Cat litter - merged

lowis

Right...I am about to challenge my brand-loyalty and am exploring cutting costs by looking at longer-lasting, cost-effective litter. I currently use Thomas Cat Litter - great in every respect apart from the dust it creates, and the fact it doesn't last very long. I change the two boys' large tray every two days and average about 2.5 big bags a week, which equates to a spend of £13.50 per week!

I have tried the pearls (disgusting to look at after being peed on), Schweat Scoop (causes allergic reactions, didn't last long) and Catsan (seemed to use more of this than the Thomas) and they did not make the mark. SO these are my requirements:

• Dust-free (very important)
• Great Odour control
• Clumping (or similar 'technology' to allow easy identification of areas to scoop out)
• Absorbant - no 'sludge' etc created at bottom of the tray
• Safe (some clumping litter can get inside the cat and clump in their intestines etc, some litters cause allergic reactions)
• Cost-effective
• Minimal tracking

One of my cats is a 'kicker' and when he is settling down in the tray he kicks and digs about with his back feet, whilst resting his front paws on the egde of the tray...so the litter also needs to be easy to sweep and clean up

Any ideas / suggestions?

Thanks!

Februarycat

I have been using Tesco Premium Hygiene Cat litter on my elderly cat who is always on and off her tray and find it is better than the Catsan which I use to buy. Its about £3.99 for 10 litre bag.

IsoChick

Can you contact your local pet shop and ask about litter effectiveness, but also whether they can buy in bulk for you?

My sister runs a pet shop, and several customers now buy their litter in 10kg/15kg/20kg bags which my sister orders in as and when requested...

KxMx

Yep we also prefer the Tesco one mentioned over Catsan.

Trudy_Grapevine

We get ours from the local farm shop, it costs £6.60 for 20 KG. I think it is called fullers earth or something like that. It is in a yellow & blue bag. I've seen the same thing in pets at home for about £7 so it might be worth trying your local pet shop if you have one.

wornoutmumoftwo

We use Tesco value cat litter - he's an old house trained cat who chooses to save himself for the litter tray - even if he's been outside ALL day!

~Chameleon~

I use a silicate crystal litter called Tigerino and I think it's great, plus it only costs me around £5 a month to use! :T

I pour about two-thirds of a 5 litre bag into the tray and this will last around a month as long as you remove any faeces and saturated crystals daily. With the rest of the bag I top-up and sprinkle a handful over the tray to freshen up the surface and make it look white again as the crystals do start turning yellow once in contat with urine

The tray never smells though and I have one cat using it almost full-time in winter and another uses it only when she's desperate and it's raining/snowing outside :rotfl:

orlao

I use the wood pellet litter.......a 30l bag (£8- 10) lasts more than 6 months but my cat isn't an indoor only cat except this time of year:D

It's not dusty, as it gets wet it expands to powder and *ahem* solids just clump together. You only use enough to cover the bottem of the tray as it expands in use which means I use about half the amount that I would of Thomas or Catsan for example. It also seems quite good at keeping the smell down but the litter tray is a covered one on the back step so I don't know what it would be like if it was indoors.

HTH

Timmne

We use the Tesco wood pellet stuff and it's dead cheap. We probably change it once every couple of weeks but empty the poos out every day. Where he wees, the pellets turn to powder (as they're made of MDF type stuff) so when the tray's more powder than pellets, it gets emptied.

OP you definitely need to review the usage - changing it every 2 days? Our cat's a 'healthy' kitten (good little machine IYSWIM) and is forever on the bog and our cheap stuff's great!

Timmne

lowis wrote: »

One of my cats is a 'kicker' and when he is settling down in the tray he kicks and digs about with his back feet, whilst resting his front paws on the egde of the tray...so the litter also needs to be easy to sweep and clean up

Have you thought about a tray with a flap? ours was dead cheap from Argash (Argos) and is grey and white - looks quite smart, plus it holds any smells for a couple of hours until you get a minute to pick them out! Comes with a scoop too.