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Is there any decent cat litter out there?


AlmiraGulch
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I hate cat litter so much!  But, I have two indoor cats, so i'm stuck.

 

I have two boxes.  One is traditional clumping-type litter and is in the garage, so even though it ends up scattered it doesn't end up in the house, so I deal with it.

 

The other box is a Breeze box.  The litter itself is some sort of pellet, and the urine is collected in a pad underneath the solid that you just change out.

 

For the most part, as long as the pad is changed and the solid waste scooped, it controls odor as well as can be expected.  It's still a litter box, so there's only so much you can do.   The problem is that I still have those stupid pellets scattered all over the bathroom, and then they get dragged out into the hall, and I'm sick of stepping on cat litter pellets.

 

Does anyone have any other magical litter I haven't tried?  I need it to control odor, but I really, really hate that it gets dragged all over the stupid house.

 

Anything?

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Would your cats use a covered box? We got an end table style covered box for one of our boxes and the litter stays contained a lot better. My only problem is that my older cat is too stuck in her ways to use it with the door shut and my messiest cat is too fat to fit in the door. My little kitten has taken to it well, but she was the least messy. 

 

If you look up Pet Loo on amazon, that's the style we have. We don't have that exact one, but it looks pretty much the same.

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Someone said on the "name brands" thread that cat litter is very much a personal thing.  And I totally agree with that.  I think I've tried them all over the years, and I've settled on Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat. I've decided that for us it has the best compromise between hard clumping, good odor control and little to no dust. Not tracking is pretty low on my priority list since we have a spare bedroom devoted to the cats and so the litter doesn't get tracked into the rest of the house.  I do use cheap rag rugs from WalMart under the boxes and in front of them.  Most of the tracked litter stays on the rug in front of the box, and I just pick the rug up and shake everything back into the box.

 

I'd be careful with covered boxes.  If you try one I recommend adding one, not replacing your current boxes with covered boxes. All the cat experts I've read believe that cats do NOT like covered boxes.

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I used a variety of different litters with my (recently deceased) cat because we were trying to accommodate her mobility issues. While I had tracking issues (& I had to give up on clumping because it was clumping to her due to her falling over/sitting down in the box) I have never had problems with odour. I scooped the box at least once a day, & usually twice. My preference actually is to scoop it just after they use it  - that was feasible for a long time because she was a very regular cat for a long time.... Otherwise, once in the morning & once in the evening, every day. Also, at reasonable intervals, the whole thing got emptied, washed & wiped down with an antibacterial wipe, then dried & refilled.

For tracking an extra carpet square outside the box helped.

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We use Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter and have for 11? years. Though my sweet problematic boy recently passed on, so I wonder if the regular Dr. Elsey's would work... Anyway, it does a great job at controlling odor, but we also scoop multiple times a day or at least AM and PM.

 

We put a big LL Bean Waterhog mat (actually current one is Costco knockoff) underneath the box. It helps with scattered litter and can be hosed off periodically.

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If your cat is using the box do not change it. Change the litter if you want to, but not the box. And FWIW I have used covered boxes and still got the litter everywhere, so that didn't change.

 

We have been using a litter called "Cat Attract" and it clumps into really tight balls that do not make a mess. But it is expensive.

 

There is a crystal litter that people say is much less dusty and doesn't track as much. I am not super familiar with how it works though. I think you fill a pan with the crystals and then toss them once a month? And then wash the box and start with a fresh container of crystals. But I might not be right about all of that.

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I used the crystals at the end. You scoop poops & stir the rest. You have to keep it quite deep so the urine is at the bottom. It was ok for us because our girl didn't dig much anymore so she wasn't digging to the bottom & getting the bacteria laden/smelly urine soaked stuff on her feet....

I dumped the entire thing every week. I can't imagine leaving it for a month.

It's not a cheap option though with all her vet bills, this was a very minor expense in the large scheme of things.....

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We used the pine for quite a while, and a variety of other kinds, but my final favorite was Sweat Scoop. It is wheat. No odor at all, easy to scoop, a little bit of tracking but not much (there would have been less if I had been using the Clevercat box). If I ever have another cat, that will be my first plan of action. :-)

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Would your cats use a covered box? We got an end table style covered box for one of our boxes and the litter stays contained a lot better. My only problem is that my older cat is too stuck in her ways to use it with the door shut and my messiest cat is too fat to fit in the door. My little kitten has taken to it well, but she was the least messy. 

 

If you look up Pet Loo on amazon, that's the style we have. We don't have that exact one, but it looks pretty much the same.

 

 

My cat that uses the Breeze box will not go in a covered box.

 

I intended to only have one box (I've always done one with two cats, despite what the experts say), but when I brought home the kitten (Breeze box boy) the old lady cat bit his face pad off when we were teaching him to go out the cat door into the garage to the litter box, so he refused (even now, 5+ years later) to go through the cat door.

 

He now has a problem with any enclosed spaces at all, included a covered one.  It's a total pain. I hate having a litter box in our living space, but I have to give the guy a place to go, so we do what we have to.

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Someone said on the "name brands" thread that cat litter is very much a personal thing.  And I totally agree with that.  I think I've tried them all over the years, and I've settled on Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat. I've decided that for us it has the best compromise between hard clumping, good odor control and little to no dust. Not tracking is pretty low on my priority list since we have a spare bedroom devoted to the cats and so the litter doesn't get tracked into the rest of the house.  I do use cheap rag rugs from WalMart under the boxes and in front of them.  Most of the tracked litter stays on the rug in front of the box, and I just pick the rug up and shake everything back into the box.

 

I'd be careful with covered boxes.  If you try one I recommend adding one, not replacing your current boxes with covered boxes. All the cat experts I've read believe that cats do NOT like covered boxes.

 

I saw that post, and it prompted me to go look at that litter, and to start this very thread!

 

One of my cats will use a covered box.  The other (the boy who uses the box I want to change) will do his business in front of the box if I try to cover it.  

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If your cat is using the box do not change it. Change the litter if you want to, but not the box. And FWIW I have used covered boxes and still got the litter everywhere, so that didn't change.

 

We have been using a litter called "Cat Attract" and it clumps into really tight balls that do not make a mess. But it is expensive.

 

There is a crystal litter that people say is much less dusty and doesn't track as much. I am not super familiar with how it works though. I think you fill a pan with the crystals and then toss them once a month? And then wash the box and start with a fresh container of crystals. But I might not be right about all of that.

 

We used to use the crystals.  I forget why we switched, now that you mention it, but there has to be some reason.  

 

My cat will use any box, actually, unless it's covered.  At least he's not picky that way.  I've switched many times and he never has any issues there.  He'll also go in any litter, and I've changed types several times on my quest for The Best Litter Ever.  So at least I have that going for me.  

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We have a breeze box. We use pine pellets in it. They do disintegrate, but they don't spread as easily the cement ones did.

 

I hadn't thought of this!  I change the stuff a lot more often than they recommend, and every time I change it I completely clean the box, so dealing with disintegrated pellets wouldn't be that big of a deal, I don't think.

 

How well do they control odor?  And does it make the box particularly gross when they dissolve?  I've never used pine pellets before. 

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Have you tried litter mats under the cat box? They are designed to hold the litter so it doesn't scatter.  I like this one:  http://www.amazon.com/PetFusion-SmartGrip-Litter-Gray-Twist/dp/B007SQFRMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414014506&sr=8-1&keywords=cat+litter+mat

 

I have, but they're useless.  He kicks it out so far the pellets completely miss the mat and end up in the hall 4 feet away!

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We used the pine for quite a while, and a variety of other kinds, but my final favorite was Sweat Scoop. It is wheat. No odor at all, easy to scoop, a little bit of tracking but not much (there would have been less if I had been using the Clevercat box). If I ever have another cat, that will be my first plan of action. :-)

 

I may try this.  Of course i'll have to change the box, but I don't care.

 

I don't think my guy would use the Clever Cat box, since it's as if it's covered.  That would be great, though, if he did.  

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Well, crap.  No pun intended.  

 

Sorry. Does it help that the bigger pieces are easier to clean up? I think my two adult cats are unusually messy, though. We're trying the Swheat litter again now. They didn't like the pine and I think they were messier on purpose to annoy me. So far the wheat is no worse than any other.

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another vote for Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat. We use the senior formula. Our cat is old, on the fat side (though much slimmer than when we got her several years ago) and only has one eye. This litter gives great odor control, doesn't irritate her and she stopped peeing outside her box when we started with it.

 

Seriously, the litter doesn't stink at all. And it all stays in the litter box. No scattering.

 

It's pricey - $16 or so a pack but we only need to change the box every 3-4 weeks so it's not too bad. And honestly, I'll pay any price to avoid the stink issues we had with ALL other litters.

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We use Precious Cat, but it still ends up on the floor of the house. We have to sweep more often to keep it under control. Also, any chance she gets she will rip holes in her litter bag (40 lb. bag) and it spills out onto the floor. We have double bagged it and put it in a cardboard box. She has still made a mess with it. I cannot lift or move the bag on my own and asked dh to put it in a box next time and make sure it's a box deep enough we can close the top. The litter box is currently in the mudroom which is good and bad since I have to walk through there a lot, but I prefer that to our bathroom I guess.

 

For those of you that use Precious Cat... blue bag or red bag?? I recently saw on Amazon a red bag (and yes, it was labeled Precious Cat. I originally used the red bag which was Cat Attract but this is a different red bag). I guess one is labeled "classic premium" and one is "ultra premium."

 

I use the ultra unscented in the blue bag.

 

I just noticed on Dr. Elsey's website and on Amazon that they're showing some products in boxes.  I wonder if they're going to start using those instead of bags?

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another vote for Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat. We use the senior formula. Our cat is old, on the fat side (though much slimmer than when we got her several years ago) and only has one eye. This litter gives great odor control, doesn't irritate her and she stopped peeing outside her box when we started with it.

 

Seriously, the litter doesn't stink at all. And it all stays in the litter box. No scattering.

 

It's pricey - $16 or so a pack but we only need to change the box every 3-4 weeks so it's not too bad. And honestly, I'll pay any price to avoid the stink issues we had with ALL other litters.

 

So what kind of box do you use?  

 

I couldn't care less about the cost, honestly.  I cannot stand odor, even though that isn't my biggest issue right now because the Breeze contains it pretty well.  But if I could get my girl cat to go in it instead of next to it that would certainly help!  That scattering, though, is maddening.  

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This is the box I have for my cats.  They have two of them.

 

Over the years I've used all sorts of boxes -- Rubbermaid containers, Clever Cat, hooded boxes and regular sized (low sided) litter pans.  I prefer the ones in the link by far over any of the others.  But if you have a cat who really likes to dig around in the litter and the tracking drives you nuts, probably the best thing is going to be a Rubbermaid type tote or a Clever Cat box IF those will work for your cats.  I don't really like them because one of my cats is a really big boy (not fat . . big boned, tall and long) and getting in the Clever Cat boxes is too hard and too cramped for him.  And the Rubbermaid totes can be challenging for all older cats. The last thing I want to do is make using the litter box inconvenient for the cats!

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I wuv black and white fluffy kitties, we have one, too. :001_wub: We also use the Breeze system. We switched to a more traditional litter for awhile and the sand that was everywhere was driving me nuts.Our cats will get the pellets stuck in their paws sometimes and carry them across the room we have the box in. The furthest I've ever seen a pellet was on the staircase. I asked awhile back and got most of these same responses, but so far, we've stuck with the Breeze.

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What a gorgeous kitty!  I wonder if part of the problem might be his bushy tail -- do you think  the pellets could be clinging to it and then falling off around your house? Precious Cat has a silica litter specifically for long haired cats.

 

I hadn't thought of that!

 

I assumed it just goes flying when he jumps in and out of the box, but I could be wrong.  

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I wuv black and white fluffy kitties, we have one, too. :001_wub: We also use the Breeze system. We switched to a more traditional litter for awhile and the sand that was everywhere was driving me nuts.Our cats will get the pellets stuck in their paws sometimes and carry them across the room we have the box in. The furthest I've ever seen a pellet was on the staircase. I asked awhile back and got most of these same responses, but so far, we've stuck with the Breeze.

 

I swear those pellets end up everywhere in the upstairs of my house.  The bathroom is covered in them.  They're all over the hall, sometimes all the way at the end near the stairs.  I've found a few in my bedroom (also at the opposite end of the hall from the litter box bathroom). 

 

The traditional was worse.

 

I wish there was a way I could combine pellets with a high sided box.  

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I swear those pellets end up everywhere in the upstairs of my house.  The bathroom is covered in them.  They're all over the hall, sometimes all the way at the end near the stairs.  I've found a few in my bedroom (also at the opposite end of the hall from the litter box bathroom). 

 

 

 

Is it possible that your kitty is playing with the pellets?  

 

I tried a Breeze box for awhile but only one of our cats would use it (and only for #1).    The pellets are also very amusing for a playful cat!

 

I've been using World's Best kitty litter/multiple cat formula (red bag) for years and haven't found anything that tracks less or creates less dust.  I can't use anything pine scented because of my own allergies, and two of my cats won't use pellets anyway.   Don't bother trying the PetsMart stuff made out of walnut shells...the brown dust was horrible! 

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I don't think he's playing with them.  I've never seen that, and he doesn't spend a ton of time in that room, generally.  I also work in a room not far from that bathroom, so you'd think I'd hear something, being pretty close to it all day.  

 

The dogs, on the other hand, might be playing with it.  They do go in there sometime and eat the cat food (yes...the cat food is in there...don't judge.  It's far from the toilet and works best for us). 

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The dogs, on the other hand, might be playing with it.  They do go in there sometime and eat the cat food (yes...the cat food is in there...don't judge.  It's far from the toilet and works best for us). 

 

Oh, I'd totally bet on the dogs. I finally had to keep our litter in a room which only the cat could access because the dogs would dig through it looking for tootsie rolls.

 

They worshiped that cat for her ability to make tootsie rolls. :lol:

 

(some people put a cat flap in a bedroom/bathroom door. We ended up getting away with just using a really tall baby gate, mounted a about 8 in off the floor. Cat walked under, dogs didn't bother trying to jump it & couldn't crawl under...)

 

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So what kind of box do you use?

 

I couldn't care less about the cost, honestly. I cannot stand odor, even though that isn't my biggest issue right now because the Breeze contains it pretty well. But if I could get my girl cat to go in it instead of next to it that would certainly help! That scattering, though, is maddening.

Old, fat cat with one eye. She'd never find her way in and out of a fancy box. We use a simple, open top LARGE box. I have a little mat that goes under and around the box.

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Oh, I'd totally bet on the dogs. I finally had to keep our litter in a room which only the cat could access because the dogs would dig through it looking for tootsie rolls.

 

They worshiped that cat for her ability to make tootsie rolls. :lol:

 

 

 

This. Most of the mess around our litter box is due to the dog. We've had to come up with creative ways to make the box accessible to the cat while keeping the dog out. Cat flaps and locations the dog can't get to are not an option in this house. Our latest "stuff around the litter box" plan has been working. Dogs are drawn to cat tootsie rolls. Gross as it sounds, that's just the way it is.

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So what kind of box do you use?  

 

I couldn't care less about the cost, honestly.  I cannot stand odor, even though that isn't my biggest issue right now because the Breeze contains it pretty well.  But if I could get my girl cat to go in it instead of next to it that would certainly help!  That scattering, though, is maddening.  

 

I had a cat who went next to the box. She thought she was being such a good girl :001_rolleyes:  I was able to get her to go in the box by putting a new empty box on the areas she was using. She would go in the empty box.

 

 

What a gorgeous kitty!  I wonder if part of the problem might be his bushy tail -- do you think  the pellets could be clinging to it and then falling off around your house? Precious Cat has a silica litter specifically for long haired cats.

 

I had a long hair cat for 17 years, for the last 10 of those years she was the only cat in the house. Now, after being cat free for a few years we have a standard short hair. There has been a drastic difference in the amount of litter I find outside the box. It wasn't just her tail, it also got caught between her fuzzy toes.  Now, she was also getting old and not cleaning as well for the last couple years, so take that into account.

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Oh, I'd totally bet on the dogs. I finally had to keep our litter in a room which only the cat could access because the dogs would dig through it looking for tootsie rolls.

 

They worshiped that cat for her ability to make tootsie rolls. :lol:

 

(some people put a cat flap in a bedroom/bathroom door. We ended up getting away with just using a really tall baby gate, mounted a about 8 in off the floor. Cat walked under, dogs didn't bother trying to jump it & couldn't crawl under...)

 

 

That's so gross!  Mine are probably doing exactly that.

 

I'd put a cat door in, but he won't go through it because of the whole Lucy-bit-off-his-face-pad incident.  He's traumatized.  If I could get him to use a cat door, he'd just use the litter box that's in the garage and all would be well.

 

I'd put the baby gate up but my daughters use that bathroom regularly.  Isn't that a pain for people to go through?  Or maybe I can get one of the kind that swings?  But then can you close the regular door? 

 

I think you may be on to something...

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  Isn't that a pain for people to go through?  Or maybe I can get one of the kind that swings?  But then can you close the regular door? 

 

 

 

We ended up installing a wood swinging type (I think it was originally marketed for stairs, because it's extra tall) on the hallway side of dd's bedroom door because that was the most logical place for the litterbox for many reasons.  

 

Her door handle just fits in behind the rails so you can close the door just fine against the gate.

 

It also allowed her to move some cages of rats up into her room - previously they were in a different locked room because occasionally the dogs get a teensy bit too interested in the little furries.

 

it's kind of a pain I guess but she got used to it....

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For those of you that use Precious Cat... blue bag or red bag?? I recently saw on Amazon a red bag (and yes, it was labeled Precious Cat. I originally used the red bag which was Cat Attract but this is a different red bag). I guess one is labeled "classic premium" and one is "ultra premium."

We get the silver bag for old fussy cats. They recommend it for cats over 7 or overweight.

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