In need of similar but new litter (with a picture)!

Renne

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My kitten refuses to use any litter but this clumping one. However, there is a problem: after she takes a poo the litter always sticks to, excuse me, her moist butt. I try to pick it out as best I can (but I don't always succeed), and I'm very worried about her developing a local inflammantion.

To discover new litter she'd agree to use I need something similar in size and texture:
(and I guess non-clumping, so that it wouldn't stick to her behind)

IMG_20200119_220101.jpg
 

She's a witch

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It looks like clay based litter, I think there are some that are not clumping ones? I’d also be worried with this, as she may eat it when cleaning herself if it sticks to her butt (btw, it’s possible her poop is too soft, as after normal poop she shouldn’t really have a moist butt, so maybe addressing this problem will help with another?).
I’d also be worried with the dust this litter generate, judging by the box’s wall, dusty litters are potentially dangerous for cats so for sure I’d change it to as much dust free as possible.
 
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Renne

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@ FeebysOwner FeebysOwner , the litter is made in Russia, the brand name will hardly help... But it's unscented. It's made of "blue clay" mixed with concrete (not sure if translation is 100% correct).

it’s possible her poop is too soft, as after normal poop she shouldn’t really have a moist butt, so maybe addressing this problem will help with another?
It doesn't look soft, unless it looks somewhat different in cats. How would I check?

To be fair, I don't know if her butt is moist, I just assumed it is, from litter sticking to it. I use toilet paper to clean her to avoid touching her poop with my hands.

I’d also be worried with the dust this litter generate, judging by the box’s wall, dusty litters are potentially dangerous for cats so for sure I’d change it to as much dust free as possible.
That worries me, too, she sneezes from dust when she plays in her litterbox. And the litterbox wall looks like this because she spends time in her litterbox a lot lately. She lies down in a variety of ways, chases her tale, bites the litterbox walls, etc. And of course I can't lock away the litterbox to stop her from playing with it :(
 

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Can you get the Fresh Step brand? They have a non-clumping that is completely dust free, but I suspect the pieces are larger than yours. There is a pic of the actual litter, but I could not copy and paste it here.

(On Amazon - )
 

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I had that playing problem when my girl was a kitten and we introduced my boy to her together with his fine clay based litter- she had a time of her life in his litter box, as if she was on a best beach ever. I took it away after she hurt her eye with this litter. We normally used the wooden based, Cat’s Best, and we were happy with it, it’s available all over Europe but not sure if in Russia? But it doesn’t really have clay like texture so your girl may not like it. Now we use grass seed litter, it’s awesome alternative to clay litters as it has somewhat similar texture, clumps naturally and has way less dust that anything we tried, you can see around if available for you.

I’m attaching chart about poops for reference
 

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She's a witch

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Oh, and when you clean her with the toilet paper, I’d moisten it a bit with water to avoid “peeling” her with the litter residue. Or I’d use cotton pads with water. Some people use special cat wipes but most of them have plastic in them and it doesn’t seem right to me
 
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Renne

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Can you get the Fresh Step brand? They have a non-clumping that is completely dust free, but I suspect the pieces are larger than yours.
Yes I can buy it in shops here, but which of them is non-clumping? I always thought that Fresh Step produces clumping litters only. At least that's all I've seen.

We normally used the wooden based, Cat’s Best, and we were happy with it, it’s available all over Europe but not sure if in Russia?
It's available here, yes. She most likely won't like it, however, she didn't like any of wooden based litters I tried. Once I sit her down on wooden litter, she'd jump out of the litterbox immediately, the little imp. :)

Now we use grass seed litter, it’s awesome alternative to clay litters as it has somewhat similar texture, clumps naturally and has way less dust that anything we tried, you can see around if available for you.
Any examples of brand names? It sounds very natural and potentially likable for my kitten, indeed.

As for poop, she has both score 2 and score 1 poop. I think score 2 is much more frequent. You've mentioned that there's a way to make it firmer?
 

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Yes I can buy it in shops here, but which of them is non-clumping? I always thought that Fresh Step produces clumping litters only. At least that's all I've seen.
Could you click on the link and see it says on the bag that it is non-clumping? For me, the link led me to various pics, one of which showed the actual litter. Maybe they don't carry the non-clumping in your area?
 
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Renne

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I'll try other Internet shops, the descriptions are mostly vague.

Btw, I've found the original litter (that I'm using) description in English:
 

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Any examples of brand names? It sounds very natural and potentially likable for my kitten, indeed.
SmartCat by Pioneer Pet is the biggest brand I think, then we have here some other brands mostly for pet supermarkets (SoPresh for Petco, Frisco for Chewy). I browsed through European zooplus site and I haven’t found any grass seed litter there unfortunately (grass seed, not grass, as it can be very different thing) but maybe you’ll find some in your part of the world?
It seems like you have a pretty challenging task of finding litter that she would use for peeing, but not for playing.. did she pee outside of the box when you tried any other texture with her?

As for poop, she has both score 2 and score 1 poop. I think score 2 is much more frequent. You've mentioned that there's a way to make it firmer?
score 2 is good! it’s not too soft, in fact score 1 is too hard if she’s not eating raw. Is she longhaired? Maybe it’s pee drops that sticks to her hair? Or maybe this litter is so dusty that sticks to just anything.. ?
 
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It seems like you have a pretty challenging task of finding litter that she would use for peeing, but not for playing.. did she pee outside of the box when you tried any other texture with her?
Well, she wouldn't pee at all if I tried anything else, but if I insisted for a long time then she'd pee right next to the litterbox once she couldn't hold it in anymore. I don't really mind if she plays with her litter (she'll grow out of it), I just want it to stop sticking to her butt. Today I tried to scoop some out and she started resisting by wriggling and covering her butt with her tail, and eventually she sucked it in inside and I couldn't get it out like this :( I'm sure this is far from healthy, those litter pellets must be sharp.

Maybe it’s pee drops that sticks to her hair? Or maybe this litter is so dusty that sticks to just anything.. ?
No, unfortunately the litter doesn't stick to her hair, it gets right inside her little poop hole :( Not over it, but inside.

I honestly don't know how that happens. My only guess is this. She likes to dig a big hole in the litter before she takes a poo, but afterwards she 'misses' the hole and puts her behind not over the hole, but over the mound on its side. So maybe she accidentally sits on the mound after the poo is down? I've observed her many times, but I can't really look right under her, so it's still a mystery to me how litter gets stuck in such a manner. It never happens after she pees, only after a poop.
 
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So I bought some new litter. Not among the ones suggested yet (not currently in shop, I should just order online), but the one that looked very similar to her preferred litter but wasn't clumping.

And a new problem arose. When I showed her the new litter, she became very excited and started to gobble it up :( I had to open her mouth and make her spit it out multiple times, and she still wouldn't stop.

Yes, she's a kitten, but with her old litter she ate a few pellets and that was it. Curiosity satisfied. With this one, she just wouldn't stop. Even though she peed into it, so she did recognize it as toilet, she still wouldn't stop and tried to eat more right after that!

Thankfully, she didn't eat much because I was there watching and making her spit it out, but if it was up to her, her stomach would be full.

So I had to remove the new litter.

After that I put her old litter into the litterbox again, but I also put the litterbox lattice\grid over it (I don't really know how that's called in English) and hoped that she'd use it. During the day she wanted to take a poo and tried to sit down on the grid a few times, but always gave up, presumably b\c she couldn't dig. I had to remove the grid and she immediately started digging and made a poo in her old litter...

Of course she got dirty again and I had to remove stuck pellets from her behind.

Then I put the grid on again hoping that at least she's going to pee on it. That'd help her to get used to the grid. Nope. The poor kitten just kept holding it in! Eventually I removed the grid (in 8 hours), b\c it's bad for cats to hold it in, and she immediately jumped in and peed.

Oh well, back to old litter for now. I didn't expect for her to start eating the new litter like crazy. Maybe the next one I'll try she won't find so perfectly edible.
 

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Well, sorry that didn't work out!!! Can you try different amounts of litter - either a little less/lower in height (e.g. 2 inches instead of 3-4 inches), or a little more/raising the level of the litter (e.g. 3-4 inches instead of 2 inches)? Maybe there is either too little or too much litter attributing to her issue?
 
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Renne

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Thanks for your compassion and ideas!

In this particular instance I think it might be the litter's smell. It had a mild acidic smell, which made the kitten excited even before I poured it into her litterbox. That smell must've made her think it's edible. But smells should vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so I should find something that smells badly for her eventually. :)

Today right after I've cleaned her litterbox, which she always comes to watch ;), she jumped in to have a poo, and I had a really good angle to watch her do it. I'm positive that after her act she didn't touch anything with her behind, and yet when she turned I saw a pellet stuck to it. I'm so confused. If she ate litter when I'm not looking, then I'd find more in her poo going out, right? I just can't understand how she gets it there if she touches nothing...
 
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P.S. About my third paragraph: I just realized that it was what that new litter that she ate yesterday! I just assumed that it'd all be excreted with her poo, but apparently there was more and now it's still stuck there. Sorry for such details :) I just didn't want anyone to waste time considering the strange situation, so I'm writing here as soon as I realized.
 
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The topic starter here: I still haven't found another good litter she likes, BUT good news is that she's learning to poo in a clean way on her own! She still makes mistakes, but during the last week for most of the days she was clean. Good kitten! :cloud9:
 
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