How do you save on litter?

I have eight cats and 7 litter boxes. I know I should have a couple more litter boxes, but I don't have the space for another couple of boxes right now. My question is, for those of you who also have lots of cats , how do you save on litter? It's expensive and I'm looking for the least expensive way to keep my herd in clean litter. BTW, I never use the non-clumping clay stuff. You know, the old-fashioned kind. It's the cheapest, but it gets dirty and stinks so quickly you have to buy new stuff constantly to keep the place from smelling like a zoo.
Any advice would be appreciated!

My aunt has 5 cats. This is what she does. She buys the cheapest regular litter she can find. Then buys those cheap aluminum pans you can throw away. She just dumps the whole thing pan and all every 3-4 days and starts over fresh.

She said it works great for her. But her litter boxes are in her basement far away from household activity.

Originally Posted by prairiegirl929

My aunt has 5 cats. This is what she does. She buys the cheapest regular litter she can find. Then buys those cheap aluminum pans you can throw away. She just dumps the whole thing pan and all every 3-4 days and starts over fresh.

She said it works great for her. But her litter boxes are in her basement far away from household activity.

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I guess that could work smell wise, but adding in the cost of buying those pans I doubt would save money in the long run. Not to mention the extreme amount of waste ending up in a landfill from that.

I use "chicken laying crumbles". It clumps, it is all natural, it is flushable, but I wouldn't, and best of all it is only 13 bucks for 50 pounds. You buy it at a feed store, and make sure you get the crumbles, not the pellets.

I have 7 cats. This information fron Dr Lisa Pierson's site helped. This method worked for me with all these cats.

http://www.catinfo.org/litterbox.htm...he_Litter_Box:

I have 6 kitties (3 cats, 3 kittens) and 4 litterboxes. I really don't have room for any more litterboxes.

I have several requirements in litter.
1. It must clump hard enough so it doesn't break apart when I'm scooping it.
2. It must have good, immediate odor control.
3. It must be unscented (I can't breathe with the scented stuff in the same room).

I tried going with the cheapest clumping litter I could find, which was a mistake because it did not control odor very well and didn't clump hard enough.

So I get a slightly more expensive brand that meets all my requirements. I usually scoop twice a day, put the clumps in a plastic bag and take it outdoors to the garbage can immediately. If there is pee or poop on the side of the box, I clean that off with a bleach mixture on paper towels. I start with the litter about 4" deep, and add fresh litter every 2-3 days as needed to keep it that deep. I find that I need to change out the litter entirely only about every 6 weeks.

I've tried a number of different brands and keep coming back to Tidy Cats for multiple cats. I also like the Arm & Hammer litter even though it doesn't clump as hard. The problem is, it's really hard to find the unscented A&H.

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

I have 6 kitties (3 cats, 3 kittens) and 4 litterboxes. I really don't have room for any more litterboxes.

I have several requirements in litter.
1. It must clump hard enough so it doesn't break apart when I'm scooping it.
2. It must have good, immediate odor control.
3. It must be unscented (I can't breathe with the scented stuff in the same room).

I tried going with the cheapest clumping litter I could find, which was a mistake because it did not control odor very well and didn't clump hard enough.

So I get a slightly more expensive brand that meets all my requirements. I usually scoop twice a day, put the clumps in a plastic bag and take it outdoors to the garbage can immediately. If there is pee or poop on the side of the box, I clean that off with a bleach mixture on paper towels. I start with the litter about 4" deep, and add fresh litter every 2-3 days as needed to keep it that deep. I find that I need to change out the litter entirely only about every 6 weeks.

I've tried a number of different brands and keep coming back to Tidy Cats for multiple cats. I also like the Arm & Hammer litter even though it doesn't clump as hard. The problem is, it's really hard to find the unscented A&H.

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May I ask what litter you are using? I use fresh step, love the oder control but hate the perfume smell and dust.

I have three cats and one box. But I have switched to a huge box with 8" of litter on it. It's working like a charm. I scoop multiple times a day into a bag lined sealed container I keep next to the box. This way I don't have smell from the deposits and I don't have to go through too many kitchen catcher garbage bags.

Originally Posted by ~*Regina*~

May I ask what litter you are using? I use fresh step, love the oder control but hate the perfume smell and dust.

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Fresh Step makes an unscented dye-free version of their clumping litter. Same product, minus the perfume.

Originally Posted by ~*Regina*~

May I ask what litter you are using? I use fresh step, love the oder control but hate the perfume smell and dust.

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I've been using TidyCats Scoop. It doesn't seem to have as much dust as some of the heavier sand types, but it does scatter more (little beads instead of grains of sand). I like the one for multiple cats that has "immediate" odor control better than the "long-lasting" odor control. Just a personal preference, they both work well.

One nice thing about TidyCats is that it's easy to find and the Sunday paper has coupons for it fairly often.

Originally Posted by hwc

Fresh Step makes an unscented dye-free version of their clumping litter. Same product, minus the perfume.

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Where do you find this? I've never seen the unscented Fresh Step, but I have to admit I haven't looked very hard. Is the unscented version less dusty than the one with perfume?

When I got my first kitten I tried Fresh Step because a friend's mother, who owns a kennel, said that's what she uses. I thought I was going to choke on the dust when I poured it into the pan. Then I ended up throwing it away less than a day later--as soon as I could buy a different kind--because I couldn't breathe with the strong perfume.

Thanks for all the great ideas, guys!
I also use really big pans. As a matter of fact, only two of my litter pans are actually "litter pans." the rest are rubbermaid tubs with tall sides. So I can get quite a few inches of litter in there without having it get kicked out all over the floor.
I think I might try those chicken crumbles first. That sounds like a really inexpensive way to go.

I have two kittens and two litter trays, i use tesco's own litter scoop bits out every morning then when we get in but it gets a quick dusting of litter fresh each morning gets emptied when the bin man comes so at least once a week

or we can get this wierd litter stuff which lasts for up to a month the cats love it http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0194930

Here's the link to all the flavors of Fresh Step clumping litter, including the perfume free:

http://www.freshstep.com/prodscoopable.php#perfume

Don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure my grocery store carries it. They just ran a promo on the Fresh Step - 21 pound box for $6.99 with the store's card. That's cheaper than the store brand litter. I tested the Fresh Step against the Cat's Pride brand at WalMart -- a small bowl of each, dumping in a measure tablespoon of water. The Fresh Step clumped faster, harder, dryer.

They had all the flavors. I bought about six boxes of the regular (scented). My wife bought about six boxes of the multi-cat flavor. If I had been thinking, I would have bought some of the unscented to try as I'm not a big fan of the smell of the scented litters, but honestly shopping for this cat litter stuff is kind of overwhelming for an old guy like me. I just gave my wife a list of all the varieties, so if she sees a bargain on sale, to grab some -- regular, unscented, multi-cat -- it's all the same stuff when you get right down to it.

I can't remember which versions WalMart sells.

I haven't really noticed any particularly bad dust issue.

BTW, Scoops Away brand is also owned by Chlorox. I strongly suspect that Scoops Away and Fresh Step are both made in the same factory and, for all intents and purposes, are probably the same product. They also make an unscented.

3 cats (1 is 7 months old) and 3 litter boxes:
I use Wal-Mart's Special Kitty Scoop or Special Kitty Scoop with crystals. I think the one with crystals clumps better.

When I can catch it on sale, preferably with coupons, we get Tidy Cats Scoop.

I prefer to use Tidy Cats for the cats, but when the budget gets squeaky tight they don't mind Special Kitty litter.

I buy wood pellets from Rona for about $5/40lbs. It's cheap, no dust and the kitties and I like it.

By wood pellets, I am assuming you mean pellet fuel, like for heating your home?? Does it make a difference if you buy hardwood or softwood pellets? Does it clump when they pee in it? I am really curious about this.

Yep, it's pellet fuel and 100% natural. The pellets I get are really hard. When they pee it turn into this soft, crumbly kinda stuff but it isn't hard to clean up and it's very obvious which pellets were peed on. It's excellent and I love it. Plus it's cheap! Kitty litter can be overpriced and I absolutely hate the dust that usually comes with it. Wood pellets are great, you should try it! It took a few hours before my cats would accept it but now they have no problem at all with it.

I haven't tried it but the wood pellets are supposed to be the same as using regular Feline Pine, only less expensive.

The chicken crumbles is a really good idea, I am going to start doing this!!

I have been buying Wal-Mart brand clumping litter. It's scented, which sucks, but it's not awful. It's $6-7 for 28 lbs.

The cheapest litter I've found at Petsmart that I like is Arm & Hammer Fragrance Free. Arm & Hammer is always less expensive there than Tidy Cats and Fresh Step. Wal-Mart never has the fragrance free version, which sucks because their scented litter is awful.

Buying a stanless steel scoop may help as you get less clump breakage and that helps keep the litter fresher. It's easier for me to scoop if I have a deeper layer of litter.

I wish I could find a better scoop. The plastic ones I have have slots that are too big.

This scoop works well. Sturdy, comfortable, and you know it's not going to break digging around in the liter. Solid metal. Feels more like a nice gardening tool:



Click photo for Petsmart product page.