How often do you completely clean out your litterbox?

[waddle]

I despise cleaning the box, so I’ve been using the nature’s miracle disposable boxes for a long time. However, it is almost impossible to find them locally, much less at a low price, and after recently ordering a batch and then disposing of an ungodly amount of cardboard and plastic packing materials, I am thinking I may go back to a regular box. I could replace it every six months for about the same cost as the disposables, but then I’m throwing away plastic instead of cardboard (though my order from petco also came with a bunch of air bubble type plastic packing). Kitties are bound to mess up the sides of the box so I’ll probably have to clean it fairly regularly even if I replace it often.

 

[mizzely]

I only have one kitty now and use Dr. Elsey's senior crystal litter. I totally dump it out once a month and wash the litter box at the same time.

 

[klunick]

I scoop several times a day and thoroughly clean the boxes once a week.

 

[corvidae]

We have three boxes for two cats- we scoop at least once a day, and completely empty and wash them out once a month.

 

[game misconduct]

I despise cleaning the box, so I’ve been using the nature’s miracle disposable boxes for a long time. However, it is almost impossible to find them locally, much less at a low price, and after recently ordering a batch and then disposing of an ungodly amount of cardboard and plastic packing materials, I am thinking I may go back to a regular box. I could replace it every six months for about the same cost as the disposables, but then I’m throwing away plastic instead of cardboard (though my order from petco also came with a bunch of air bubble type plastic packing). Kitties are bound to mess up the sides of the box so I’ll probably have to clean it fairly regularly even if I replace it often.

graycies box stays fairly clean since i am lucky enough to be home all day i am able to scopp soon as sh is done peeing/pooping after she gives the meow to alert me to clean her stuff up i just toss out the natures miracle disposable box every month

 

[artiemom]

I do a complete wash of box, dumping of litter, every 3 weeks. I find if I go longer, it will start to smell..
I am home, so I scoop almost immediately. Or at least when I notice it. The box in kept in my bathroom.

Geoffrey is also very good at telling me he used his box, and when it needs a complete wash and change out of litter.

Years ago, I thought of the disposable boxes.. I quickly gave up on that idea because of the price. My last kitty, Artie and now Geoffrey are corner and side pee-ers.. I cannot imagine getting all the urine from the sides and bottom of the box. At least, with a plastic one, I can wipe it down.

I use Dr Elsey's clumping litter.

 

[Antonio65]

I use a vegetal clumping litter. I scoop the litter several times a day, not less than 5 times a day. And completely clean and wash the tray about every two to three weeks.
I might be and sound weird, but I do like to wash and clean the tray. I use detergents like Lysoform (Lysol) to have the tray safely clean. I feel so satisfied when I do that.

 

[klunick]

I use a vegetal clumping litter. I scoop the litter several times a day, not less than 5 times a day. And completely clean and wash the tray about every two to three weeks.
I might be and sound weird, but I do like to wash and clean the tray. I use detergents like Lysoform (Lysol) to have the tray safely clean. I feel so satisfied when I do that.

I also get some satisfaction from cleaning the boxes. I use soap, water, and bleach. I must say I do get a tad annoyed when I spend all that time cleaning it and no sooner than I put it back down, one of them is hopping in it to use it.

 

[minish]

I have one cat who poops once and urinates twice a day. She pees on the edges. When I used silicone litter (3 lt packs) I had to change litter and clean whole box every week to 10 days since urine lingered at the bottom and smelled horrors. I switched to clumping small particles litter.
I have adequately large classic box (40 to 60cm) and I use about 8 to 10 cm deep litter topping twice a week so that urine doesn't seep below. I scoop daily or twice a day, give a good mix as well as taking out the dirty part. If I keep it well (scooping small clumps, cleaning spots inside without changing litter) then 1 month to five weeks with a 10 liter pack litter. If I am lazy, 3 weeks before total change of litter and box. I use ammonium based household products, brush and rinse for cleaning. Minish has a second small box while it dries. I haven't changed the main box in 4 years despite deep scratches in the plastic. After all, I do rigorous cleaning and top often. Minish uses it with no problems

 

[Elphaba09]

We have one Litter Robot and two regular boxes for 12 cats. It seems like it would not be enough, but the robot is amazing! We are getting one more eventually and may just go down to one regular box. The cats will often sit in a queue and wait for the robot to finish rotating. They use the regular boxes, but I went from scooping six regular boxes twice a day to emptying the robot's bag twice a day and scooping the other boxes once a day, even though I could easily skip it because they prefer the robot. Once a month, I take apart the robot, wash it out, and then vacuuming around the connection pieces to get all the litter bits out. I also wash the inside of the other boxes at the same time.

The Litter Robot is expensive; however, we use a lot let litter because it cycles automatically, which removes the clumps so they do not break down or cause the other litter to stink, and because I am not doing a complete dump nearly as often. The only complete dumps are for the regular boxes. When I clean the robot, I push a button to empty the litter into a clean bag before taking it apart. I then reuse that litter because it is clean. Because we are saving so much on litter, it will pay for itself. We currently have a "Robot Fund" for our second one.

 

[BlackCatOp]

I have 3 cats and 3 storage bins that hold 60# of litter. I scoop 2x per day. I use Boxiecat litter that clumps really well and is lower dust than Dr. Elseys.

Since the pans hold so much litter, my cats are unable to dig down to the bottom of the pans. I have found I can go 10-12 months without completely dumping the boxes. (I’m shocked that this workS! I meticulous about scooping so I think that helps??)

Prior to using the above method, I would dump and clean every 3 weeks.

 

[susanm9006]

I only have one cat and one litterbox. I line her box with a puppy pad and change the pad once a week. A years worth of pads costs me $26. The pad absorbs any urine that makes it to the bottom so there is never any urine reaching the plastic box itself and it never needs cleaning. I do a complete litter change every couple months.

 

[CatladyJan]

I scoop at least twice a day and always refill what I've taken out, I usually do a complete dump once a week!

 

[CatladyJan]

I only have one cat and one litterbox. I line her box with a puppy pad and change the pad once a week. A years worth of pads costs me $26. The pad absorbs any urine that makes it to the bottom so there is never any urine reaching the plastic box itself and it never needs cleaning. I do a complete litter change every couple months.

I may give this a try!

 

[ladytimedramon]

I'm using World's best. I like the litter but made the mistake of getting the lavender scented the first time. It definitely has lasted 30 days with me scooping every night. I also use the plastic liners, but double liner in case of tears, and I just close it up and put it in a big trash bag.

 

[susanm9006]

I may give this a try!

The pads I like are OUT XL and they come in a box of 60 on Amazon. Willow shreds them a little in the litter Box but never so much that the pad leaks.

 

[CatladyJan]

The pads I like are OUT XL and they come in a box of 60 on Amazon. Willow shreds them a little in the litter Box but never so much that the pad leaks.

That might really help, my cats like to pee in the front were it builds up in the corner. Thanks for the brand!

 

[muffy]

In the last cat forum I was in there was a woman that said that she knew some breeders that would sterilize their little boxs by washing them in a dishwasher to kill any disease the cats might have. I would never eat at their house.

Where do you get the disposanle litter boxes and how much do they cost?

I used to have 8 cats and had 4 litter boxes. I just did not have room for 9 boxes. I would scoop the boxes as often as I could and dump and clean them every 2 weeks. I never had a odor problem. I would boil water and use Dawn to wash the boxes.

 

[jeannem]

We just started using Arm 'N Hammer unscented. Suki hasn't seemed to notice! I didn't like the smell of the other. I scoop several times a day and and the first thing in the morning.
j

 

[daftcat75]

I had a cat who had GI lymphoma her last year. Her poops would come out in several rounds. With every round, the odds that she'd leave one on the carpet increased. In her last few months, I ended up with 4 regular litterboxes and 2 disposables available to her at all time. Often I would chase after her with a clean box at the ready to place under her if she was plotting a carpet bomb. She had "tells."

Here are my lessons learned from all that litterbox nonsense.

1. I love "World's Best Cat Litter", unscented. The pee clumps instantly and never reaches the bottom of the box. Most of the time, she peed in a corner of the box or against a box wall. It was as easy as tipping the litter away from the clump and scooping the clump.
2. A Litter Genie is invaluable. Scoop as often as you can but you only need to dump in a trashcan or dumpster when your Genie is full.
3. One litterbox per cat plus one. There's a good reason to plus one even with a single cat. Most cats like to pee in one and poop in the other given the opportunity. It's really not that much harder to clean two boxes vs. one.
4. Cats don't always pee neatly within the box. Female cats won't always squat as low as they need to--especially as they and their joints get older. Pee pads beneath the boxes and running up part of the wall is good protection.
5. This is the most important one and specifically what you're asking. Buy duplicates of every box you put out. Once a month, you'll fill the clean duplicate with litter and set it out to replace the dirty box. Dump the dirty box contents directly into a trash bag and wash that box on your own time rather than having to close kitty's bathroom(s) to clean. I often replaced two boxes at a time with clean ones and the dirties would get washed down in my shower the next time I took a shower. Because I used World's Best Litter, there really wasn't much to clean. Nothing made it to the bottom of the box.

I also used unscented baby safe cleaning wipes to spot wipe the box walls if her aim was a little off.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KXARZE6/?tag=thecatsite