Cat litter recommendations

Baz84

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 18, 2020
Messages
58
Purraise
29
Good Afternoon!

I suspect this has been posted a lot in the past. But I’m considering new Litter… I have been out of the litter box game for a while.

To explain: 2 Cats. Male Maine Coon 16 pounds + Male Siamese 4.6 pounds…. The Siamese poops more!
Litter: Tidy Breeze Pellets. I clean litter box daily! + Litter Genie
Cost: I use 2 bags per box x2 boxes = ~ $52/month + Pee Pads ~ $22/month… so it’s pricey. But that’s not what’s bothering me lately.

I feed my cats grain free WET food only – occasionally they have “looser” stools – mostly the Siamese… and it smears all over the pellets and the box. My only option is to… deep clean the entire box and use new pellets –… this has happened multiple times already. I was told because the Siamese is still a kitten – that can happen (doesn’t mean infection). Also told some dry food would help solidify it... But the only good dry food I've found is Dr. Elsey - and my Maine Coon had a reaction towards it.... unsure what the cause was. The only difference is the pork since no wet food has it (can you even be allergic to that??) or possibly some random ingredient.

Also when this does happen – I can’t clean it until I have a day off (due to work). The pellets don’t exactly have odor control and I live in a small apartment. So the smell is making me seriously nauseous! Right now I have the litter boxes on my 2nd floor patio… and I THINK that made it worse with the sun?? It smells like a sewer out there.

So I’m thinking… since I scoop daily – why not try another litter type? There are a lot on the market it seems. If looser stools/diarrhea happens, it would be easier to scoop out completely. I read “clumping” litter isn’t good because it can cause an obstruction when they clean themselves. I choose the pellets because I didn't want to deal with tracking of litter

Any recommendations on non-clumping litter that is somewhat cost effective + has some odor control + minimal tracking? Also – this new set-up where I have it outside on the patio – is that a bad thing? I live in Tampa – so the temperatures right now are a nice 70s – I suspect it would become a problem in the summer.

Thanks!
 

sunny578

Mom to an inappropriate urinator
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
Messages
384
Purraise
299
I would continue to avoid the dry food if you can/want to! In my experience, dry does the opposite. My cat who does raw only has drier stools/ harder stools than my cat who doesn't.

I don't have any great non-clumping litter recs, but I'm sure someone else will!
 

Elphaba09

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 6, 2018
Messages
2,178
Purraise
6,012
Location
NE Ohio
While I do not use non-clumping litter, my friend uses SoPhresh Odor-Lock Silica Crystal Litter. She says it cost a bit more than other litters, but that she uses less because it is easier to clean than some of the others she has used. I know you were looking for cost-effectiveness, but if you use less, it could cost less or at least break even with what you spend now.


Now, if you ever decide to switch to clumping, I can recommend either Clump and Seal Multi-Cat or Dr. Elsey's Ultra. I am extremely sensitive to smells and am disabled, so cleaning non-clumping litter would just be too much for me. (I know you are likely not wanting to switch, but I thought I would throw this out there.)

We have 13 cats ranging from 4 lbs to 22 lbs. My husband got me a Litter Robot for my birthday a couple of years ago. I loved it so much we now have three and are considering a fourth. (We found the other two on Facebook Marketplace. I bought my daughter-in-law one from the manufacturer that was refurbished. One of her cats is half Norwegian Forrest cat.) We cut our litter usage in half. I am not joking. We used to use 8 bags of litter a month with multiple scooping a day. Now, I change the bags once a day and wipe the robots out once a month. We switched to Dr. Elsey's when we got the robots. If we had regular boxes, I would go back to the Clump and Seal. I have heard of other "robot" boxes.

We save roughly $80 on litter a month, so the robots have paid for themselves. And, unless it is right after one of the cats poops, there is absolutely no smell in the house. People have commented on the shock of not smelling cat pee as soon as they walk in considering how many cats we have.
 

monica3582

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Dec 16, 2021
Messages
1
Purraise
0
I'm new to this site today, but a search led me here to the forum and I found a helpful answer so I thought I'd register. I also live in a small apartment and use the breeze system (after trying countless others), but due to the interrupted supply chain lately, the litter has either been sold out everywhere here or it's over-the-top expensive. I'm super careful about my personal footprint on the environment as well as sustainability so here's what is working for me:

Litter: I've been using safflower seeds and I'm a fan. I don't think it does anything for odor control, but I was worried the seeds would be too small and fall through the grid. It did fall through a little, but also, some of the seeds stuck themselves into some of the grid holes. This is actually good because, overall, 95% of the seeds aren't able to fall through now yet there's still plenty of space for the liquid to fall through. It's affordable, lasts a long time, can be cleaned if desired, produces little waste (other than what sticks to the poo) and easy to find.

Odor: Probably best to keep it out of the sun... I have tried so many things, lol, as many of us pet owners have. What has worked for me best is this system, since the urine falls through, with the hood and a "door" that covers the opening well, but loosely. I just taped a disposable pee pad with the absorbent side facing the opening. I figured I would find another solution, but the same pad has worked for over 6 months. Seriously, zero smell... until I open the cover to clean it. I'm ok with that. I have found a few pieces outside of the box, but nothing like regular cat litter.

Pads: I've been using washable pads. A little more of a time-investment, but it prevents a lot of waste over tossing the disposables. I monitor the amount of water I use for washing and I'm still researching the impact of flushing cat urine in the toilet. If it turns out to be harmful, I'll find another solution.

Food: I also second sunny's response above about continuing to avoid dry food, if possible.

Hope this helps a little! I'm also open to ways to improve for my cat's health, the cost, the environment, etc. so I'm going to keep reading through this forum.
 

Lazy Orange House Cat

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Sep 20, 2021
Messages
164
Purraise
129
Location
Ontario, Canada
Feline Fresh makes a pine pellet litter which is terrific. Have you considered restricting the cat with the loose stools to a bland diet for a little while and see if you can settle them down?
 
Top