I have a million and one cat litter questions which I need some help in getting to the bottom of! I have a lovely cat, Emily came to me having used a wood pellet based litter in the the rescue centre and I have kept her on this as she seems happy and I love that it doesn't track...but my Aunty is poised to be the owner of a gorgeous new kitty. She as done research overload and is asking me questions I just can't answer, so I am reaching out to the cat community to share experiences!
If you have a kitten on say wood pellet based litter, whats the main reason for changing when they get a bit older? Is it literally just down to personal choice (as presumaby the kitty has been happily using it..)
What do people think about litter products marketed as anti-bacterial - i didn't even know this was a thing?
Also, any views on scented? Does anyone pay a premium for these and are there any scents that are a big no-no?
Finally, any products out there that have a handy ziplock on the bag, or perhaps use a different type of packaging to plastic?
I know this is a bombardment of questions - so sorry, but really would appreciate your views
Jossiexxx
Cat litter questions - please share your experience!
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ThorpeDave
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Re: Cat litter questions - please share your experience!
In my humble opinion there is only one question to ask - why change?
I switched to wood based cat litter when my rescued young lady started scooting (and changed her food to 100% natural too) and simply have not looked back.
My second rescue (RIP) also loved it and my 3rd rescue kitten took to it straight away.
It is natural, easy to handle and the most economical litter I have found. A 30l bag is lasting about one month but I have only found it in plastic bags. I empty the bag into a 30l sealed bucket and you a soup to get it out.
As we currently have a kitten who initially produced one poo per meal I had to remove the brown smelly stuff quite often but that has reduced to twice a day.
I also sieve out the sawdust 2 or 3 times a week, wash the tray out with anti bacterial fluid and then top it up.
Simples
Regards
Dave
I switched to wood based cat litter when my rescued young lady started scooting (and changed her food to 100% natural too) and simply have not looked back.
My second rescue (RIP) also loved it and my 3rd rescue kitten took to it straight away.
It is natural, easy to handle and the most economical litter I have found. A 30l bag is lasting about one month but I have only found it in plastic bags. I empty the bag into a 30l sealed bucket and you a soup to get it out.
As we currently have a kitten who initially produced one poo per meal I had to remove the brown smelly stuff quite often but that has reduced to twice a day.
I also sieve out the sawdust 2 or 3 times a week, wash the tray out with anti bacterial fluid and then top it up.
Simples
Regards
Dave
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Ruth B
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Re: Cat litter questions - please share your experience!
In the end every cat is different and while some are fine on wood pellet others aren't keen.
At the start of this year I took in my Mother's 17 year old cat when my Mum had to go into a nursing home. My Mother had always used wood pellet and her other cat had been fine with it (she had to be pts before my Mum went into the nursing home), Stroppy on the other hand refused to use it, preferring to use the garden even when there was snow on the ground. i knew i would have to keep her in for several weeks after the move and had even considered getting bags of topsoil or compost for her litter tray. However I use fine grained clay litter for mine and thought i might as well put that down and see what happened before heading to the garden center. Stroppy got out of the carrier after a couple of hours in the car and went straight to the litter tray and started digging, she knew exactly what it was for and needed to go, but she obviously wanted a litter she could dig in and the wood pellets weren't comfy for her. If a cat seems reluctant to use the tray it is always worth trying a different litter, that said if they are used to the wood pellet and use it, and you are happy with it then there is no reason to change.
Personally I have settled on Catsan Clumping litter, as mentioned it is a fine grained clay based litter and comes in strong paper bags. It's the type where you deep litter it then just remove the solids and the clumps that the liquids form when ever necessary only fully cleaning and refilling the tray every week or two depending on usage. One of the main reasons I use it is that it is the most odour reducing litter I have found, it does tend to track a bit though. The other down side is it is rather expensive and heavy. The bags don''t look particularly big but as you only replace the whole lot every so often and just top up the tray most of the time it does last fairly well.
I would stay away from scented ones personally, but go for one that is odour control to reduce the smells after the cats have used it. Antibacterial ones are normally odour control as the bacteria are part of what cause the smells, any made from Fullers Earth will also help control the smell.
I believe the Asda Tiger brand wood pellet still comes in strong paper bags, i used to buy it for my Mum, but haven't needed to for a while. Paper bags may not seem like the best thing for cat litter, but i have never had a problem with one, they may be paper (really they are more like thin card) but they are designed to be strong enough to hold the contents and normally have a carrying handle as well, which makes life a lot easier. I'm sure there are others out there that are similarly packaged.
At the start of this year I took in my Mother's 17 year old cat when my Mum had to go into a nursing home. My Mother had always used wood pellet and her other cat had been fine with it (she had to be pts before my Mum went into the nursing home), Stroppy on the other hand refused to use it, preferring to use the garden even when there was snow on the ground. i knew i would have to keep her in for several weeks after the move and had even considered getting bags of topsoil or compost for her litter tray. However I use fine grained clay litter for mine and thought i might as well put that down and see what happened before heading to the garden center. Stroppy got out of the carrier after a couple of hours in the car and went straight to the litter tray and started digging, she knew exactly what it was for and needed to go, but she obviously wanted a litter she could dig in and the wood pellets weren't comfy for her. If a cat seems reluctant to use the tray it is always worth trying a different litter, that said if they are used to the wood pellet and use it, and you are happy with it then there is no reason to change.
Personally I have settled on Catsan Clumping litter, as mentioned it is a fine grained clay based litter and comes in strong paper bags. It's the type where you deep litter it then just remove the solids and the clumps that the liquids form when ever necessary only fully cleaning and refilling the tray every week or two depending on usage. One of the main reasons I use it is that it is the most odour reducing litter I have found, it does tend to track a bit though. The other down side is it is rather expensive and heavy. The bags don''t look particularly big but as you only replace the whole lot every so often and just top up the tray most of the time it does last fairly well.
I would stay away from scented ones personally, but go for one that is odour control to reduce the smells after the cats have used it. Antibacterial ones are normally odour control as the bacteria are part of what cause the smells, any made from Fullers Earth will also help control the smell.
I believe the Asda Tiger brand wood pellet still comes in strong paper bags, i used to buy it for my Mum, but haven't needed to for a while. Paper bags may not seem like the best thing for cat litter, but i have never had a problem with one, they may be paper (really they are more like thin card) but they are designed to be strong enough to hold the contents and normally have a carrying handle as well, which makes life a lot easier. I'm sure there are others out there that are similarly packaged.
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suziesingh
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Re: Cat litter questions - please share your experience!
For my cat, Ivo, I used to use the Catsan crystals but the litter tray would get quite wet and smelly and I thought it was rough on his paws. Someone suggested to me a sand clumping 100% biodegradable product (made by Vitapet) and to add it to the crystals to get him used to it slowly. But as soon as I filled a tray with it, Ivo went in straight away and he loves it.
As soon as he pees, it clumps and so easy to scoop it out. It never smells. There are products that are made for Kitchen/bathroom or laundry. The kitchen/bathroom one is scented. The laundry one which is the one I use is non scented. I haven't looked back since I started using this product for him. I use it for both my cats now. Each bag which is resealable is 6 litres and specifies should last approximately 21 days, but depends on the cat of course, but I do find it lasts a long time. And I just top it up every time I feel it needs it.
As soon as he pees, it clumps and so easy to scoop it out. It never smells. There are products that are made for Kitchen/bathroom or laundry. The kitchen/bathroom one is scented. The laundry one which is the one I use is non scented. I haven't looked back since I started using this product for him. I use it for both my cats now. Each bag which is resealable is 6 litres and specifies should last approximately 21 days, but depends on the cat of course, but I do find it lasts a long time. And I just top it up every time I feel it needs it.