alternatives to cat litter???

helzbelz_57

hello all, i was just wondering if there is any alternative to cat litter.

im tightening purse strings and intend to do weekly shop by foot, the only thing thats putting me off is the thought of carrying a heavy bag of cat litter home ( all uphill). i would hate to have to use the car simply for the sake of cat litter. is there anything else i can use thats just as effective.

HappyMJ

Home delivered shopping? Or, show the cat the garden but you may live in a flat. Try shredded newspaper.

whitevanwoman

My cats don't have a litter tray as we live in a rural area and I have a cat flap so they come and go outside as they please. However, my naughty little 2 yr old puss doesn't like getting her bottom cold and whilst it's been so cold and frosty she has been pooping in various places round the house. She particularly seems to like supermarket carrier bags for some strange reason so that might be worth a try! She has also used my empty log basket and the bucket of sawdust that I use for damping down my wood burning stove at night. Sawdust shouldn't be as heavy to carry home or you could buy a big vacuum packed sack of it very cheaply (well under a fiver) which would last for ages and so would be worth a car trip.

The other thing that occurs to me is paper shreddings from a shredding machine.

I would think that if you mixed something new with cat litter and gradually increased the new stuff and reduced the litter your cat would probably use the new stuff, whatever it is, without problem.

Apparently you can also train your cat to use your own loo! You need to buy a training loo seat for the cat initially but then eventually you can do away with this once the cat has got the idea! It would be good to hear from anyone who has used one of these contraptions successfully. I don't know how much they cost but it could save you money in the long run - no more cat litter to buy and no more smelly trays to clean out!

helzbelz_57

shredded paper sounds like a good idea. i always bin loads of it. not sure about toilet training him, had enough trouble training ds!!!! where do you get large vacuum packs of sawdust from?

picklepick

we used to get packs of sawdust from the pet shop for the rabbits hutch you see.
try a pet superstore perhaps?

whitevanwoman

Might be tricky if you live in a town / city. Can usually get from farm supply shops, agricultural suppliers or sawmills and timber yards. Pet shops and pet supermarkets will probably be much more expensive. We used to go to a sawmill for shavings for ponies when we were kids and take our own bags (old compost bags, pet food sacks etc) and bag our own - was great fun and it was only £1 a bag, although that was about 20 yrs ago. You can buy small bags of shavings in supermarkets but will cost more than buying in bulk. Depends if you can store a big bag of shavings somewhere.

lauraaurora

When our cat got sick we had to keep all three in for a while. We put down shredded paper (for a trial), and all three went in without any complaints/ problems. I found it really convenient and we saved so much money!

ourbluebeachhut

Hi guys,we are on a tight budget and just wondered if anyone had any ideas for an alternative to cat litter?

Beckyy

Never tried it myself, but you could try adding soil/sand to it, depends if your cat is a 'kicker' as it could be a little more messy!

Apricot

Sand works, put it in a deep storage box rather than a litter tray and then it won't go everywhere when the cat is digging to china!

victoriaplus4

I buy supermarket cheap brand i change it everyday and it costs just over a £1 lasts a week or more