Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

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Mrs Kane
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Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Mrs Kane »

Hey guys,

So I've been enough of a saddo with the name calling the past few months that you all know I have a new cat. (Sofi, she's so cute I just want to eat her up. :mrgreen: )

But I feel I'm getting the short end of the stick with cat litter.
Now I don't know what's more popular, the weekly sawdust type litter or the monthly crystal type litter but I know one thing: Our tray smells to high heaven after just 2 weeks with the monthly litter.
I clean it out daily but I have to say every fortnight I'm decanting the lot into the bin because the ammonia smell is so bad. I'm not a squemish person when it comes to an animals business but I am a little perturbed.

I wanted to ask because I don't mind tipping out litter a little more regularly on the whole, as it doesn't exactly break the bank to change litter a little more often, but I worry that my cat has a problem. I recently took her for a check-up and the vet didn't notice any problems (except she's a little podgy, but we're all over that) but I was just wondering. She doesn't seem to be an excessive drinker at all, but perhaps she's got a problem I'm not aware of. Or perhaps i'm being a little too mum.

Thanks guys. Hope everything is well with you all.
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by booktigger »

Unless I'm using clumping litter, I empty and wash the tray every other day, with clumping I do it weekly so I don't think there is a problem with your cat. If by sawdust type you mean wood based, I'm impressed you can get two weeks, I find it full of sawdust after a couple of days.
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Mollysmummy
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Mollysmummy »

I'm not sure how many cats you have, but we have 2 and we seem to have found a great solution......

We found that the wood pellet (not paper pellet) type hides smells the best. We have 2 large trays, and after trial and error we found that Asda's own wood pellet litter, approx. £2.79 a bag, is by far the best. One bag fills both trays, and lasts about 4 days. We just scoop the poop and scatter freshener, and then on 4th day we empty, clean and refill.

We judge the litter by looking at our babies; they're both black and when they start coming out of the tray with sawdust on them we know we need to change. If there's only a small amount of sawdust in the tray, the pellets seem to knock it off them.

Hope this helps!!
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Mollysmummy
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Mollysmummy »

Oh, sorry forgot to add....watch the cat you think may have a problem. Note how many times she goes, and look at the litter after to see how much she's weeing. If either of these changes noticeably then get her to the vet for a check.
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Kay
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Kay »

confession time - I never change the two large litter trays I have for my two - I use very fine clumping litter and remove clumps as soon as I see them (the give away is the scattering of litter granules, if the frantic scraping and scratching hasn't already alerted me) - and once a month I empty the trays to clean them but put old litter back

and I get no smells doing this - I do think though the secret is deep trays filled to at least half way so the clumps have room to form

I have had good results with Golden Grey but now use Nature's Calling, which is an odd colour (very dark brown) and has an odd smell, being made from the inside of walnut shells, but the cats like it, it does its job and is the least dusty and scatter-prone I have found (and after a couple of years of finding Golden Grey in my bed, I would certainly spot even a tiny amount of this brown stuff on my white bedding)
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by bobbys girl »

We use wood pellets from Asda (or Jolleys if they are on offer). But that's probably not much use to you in Barcelona!

We have 2 trays for our 5 cats (no room for any more). I put 2 large scoops of litter in each and, unless there has been little 'action' I empty both everyday. Once a week - on Monday, my cleaning day, I fill them both with Detol Lavender and Orange Oil disinfectant and leave them to 'soak' while I do the rest of the house.

The only time I noticed a pong is when the weather is bad (so they don't go out) and we have been out all day. It's a lovely welcome home, to open the door and get knocked off your feet by the smell :? and 5 cats waiting to be fed. :roll:

I find using more litter in each tray to be wasteful, more work (fishing out the yicky bits) and Thomas flirts it all over the floor.

I'd go for less litter and clean the tray out every day - especially in Summer. It might also help you to monitor how much Sofi is weeing and if it is particularly strong-smelling or it is just the warm wether making things worse.
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Mrs Kane »

Sorry I forgot to mention before that I use the monthly crystal litter. Ours is called "Magic Clean" by a company called Vitakraft. It seems to be the popular one around here, but I've never seen it in Britain.

I clean her tray every time I decant it with a cheap dish wash soap that's animal friendly. Unfortunately Sofi seems to be one of those cats that wants to go every time I wash the box out though so it doesn't get a proper disinfectant like I would prefer. (No she's not always in her tray, she's just a pain who wants to be everywhere she's not allowed. So when I'm washing the tray and she's not allowed in she'll take a poo or a wee where her tray is, no matter what time of day, out of defiance. Have I mentioned she's a little madam?)

Lately I've been putting the whole litter bag in as it seems to make the smell lessen for a longer period of time.

Sofi doesn't use her box a lot, maybe 4 or 5 times a day from what I've seen when I have a day off (Minus what she does in the night when I'm asleep.) She only really seems to go right after eating or right after I've scooped her box. I think she likes the fresh feel. Sometimes she needs to go when she gets overexcited from playing with me or my BF but even then she doesn't spend a lot of time in there.

I've never been a big fan of the sawdust/woodchip type litter but perhaps I'll give it a go for the sake of not having the spare bathroom smell like someone recently died every 2 weeks.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I really appreciate it :)
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by bobbys girl »

Mrs Kane wrote:Unfortunately Sofi seems to be one of those cats that wants to go every time I wash the box out though so it doesn't get a proper disinfectant like I would prefer. (
It can be a glorious day with the sun splitting the stones (very uncommon in NI), and the cats all outside. But it seems every time I put out the two freshly scrubbed trays they all make a bee-line to use them! :roll: They have the whole of Fermanagh, but no a clean tray is always preferable. ;)
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Kay »

using a tray 4 or 5 times every day sounds a lot to me - my two never have more than one poo and two wees a day if that

a blood test to rule out any kidney problems might be a good precaution
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Mollysmummy »

When you say she uses it 4-5 times, is that just to wee? If so that definitely sounds like a lot.
Our 2 generally do 1-2 poos a day(morning and evening), and between 1-3 wees. I think diet and water consumption will make a difference just like in humans, but if she's weeing more than 2-3 times a day I would ask for another check.
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Sue Goddard »

My two new boys. (Thomas & Mouse have been with us 9 weeks now) They have a litter tray each in the Conservatory so smells are a big deal for me as it's used all year round as a second lounge.....
I have found Felight from Tescos very good..I think it's a Bob Martin product , as these two can pee for England ( I love the look of ecstasy on there faces when their in full flow..!!) I clean out about every other day and wash the trays...I've never heard of litter you change once a month. Not sure I like the idea.. I used clumping litter years ago but never got on with it..as I found if it got on the plastic of the tray it was like concrete to get off.
Now the better weather is here they go out in the garden and they have found a nice little spots under the Bamboos as their toilet...( the garden has loads of bark chipping on it and they seem to love to dig in that ) I usually go out a couple of times a day with a trowel and clear up as burying it is'nt their forte..!!
They will pee in the bedroom if the trays are not to their liking..so have a puppy pad down, just in case.
Oh, and they love to pee in the laundry basket too for some unkown reason..but early days yet ,they still have a lot to learn about our household and discipline..I don't think they've been told off for naughty behaviour in their 3.5 years.. They'll steal anything that isn't nailed down..!! especially food so now have to hide everything in the kitchen...Ahh the joys of Siamese slavery..
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Mollysmummy »

Aww our youngest Kevin's nickname is Mouse!! :D
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Mrs Kane
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Mrs Kane »

When I took her to the vet the blood tests didn't show anything bad. She does love her water though. I thought maybe it was just a little quirk she had. I change her water maybe twice a day because she's a messy eater and tends to wash herself next to her water bowl a lot so it seems to get full of debris pretty quick. She always seems to want to take a drink after I've cleaned it and sometimes plays with it so we have a little hallway lake (thank God for marble flooring).

I'm talking 4-5 times total. For poos and wees. As I said I don't know if she uses her tray at night but she seems to sleep on our bed most of the night, it's very rare that I wake up and she's not there, so maybe 4-5 is the most she goes to the loo.
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Camdengirl »

If your little madam isn't averse to it, I would try a different cat litter if you can...I've not used the crystal ones but I tried a couple of non-clumping litters years ago (Catsan and a supermarket equivalent) and the ammonia smell within just a few days was so disgusting I couldn't have it in the house any longer! I like the wood pellet litters for odour control, although compared with clumping litters they are a bit of a faff when it comes to separating the used stuff. I've found clumping litters pretty good for odour-control too, but they don't suit one of my current cats.
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Mrs Kane
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Mrs Kane »

I've officially used up the last bag of Crystal litter so once that goes bad I'll try some of the wood pellets our local pet shop guy recommended.
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Re: Is my cat litter a scam, or is my cat just smelly?

Post by Willowgill »

I actually use an organic type of litter that flushes down the toilet and very rarely throw it all away. I have 5 trays - 2 cats but only one who uses them and she will go in them all at some time. I clean the waste out several times a day and probably once a week tip one into the other and keep doing it as I wash each one out. I then can fill the last one with new litter so a bag can last a month or more. Unfortunately I lost my sense of smell 4 years ago so can't really tell if the trays smell but my husband would be the first to tell me if the house smells :-). After over 30 years of litter trays I've tried everything and this one gives the best results I've found.
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