What's your process for cat litter?

[Youngkody]

I probably need to go buy a bunch of bags but I tend to do it like once a week and put it into another garbage bag as it's close to full.

But my question is.. do you scoop your cat litter into bags everyday? Or whats the best way to do your cat litter everyday?

Might sound like a stupid question but I'm genuinely curious

 

[neely]

Not a stupid question at all and btw, welcome to TCS! I think everyone probably has their own system but what I like to do is scoop as often as possible and throw the bag out daily especially if he poops. I usually use the plastic grocery bags from the store. Trust me we have a stock pile of them.

 

[tabbytom]

I probably need to go buy a bunch of bags but I tend to do it like once a week and put it into another garbage bag as it's close to full.

But my question is.. do you scoop your cat litter into bags everyday? Or whats the best way to do your cat litter everyday?

Might sound like a stupid question but I'm genuinely curious

and welcome to TCS!

A litterbox is best scooped and clean once a day. The bigger the litterbox the better. If it's piled up before end of the day or whichever part of the day you clean put the litterbox, then you have to clear it twice a day. Cats like clean litterboxes. A clean litterbox will encourage them to use it else thy'll find other spots in the house to do their business.

I clean and clear my boy's letterbox everyday and yes, pile them in plastic bags and dump them and the litter my boy uses can be flushed down the toilet bowl. If you are interested in those litter, give it a read here :- A Documentation on the Transition from Clay Litter to Tofu Cat Litter for my boy

 

[Babypaws]

I do the same as Neely…I have multi-cat house so I scoop twice a day and use the plastic grocery bags….although a lot of stores in my area have done away with plastic bags but I have a friend who saves some for me. If I run out I actually use bread bags….i average a bag a day! When full, I tie them up and put in the garbage..I wish there was a way to recycle…lol.

 

[VAMama]

I keep zip sandwich bags in the room with her box. It's cleaned once or twice a day depending on her activity.

 

[AkeKitty]

We have a litter genie (you can buy them on Amazon) that we empty out once a week. But for the scooping; my mom and I try to clean their litter boxes right after they use them. Now because we clean them out so often the litter amount goes down a bit, so we put in some more (not much) somewhere in the middle of the month. We also do a full clean and sanitize (w/pet safe sanitizer), and litter change once a month as well, however we have to leave a little of the old litter in the new litter or my older one won’t use it

 

[Furballsmom]

I scoop the boxes typically a couple times daily, although one of the reasons I have two boxes for one cat is in case I don't get there to clean soon enough.

I use small kitchen trash bags. I drape one inside a litter bucket that has a lid and am able to have it last about a week since the lid helps keep the odor down.

I'm maybe not as good about the full cleaning as I should be but I try to get that done fairly regularly.

 

[AkeKitty]

I scoop the boxes typically a couple times daily, although one of the reasons I have two boxes for one cat is in case I don't get there to clean soon enough.

I use small kitchen trash bags. I drape one inside a litter bucket that has a lid and am able to have it last about a week since the lid helps keep the odor down.

I'm maybe not as good about the full cleaning as I should be but I try to get that done fairly regularly.

Oh I’m lucky about the “full cleaning” and taking the litter bag out once a week; my mom makes sure it’s done no matter what

 

[sivyaleah]

The boxes get scooped daily, in the morning. Both cats tend to use the box at night the most so that works out really well for us and them. Top off with fresh litter as needed (weekly give or take). Small garbage bags are our disposal method of choice.

Spot clean if needed (rarely).

I think the boxes are washed out a few times a year (husband does it so not entirely sure) and we actually replace the box completely about every year or so depending on the condition. Plastic does scratch up eventually and starts to look kind of crummy.

 

[DeesCats]

I scoop at least 3 times a day and use dog poop bags to hold the waste and average 1 dog poop bag per day and then it's placed in the outdoor trash container.

How frequent to scoop depends on the number of cats, how often they use the litter box, the size of the box, the type of litter you use and other criteria you may have regarding odors. I have 3 cats, four large boxes and use clumping clay litter.

 

[vansX2]

I'm in a transition period right now. One litter box has "Dr.Elsey's Litter. The other box has "Pretty Litter" Clumping. As soon as the Dr.Elsey's is used up I will completely Switch to "Pretty Litter Clumping. As the Cats seems to prefer it. I try shifting the litter boxes every other day. Occasionally I lapse.

 

[Furballsmom]

Occasionally I lapse.

You might want to try increasing the frequency so as to decrease the odor and bacteria load. Urine can cause ammonia fumes which are unpleasant and can even be dangerous if the boxes are covered/enclosed.

 

[Eurocat]

Hi there
Good question and when I brought my kitty home I was wondering how to dispose of waste most effectively and safely. I definitely didnt want kitty excrement flying around in our communal waste.
I have only one cat and this is the routine which now works for me:
If I‘m home when she uses one of her litter boxes I scoop immediately. Otherwise I scoop when I see something and I always check whenever I walk by.
I don‘t trust flushing the soiled parts of the cat litter (wood base, clumping) even though it supposedly should be possible with the litter I have, but the house I live in was built in 1890 and I don‘t have much confidence in the pipes
For disposal I have a closed 35L closed bin kept outside on one of the balconies. I use 2 heavy duty bin bags with string ties - one to line the bin and one to collect the soiled litter. I keep the litter scooper in another lightweight bin bag in the same bin and a toilet brush (used to scrub the boxes when I wash them our) in another lightweight bin bag in there too.
Everytime I clean the litter box I bring in the whole bin and clean the litter box. I usually empty the whole thing latest once a week in winter, more frequently in summer. To empty into the main house trash I always use both heavy duty bin bags as I don‘t want to risk the bag ripping on the way to - on in - the communal trash can.
This system also means that I‘m not using many bags everyday. The lightweight bags for the scooper and the toilet brush only get changed when I wash out the litter trays. If the scooper is soiled, I wipe it off with a couple of paper towels before it goes back in its bag.
I also sometimes sit and eat on the balcony with the kitty bin. So far it hasnt been a problem. There is no smell and neither my friends nor my partner have ever complained about it. The bin itself really isnt so conspicuous so maybe some friends aren‘t aware of it‘s lovely contents though.
Good luck with developing your own system that worls for you!

 

[vansX2]

You might want to try increasing the frequency so as to decrease the odor and bacteria load. Urine can cause ammonia fumes which are unpleasant and can even be dangerous if the boxes are covered/enclosed.

I'm not too worried as both boxes are in a basement room having windows and a ceiling fan. Plus neither cat has shown any issues and I have been following this routine since they were kittens for 5 years now.

 

[Biomehanika]

I have a balcony near two of my four litter boxes and I leave one giant bag out there (usually old litter bags or old dog food kibble bags that I make my mom give me from her dog lol). All the poops and pee clumps from multiple daily scoopings go in there, as well as plain old litter when I do full changes. Really quick to just open the door and stick the nasties in the bag. That way nothing stinky has to hang around inside the house lol. I see poop I scoop. I can’t flush anything as we are on septic, not even supposed to flush much toilet paper here. When the bag gets thoroughly full and gross I take it out and chuck it in the trash. Not perfect but it works well for me.

Also, I never add clean litter to old litter. I just continue to scoop until the contents are low, and eventually dump everything, wash the bin, and refill. I use World’s Best.

 

[Youngkody]

Thank you everybody! Didn't think I'd get so many responses. This seems like a great community just signed up today

 

[iPappy]

I too scoop and use a grocery bag, but I'm considering buying some biodegradable bags from Amazon, or switching to the Tidy Cats Breeze box, altered with another box underneath to cut down on the amount of times I use a bag.
Sarah has always scratched in the box, but, she has a way of scratching the box SO LOUDLY when it needs cleaned. If she had a little bell, she'd be ringing it in my face.

 

[Alldara]

I probably need to go buy a bunch of bags but I tend to do it like once a week and put it into another garbage bag as it's close to full.

But my question is.. do you scoop your cat litter into bags everyday? Or whats the best way to do your cat litter everyday?

Might sound like a stupid question but I'm genuinely curious

I use paper "lunch" bags. Scoop daily and compost it (non-clay litter). It goes to my city's industrial composters so it is heated and treated. It is allowed to do this in my city.

We have 4 litters so I do 2 per day. Therefore each box gets cleaned every 2 days. I have 3 cats. If I'm doing everything daily I should have 1 poo each and a bag full of pee.

Doing it daily you can also see when something is wrong. I can catch constipation quickly, maybe even have a higher chance of knowing who has the issue. I can see if there's blood in the urine or if someone is peeing more frequently in smaller clumps (first sign of urinary issue). I can also tell if someone is peeing more or less because I have the reference of how full the bag should be.

 

[klunick]

I don't use clumping litter so all I need to scoop is the #2s. I use poop bags for dogs and just put them into the trash can. I changed out the entire litter box once a week.