Litter Advice Needed - "urine Cement Blocks"

[sarah430]

Hello all,

I'm looking for some advice on litter. Right now I use unscented clumping litter for my 2 cat's boxes. Fortunately they aren't particular and I rotate through whatever brand is on sale - usually Arm & Hammer or Tidy Cat. They pee a lot - which is a good thing! But despite scooping once a day and sometimes twice, I end up with huge urine clumps in the corner that stick to the box. I don't use liners because they would scratch them up. Any advice or remedies? I've only ever used clumping - what happens to the urine with non-clumping?

Thanks!

 

[maggiedemi]

My female cat does this, she pees too close to the side of the box and it sticks. For now, I just wipe it with a baby wipe or paper towel sprayed with a little vinegar/water. I try to keep the litter high enough near the sides, but it still happens. Maybe I need to keep the litter even higher? As for your question about non-clumping litter, the pee just kind of goes to the bottom and you can stir up the litter or just leave it there. I didn't really like it because you have to dump it every week. Also, you can't really tell how much your cat peed without clumps.

 

[sarah430]

My female cat does this, she pees too close to the side of the box and it sticks. For now, I just wipe it with a baby wipe or paper towel sprayed with a little vinegar/water. I try to keep the litter high enough near the sides, but it still happens. Maybe I need to keep the litter even higher? As for your question about non-clumping litter, the pee just kind of goes to the bottom and you can stir up the litter or just leave it there. I didn't really like it because you have to dump it every week. Also, you can't really tell how much your cat peed without clumps.

Thanks! Yes, same here. My kitties both tend to pee by the sides. I keep the litter higher too - about 4 to 5 inches but it still happens.

As for the non-clumping, that doesn't sound good. I think I'll stick to the clumping. I'm going to try Worlds Best. I like the idea of being able to flush. With 2 kitties I hate seeing so much litter & poop going into the garbage can.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Mooch pees on the side of the box. I notice it's actually easier to scoop them when the box isn't perfectly clean. Maybe there is a build up of the dust that helps. Mostly I try to scoop from underneath; even when it's an awkward position to try to scoop in. It's especially difficult in the rounded corners. Keeping the litter deep enough helps some too; but I can't have it TOO deep or Mooch will pee over the edge of the box.

I've heard of using cooking spray; but I have my reservations about trying that with my 2.

 

[lorie d.]

Sweetie does the same thing. He pees in the corners and its's really hard to scrap it off when I do a complete cleaning and refill. I have seen a new litter advertised on TV called Arm & Hammer Slide that is supposed to help with this type of problem. I haven't been able to try it myself yet because the stores in my town are show to get new products. I posted a link for you here.
ARM & HAMMER™ SLIDE™

 

[IndyJones]

I would not flush any litter that clumps down the toilet. You're just asking for trouble. Do you have green bins in your area? Cat litter can go into the green bin.

 

[IndyJones]

I've seen the plumbing nightmare videos and it's not pretty to say the least.

 

[maggiedemi]

What are green bins? Do they not charge for the stuff you put in there?

 

[IndyJones]

No, green bins are like recycling bins for organic waste.

Green bin - Wikipedia

 

[sarah430]

I would not flush any litter that clumps down the toilet. You're just asking for trouble. Do you have green bins in your area? Cat litter can go into the green bin.

We do but I don't think regular clay litter is allowed in our green bins. But the World's Best is probably ok -- which would be a good alternative to dumping it in the garbage. Our garbage is half the size of the compost and recycle bins and those are picked up every week. Garbage only every other week, so the more I can compost the better.

 

[sarah430]

Sweetie does the same thing. He pees in the corners and its's really hard to scrap it off when I do a complete cleaning and refill. I have seen a new litter advertised on TV called Arm & Hammer Slide that is supposed to help with this type of problem. I haven't been able to try it myself yet because the stores in my town are show to get new products. I posted a link for you here.
ARM & HAMMER™ SLIDE™

Thanks! I've seen that but I think it all has fragrance and we only do fragrance free. But if you get a chance to try it post back with your opinion!

 

[IndyJones]

Here you can put clay litter in the green bin. I have been doing it for at least 5 years now.

 

[maggiedemi]

They take away your clay litter for free? The clumping kind too? That's awesome.

 

[sarah430]

Yes, that's great! I just double checked for my city and it specifically says no pet waste or cat litter in the green bin.

 

[lalagimp]

Tommy has always peed down the back corner of the box and I was using Fresh Step clumping litter unscented which was usually either Multi-cat or Extreme, I think? I didn't have a whole lot of problems getting his bricks loose. I haven't tried the new unscented they launched about 2 months ago since BF has had me using paper litter ever since Tom's surgery because he likes the way it doesn't track around the house.

 

[ileen]

In NYC green bins are for paper or cardboard, blue are for glass, plastic, metal. There is a compost site a few blocks from my place on Sundays, but they don't take meat/dairy/cat litter. I've been using little blue bags like dog walkers use and dumping in the regular trash for clumps etc. Someone told me it's possible to get ticketed for throwing away household waste in sidewalk trash bins, but I'd definitely argue discrimination if they allow dog waste there and not cat waste. Since I use clumping litter, I don't get rid of the whole of it too often, but just use my building's trash for that.

 

[IndyJones]

Here we have black for garbage green for organics including egg shells, meat, and pet waste blue for recycling and grey for cardboard/paper.

Here you only get two black bags every other week or you have to pay for the extra bags.

Green bin and blue bin collection is weekly unlimited number of bins.

Here the goal is diverting waste away from the landfills because they are becoming too full.

Apparently in California they found sea otters are becoming sick from the toxoplasmosis virus due to people flushing litter down the toilet and it's actually not allowed to flush it.

 

[maggiedemi]

Wow, that's wonderful. I wish we had some place in NY to take our used cat litter for free.

 

[thecatzmeow]

sarah430 , you should consider non "clay" litter. It really is bad for the cat, and you. I recently made the switch, after years of clay litter, but I started having health issues. I was astonished to learn how bad it is ... also bad for the environment. There are more natural bio-degradable alternatives that clump, where you won't have the problem you're currently having. After a lot of research, I recently switched to:
Blue Buffalo Naturally Fresh Walnut-Based Multi-Cat Quick-Clumping Cat Litter
World's Best Cat litter (red bag) is also good but only if you can scoop often. That one is corn based. With corn and wheat, you have to be careful with mold that can grow, and bugs.
Good luck!

 

[sarah430]

sarah430 , you should consider non "clay" litter. It really is bad for the cat, and you. I recently made the switch, after years of clay litter, but I started having health issues. I was astonished to learn how bad it is ... also bad for the environment. There are more natural bio-degradable alternatives that clump, where you won't have the problem you're currently having. After a lot of research, I recently switched to:
Blue Buffalo Naturally Fresh Walnut-Based Multi-Cat Quick-Clumping Cat Litter
World's Best Cat litter (red bag) is also good but only if you can scoop often. That one is corn based. With corn and wheat, you have to be careful with mold that can grow, and bugs.
Good luck!

Thanks! I definitely want to get away from the clay. I agree it just doesn't seem that healthy. And messy too - I'm constantly vacuuming up clay litter that gets tracked around. I scoop at minimum once a day and try for twice a day. I'll check out the Blue Buffalo too.