Cat litter - merged

lowis

ooo....so many to choose from! never knew it was such a huge industry! thank you for the recommendations, I shall try some of those out, starting with cheapest

the reason i usually end up changing the tray every other day is because one of my cats (the Kicker) lifts his bum as he pees, so instead of a nice neat area of pee in one corner, he creates a stream right across the length of the tray!

my other cat does such neat wees and poos - as did his much-missed sister. The Kicker though does the biggest plops ever - his toilet habits really are rather horrid compared to Angel-poo boy

SnowyOwl_2

lowis wrote: »

• 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

I have used clumping litter for years and years, but have recently stopped and changed to the wood pellet non-clumping type. One of my cats developed megacolon which almost killed him and which has left him on daily medication for life (as well as costing me well over £500 to get sorted out). Clumping litter has been implicated as a possible cause of megacolon in some cats since it contains binding agents. The litter and its dust is of course ingested by cats when they clean themselves, lick their paws etc. While I can't say for certain that it is what caused my cat to be so sick I am not going to take any more chances with it and am steering well clear.

I know people will want to use clumping litter as it does have its merits, but I would emphasise that it's important that your cat has a regular bowel movement and if he or she does not then a trip to the vet is absolutely essential.

rita-rabbit

That's quite worrying - but for now I will take my chances I'm afraid. I do mix the clumping with wood pellets or paper (depending on what's going cheaper @ the time).

I would think sillica isn't good for cats either because of the chemicals that must be in the product to allow it to last for so long - it pongs long before the month is up. However it too has it's merits so I do use it if I am leaving them for extended periods - obviously clumping can't be left for more than a few days b4 it's all `hard - the other types of litter go both smelly & soggy.

Guess by feeding v natural food & cat grass I hope to negate any side effects from litter - until I have a garden where they can `go' in natural mud!

rita-rabbit

lowis wrote: »

ooo....so many to choose from! never knew it was such a huge industry! thank you for the recommendations, I shall try some of those out, starting with cheapest

the reason i usually end up changing the tray every other day is because one of my cats (the Kicker) lifts his bum as he pees, so instead of a nice neat area of pee in one corner, he creates a stream right across the length of the tray!

my other cat does such neat wees and poos - as did his much-missed sister. The Kicker though does the biggest plops ever - his toilet habits really are rather horrid compared to Angel-poo boy

& reuse the unsoiled litter....

amszephyr

thecatsnose wrote: »

I use Litter Purrfect from Costco. It costs about £7.00 for 13.6kg, i've just had a look and it says it is 100% clay and 99% dust free, it also has lemon grass and baking soda in it. I can strongly recommend it, it is really fine and doesn't smell at all and the wee's clump into hard lumps, so as long as you scoop religiously it lasts about a week in the tray and I get about 4 or 5 trays per carton of litter. One of my cats has dermatitis and this is the only litter that doesn't cause a flare up, he used to have steroids to control it until we changed the litter and realised that was the problem.

Another 'vote' for Little Purrfect from Costco (if you're a member). I've recommended it to several people, all of whom are happy converts. Conveniently, it comes in a big plastic bottle so it is easy to carry, pour and reseal. It seems to last me for ages as you simply top up from time to time once you've disposed of the 'used' lumps.

rita-rabbit

the litter tray is the cats toilet (pls remember human waste doesn't look or smell nice that's the nature of the thing!) - the only real way to get totally wonderful cat waste experiences is not to have one or insist they `go' outside - really - clumping litter by it's very nature will make sludge @ bottom of tray.

I am contemplating Ottos best possibly with any large sized other due to health concerns mentioned here - talcscented granules are tiny & I don't want my furbabies ingesting those (either up or down) the smell is because it's waste - end of story.

rita-rabbit

to really save money btw is to scoop out & dispose of used litter, then tip unused litter out into newspsaper or something & then wash tray & then put unused litter granules back in - not chucking that away too cos you have washed the tray - fill up to normal level with new litter from the bag/box. I do this & it saves me masses - every now & again I throw all out in the bin. Like with washing powder the manufacturers will recommend you use/dispose of more than is strictly necessary.

To minimise smells change the carbon filters regularly & dry feed.

Wickedkitten

deedeeliz wrote: »

OKO Cats best is the best recomendation I was given.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_litter/ecological_litter/14001

I have two indoor cats and its brilliant

Same here and I've used them all.

Worlds best was one of my first favourite, that we actually started the on when they were kittens, and used that until I came downstairs one morning and found yellow paw prints all over our blue settee.


Second favoruite was Extreme Classic http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_litter/clumping_litter/13626

Actually it's still my first favourite, but the only reason why we switched is because we moved from a 2 bed house where their litter box was out of the way to a one bedroom flat where the only place we had to stick it was in the bathroom and I got tired of going into the bathroom in the morning and ending up with grains of litter stuck to my feet. Might switch them back to it after we are done moving.

Oko Best is definitely the best for the moment though. One bag lasts us nearly a month with their litter pan getting changed every week and then emptied twice a day plus the fact you can just flush it is a massive plus.

lowis

rita-rabbit wrote: »

4 goodness sake some people want the earth!.

no, it's got worms in it, and last thing i want is cats scrapping up worms in my flat! :rotfl:

RacyRed

lowis wrote: »

no, it's got worms in it, and last thing i want is cats scrapping up worms in my flat! :rotfl:

I'll have the worms, I need some more for my wormery

I've been trying out different cat litters lately too, currently Tesco economy, which has performed a lot better than I expected!

Tried clumping litter too, but some kinds to be dusty and pretty whiffy and I'm now worried about potential health problems. I preferred the slightly cheaper Waitrose one to Sainsbury's. My local Tesco only seem to do Catsan clumping, which is too expensive for me. I only use Thomas if I can't get anything else.

I've ordered some OKO's Cats Best to give that a try as so many people are recommending it.

Has anyone tried one of those all singing and dancing multiple layered litter trays which filter out the waste? I'm guessing you have to use a litter that turns to dust when wet with these? Can't figure out how else they would work otherwise!