smelly cats?

Question
So I've got my two orange tabbies, both brothers & about 6 months in age. They havn't been declawed or neutered, & for a while now they've been kinda smelly...

Since they were not declawed, my mom and i kept them in our mud room when we were out of the house. We would keep their food, litter box and a bed in this space also. I wouldnt scoop the litter as often as I should have either. The smell would get bad and even when I scooped more frequently, the smell kept coming. I gave them baths also but eventually one of the cats peed on the couch. My mom was ready to get rid of the cats.

So I moved them out of the mud room and upstairs to my room. My room is slightly larger than a studio apartment and much better than the mud room, I put their food and litter box in my bathroom. With this move, I also started cleaning the litter box almost daily and spraying pet deodorizer every now and then. But they still smell. Everytime my mom comes in she comments on it, I open the window and turn on the fan but it never really goes away.

When I go to friends' houses I can't understand how they can make less effort than I and have better smelling cats. lol. I give them Purina dry & change their water various times a day. Scoop & sweep, bathe. Why do they keep smelling so musky, etc?

thanks - Andrea


Answer
Hi Andrea.  As soon as I saw the subject line, I heard Phoebe from Friends singing "Smelly Cat" in my head.  LOL

I can pretty much guarantee - unless there's a medical reason that I can't tell - that the reason that your cats are so stinky is the food.  Purina, Whiskas, Friskies and the like are like the McDonalds for cat foods.  You want to switch them to a higher quality food, such as Nutro, Iams, Eukanuba.  Initially you will think - what the heck was she thinking?  This food is expensive.  It is more expensive than Cat Chow, however, they will end up eating less of it, and therefore, the expense is minimal.  I have 6 cats as you know, and I buy a 20 lb bag of Iams multi-cat formula for them.  That bag will last me approximately 3 weeks, give or take.  A higher quality food means less consumtion because they aren't eating more and more to try and get to the nutrients that they are hungry for.  Try that out, and see how it works.  

Other than that, as a preventative measure, get some spa spray (seriously) and give them a little spritz every now and then.  I do this for Melody, who loves her spa days - even when she doesn't smell like cat butt.  :)

Good luck!