How to stop clay litter from sticking to the litter box?

[Meowmee]

I use Dr. Elsey's Respiratory Relief clay litter. I tried WBCL years ago and ended up with little bugs from it (moths). Took forever to get rid of them all. I clean the box several times a day - our cat Buddy, prefers his super large box over the two smaller ones (that are still big). For a scoop I use a large slotted spoon. Solid metal with fairly small holes. Its nice and solid, does not flex and easy to clean. I also have a small cheap metal spatula - solid thin metal to use when he does pee on the side. It scrapes off the stuck kitty litter easily. The Dr. Elsey's is heavy enough that the pee does not have time to sink to the bottom and it does form nice easy to scoop balls. I fill it with about 3 inches of litter - you have to have a deep enough layer of litter to keep the pee from getting to the bottom. Of course if your kitty loves to dig and dig to the bottom before he pees, then no matter how much litter you put in, it won't help. It isn't dust free, but if I change the box out 100% every few weeks, it keeps the dust to a minimum. Its not too dusty out of the box, but with use it does break down eventually into smaller pieces and that does get dusty. Cleaning it 100% out often enough keeps this from happening. I find if I use a too light weight litter, Buddy tracks it more. I am about to try one of those litter mats with the holes in it to see if that will help with the tracking. I'd love to be able to cut down on my daily vacuuming a bit. All of Buddy's litter boxes are made from big storage bins that I cut (sanded the edges) a door into. They are cheap, very high sided and big enough for a big kitty to use.

I have a friend that tried Okocat. It made her allergies a lot worse, and one of her kitties also developed respiratory allergies/issues from it. She tried a few other things - wood, paper, etc. and none of them worked for her. She is back to Dr. Elsey's.

I will investigate dr elseys rr low dust. I think I used one of their litters quite a while ago to try and get a cat attracted to it but I don’t remember much about it. Hope it’s not too expensive because I have to cut costs.

Wow moths you are scaring me. I have never had any bugs in worlds best cat litter tg! I guess so far it is probably my favorite but it does seem to absorb moisture and odor overtime especially in the humidity so that has to be watched. It tracks all over the place so when it does aggravate me too. It’s also expensive.

I’m going to measure how much litter I have in cinnamons boxes to make sure it’s the right amount. The 2 clay litters I just use which were terrible were very heavy so I don’t know what the issue was with them but the P was just sinking to the bottom and making wet cement on the bottom of the pan.

I have never tried a spoon or spatula before for that.
I am using in the bedroom a very large plastic litter box that you might want to try if you ever need another one it’s open, not too high sided but higher than normal and it has nice little slots at the end I put your scoop and whatever else you want to put in there.

Someone recommended it here and it’s made life easier because the big cats like Merlin and Fred don’t kick as much litter all over the place and they’re not pooping over the edge because the box isn’t big enough lol.

I tried getting the top closing litter box, before Fred, but no one will use it… Quinn used it a bit and then rejected it. I was hoping it would stop the tracking all over the place.

But they all seem to love this gigantic box. I have a larger stainless steel one downstairs and only one left with a plastic hood which is what Quinn in Merlin were sharing for quite a while before I started taking the other guys in. I don’t think they will use a higher sided one anymore although they have started using the hooded one again which they had rejected for a while.

I’ve never had cats that are so fussy about litter boxes as these guys are.

that is interesting your friend also had the same reaction to okocat. I couldn’t figure out what was going on with that but there were two versions of that- one was very light and tiny and the other one was a little bit heavier. I think the one that was lighter caused more problems for me maybe, I don’t remember now. But it was enough for me to stop using it.

The worst one I used for me in terms of functionig was the yesterdays news types because I could never figure out what are you supposed to do with the urine in there- they claim that you could scoop it out of there but it didn’t ever get to stage where it could be scooped and it was impossible to get the poop out of there without taking huge clumps of litter as well. I used the crystals too and Sybil used to like them or at least used it sometimes but for some reason they didn’t work- I think because the P started smelling very bad, I can’t remember now.

I also used one that was made out of walnut shells for a while I don’t know if they still have that one, that one was pretty good allergy wise but I don’t remember what it was like in terms of clumps and things like that. But it literally got all over the place very hard little pieces. I don’t vacuum very often so it’s just sweeping all day long sweeping up the cat litter and other stuff lol.

thanks

 

[Alldara]

Meowmee Regular Okocat is wood litter. The paper version is new this year and very different..but it doesn't clump.

I was never a fan of World's Best myself.

The paper Okocat is the only one I don't have to wear a mask to scoop (dust causing athsma issues). Except Yesterday's News but I wore one because the urine smell was so strong on that -- I haven't used it in years so might have changed.

I can't use clay at all and neither can Nobel, so I'm unsure of the quality of clay these days to be honest. It's been at least 13 years since I bought any.

 

[Alldara]

Meowmee the walnut shell one I found cemented to the bottom as well. In recent years I found even leaving it for a day, the one in the basement would start to mould. We have a dehumidifier running all the time down there, but I can't recommend it anymore unfortunately

Some cats are just finiky!

 

[Meowmee]

Meowmee Regular Okocat is wood litter. The paper version is new this year and very different..but it doesn't clump.

I was never a fan of World's Best myself.

The paper Okocat is the only one I don't have to wear a mask to scoop (dust causing athsma issues). Except Yesterday's News but I wore one because the urine smell was so strong on that -- I haven't used it in years so might have changed.

I can't use clay at all and neither can Nobel, so I'm unsure of the quality of clay these days to be honest. It's been at least 13 years since I bought any.

I had not heard of the paper okocat. I don’t think I could stand it if it doesn’t clump though- I’m so used to clumping litter and I just cannot stand P smell building up because it makes me ill and it can irritate all of my allergies and asthma too. Worse than dust maybe. I will check it out though.

I don’t know how I ever made it through before clumping litter were you just had the litter that just sat there with P in it forever… how did we ever get through that?

Thanks

 

[Alldara]

I had not heard of the paper okocat. I don’t think I could stand it if it doesn’t clump though- I’m so used to clumping litter and I just cannot stand P smell building up because it makes me ill and it can irritate all of my allergies and asthma too. Worse than dust maybe. I will check it out though.

I don’t know how I ever made it through before clumping litter were you just had the litter that just sat there with P in it forever… how did we ever get through that?

Thanks

Haha! The paper Okocat does have a bit of smell to it. But I was noticing that Nobel was having pooling in the walnut and regular Okocat ones as it wouldn't soak up fast enough.

The paper one soaks everything up fast so he doesn't get pee on his feet. But I think it smells if they sit on the same spot over time.

Maybe you could try some newsprint under the litter that's not irritating you? Then the newsprint could be thrown away when cleaning.

 

[Meowmee]

Meowmee the walnut shell one I found cemented to the bottom as well. In recent years I found even leaving it for a day, the one in the basement would start to mould. We have a dehumidifier running all the time down there, but I can't recommend it anymore unfortunately

Some cats are just finiky!

Sounds awful. I guess I will just skip that one if it’s still around I always hated those little hard particles all over the floors.

yes but 5 of them all so finicky I just don’t remember having these problems before. Then add the stinky runs for two in. Of course I did have a dominance war going on between two girls one of whom had a lifelong P problem.

 

[Meowmee]

Haha! The paper Okocat does have a bit of smell to it. But I was noticing that Nobel was having pooling in the walnut and regular Okocat ones as it wouldn't soak up fast enough.

The paper one soaks everything up fast so he doesn't get pee on his feet. But I think it smells if they sit on the same spot over time.

Maybe you could try some newsprint under the litter that's not irritating you? Then the newsprint could be thrown away when cleaning.

I was thinking of that may be putting a wee pad on the pan bottom but that would be a disaster with the clay litter probably lol, maybe paper though.
That is good that he doesn’t get his paws wet from that… sounds great!
Sybil would only pee on newspaper or wee pads. Actually if she would not have peed on other things in the house that would’ve been easier because then you just throw it away and the smell goes away etc. of course it’s very expensive if you’re using wee pads which I preferred, but it helped make having a cat that had a lifelong peeing issue much easier. Someone had trained her to pee on paper we’re pretty sure of that

 

[Alldara]

I'll be honest, it's been a long time since I had that many cats in one place!

I think we didn't see this pickiness before because we didnt have many options for our cats! Now they have choice, and of course, being cats they have an opinion!

 

[JamesCalifornia]

Thanks. I can’t I use the pine pellets because they smell so strong and they make my asthma worse and trigger other allergies etc. I will look for the silica crystals, where can I get those?

~ They are available whenever you get cat litter.

 

[tabbytom]

The 2 clay litters I just use which were terrible were very heavy so I don’t know what the issue was with them but the P was just sinking to the bottom and making wet cement on the bottom of the pan.

Clay litter are heavy. My boy's litterbox was filled with 40 liters of clay litter. He pees a lot and therefore has huge clumps and the clumps are heavy.

If the pee sinks all the way to the bottom could be this, litter not deep enough and litter not absorbing fast enough. Like my boy's case, if he pees twice a day, the litter is contained and does not reach the bottom but he's a corner pee'er so the sides of the litterbox has pee clump stuck to it. But he if pees only once a day, he pees a lot and the pee form a puddle but does not reach the bottom, (thus his legs are soaked in pee and clay) coz the litter is high enough except when the litter is low, it'll reach the bottom.

So far after switching over to Tofu Cat Litter, his pee does not have strong ammonia smell even if I scoop it 1/2 hour later. I usually leave the pee in the litterbox for a day or sometimes overnight and there's no pee smell and even if I scoop it after that and I can hardly smell the ammonia.

 

[Meowmee]

Clay litter are heavy. My boy's litterbox was filled with 40 liters of clay litter. He pees a lot and therefore has huge clumps and the clumps are heavy.

If the pee sinks all the way to the bottom could be this, litter not deep enough and litter not absorbing fast enough. Like my boy's case, if he pees twice a day, the litter is contained and does not reach the bottom but he's a corner pee'er so the sides of the litterbox has pee clump stuck to it. But he if pees only once a day, he pees a lot and the pee form a puddle but does not reach the bottom, (thus his legs are soaked in pee and clay) coz the litter is high enough except when the litter is low, it'll reach the bottom.

So far after switching over to Tofu Cat Litter, his pee does not have strong ammonia smell even if I scoop it 1/2 hour later. I usually leave the pee in the litterbox for a day or sometimes overnight and there's no pee smell and even if I scoop it after that and I can hardly smell the ammonia.

I still have to measure how much is in there, but it definitely was those other litters because it is not turning into wet heavy cement with arm and hammer double duty which is also a clay litter, it is much lighter and the particles are very fine by comparison. It is still kind of going to the bottom bit but not hard to scoop at all really. Yesterday he used the arm and hammer box and today he preferred the worlds best box for poop and pee. Most of the time in wbcl box the pee clumps better and forms and good roundish clump. He does not pee a big volume each time at all so that is not an issue.

What brand of tofu litter do you use? I am not sure if we have any here but I think I have looked at them online maybe. I don't like the arm and hammer duty now due to the scent which is a bit too strong but I will see how it goes. He may end up with wbcl like everyone else.

 

[Meowmee]

~ They are available whenever you get cat litter.
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I did not realize you meant the crystal litter pellets. I am not sure if Cinn will like those but I will try.

 

[VladimirTootin']

I had this same problem with clumping clay litters. I've also tried corn litters and pellets. I've tried alley cat, other tidy cats, and Dr Elsys (which was so bad everytime I scooped I spent 5 minutes scraping). Tidy cats 4-1 multicat clumping litter works SO WELL. My two cats will only share a litterbox, and besides some small corners every once in a while, it DOES NOT STICK. 16 dollars at Walmart for 40 lbs. I swore to never use clumping clay before, but I needed something cheap and non clumping is too stinky. It tracks really bad ngl, but my cats do bury and kick for like 4 minutes. High walls and a big litter mat would help. But at the end of the day, I'd rather spent two minutes sweeping than five chiseling away at pee cement!

 

[tabbytom]

What brand of tofu litter do you use? I am not sure if we have any here but I think I have looked at them online maybe.

There are many brands out there. You can get them online or check out YouTube and see if any are available in your region.

Most retailers get from a wholesale factory and repack and rebrand them. The brand I get here may not be available over where you are and as I mention, many repack and rebrand. Of course some looks better as they go through a better QC before repacking and probably end up a little more pricey.

Read the reviews is best to help you make up your mind on the brands.

I'm also very tempted to buy wholesale but the factory have to be trustworthy which I have to take the risk. Currently those that I bought comes in vacuum pack of 6L and easy for storage. Whereas the wholesale ones I think comes in a big bag and I have to look for place to store them and also keep them dry.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

I did not realize you meant the crystal litter pellets. I am not sure if Cinn will like those but I will try.

~ Only use a few cups . I put them on the bottom of the box.

 

[Meowmee]

I had this same problem with clumping clay litters. I've also tried corn litters and pellets. I've tried alley cat, other tidy cats, and Dr Elsys (which was so bad everytime I scooped I spent 5 minutes scraping). Tidy cats 4-1 multicat clumping litter works SO WELL. My two cats will only share a litterbox, and besides some small corners every once in a while, it DOES NOT STICK. 16 dollars at Walmart for 40 lbs. I swore to never use clumping clay before, but I needed something cheap and non clumping is too stinky. It tracks really bad ngl, but my cats do bury and kick for like 4 minutes. High walls and a big litter mat would help. But at the end of the day, I'd rather spent two minutes sweeping than five chiseling away at pee cement!

yeah I hear you on the chiseling...ugh even worse is wet semi cement that sticks all over the scoop.. people have had such wide results with the same litters.. it is hard to tell which may work well for us.. I will look into th e4-1 tidy cats.. I have never seen anything that cheap at walmart though, only at costco and bjs. I spend hours sweeping.. every day prolly, well maybe not hours but multiple times.

 

[Alldara]

It it's likely wide results due to environment. We all live all over so a places that's more humid might have more issues with litter sticking to the bottom?

Perhaps also things are made slightly different in different regions/countries..

 

[Meowmee]

Well it turned out I only had about 2.25 inches there. I put about 3-4 now and it is clumping a bit better and not sinking to the bottom. But, it weighs an absolute ton to the point I will not be able to do this longterm. I wonder if. metal scoop would help?

And the arm and hammer is very soft, not hard clumps. I am having trouble understanding why is is so heavy when it is so small and felt so much lighter with less in? In this small box it makes more of a mess too. I wonder how Cinn feels trying to dig in it etc. At least he is using it and the one with wbcl too still.

 

[tabbytom]

Well it turned out I only had about 2.25 inches there. I put about 3-4 now and it is clumping a bit better and not sinking to the bottom.

Before switching litter, my boy's litter box has litter 4 inches high. When I scoop the litter, I clear around the clump and then use a wooden spatula and pry the clump fro the bottom snf after that use a scoop to scoop the clump out followed ny a spoon to pick uo all the broken smaller pieces.

A metal scoop would be better. I used a plastic one and it gave way after a few years with careful scooping.

 

[Meowmee]

Before switching litter, my boy's litter box has litter 4 inches high. When I scoop the litter, I clear around the clump and then use a wooden spatula and pry the clump fro the bottom snf after that use a scoop to scoop the clump out followed ny a spoon to pick uo all the broken smaller pieces.

A metal scoop would be better. I used a plastic one and it gave way after a few years with careful scooping.

I have had plastic scoops that broke from the weight of the litter which seems like they must be very poorly made. But I have not used clay litter for a long time and I had forgotten how hard it is for me. I don’t remember it being this hard before but maybe my arms have gotten weaker. I have a really nice metal scooper that I use in the main downstairs box which has worlds best which is much lighter weight and easier for me. But I think I’m going to switch the plastic one down to that one and see if it’s easier.

It’s designed to let all of the litter fall out easily and only holds the clump so not that great for smaller pieces so it’s just really annoying. I think I got it at Amazon. I will try to post a picture of it.