Changing cat litter

bouncydog1

We use catsan - £8 for 20 litres, which lasts about 10 days. I put newspaper in the bottom of the tray, then three M & S cups of litter on top - dump the lot every morning, disinfect everything and start again. Any firm deposits are removed during the day in a doggy bag and binned - seems to work fine and doesn't smell.

babyshoes

You could bypass the whole issue and teach your cat to use the toilet! I didn't believe it was possible until I saw it with my own eyes - I 'cat sat' for a neighbour when I was a teenager, and the only cleaning up the cat needed was a flush once or twice a day!

Not sure if all cats are bright enough to learn it, but if you teach a kitten to stand over the loo when they need to 'go' you may be lucky! Only problem I can see is the ocasional mess to clean off the seat if they happen to miss - but then I understand that problem can occur anyway if you keep a man in the house... :rotfl:

rita-rabbit

bouncyd!!! wrote: »

We use catsan - £8 for 20 litres, which lasts about 10 days. I put newspaper in the bottom of the tray, then three M & S cups of litter on top - dump the lot every morning, disinfect everything and start again. Any firm deposits are removed during the day in a doggy bag and binned - seems to work fine and doesn't smell.

I used to line the trays with this & stopped. However I never change the whole litter as often as you & would EXPECT there to be no smell with daily disposal = IMO alot of work & expensive method

Fire_Fox

babyshoes wrote: »

You could bypass the whole issue and teach your cat to use the toilet! I didn't believe it was possible until I saw it with my own eyes - I 'cat sat' for a neighbour when I was a teenager, and the only cleaning up the cat needed was a flush once or twice a day!

Not sure if all cats are bright enough to learn it, but if you teach a kitten to stand over the loo when they need to 'go' you may be lucky! Only problem I can see is the ocasional mess to clean off the seat if they happen to miss - but then I understand that problem can occur anyway if you keep a man in the house... :rotfl:

I watched some of the YouTube videos of cats being trained to use the toilet with the Litter Kwitter product. It looked cruel to me, several of the the cats looked quite distressed beforehand and others were desperately scraping at the loo seat afterwards! :eek: Apparently there is quite a bit of inappropriate soiling during the process as some cats protest at not being given a 'natural' place to go. I could definitely imagine Noah finding a private corner to use rather than the loo, he is much happier having two trays to choose from, and he likes a good dig!

kataklysm

I've been experimenting with a few brands lately and I have to say, nothing beats World's Best imho.

OkoPlus stuck to their feet like nothing else on earth, and so it got *everywhere*- on all the sofas, all over the carpet, on the kitchen surfaces... the whole house had to be disinfected daily, it really was driving us mad. Shame because it is cheaper, but as it doesn't clump as well you use more. And it stank. And it's impossible to clean off the tray! its sticks like glue for some reason, really unpleasantly greasy... ick. Anyway.. We also tried chick crumbs but it didn't absorb odor at all.

In the past we've used clay based clumping (not for long) and non clumping (either cost a fortune or didn't work well). Nothing so far has matched WB for absorbing odor, clumping well and not tracking. A 7.5kg bag lasts about 6 weeks for 2 cats, so if you buy in bulk that's about £2.50 a week, not as expensive as it seems. If you have a small place like ours and have to keep the tray in a living area, try it.

Fire_Fox

:huh: I don't have any problems with OkoPlus not clumping tho wee is better if you leave it to soak in for a while. Better litters are definitely more economical than you think: OkoPlus costs me £1 per week for one cat. I don't have any stink or sticking problems, I find a deep filled jumbo tray soak wee up well and plenty there to cover the poop.

OkoPlus does track terribly: however wood has natural antibacterial properties so it's probably more unhygienic to have your cats paws on your work surfaces than the litter itself. Appreciate it may not feel that way.

Dizzyduck

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Is it common for people to get infected as a result of flushing cat poo? I thought it was toxoplasmosis (protozoan) not bacteria? A healthy feline gut flora can't be that different from a human as the same probiotic supplements are used.

Not only can humans be infected by toxoplasmosis but mammals and birds. As STW's are not totally effective at removing this it has been found to infect otters and porposies, dolphins and whales in British waters.
Other cat bacteria not destroyed maybe in sludge used for fertiliser for crops eaten by humans.