My childhood cats hated their bells so much they learned how to abuse the breakaway safety clasps on their collars and get them off entirely. Sneaky indeed.

I think it might be a bell, but definitely some kind of collar accessory thing.

Yeah it’s #2 I have the problem with. If I’m not there when it happens the smell diffuses out into the house and lingers even once the source is disposed of. I think half the problem is my cats make no attempt to bury it with the pellets where before with the litter they would entirely cover it. I’m surprised to hear people had problems with smell with clay litter, never noticed it myself. It was the dust that drove me to switch (plus cost and environmental stuff, but if I’m being honest the dust is what finally got me to research alternatives)

Do you have a good solution for the smell? I recently switched to wood pellets and I swear I can’t enter the room if my cat has recently used the box.