"Natural" smelling litter (for former ferals)

[killerapple]

Patches (former stray) has been inside 1 month and the first litter I bought was Arm & Hammer Essentials Natural Litter because it looked very natural and outside-like. She took to it immediately!! (I put some potting soil on top but she understood it right away.) And it smells wonderful, isn't dusty, and is so lightweight. It's almost fluffy... the scooped pee weighs nothing! It's like air.... 4 weeks of this stuff being scooped 2x a day and you can't tell it's that old. Smells great! My husband thought it was an air freshener

However, it tracks everywhere!!!! Which is nice so I can see how active she is.. but it would be a horrible mess if it wasn't in 1 room. So I was going to transition her to a clay/normal clumping litter. Batman uses Arm & Hammer multi-cat and it's ok, but I don't like the smell, so I went with Special Kitty to try on her. It's really heavy compared to the natural stuff I'm using and so far, even with mixing it in, she hasn't taken to the box that is mostly Special Kitty with the Natural stuff on top. (2 litter boxes in room.)

Can anyone off-hand tell me other litters to try that are as natural-feeling and smelling as this Arm & Hammer stuff? The smell is wonderful and it's so light-weight - that's probably why she took to it easily. However the tracking... yikes!

Thanks in advance!

 

[killerapple]

If Patches doesn't take to clay litters, I'll have to go with the corn cob.

I like it - Just wish it wouldn't track everywhere. I had bought the wood stove pellets but figure that transition will be even harder so am not going to try that at this point in time.

Does Nature's Miracle track everywhere? I think I am looking for something natural with that kind of texture. Thanks!

 

[sharky]

Natures smelled without deposits too much for me ... corn and pine

 

[annierie]

You mentioned the difficulty in transition... I've had my 4 mos old since monday and I thought she'd been holding it, but found out otherwise yesterday. She did pee in the box yesterday for the first time; thought I was out of the woods. Found poop and pee on the bathroom floor this morning.

Is it most likely that the natural I bought is so different from what she had at the shelter and foster home (typical scooping, I presume)?

I'm thinking I should have done a mix to transition her now... Everyone told me I just had to show her the box and she'd use it but she's not!

Fortunately my husband has been out of town but he's coming home today and I need her to be using the box.... advice!!!! please help!

I had hoped to toilet train her but just felt it was too odd to use the same toilet as my pet

Annie Rie

 

[otto]

Originally Posted by AnnieRie

You mentioned the difficulty in transition... I've had my 4 mos old since monday and I thought she'd been holding it, but found out otherwise yesterday. She did pee in the box yesterday for the first time; thought I was out of the woods. Found poop and pee on the bathroom floor this morning.

Is it most likely that the natural I bought is so different from what she had at the shelter and foster home (typical scooping, I presume)?

I'm thinking I should have done a mix to transition her now... Everyone told me I just had to show her the box and she'd use it but she's not!

Fortunately my husband has been out of town but he's coming home today and I need her to be using the box.... advice!!!! please help!

I had hoped to toilet train her but just felt it was too odd to use the same toilet as my pet

Annie Rie

Clean up her messes and put them in the box, so she gets the idea. For pee, just sprinkle some litter over it, sweep it up, poop just sweep it up, put them right in the box. She'll get the idea.

Make sure the box is in a place where she can get to it quickly. Sometimes kittens get so busy playing they wait until it's too late and can't get there in time.

The soiled area will have to be cleaned with an enzyme cleaner to remove all traces, to prevent her from smelling it and thinking it's okay to go there again.

 

[annierie]

Any suggestion on the enzyme free cleaner? I failed to mention the place she went the first time was our leather recliner!! will vinegar and water do the trick? It did get on the laminate floor as well as a little on the area rug that first time. She's only staying in my sons bedroom, hallway and bathroom - that's all she has access to. Now I'm confused as to where to have the litter box. The one time she used it was in my son's room... but last night she did her business in the bathroom... unfortunately I flushed it all, thought of that myself too late. I'd like for the box to be in the bathroom ... started out there, moved it yesterday to the bedroom (where she did use it) but now think it needs to be back in the bathroom. The one thing I'm really trying to avoid is her going in my son's room on the floor. Could I set up 2 boxes one in each place to help her figure this out? She was totally trained before I got her... it's only been 4 days but I'm bummed she's not taking to it like everyone said she would... maybe I shouldn't have bought the natural litter!!

 

[otto]

Two boxes, absolutely! Moving the box around so often will really confuse her.

The "rule of thumb" with litter boxes is one per cat, plus one. So one cat = two boxes.

You need an enzymatic cleaner, such as Nature's Miracle, stinkfree, odor-be-gone, etc. Everyone has their preference but I can't speak for any of these, never having used them. Elsewhere in this forum is a recipe for a home made cleaner.

 

[annierie]

I'm going to drill you, sorry... so even if these two rooms are so close together litterally 4 feet apart, I should put a box in each? Do you think the natural litter has confused her? I think I'm going to go buy some clay litter to mix with it today to see if that helps...
Thanks for the help... she's a snowshoe by the way and 4 mos old. She was with a foster family with about 6 other cats for 1 week before I got her.

 

[strange_wings]

killerapple - If you and Patches really like the Arm & Hammer litter stick with it. With some cats it's really best not to try to fix something that isn't broken.

Look at different mats to go around the litter boxes. Sisal mats, from whatever source you can get them from - be it a door mat even, work well for some. Other mats intended to catch litter work, but you need to be careful of texture.

I have one really heavy rubber mat that have grooves in it that catches everything, litter and loose fur...

I always tell people to put some sort of scratcher nearby since many kitties don't like the feel of litter between their toes and will try to remove it if they can.

If you have to switch her, you can look into the cat attract additive.

 

[shanynne]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

killerapple - If you and Patches really like the Arm & Hammer litter stick with it. With some cats it's really best not to try to fix something that isn't broken.

Look at different mats to go around the litter boxes. Sisal mats, from whatever source you can get them from - be it a door mat even, work well for some. Other mats intended to catch litter work, but you need to be careful of texture.

I have one really heavy rubber mat that have grooves in it that catches everything, litter and loose fur...

I always tell people to put some sort of scratcher nearby since many kitties don't like the feel of litter between their toes and will try to remove it if they can.

If you have to switch her, you can look into the cat attract additive.

I have to agree with Strangewings. If your kitty likes the Arm & Hammer, and you like it as well, then stick with it

. I don't know of any cat litter that doesn't track at all!

Those mats really do a great job of catching the majority of the litter. I also put old towels under the litter box and the cat mats. That really does make a difference!

Question for you? Is the Arm & Hammer flushable?

 

[yogideb]

I just read your post about wanting to find an all natural litter. I'm using FreshAire with Bio-Filters. You can buy it at Petsmart. (about $12/20lb) It is a 100% natural mix of soft pine and clay. It has no chemicals or added fragrances and it weighs about one third less than most of the other litters. It clumps well and my cat seems to like it. You can find out more about it at www.freshairelitter.com. I think there is also a discount coupon offer on their website.

 

[killerapple]

Thanks everyone for your help!!!

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Look at different mats to go around the litter boxes. Sisal mats, from whatever source you can get them from - be it a door mat even, work well for some. Other mats intended to catch litter work, but you need to be careful of texture.

I have one really heavy rubber mat that have grooves in it that catches everything, litter and loose fur...

I always tell people to put some sort of scratcher nearby since many kitties don't like the feel of litter between their toes and will try to remove it if they can.

Thanks - I didn't even consider the mat a problem!

Probably because Batman's litter box area doesn't have a mat actually due to the size of the bathroom and it doesn't track everywhere! But that totally makes sense. And with this stuff being so light weight, it's probably more crucial to have a better mat.

(He had 2 litter boxes but we had to close off the basement temporarily due to a mattress box spring being stuck on the stairs that we can't move

The mattress is literally going to stay on the stairs until Patches is done with quarantine - in February at earliest!)

Originally Posted by Shanynne

Question for you? Is the Arm & Hammer flushable?

Unfortunately no. But it doesn't feel as gross to scoop and carry out to the trash. It is biodegradable though (but probably doesn't do any good since I throw it away in a plastic bag!)

Originally Posted by yogideb

I'm using FreshAire with Bio-Filters. It is a 100% natural mix of soft pine and clay. It has no chemicals or added fragrances and it weighs about one third less than most of the other litters. It clumps well and my cat seems to like it.

I will take a look - thanks for the recommendation on another to try!

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by killerapple

Unfortunately no. But it doesn't feel as gross to scoop and carry out to the trash. It is biodegradable though (but probably doesn't do any good since I throw it away in a plastic bag!)

Do what I do to cut down on some of the plastic leaving the house. You're going to be putting your regular kitchen garbage in plastic kitchen bags, on days you have some space in them to do so just scoop the used litter on top of it.