cat litter favorites

JMJimmy said:

 
CDN$1.31 per pound!?  ouch!   I don't think I could ever justify paying CDN$3,000/year on cat litter (48.5lbs/week)

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I knoowwww ;< I'm in Norway, and so far there's not many much cheaper options, it's all pretty extortionate! We pay a little more for this but they have no problems with it and it leaves everything, including them, smelling all lovely and fresh so we don't see a reason to change yet! 

I love pioneer pet prairie grass seed litter. My cats loved it too much, all they wanted to do was eat it and play in it like a sandbox. So now I use blue buffalo walnut litter and Dr elseys unscented clay. The pioneer pet had almost zero dust too. Sigh..., but the walnut isn't too bad either. work great for my six cats.

there's a variety in the local supermarkets here in the UK and of course pet shops carry a range, at higher prices. Daughter and I go for the cheap cheap Tesco own brand, £1.55 a bag which lasts quite a while. No odour from the stuff itself, there is odour when cats have used it but it goes off, unless the Burmese does one of his incredibly smelly poos, then it's post haste to get it flushed away! The only problem is, it sticks to their paws and they're not good at shaking it off before walking on the dark green carpet tiles... sometimes it reaches other rooms, even upstairs, if they've managed to crush it between their toes.  We need to go cheap, three litter trays take a lot of restocking.

I'd be worried about their ingesting the litter, too.  That could be harmful.  We use scoopable clay with added charcoal/baking soda, which works very well and is reasonable.  Over across the pond here, it's SoPhresh and it's available at Petco or online/delivered through DrsFosterSmith.com.  If you  have Petco over there, you might want to check it out -- it's reasonable and if you can travel to and from the store, you can get the recyclable/refillable 30# bucket.  It's the best all-around litter option we've found, and we've used it for a long time.

thanks for the advice. No Petco anywhere near us, if indeed they're in the UK. We pick up cat litter when we shop for groceries, they have deals on the food as well.  I've not seen them nibbling at the cat litter, sniffing perhaps, but not so much of that. What is the nightmare is the after cover up job, frantic paws scrabbling and sending it everywhere. A dustpan and brush has been reserved just for persons who are too enthusiastic at covering up what they've just done.

Talking of which, it is kept in a bathroom cupboard for one reason only, a certain Master Kai thought it great fun to back into the cupboard, alongside the nice warm hot water tank, and do a wee, despite the TWO litter trays in the bathroom, so he can (and does) go from one to the other when he chooses. His other chosen option is the bath but what do you do when he walks in his own wee and puts wet pawprints on the carpet... my daughter tried putting a towel down for him, so he neatly leapt clean over it to reach the carpet

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If he's going outside of the litter box there usually is three reasons, either he has a uti or something else wrong, doesn't like the placement of the litterboxes or the size. If he's flinging litter out of his box try getting one with high sides. My cats are professional litter throwers, and the high sided box has been a godsend. I'd try the pioneer pet, it's very soft and fine. you'd think it would track easily but it really doesn't, at least it didn't for me. you can always order whichever litter you decide on. I get mine from Amazon.com or chewy.com, it's much easier. Have you tried worlds best corn litter?

Hi and thanks.

Using the bath is a left over, if I might explain.

When they 'arrived' in the one bedroom flat, they had 1 litter tray between them. Neither daughter or boyfriend understood cat needs, they thought that was enough. So Kai began using anywhere, behind the TV, behind the sofa, anywhere he wanted. Daughter retaliated by training him to use the walk in shower cubicle, so she could wash it away.

He does OK with the three litter trays we have but sometimes, if they're a bit too 'used' for  his liking, he will jump into the bath and use that. Sometimes he does that for the sheer hell of it, he's like that, Mr. Contrary.

The choice of high sided litter trays here in the UK are limited, the problem is space, the bathroom isn't that big, so they will have to go on kicking it out, I fear.

StephenQ said:

 
A lot of people like the crystals.  Chemically neutral (silica), dust free, great odor control, more $$$ but it lasts a long time.  You scoop the poop and stir where there is urine as the crystals absorb all the liquid.

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This. ↑↑↑↑

I actually got the automated box with the replaceable litter tray. In a week of using it, pretty much no smell after a few minutes from raking. The "usable area" is always kept clean by the rake, and my kitten is fine with it - other than to check on how well the rake is cleaning it out. I found that even the best regular litter I'd tried with my previous cat required careful scooping, and weekly changes (liquid clumped litter stuck on the bottom) to avoid smells. Even so, at a week in, I find the crystals to be superior in every way, even with a constantly eating and drinking kitty who goes multiple times a day. 

There'll be some crystals on the floor from use, but nothing like the dust and stuff from regular litter. So, automated or not, I think it's a great choice. 

I love Dr. Elsey's Precious cat. I have tried so many thru the years and this one is great. I had read about it on Lisa Pierson's site and I follow her litter box suggestions (www.catinfo.org) I use the huge sterilite storage container using a box cutter to make the door. I have 40 lbs of litter in there. I found that it clumps so well , it never breaks apart and using that much litter means urine never sinks to the bottom. Using litter that clumps so well makes a metal scoop important. My litter box never, ever smells but that is because I feed 100% raw food. I love that litter. This month you can get a 40 lbs bag of it for 13.99 on Amazon

I use OZ Pet http://www.oz-pet.net.au/ being an Aussie an all. I have three cats and three litter boxes and this works great. With extra trays and a scoop for each it is just awesome.Do you have something similar in the US (sorry I am assuming that is where you are)?

one of the big chains of pet stores here in the UK has the odd name of PETS AT HOME. As my daughter constantly asks, where else would the pets be?

They're huge but limited, if you see what I mean. I wanted scratching things, not much variety at all. I bought mats, they were ignored. They've gone back to using the chairs.

So we get our cat litter from the supermarket, where there is a huge choice but we have to go for cost rather than quality. Two of us living on one income...

My favorite is Purina Tidy Cats Clumping Cat Litter with Glade Tough Odor Solutions . I never have a problem with smell, and I don't think I've experienced any dust issues.

If you have Petco over there, strongly suggest you try their SoPhresh scoopable litter -- reasonably priced/affordable for those living below the comfort level, such as myself, and we have used for years.  It is mostly dust-free and not perfumed.  Cats do not like perfumey smells and will often refuse to use litter that has these additives. They sell SoPhresh in bags and in refillable 30 pound plastic buckets.  

I use Arm & Hammer Clump & Seal Lightweight because my cats seem to like it, and it is 100% DUST FREE!!   It's more expensive, so I watch for sales.  

Also in the UK with a weird name is Bitiba which I only recently realised was a pet shop but they have a good range of litter from UK and elsewhere including an own brand one http://www.bitiba.co.uk/shop/cats_accessories/cat_litter/silicate_litter/other/604580 which looks cheap and naff but is actually really good value for money and seems to stop the smell really well. 

I use dr. Elseys. I don't know, we started using it when Snoop was kitten, now we have new kitten and this is our favorite litter since Snoop was baby, clumps nicely,  doesn't smell and cats seem to like it.

Bitiba are a very long way from the Isle of Wight, I just checked, they're in Bedfordshire, way way up country. They do bulk foods, 5 kg at a time. I prefer boxes, no matter what the cost, because faddy cats quickly go off something. 

I guess we go on sweeping up after the demon 'burying' is done. It's a small price to pay for feline contentment.

roserivers Isle of wight! I'm so jealous. I went there on holiday with a friend, she was from luccomb village. One of the coolest places I've been.
Sorry I went off topic

Wow, I just had to comment.  What a beautiful cat you have!!

I second this.

I used crystals for years; best litter ever.