Transition To Pine Pellets

[tigger99]

After doing some research I'm thinking about changing over from clumping litter to pine pellets (probably feline pine cause i dont have a tractor supply for the cheap bag near me)

have any of you had a smooth transition from regular litter to the pellets? i'm thinking of doing the usual slowly adding in the pellets for him to get used to it and then eventually completely getting rid of the regular litter.

im just scared that if he sees pellets in his litterbox hes gonna be confused and pee outside of the box LOL

any tips are appreciated

 

[verna davies]

I recently changed to wood pellets without any problems. I have two litter boxes, changed one to pellets and left the other with the usual litter. It took a couple of days for my cats to use the new litter but once they did I mixed wood pellets with usual litter in second tray. After about 10 days and all the old litter was used, I used all wood pellets. I didnt have any issues fortunately.

 

[Dacatchair]

Watching this thread for replies as I also want to switch from clay clumping to pine pellets... I am thinking of continuing to have a couple clay clumping litter boxes out on the enclosed porches, but slowly moving them out of my house. I have a tiny house and the clay dust from litter boxes can't be good for any of us to be breathing.

But it is hard because I tried putting a box of clumping beside a box of pine pellets and the cats clearly prefer the clumping, though they do pee in the pine pellets occasionally.

Also not wanting to invite chaos by making too many unwanted changes...

 

[Catlover579]

I tried to change over to pellets from clumping last year but my cat was not having it! I was starting to feel bad and worried because he was holding in his pee and poo all day and he was stressed out so I decided going back to clumping was the best choice. I think clay litter is not bad after all . It's been used for the longest time with cats. I use Dr Elseys and me and my kitty both like it. I hope the pellets work out for you though. Good luck! But just remember if your cat does not want to use it you should not make him.

 

[1 bruce 1]

When we realized that our asthmatic cat didn't react poorly to pellets, we changed him over (we use wood, not pine). A week later, I changed everyone over cold turkey and there wasn't a problem to be had.
The only thing I've noticed is that the cats seem to dislike the 100% fresh litter, I think it bugs their feet but no one has complained much. Occasionally we dump the entire box and start from scratch but often we scoop and dump 90% of the litter, add the fresh, and stir it up. Pros are that there's still a pee scent that keeps them coming back and it seems to lessen that weird pellet feel on their feet. Cons are there's still a pee scent and they seem to love doing their best to fling out all the litter they can because they love peeing in a clean john

 

[verna davies]

You could try mixing a handful of the pellets in the normal litter for your cats to get used to the different smell and feel then very slowely increase the pellets and reduce the clay. It may take a couple of weeks but it might work.