My entire apartment smells like litter/cats

Litterbox

Hi! I just started fostering 2 cats (mother and son) a week ago. The mother is 1 yr 4 months and the kitten is just about 4 months (not fixed male). I have 2 litter boxes for them- one is a covered one without the door attached and the other is just a large box. I first started out with Boxie Pro litter (dark grey bag, unscented) and while there was no dust, my entire apartment started to smell like litter/something horrible. I’m in an nyc apartment with a few floors so I thought by keeping the boxes in the basement the rest of the apt would be somewhat unaffected….I was wrong Lol.

I scoop the boxes out 2x/day and clean around them with an enzyme cleaner. I also sprinkled in some baking soda to help with the odor. I checked around the apt and they have not been going to the bathroom anywhere else besides the litter boxes, they are very well behaved. So I decided to switch to fresh step multi cat which is scented. I cleaned both boxes out and put the new litter in today. I thought that I honestly would rather smell the weird febreeze smell than ammonia litter smell, but again I was wrong lol. Now the entire apt just smells like that litter and just overall like dirty cat. Just for reference I have had other cats in the past (not at this apt though) and I have never had this issue before. Literally you walk into the apartment and it just hits you in the face. The cats themselves don’t stink, but I just find this really odd! I have been trying to open windows to get fresh air, but I get nervous opening them too much with the cats around. Does anyone have any suggestions at all?? I’m so lost and feeling really discouraged :( Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

Posted Jan 14, 2026, 3:08 AM UTC

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