Do You Use Litter Box Liners?

[Frank123]

When I first got my cat, for a short while I was just adding litter to the box with no liner. This meant that at the end of the month when I cleaned out the litter I had to clean the pan itself.
I figured it would be more convenient to add a liner so all I had to do when it came time to cleaning was just take the liner out of the box and just throw the litter away and not have to deal with cleaning the box.
I ended up getting these but ended up being disappointed with them.
Even though they claim to be "strong and durable" my cat still manages to claw holes in them as she scratches at her litter.
Does anyone use liners that are truly tear proof or am I better of going back sans liners?

 

[Frank123]

Edit: for some reason the link to the product at Amazon isn't showing up in my OP. The liners I bought were Kitty Litty box liners 30 count. You can search for them on Amazon.

 

[neely]

Welcome to TCS! It's my understanding that you should clean the entire box whether you use liners or not. Other members may disagree but I wouldn't take a chance with odors, etc. especially since, as you mentioned, your cat still manages to claw/scratch holes in the liners. It's really not that tedious to clean the box but then again I've had cats for so long I guess I'm just used to it.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I don't use liners. As long as I keep the litter deep enough (3-4"); cleaning the box isn't difficult. I usually take them outside and use the hose and some Nature's Miracle. I have used the heavy duty black lawn & garden trash bags for an emergency box. It worked well enough for that purpose; but I'd never do that regularly. I think that would be expensive too.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

.
Frank123 - I've never used liners.

neely - You're absolutely right, of course, and bacteria is a kitty's worst nightmare. I have twelve boxes for eleven cats, scoop them as needed, and change them completely twice a week, keeping one extra set filled and stacked nesting-style for "swap day" and one set in reserve.

I rinse and brush outside once they're emptied, then stack them two by three in the four stationary tubs, and the whole thing is Henry Ford style. Divide a cup of Clorox into the first three boxes (sodium hypochlorite at this concentration will kill just about anything on earth), fill the stack with hot water, and wait a couple of minutes - then empty the first three into the second three, and during the "wait time" add a little Dawn dish soap to the three 'finished' boxes, re-stack them, and fill with hot water. It takes about fifteen minutes to bleach and detergent-soak a dozen boxes. I let the detergent cut the bleach for half an hour or so, then go back and rinse thoroughly. Twelve boxes, twice a week, might take ninety minutes total time in the Winter months; half that time in Summer, since I can do the whole operation in the barn.

In just about sixty years of high-cat-count multiple households, I've never seen a UTI, nor, for that matter, any serious medical problems which were bacterial in nature.
.

 

[himawari]

I tried to use liners once, but then I realize my cat claws at it so litter gets in the box anyway. So now I make sure there's a good 3-4inch of litter (sometimes more) instead. I deep clean the litter box once a month using bleach & hot water (soaked for 25-45min) followed up by scrubbing with dish soap & hot water (x2 for 15min each) then I wipe it with paper towel. So far my cat hasn't gotten any urinary health issues.

 

[circlemtn]

I recently began using paper lawn and leaf bags, cut down to size. They are tough enough that my cats can't shred them, and don't contribute more plastic to landfills. They don't smell, and last for 2-3 weeks. I line my jumbo litter box, and try to arrange them so that the folds in the paper won't fill up with litter. Then put the whole thing in a large sterilite bin to reduce the litter flung outside the box. They work much better than plastic liner and do not absorb urine. I wish a commercial liner company would start producing paper liners, so that I don't have to waste the top of the bag.

 

[duckpond]

I don't use liners anymore. I did years ago with clay litter and it was always a mess, my cat at that time ripped them up as well.

I do now use a grass litter, it dosen't stick to the box, and i find it so much easier to scoop, and wash when ready to change the box out.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

.
... I have twelve boxes for eleven cats, scoop them as needed, and change them completely twice a week, keeping one extra set filled and stacked nesting-style for "swap day" and one set in reserve.

I rinse and brush outside once they're emptied, then stack them two by three in the four stationary tubs, and the whole thing is Henry Ford style. Divide a cup of Clorox into the first three boxes (sodium hypochlorite at this concentration will kill just about anything on earth), fill the stack with hot water, and wait a couple of minutes - then empty the first three into the second three, and during the "wait time" add a little Dawn dish soap to the three 'finished' boxes, re-stack them, and fill with hot water. It takes about fifteen minutes to bleach and detergent-soak a dozen boxes. I let the detergent cut the bleach for half an hour or so, then go back and rinse thoroughly. Twelve boxes, twice a week, might take ninety minutes total time in the Winter months; half that time in Summer, since I can do the whole operation in the barn.

In just about sixty years of high-cat-count multiple households, I've never seen a UTI, nor, for that matter, any serious medical problems which were bacterial in nature.
.

 

[MajesticFloof]

We did have liners for our old boy Charlie, but they still got shredded as he liked to dig right to the bottom. When we got Violet we tried them in a normal tray, but it turns out she also likes to dig holes to China. So we ended up buying one of those lidded deep trays so she doesn't fling her little parcels and all the litter everywhere. It doesn't take a liner..but at least the entire laundry floor stays clean! Lmao.

 

[rubysmama]

No matter how deep the litter is in the litter box, Ruby manages to shift it around so that she can still scratch the bottom of the litter box. So I have never tried litter box liners.

I use clumping litter and remove the waste clumps twice a day. Once a week I dump out all remaining litter into an empty litter container and clean the litter box with Petkin litter box wipes, dump back in the old litter and top up with fresh litter. I rarely ever dump out all the old litter and replace with all new. I get the wipes at Walmart.