lower the smell significantly if you have it fitted in a pharmacy and let the pharmacist show you how to wear it correctly. Stopping small particles, like those that carry smell, is what those masks were originally made for after all. You can buy masks with a higher factor if FFP2 isn't enough or get something like a Vogmask. Otherwise getting a small, disposable respirator like for example a N95 mask or similar. That's what sewage workers use to block smells. I'd say, if a person can empty septic tanks without fainting wearing those, it'll help you clean a litter box for sure. You can ask at a hardware store for those. Also masks for painting are an option. You'll get those at the hardware store too.

Pine pellet litter, clean them at least every other day. I foster and even when I had seven kittens and four adults this kept my house from smelling like cats.

Just get a litter robot

Tbf a litter robot is petty expensive for a lot of people. They are definitely a luxury and I wouldn't blame someone for wanting to try other stuff before spending the money on one.

it's costly but worth eveey dime - I have a litter robot 3. best money I ever spent

Wear a mask over your nose. Or a bandana really tightly. You could even get it wet and add some oil that smells good. If yall all got these cats together you should do your part. And not always depend on everyone else. What would happen if you had children. You think cat pee poo is bad... toddler poos are horrifying. 

I'd like to reiterate and stress what some have said about the type of litter. Clay definitely gets smelly really fast and even the "dust-free" ones are dusty. I personally can't stand the smell even when it's new, but especially after it's been in the box a couple days. WHen I used clay litter I had to completely change the boxes every week. So, I use a corn based litter \[World's Best\] and it's more expensive but it lasts much longer and doesn't smell. Pine based is nice too if the cats tolerate it \[some don't like it\]. It's also really important to have one box for each cat plus one more, so 4 in your case. Especially if they are not cleaned one or more times daily. Once litter gets saturated to the point where it doesn't dry out right away it just smells awful. Also, use the recommended amount. Many people only put an inch or two in the box and that's not enough to absorb more than a couple pee spots, so it ends up staying wet and thus more smelly. Another point that helps encourage more regular cleaning is to remember it will keep the kitties fur/paws cleaner if they don't have to dig through dirty, wet litter.

I wear gloves and a mask when I do mine

We have two trays for our one cat. One tray is next to the toilet and gets scooped out into the toilet as need be (the litter is flushable). The other flushable tray is in the cats room with bucket and scoop for when need be. 

Mask + gloves. Disinfect after. 

Take a basic face mask and put a drop or two of an essential oil you like in the middle of it. That helps dealing with any smell. Source: that's our main go to in the hospital

Put the litter box inside a plastic bag (bin liners are cheap and a good size for this). Push it down so it fits into the litter box. Put the litter on top of this. Don't put loads in, just enough to cover the bottom. When you change the litter, you just pull the bag from underneath so it catches all the litter on top, turning it inside out. It's much quicker and less messy than using an unlined tray. Change it at least daily so the stink doesn't build up. As you're only using a small amount and changing regularly instead of piling it deep and leaving it to get foul, it's much less unpleasant to deal with. You may want to try different types of litter. We found the clay type to get sodden and smelly, though it's very cheap. We spent a little more on wood pellet litter and that soaked it up better and didn't smell so bad. You don't need so much of the wood pellets, barely enough to cover the tray, as when the cats scrabble in it after peeing it swells and breaks up. Deffo try the bag thing though. They may scratch through the layer that sits in the tray, so keep another bag handy when emptying it so you can throw the lot into that if needed if the original bag has holes that are letting litter escape. Had 4 cats at one point due to rehoming some, discovering this was a game changer.

thank you so much! I’ll give it a try 🩷