Question about non-clumping litter

I went away on vacation for a week at the beginning of the month. My SO was home so he was taking care of my 2 cats. I guess they ran out of litter while I was gone (I don't know how he was cleaning it because it should have been more than enough... ). Anyway, he went and bought the "cheapeset litter at the grocery store." It's Johnny Cat (I think the one for Multiple Cats).

So this whole time I've been back I've been really frustrated with this litter. It wouldn't clump and it drove me nuts. I'd notice that the little dark balls of sand would sort of get scooped up but mostly I just had to mix it around. It took me 2 weeks to realize that it was a non-clumping litter (I happened to look on the bag).

I've never had a non-clumping litter. The litter has been in there for about 2 1/2 weeks. I've been scooping as much as I can and stirring the rest. I've been adding more. I was going to try to get through the whole tiny bag (probably will last another week) before completely changing/cleaning the box. Does that sound about right? I've never used a non-clumping litter before (with the exception of crystal litter & feline pine). Can you wait about the same amount of time to change the litter as you would wait with clumping litter?

I feel so dumb, lol.

You are doing everything right in terms of scooping and stirring except for one thing. Non-clumping litter should probably be thrown out and completely replaced once a week or so.

All of the urine stays in the litter until you empty the box.

Originally Posted by hwc

You are doing everything right in terms of scooping and stirring except for one thing. Non-clumping litter should probably be thrown out and completely replaced once a week or so.

All of the urine stays in the litter until you empty the box.

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Yeah I was thinking that it probably would need to be changed right away. Gross!

I like clumping litter so much more (even though I know it can cause health problems).

Originally Posted by Sakura

I like clumping litter so much more (even though I know it can cause health problems).

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Yeah. But, if you are going away for a week with nobody to scoop the clumps, I can see non-clumping as a preferable choice. Just set up as many boxes as you can to maximize the capacity and then dump all the litter when you get home.

Clumping litter isn't that great either, if it isn't scooped every day or so.

Originally Posted by hwc

Yeah. But, if you are going away for a week with nobody to scoop the clumps, I can see non-clumping as a preferable choice. Just set up as many boxes as you can to maximize the capacity and then dump all the litter when you get home.

Clumping litter isn't that great either, if it isn't scooped every day or so.

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I can't imagine NOT scooping the boxes out 1-2 times a day. I also can't imagine leaving one box for a week with cats anyway, clumping litter or not. A week is too long to not have someone come and change/clean the box. If I had to go away for a week and had nobody to come change the litter, I'd leave 6 boxes for my 2 cats (we normally have 1-2).

My favorite is World's Best Cat Litter but it's too expensive for now.

I really don't like the plain litter any more. It seems to not contain the smell very well and you have to dump the entire box too much. Its not bad to scoop out solids, but wet litter you cannot get rid of.

It might help if you get a bag of clumping litter to start adding in the regular litter. Next time tell him exactly what kind of litter to buy