Cat Litter - It's a minefield! - What do you buy?

davetaylor

Hi, only got time for a quick reply. Spike your idea with the cabbage box is brilliant! I feel a bit of a numpty as it seems so obvious! It's gonna keep my flat so much cleaner! Yay!

mum26

So far we have tried:

Sainsbury's own brand clumping litter(can't remember if it was the value one or not, was about £1.60 a bag)

Pura Moonlight

big green tubs from costco, 13.5kg ish for approx £7


And actually I think the cheapy sainsburies stuff was fine, our kitten eats mostly wet food so we've renamed the tray "The cat bog of eternal stench"

He is getting neauterd and a covered tray for christmas

rita-rabbit

cindiedunkley wrote: »

Dave

I have been pondering similar to you.
I use a cat litter from tesco. It is more like very fine granules and doesn't clump. I think it costs about £3.50ish and it is not a very big bag and usually lasts me a week.

I use a litter tray that has a rim around it and also a normal big tray, I have three lady cats. I found that even with a rim tray they can kick it out if you put too much litter in there in the first place.
So, my advice: don't use clumping cat litter, it's a false economy. Use less litter in the tray, it will last longer. If you are worried about smell, I think there are some kind of granules or similar that you put in the cat litter.
Anyway that's my 4 paw's worth

It's better for the cats health & your nostrils in my honest opinion. Use a covered box too. Aldi & Liddles do cheap clumping litter - 10kg less than £2

davetaylor

Hi rita-rabbit, do you mean you think clumping litter is better? I have looked in Liddles before but never saw 'Ultra Clumping'. for £2.00 I will certainly give it a go. So is it the stuff that you don;t have to empty the whole lot every few days and just scoop it out often?

So the people that use the non clumping wood pellet stuff, can I ask, how often do you have to change empty the whole contents and replace it?

Cheers!

Dave x

PS This may sound awful, but the main reason I shy away from a covered box is that I have a feeling of out of sight, out of mind. Not myself of course but when I am working away and my flatmates are in charge... Maybe I should have more faith!

chocdonuty

I get a big bag 30l I think, it fills a normal size plastic crate anyways! It's about £9 from focus and it's the same price for a bag from a local pet shop.
I use woodchip stuff, it doesn't clump, just breaks down into sawdust, so much easier to clean and smells ok too, no huge cloud of dust as you pour it in:D
I used the normal clay stuff once, it made a hell of a mess of the tray, woodchip just falls off. I have an odd cat, she doesn't care if the litter tray is clean or not but will do no1's at the front of the tray and no2's at the back:o

davetaylor

Chocdonuty, £9.00 for 30l sounds good. So can I ask how it works? Do you have to tip it all out every few days and add new litter as well as scooping it daily?

Dave

spike7451

Thankd Dave,
I usually change Daisy's litter fully once a week,daily she tends to wee in the same place in the tray so I'm changing about a mugful with each wee.
Forgot to say,as to the box,make sure it's the thick,sturdy card or it'll be torn to bits.I also have a square of scrap carpet screwed to the side of the 'kitchen' unit next to the litter for her to claw on.

rita-rabbit

davetaylor wrote: »

Hi rita-rabbit, do you mean you think clumping litter is better? I have looked in Liddles before but never saw 'Ultra Clumping'. for £2.00 I will certainly give it a go. So is it the stuff that you don;t have to empty the whole lot every few days and just scoop it out often?

So the people that use the non clumping wood pellet stuff, can I ask, how often do you have to change empty the whole contents and replace it?

Cheers!

Dave x

PS This may sound awful, but the main reason I shy away from a covered box is that I have a feeling of out of sight, out of mind. Not myself of course but when I am working away and my flatmates are in charge... Maybe I should have more faith!

If you are not going to be around to monitor/clean the litter clumping is a bad idea - used litter sets hard. Used/dirty litter boxes can result in either:

a) an ill cat - some will `hold it in' rather than `go' in a filthy box
b) a stinky home - some will `go' elsewhere if the box is full of `doings'.

A covered box still needs cleaning the used bits (hard `biscuits' from liquids) & solids (self-explanatory) regularly so if you are not going to be around you should consider:

a) keeping an open tray so the smell will remind folks to clean it out
b) a catflap so the poor cat can `go' elsewhere & not rely on humans to clean the box.

Fire_Fox

rita-rabbit wrote: »

If you are not going to be around to monitor/clean the litter clumping is a bad idea - used litter sets hard. Used/dirty litter boxes can result in either:

a) an ill cat - some will `hold it in' rather than `go' in a filthy box
b) a stinky home - some will `go' elsewhere if the box is full of `doings'.

A covered box still needs cleaning the used bits (hard `biscuits' from liquids) & solids (self-explanatory) regularly so if you are not going to be around you should consider:

a) keeping an open tray so the smell will remind folks to clean it out
b) a catflap so the poor cat can `go' elsewhere & not rely on humans to clean the box.

The OP lives in a flat, and has stated the cats are indoor only, it's unlikely they will be allowed/ able to fit a catflap. Agree about the problems of a dirty box as Noah once wee'd on my coat when I didn't scoop fast enough (he won't pee on poo but will poo on pee )! My suggestion would be additional litter trays - ideally you'd have one per cat plus one anyway. OkoPlus clumps but doesn't set hard, are you referring to the clay-based litters?

davetaylor

Hi, maybe I have not explained myself properly. I have one big tray and it gets scooped out properly at least twice a day wether i am home or not and very often more. So all the 'lumps, which also includes lumps of wee) are regularly scooped out keeping it fresh. With it being 'ultra clumping' litter I only run it down every 10 days or so then empty, scrub and replace with brand new litter.

I get the feeling that with the non clumping stuff, not only do you scoop it often you also have to tip the whole lot out every few days and replace. Is that right?