Allergy to litter?

Okay, so while my sister took the day off to take Pogue to the vet (he had a reaction to his injections)... she also took Joyeux along because she's got a watery eye. The first diagnosis is that she's allergic to something, probably her litter, and the vet suggested not changing brands as often.

Does anyone have any knowledge about allergen-free or low allergen clumping clay litters that are reasonable in price? When I say reasonable, remember that I have to buy about 80 pounds of it at a time, usually twice a month.

We rely on Petco's PetGold clumping clay litter, and use one 30-pound pail per week, at around $12.00. It's never caused any problems in our household.

Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat in the blue bag:
http://www.preciouscat.com/precious-ultra-p-2.html
is unscented (if I remember correctly) and clumps pretty well - it comes in a 40 pound bag for about 12 to 14 dollars, and is pretty easy to find. Petsmart carries it, as well as petfooddirect.com

What kind of litter are you using right now? It might not be an allergy, per say, but maybe its just dusty and it irritates her eyes? You probably also want to stick with unscented.

Well, I just usually get whatever the "off" brand is, that clumps. My sister says it's been watery.. I honestly hadn't noticed it, because it's not really bad. It's just watering a little, but she says it's only been a few weeks. I bought a particularly dusty brand a few weeks back, so maybe that's what it is. I'll have to try to get whatever is less dusty this time around. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what's dusty and what's not. Fortunately for me, they don't care what kind of litter it is so they use their boxes regardless, but I'm going to have to look for a brand that's not dusty. I guess it'll be a process of elimination.

I rarely get anything scented, and when I do it's usually by accident.

PetGold clumping litter is unscented, contains baking soda, and isn't very dusty. Find it at Petco for around $12.00 for a 30-pound refillable bucket.

Remind me again how many cats you have? Is it just the two, or do you have more? Cause 160 pounds of cat litter for two cats is a whole lot....I think I go through about 20 a month or so.

Nine. Not sure whether you're posting to me -- Tarasgirl06 -- or Cats Are Better, but here, The Nine rule.

Cats Are Better, Heather, sorry.

I am using swheet scoop ... but am likely switching to feline pine ( guar gum) clumping as it is lighter and less money

I've got five, and I keep their litter deep, because one of them likes to scratch scratch scratch, and one of them pees like a little race horse (he keeps well hydrated), so the clumps go really deep and stick to the sides if I don't have a ton of litter in there. He's also really big, so he needs large litter boxes.

I tried Swheat Scoop, and it just didn't do well for me, as it didn't clump right.. maybe Khan piddles too much or something, but that being said, I also was trying to use it with the self-cleaning litter box, so maybe that was the issue.

Okay, five makes more sense. Its not cheap, but I use World's Best Cat Litter, right now, the multiple cats formula. One 18lb bag lasts me at least a month, with little to no odor. For five cats, it might be too expensive though (about $20 a bag). But it clumps great, covers odor well, and is fairly dust-free.

Others have suggested that chicken scratch works similarly, maybe you could give that a try? That's really cheap (maybe $20 for 50lbs).

Deep litter works best for my clowder, as well -- Nicolas, my formerly 20-pound "lion cublet", is quite a kicker and yes, he is also well-hydrated...

Yeah, it's bad enough that Khan gets the side of the litter box (he "sprays" in the box.. but nowhere else, knock on wood) but it's impossible to get them off the bottom if it sinks that far. I want to invest in some actual sterulite storage containers that are larger. I like the two "boxes" that I'm using which are actually storage containers but apparently the sterulite ones have a really smooth side that everything "pops" off of when you shift the litter. Things still stick to the regular storage bins. The really deep ones are great, but I need bigger ones.

Yes, the Sterilite storage boxes make wonderful large, deep litterboxes! and yes, they are VERY easy to clean and I spot-clean areas in between major litter replacement by just taking some TP, wetting it with hot water, putting on a little Nature's Miracle Just For Cats, and swabbing any areas I want cleaner.