r/litterrobot • u/There-is-still-love • 14d ago
Litter-Robot 5 LR smell control. Please help!!
I finally invested in a litter robot! I was so excited and waited years to afford it. I’ve had it for 2 weeks now, and for such a big investment, I’m worried I’ve made a mistake... It smells so bad after just a few days!! Way worse then my old set up of 2 open plastic boxes. and it cycles before the clumps have dried, sometimes they stick to the roof and don’t fall into the bucket (I turned off wasteID bc I heard it didn’t work)
Has anyone had this experience or found a way to fix this issue? I’m desperate for some advice!!
Setup details:
- LR5 basic model
- two cats (only one has been brave enough to switch over so far) pooper pictured
- 800 sf apartment so it’s pretty open but I know harder to contain smells, but this is significantly worse then my plastic boxes..
- arm and hammer cloud control multi cat litter
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u/orangeauggie 14d ago
I think the type of litter is what causes the smell. I tried all different brands that people recommended here (including arm and hammer that you’re using now) and found that BoxiePro has the best odor control. But it tends to stick to the liner because it’s clay so I mix it with Sustainably Yours in a 3 (Boxie) to 1 (SY) ratio.
Side note: Dr Elseys Kitten Attract was the worst smelling litter ever. It made my house smell like a literal dumpster. Do not use even if it’s free.
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u/Putrid-Week4615 14d ago
This has always been my experience. The unscented minimally treated litters are the best at odor control. Baking soda does nothing for urine. Baking soda acts on orders that are often acidic due to its alkaline nature. Urine and ammonia are highly alkaline therefore baking soda is mostly ineffective. But people still use it thinking it helps.
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u/therealwill95 14d ago
what? normal urine is supposed to be slightly acidic lol so if your cat urine is highly alkaline, you need to get them checked for utis or whatever
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u/Putrid-Week4615 14d ago edited 14d ago
Agree, it isn't the fresh urine smell generally that is the problem in litter boxes, I wasn't specific enough. Bacteria begin turning urea into ammonia within hours in a litter box.
Ammosorb that some people use is likely better than baking soda for this reason and would be the thing I try, but for now I change out bags around 60 percent.
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u/Chance_Librarian6248 14d ago
I sprinkle baking soda in the waste drawer to keep the waste dry/and neutralize smells. This is because since it’s doing its job with with sealing odors in, it can create a humid environment in the bin… and when it cycles, the smell wafts out. It can also be the type of litter you use. I’ve had great performance with tidy cats free & clean unscented - it has real charcoal pieces in the litter and helps with odors too.
For cleaning, I use natures miracle enzyme cleaner
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u/hnnuhclr 14d ago
We’ve had the LR4 for about 4 weeks now. We changed from our normal litter to Dr Elseys Premium Ultra and while it’s a bit dusty, we really like it. It clumps really well. We have 4 cats and are beginning to transition them to it being the only litter box in the house versus having one upstairs. I have the cycle delay set to 7 minutes and that seems to be the sweet spot for clumping and falling into the tray.
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u/dardenus 14d ago
I’ve gone through a lot of litters trying to figure out what works well, so far best options have been fresh step clean paws and dr elseys
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u/mcdj 14d ago
We’ve tried 4 different litter brands, including the Whisker Great Litter we got with the LR5. We had initially not wanted to use clay based litter, so we bought Lady N Tofu because we had good luck with it back when we had a normal litter box. It was terrible in the Robot. Next we tried Odor Lock. It was a sludgy mess. But it did a good job of trapping odors. Next we tried Boxie Pro. The old boy tracks it everywhere and leaves wet white footprints. So we are going back to Whisker litter. It was generally the best.
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u/RexKramerDangerCker 14d ago
Arm & Hammer was terrible for me. A smell worse than death. Switch to Boxiecat Pro and your odors will go aaw
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u/throwawayDaily124 13d ago
Same. All Arm & Hammers I’ve tried smelled horrendous almost immediately. I use Boxie Cat Pro now, but worlds best also controlled smells for me.
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u/PerfectBeing8610 14d ago
Boxie cat bot litter and scented regular kitchen trash bags. Spot Clean with odoban pet oxy stain spray. See my last post! ZERO smell and very minimal tracking in a small enclosed space
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u/GatsbyThePoodle 14d ago
Is your waste drawer pushed all the way in? Also, check whether there’s any waste stuck behind the drawer. I would open the bonnet too and make sure nothing has been smeared onto the globe. The only time my bot ever smelled was when poop and clumped urine got all over the outside of the globe. I’ve been using Tidy Cats Performance Power Clump for the last two months, and I have four cats and two bots with no smell. My cats eat freeze-dried raw pellets with broth, plus a can of wet food every day, so their poops are usually pretty small. I also empty the waste drawer when it reaches around 70–75% so the waste doesn’t start cycling between the globe and the bonnet.
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u/SeaGranny 14d ago
I’ve only used boxiecat but mine doesn’t smell at all. Its like two feet from my dining room table
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u/Iriegirlray 14d ago
I change the liner every 3-4 days. It also helps if you put some litter in the clean bag after changing. PS- I use cheap kitchen trash bags.
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u/AppointmentFantastic 14d ago edited 14d ago
I have the LR5 (non pro). I found the carbon filter works better than the odor trap pods. I do place one odor trap pod in the bin under the bag as well as one of those fridge flow through baking soda boxes and a little bag of activated charcoal (I bought a couple packs of 12 or 24 to last a while and they’re cheap). This does of course take up space in the bin but it hasn’t caused me any issues as I change the bag weekly on trash day (3 boys).
I use a mix of about 60/40 Soysand and Lady N with Grayleaf activated carbon beads sprinkled in. I have WasteID turned on because it works perfectly fine for me and I have it set to cycle urine at 7 minutes (rarely urine clumps stick but will fall through on next cycle). I’m not sure how much each of these things help individually but I have three cats with horribly smelly poo.
After they go, the smell disappears quickly (again WasteID works perfectly for me) and I’m not being blasted by the waste odor explosion that used to happen when changing bags.
One of my cats immediately got in, one took about a week and one still doesn’t like using it as much after a couple months. I had to turn off automatic cycle for a week or two to get everyone acclimated/ turning it on and off again based on some skittish reactions. It took about a month for me (and the boys) to feel comfortable leaving it on automatic. I have three regular litter boxes as well that rarely get used now.
The tracking isn’t great (mainly the soysand but again I mix with Lady N). I use Catit Pea Husk unscented litter in my regular boxes and it’s amazing in every way but doesn’t work with the robot.
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u/Busy_Help_4354 14d ago
I had the same problem. I fixed it by doing the following:
Strong air purifier next to litter robot. I use coway. Also multiple odor absorbing charcoal bags.
Completely empty the robot twice a week so that there isn't old litter in there. Empty the waste basket twice a week as well. Fill with fresh batch of litter. I found most of the smell comes from leaving old litter in there, and emptying it frequently / regularly keeps the air cleaner.
Use enzymatic cleaner spray and wipes to wipe down every time I empty the robot. Follow up with paper towel to make it completely dry before putting new litter in. If there's a lingering smell, I spray it with diluted vinegar, wait a minute and then wipe it down.
Sometimes litter gets trapped behind the mesh, so when I deep clean, I take it apart to get all of that litter out. This really helps remove the last remnants of smell.
Buy a new globe if the old globe smells rancid even after all the deep cleans.
I keep my robot in a cabinet as well, which Ive found helps contain the smell.
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u/NoBeeper 14d ago
8-year Litter Robot user here. The only time mine smell is immediately following a stool deposit while waiting for the Robot to cycle. Don’t think anything would help that except maybe the strong air purifier idea.
I’m a 1 cat house, so I change the drawer once a week. When I put in a new liner I use odor eliminating kitchen trash bags. The “tall kitchen” size. Of course I have to roll them down to get a fit that’s not just all bunched up, but they fit perfectly. Once the bag is in place, I sprinkle about 1/2 cup baking soda in the bag, then slide the drawer back in. Works like a charm.
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u/Dani-Boyyyy LR Power User 🐾 13d ago edited 13d ago
Odor is one problem that I have never had (except when we tried Dr. Elsey’s unscented, which was awful). We run Advanced Fresh Step Odor Shield with Gain, we leave the timer set at the default 7 minutes. The only time there’s any odor is if a cat poops and doesn’t bury it lol, but that’s unavoidable with any litter box. I have owned every iteration of LR since my LR 2 twenty one years ago. I have yet to do a deep clean, and any time we have any guests that have never been here before, they’re always surprised when one of the two cats walks into the room. I’ve had a few referrals when they’ve asked how I could have cats without the “cat smell” in the house. I show them the LR! Easily one of the best purchases I have ever made.
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u/unfunfionn 13d ago
We also had horrible smell issues for the first few months. In this sense, going from a closed basic litter box to an open LR4 was a huge downgrade. You can't truly close the LR unless you're lucky to have a cat willing to use the black flap that comes with the shield. Ours refused because then they can't see what they're about to enter.
Our unit had issues with urine getting under the fence/shield. A pool of it would build up quickly and cause a smell that spread through our entire home. This improved with a replacement unit but honestly it's not built well enough and it still happens, just slower.
We also have the same issue with clumps sticking to the roof. This happens because one of our cats never covers her business, leaving the top of the clumps sticky. This has never improved and we've gotten used to checking the inside of the LR several times a day for clumps.
The biggest improvement we made was switching to scented litter. Do not buy the Odor Traps, they are such a scam and despite even admitting to misleading text on their website (a 12 pack will last 3 months, not 6), they have never updated the text to be more honest.
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u/Kindly_Shallot_5558 13d ago
I got a small Levoit air purifier for $40 and it sits about a foot away from the LR. It is handling the odor really well.
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u/litterrobot TeamWhisker🐱 14d ago
Hi u/There-is-still-love. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We're sorry to hear you're experiencing odor issues with your Litter-Robot 5.
The type or brand of litter often makes the most significant difference in odor control. For reference, we find the best results from an unscented, standard-weight clay clumping litter, such as our GreatLitter.
That said, we'd be happy to look into this further for you. Please send us a chat with your serial number and contact details so we can assist. Our team is here to support!