Advantages Of Non Clumping Litter?

[Willowy]

I'm allergic to natural litters :/. Well, there is one kind at Tractor Supply that's made with corncobs that doesn't bother me, but all grass-related (including litters made with other parts of the corn plant; I guess the cobs are pretty inert as far as allergens go), grain-related, and wood-related litters make me wheeze. I haven't tried the walnut shell litter yet because it's too expensive and I've never found a farm-store equivalent, but it would probably be fine. The corncob kind is OK when it comes to odor control and other factors, but my cats aren't thrilled with pellet litters. Right now I'm using Fresh Results crystal litter, only because it's cheap on Amazon right now . If the price goes up I may go back to the corncob pellets, idk yet.

 

[sargon]

Update: my cat has some allergy issues, so to eliminate any potential pine oil effects, I swapped out the Feline Pine with the Blue Buffalo walnut pellets today. So far so good. Only thing was that my dumb cat thought the walnut pellets were treats. He ATE a couple of them! So I threw in some used pine litter pellets into the box and he got the message then. Hopped in, dug around, and pooped.

I switched from the pine to the blue buffalo walnut for similar reasons. Pine is generally bad for cats, and mine was a bit sneezy, which ended not long after I changed to the walnut pellets, so I'm glad to have stopped using it (it worked fine and 2was a little cheaper(the pine didn't need a pad), though it was messier and louder than the breeze+ walnut mix by a large margin)

I like them better than the pine, and so does Freya, now that she's used to them. , but I use mine in a litter breeze with a generic brand pad under it. It is very low work, low odor, low tracking. A bag costs me 6 bucks, and lasts around 3 months, with a full monthly change of the pellets. The generic pads are $14 for 20 pads, and I use 2 a week ( I could probably use 1 per 5-7 days, but I have twice weekly trash, so i just change it each trash day.)

 

[atp0726]

Another vote here for non-clumping pine pellets. I decided that the dust and clumping agents of any of the clumping litters (clay, walnut etc) are likely to be bad not only for cats but also for humans! You're breathing in that dust every time you scoop, and that can't be good for your lungs. One of my cats agreed - he was always sneezing after using the box. Also the area near the litter box was always liberally coated in dust.

I wish there were a sifting litter box system for large cats, but unfortunately there are few options apart from buying a couple of stacking sweater boxes and wielding a hand drill. My solution was to use the Tidy Cat Breeze box inside a Petmate jumbo litter pan. I tossed the sideguards on the Breeze box and took out the tray that normally holds the pads. As shaking out sawdust can get messy with the big litter pan, I buy large-size litter liner bags and put those underneath the Breeze box, with a thin layer of pellets to catch any liquid pee. Then all I have to do is stir the pellets so the sawdust falls into the bag. Changing the bag when it gets full takes about 30 seconds. If I had more time I'd get the second pan and empty it out daily, but I'm just too busy and the bag solution is so easy. Frankly I don't know why anyone uses clay litters, with this option available.

As far as how much litter...I go through 5 lbs of Feline Pine a month with two 15 lb cats.

Finally a word about transitioning your cat: GO SLOW. My cats were highly reluctant to switch but they're absolutely fine with it now. I used Okocat clumping litter for long haired cats as an interim step. The pellets are smaller than Feline Pine.

I ordered the Petsafe jumbo (high back) pan to try this and the breeze box (minus the side guards) and it doesn't fit? Is that the exact same setup you have?

 

[sweetblackpaws]

I have used both over the years. I actually prefer non-clumping because it is lighter weight, cheaper and I prefer to clean the box weekly rather than every few weeks (gross). The only reason I use clumping is I have an asthmatic cat so I use a respiratory litter. I don't find my cats have had a preference - they like routine. That is more important than brand. Don't change brands too often. I used Fresh Step for many years, but it is quite dusty.

 

[sophie1]

I ordered the Petsafe jumbo (high back) pan to try this and the breeze box (minus the side guards) and it doesn't fit? Is that the exact same setup you have?

It should fit, unless the size of the Petsafe pan has changed (I bought it years ago). Or maybe they've renamed to "Giant" or something? The pan I have is 23" long x 18" wide. It fits the Tidy Cat pan with room to spare. Probably a smaller pan would be fine.

 

[Neo_23]

My main issue with non-clumping litter is that you can't see the size of the cat's urine. This worries me because knowing the size of the urine is one of the best ways to watch out for urinary diseases.

 

[sweetblackpaws]

Neo makes an excellent point. With non-clumping, you don't really know the urine output.

 

[sarah430]

I use non clumping pine and I can assess their urine output by how much and quickly it turns to sawdust.

 

[rogue22912]

I use to use the horse pellets from tractor supply and I liked it but the only issue I found was the pellet size was bigger then the feline pine and wouldn't fit though the slots on the scooper.

 

[kashmir64]

I use only clay non clumping litter. The main reason is that most, if not all, clumping litters have a heavy scent. I just dump the entire box every day, scrape or wash it out then refill. It's cheap enough.
I used to use pine shavings that I had for horse bedding. It's biodegradable and I could just dump it in my field (I have 40 acres). But it did nothing for the smell. But, a sprinkle of Sweet PDZ (stall freshener) to the clay litter and I can't smell the box at all.

 

[BensonG24]

A lot has to do with cat preference.

But non-clumping is particularly useful for young kittens who have a tendency to try and eat everything -even their litter. You don't want any ingested litter to clump up inside the kitten. That could be bad. Lead to constipation, or worse an intestinal blockage.

Well crap I'm a new kitten owner I got my kitten last week and now she's 8 weeks old however for this entire week I've been using clumping clay litter D: should I be worried??!

 

[kashmir64]

Well crap I'm a new kitten owner I got my kitten last week and now she's 8 weeks old however for this entire week I've been using clumping clay litter D: should I be worried??!

I wouldn't be worried, just change it asap.