Pine pellet litter users, how often you do a full strain?

Hoboforeternity

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i am doing a full strain every day and it seems i am using far too much litter because what i am told these last a long time. 20 Lbs bag last me around 5 weeks is that normal or just too much? how often you're supposed to do a full strain? (tossing all the powdered wood shaving and keep all the intact pellet by tossing everything on a big strainer)
 

maeganj

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How many cats do you have? I only have 1 that uses it so maybe it's just not as dire for me to do a big clean everyday, but I sift all the dust out about every 5 days (with a scoop, I don't have a sifting box) oddly enough the guy we got the kitten from says he waits until the entire box is dust and dumps it, starts all over again.... I'm like nope...sometimes I wait a little longer than the 5 days to dump the entire box out and do a bleach clean.
Do a lot of the pellets escape through the sift holes? To me it's not a waste if you're just tossing dust, but if you're tossing pellets then yes that is a waste.
I don't keep track of how fast I go through a bag because I've only had one, probably from beginning of September or late Aug. It was a 40# from TSC the equine pellets and it's almost empty.
 
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Hoboforeternity

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How many cats do you have? I only have 1 that uses it so maybe it's just not as dire for me to do a big clean everyday, but I sift all the dust out about every 5 days (with a scoop, I don't have a sifting box) oddly enough the guy we got the kitten from says he waits until the entire box is dust and dumps it, starts all over again.... I'm like nope...sometimes I wait a little longer than the 5 days to dump the entire box out and do a bleach clean.
Do a lot of the pellets escape through the sift holes? To me it's not a waste if you're just tossing dust, but if you're tossing pellets then yes that is a waste.
I don't keep track of how fast I go through a bag because I've only had one, probably from beginning of September or late Aug. It was a 40# from TSC the equine pellets and it's almost empty.
only 1, 2 litter boxes. the filter doesnx\'t filter out the pellet, just the dust, maybe smaller pellets less than 1cm in diameter. thanks, seems like scooping out poop and the more finer powder every day the do all box sift once a week works. i'll just do that. for deep cleaning i usually do it twice a month.
 

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Hmm.. I am wondering if I should switch. Boone and Gracie are pretty much exclusively using the two downstairs potty boxes even though I also have two more upstairs. I think in a week's time, I only found one turd in the ones upstairs.

Because they use the same two a lot, it gets dirty with pee before the weekly clean. Is pine pellets what a lot of people have trouble getting their cats to use? Seems like I have seen several threads on it lately.
 
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Hoboforeternity

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Hmm.. I am wondering if I should switch. Boone and Gracie are pretty much exclusively using the two downstairs potty boxes even though I also have two more upstairs. I think in a week's time, I only found one turd in the ones upstairs.

Because they use the same two a lot, it gets dirty with pee before the weekly clean. Is pine pellets what a lot of people have trouble getting their cats to use? Seems like I have seen several threads on it lately.
I have used it with Rivel since the first time, but i think it won't hurt to do a slow transition. Put maybe 10% of the pellet and slowly overtake the old ones.

As for pellets itself, i am quite satisfied with it. For pee it doesn't smell at all, although it doesnt cover poo too much unless your cats are really meticulously burying it.

As for tracking, the sawdust do get in some places, but easy to detect and dispose of. I also heard it won't really cause too much health problems and natural for the cats so i am glad Rivel likes it.
 

klunick

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I have used it with Rivel since the first time, but i think it won't hurt to do a slow transition. Put maybe 10% of the pellet and slowly overtake the old ones.

As for pellets itself, i am quite satisfied with it. For pee it doesn't smell at all, although it doesnt cover poo too much unless your cats are really meticulously burying it.

As for tracking, the sawdust do get in some places, but easy to detect and dispose of. I also heard it won't really cause too much health problems and natural for the cats so i am glad Rivel likes it.
My husband stays downstairs where the litter boxes are and says their poop stinks really bad. Wonder if it would help with that. :lol: Apparently air freshener plug ins aren't helping much.
 
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Hoboforeternity

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My husband stays downstairs where the litter boxes are and says their poop stinks really bad. Wonder if it would help with that. :lol: Apparently air freshener plug ins aren't helping much.
I usually immediately scoop them out when she poops, and the smell doesn't really linger long but don't hold my words too much my sense of smell is a bit borked 😶
 

klunick

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I usually immediately scoop them out when she poops, and the smell doesn't really linger long but don't hold my words too much my sense of smell is a bit borked 😶
So is mine. Since it's downstairs and I am usually upstairs, I don't scoop often as needed. Definitely once a day. Sometimes twice. I wondered if maybe it's their food since it contains items like venison, beef, duck, and rabbit. I guess I need to have him do an experiment. I will feed them a dark meat item like beef and see if their poops smell more than when I feed them something like chicken. :think:
 

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When I went grocery shopping, they had the pine pellets but not the sifting box. There is a different store where I plan on picking up dinner. I will check there. If I can find one, I am going to add it to the boxes I have downstairs.

I currently have two boxes but Boone and Gracie pee like horses and it gets dirty faster than my weekly full cleaning. I am going to put the pine pellets box along with the two clay litter ones downstairs.

This way, they will have 3 boxes to choose from and if they hate the pellets, it's not a big deal because they have the other two to use. If I notice they are using the pellet one more than the clay, I will just switch them out until all are pine.
 

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Before I open anything, did I get the right stuff??
20201113_180010.jpg
20201113_180048.jpg
 

klunick

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Yeah that seems right. The hole in the sifter box is more or less the same size and shape as mine. The litter os different brand but both has feline/rodent bedding litter in the bag.
Ok. It's not the best picture as I was sitting in the drive thru in the dark waiting to pick up dinner. I did take a chance and set it up last night. We will see if they use it. :crossfingers:

My husband did ask me why litter boxes keep magically showing up downstairs. First it was 1, then 2, and now 3. He said, "We have 2 cats and 5 litter boxes!!" I told him I was nervous to get rid of the ones upstairs even though they are rarely used. Every time I have tried to get rid of them, Boone and Gracie start looking for them like they want to use them. :ohwell:
 

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Well... the only thing the pellet litter has done is Boone and Gracie are now using the upstairs litter boxes more now. They literally weren't using them until I put the pellet one downstairs with the other 2. I will see what happens in the coming week but I'm thinking they have no interest in using the pellet litter. They don't even acknowledge its there.
 
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Hoboforeternity

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Well... the only thing the pellet litter has done is Boone and Gracie are now using the upstairs litter boxes more now. They literally weren't using them until I put the pellet one downstairs with the other 2. I will see what happens in the coming week but I'm thinking they have no interest in using the pellet litter. They don't even acknowledge its there.
Littee transition is probably tough. Plus it kinda smelled strong (pine smell) so understandable if they are a bit hesitant
 

klunick

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Littee transition is probably tough. Plus it kinda smelled strong (pine smell) so understandable if they are a bit hesitant
I will keep the set up for a while and see what happens. If they don't use it, no loss. They still have 4 more to choose from. I thought my husband would appreciate the pine smell since he is such a fan of pine trees. He might end up liking the pine litter more than Boone and Gracie do. :lol:
 
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Hoboforeternity

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I will keep the set up for a while and see what happens. If they don't use it, no loss. They still have 4 more to choose from. I thought my husband would appreciate the pine smell since he is such a fan of pine trees. He might end up liking the pine litter more than Boone and Gracie do. :lol:
Do you put it immediately or slowly mix it with the old one first.
 

klunick

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Do you put it immediately or slowly mix it with the old one first.
It is it's own separate box. I have two clay litter ones and the pine litter one. I thought about mixing the two but worried that if they didn't like the pine stuff, they wouldn't use the box at all. Also, how do you know if they are peeing in it? When I shake it, I do get some sawdust on the bottom tray but not sure if that's because it's been wet or just the pellets have settled.
 
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Hoboforeternity

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It is it's own separate box. I have two clay litter ones and the pine litter one. I thought about mixing the two but worried that if they didn't like the pine stuff, they wouldn't use the box at all. Also, how do you know if they are peeing in it? When I shake it, I do get some sawdust on the bottom tray but not sure if that's because it's been wet or just the pellets have settled.
If there's sawdust then it's likely it has been used, unless you get it wet, like pouring water over it. There will also half-dissolved pellet around the "wet spot".

But yeah, unless you want to get nasty, you won't tell the difference if it's wet by water or urine. It absorbs liquid smells excellently. If it's just little, very fine sawdust, then it's likely some leftover dust from processing (usually gathers in the bottom of the bag, simolar to chips crumbs)


Pellet that got dissolved by water will look a bit wet and it contain different size of sawdust. The best way to see what it looks like is take a handful and pour few spoons of water over it and wait you will get the idea of what it looks like.

As for gradually changing, use the sifter litter, but don't use the filter, just the botton like normal litter and mix both clay and pine there, you can just pour to clean it afterwards. After you see if they use it, you can use the sifter box stacked like normal
 

klunick

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If there's sawdust then it's likely it has been used, unless you get it wet, like pouring water over it. There will also half-dissolved pellet around the "wet spot".

But yeah, unless you want to get nasty, you won't tell the difference if it's wet by water or urine. It absorbs liquid smells excellently. If it's just little, very fine sawdust, then it's likely some leftover dust from processing (usually gathers in the bottom of the bag, simolar to chips crumbs)


Pellet that got dissolved by water will look a bit wet and it contain different size of sawdust. The best way to see what it looks like is take a handful and pour few spoons of water over it and wait you will get the idea of what it looks like.

As for gradually changing, use the sifter litter, but don't use the filter, just the botton like normal litter and mix both clay and pine there, you can just pour to clean it afterwards. After you see if they use it, you can use the sifter box stacked like normal
Ok, I'm thinking it is just residual dust from the bag. Thanks for all your advice!!
 
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