Cat litter

[BabyBerlioz]

UPDATE

I think I must have jinxed myself as just after I posted about the Costco Litter Purrfect my wee Berlioz got a lot of litter stuck to one of his back paws. I can only assume he peed and stepped in it while it was still wet. The litter was stuck to his fur and in-between his pads. He is a Maine Coon cross and has very furry feet, like those funky chickens with the feathery feet Anyhoo, it was stuck like cement, I kid you not. After googling the remedy for this I spent the best part of a day working on his paw whenever he snuggled down for a nap with almond oil. I thought it was a flukey one off so imagine my (and his) pain when the same thing happened the very next day. So I hereby withdraw my recommendation for this litter!

I have today changed over to silica litter on the recommendation of a friend so we'll see how that goes.

[vanilla]

One bag of Almo Nature does not last for one month as they state. I've had it a week and I have less of half a bag in the tray. My kitten wees and poos a lot.

Anyone tried Worlds Best Cat Litter??
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... ROKL5A1OLE

[Kay]

re silica litter, I tried it for a few weeks, and loved it - very lightweight so easy to transport, hides odours well and the least tracking by a mile of any other litter I have used - and the large pieces would be unlikely to stick to fur - bags are £2 in WIlko and B&M, and two lasted 10 days in a big tray used by two cats

unfortunately the cats were not keen, and neither made any attempt to bury their poo, and eventually Tosker produced no poo for four days in protest, so I had to give up on it

as for World's Best, it seems to be a Marmite litter, judging by the reviews on Zooplus - and it's not cheap

[Lilith]

Having looked up the link on World's Best, and seen the reviews about how well it clumps, and how you can flush it down the loo, I decided to try it - or rather let the cats try it.

It IS pricey, but if it lasts, and if it makes life easier (no more humping heavy bagfuls of mucky litter downstairs; no more bumping a heavy bin down front steps) it might be worth it to me. Another reviewer mentioned that it didn't track ... errm I have yet to meet a litter that didn't, but I live in hopes. And Amazon and Zooplus bring it to your door - you just have to be in.

It comes in very compressed form and the worst is (for this 8st weakling) getting the bag upstairs, but it's manageable. It looks like uncooked couscous or bulgur wheat, fine cream-coloured granules. No dust to speak of. Half a bag made a very generous filling for a huge tray.

I've left them the previous Fuller's earth litter in the downstairs tray to cushion the shock of the new, and I didn't wash the upstairs tray out so as to leave them a guiding smell, so to speak.

Now waiting for scratchy noises from the tray ...

I will update on performance

[vanilla]

Am now on the Tesco Ultra Clumping Premium cat litter. Personally I find it way to dusty, especially when you're doing the 'unlucky' dip and sieving around. Clumps nicely like the Almo one. I'm working my way down the list

What I want in cat litter:
Good clumping, no odour, no dust and reasonably priced!

[Lilith]

The morning after with World's Best -

As far as the cats are concerned, it seems to be paws up. Well, Emily uses the downstairs tray all the time and she's never, ever, made a mistake or objected to any kind of litter, but Mouse and Molly have used the new litter. Clumps beautifully and stays in a clump after scooping. My favourite scoops are those Armitage ones, square with a short handle and large holes to sift out clean litter, only good for clumping litter of course. Long-handled scoops tend to waggle and break if required to shovel out fuller's earth 'concrete'. Solids come out cleanly from the World's Best with no waste, and the smell is much reduced; there IS still a smell after the cat's visit, but instead of a vile stench, it's more like wet sawdust.

Everything flushes away fast, no residue left at bottom of loo.

A small amount had tracked out of the tray and scattered in front of it - soon swept up and replaced. It remains to be seen how far it spreads and if the tracked bits get trodden into dust.

I'm not sure how safe it would be around weaning kittens who eat their litter; it's based on maize kernels, which sound harmless enough and it's 'organic' (that magic word - personally I'm not terribly bothered in this context lol.) But I'm not envisaging tiny kittens joining the household - paws crossed!

My only reservation is the price, although I've yet to see how long it lasts, but if you have a small cat household or roaming cats who only use the tray at night/in bad weather, it could be justified, and for me personally, the quick disposal with no more smelly insanitary bags of used litter waiting to be taken downstairs (yes, I'm lazy; I should use small bags and make the effort to take them out every day, though my bin would still be as heavy and stinky) is a huge bonus, though I realise I'm being extravagant in the cause of convenience.

[Janey]

I haven’t tried the Aldi one yet! We have another large bag of the current type we’re using. I will be glad when it’s done actually, I have a new litter tray for Tasha today, and it would have been ideal to start afresh with litter too, but need to finish this off. Will report back when I do!

[meriad]

Lilith; the Worlds Best I think may be one of the best litters to buy, but as you say - it's expensive.

I've tried various and always end up back with Cats Best in the green bag.

re the scoop; this is my favourite one: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_ ... ops/174218 really sturdy and good

[Lilith]

Hi Meriad, that litter scoop is STYLISH!

So you can flush the Cats' Best too? Thanks, that's useful to know.

I'd just ordered more World's Best from Zooplus as it's on offer, and I got some money off with their discount scheme too. But why on earth do they do a lavender scented one when so many cats hate lavender I wonder? I'd love to see what it's like but fussy Molly wouldn't!

[vanilla]

Hi Meriad,

Could you post a link up for the Cats Best in the green bag? Want to make sure I get the correct one. Thanks

[meriad]

Huge apologies, I didn't see this until now:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_ ... est/521706 is the link for the litter I buy

they also do the purple bag one which is in pellet form so doesn't track (or very little), but not all cats like pellet litter
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_ ... best/43107

Hi Meriad, that litter scoop is STYLISH!

So you can flush the Cats' Best too? Thanks, that's useful to know.

I'd just ordered more World's Best from Zooplus as it's on offer, and I got some money off with their discount scheme too. But why on earth do they do a lavender scented one when so many cats hate lavender I wonder? I'd love to see what it's like but fussy Molly wouldn't!

Lilith, it really is the best scoop, esp for clumping litter, and it's decent to hold.
re the flushing down the loo of the litter - not sure I'd do that. Obviously not sure about where you live but if your house is an older one then chances are you've got old 'victorian' drains and they're quite narrow. The clumping litter can cause issues, esp if you have someone who uses the same drains (ie most houses nearby you) that flushes baby wipes / face wipes etc. OK to flush to poops but not wee clumps - I just wouldn't risk it

As for the scented stuff.... years back before I had Ava I bought the baby powder scented clay cluming litter, it was actually quite pleasant to scoop, because the scent did mask the offerings in the tray. Not sure about lavender though... as you say; many cats don't like that smell

[BabyBerlioz]

re silica litter, I tried it for a few weeks, and loved it - very lightweight so easy to transport, hides odours well and the least tracking by a mile of any other litter I have used - and the large pieces would be unlikely to stick to fur - bags are £2 in WIlko and B&M, and two lasted 10 days in a big tray used by two cats

unfortunately the cats were not keen, and neither made any attempt to bury their poo, and eventually Tosker produced no poo for four days in protest, so I had to give up on it

as for World's Best, it seems to be a Marmite litter, judging by the reviews on Zooplus - and it's not cheap

Wilko's silica litter is what we are on and funnily enough berlioz has also stopped buying his poos. He does lots of scraping because I can hear him and all the cat litter is moved up to the back end of the litter tray with the pile of poo presented on top of it. the result is that it stinks out the whole house though.

But he seems happy enough otherwise so might just stick with it.

[meriad]

I'm not all that keen on the silica litter. I've tried it in the past and besides the fact that the silica absorbs the urine and becomes a delightful shade of yellow, it's actually quite a hard litter for tender paws. Put some on the floor and stand on it barefoot - not very pleasant

[vanilla]

Thanks for the link meriad! I will be getting some of this and some of the worlds best.
With clumping litter how often do you wash the tray out?? And do you throw the litter away and start a fresh? It's so tempting to just keep 'topping up'!

[Kay]

I use ultra fine clumping litter, and never throw it out. I decant it into a second tray when necessary so I can clean the first tray but find topping up is all that is required

[booktigger]

I've just bought a new clumping litter and realised why I stopped using it with Lucy - she wees on the side of the tray so the wee trickles onto the litter, so it doesn't clump that well. Oh well, back to the old one, at least it lasts week

[meriad]

Thanks for the link meriad! I will be getting some of this and some of the worlds best.
With clumping litter how often do you wash the tray out?? And do you throw the litter away and start a fresh? It's so tempting to just keep 'topping up'!

depending on how much the tray is used to be honest. My cats also have outdoor access so in the summer I hardly clean the tray. But in the winter I scoop when used, top up as required and if it's been used a lot I'll empty and wash out once a month or every 6 weeks. You'll notice the bottom of the litter becoming more and more like sawdust at some point, that's when I replace the whole lot

Good luck and hope it works!

[Lilith]

Well, sorry to report that the World's Best has failed the Molly test ...

Judging by the amount of wees in the upstairs tray she's using the WB in that ok, but the downstairs tray, which is the one she favours for solids, doesn't please her ladyship at all (perhaps the residual wet sawdust smell) and for the last couple of weeks I've found a pile either on the new kitchen rug or between the cooker and dishwasher ... ugghhh, insanitary! I've been getting up at all hours to do the damn tray too.

So, reverted to the clay clumping stuff for the downstairs tray - aaahhh, thanks, says Molly, THIS is what I want - and used it!

A case of faecal attraction maybe?

[Kay]

I fill a big tray shared by two cats with ultra fine clumping litter to a depth of at least 12 centimeters and find if I'm lucky rock hard wee balls form in the middle of it and just roll free when I tip the tray

I find too that if the litter is really deep the little darlings find it more difficult to shift a lot of it when digging, so less scatter and less bottom and sides of the tray are exposed

[MarySkater]

A case of faecal attraction maybe?