Litter Scooping?

carla1183

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So we've had the cats about a week. I'm scooping 2x a day (regular AH clumping litter...wanted to start them out on the same thing the rescue had them on (hoping to try out feline pine starting gradually next week, even bought the feline pine litter box)

My question is, how do you handle what you scoop? The litter box is in a back bedroom, and I've been scooping it into a plastic grocery bag, tying the top, and taking it to the garage trash. That's fine, but the reason I'm switching to FP is because it's biodegradeable (and putting it in a nonbiodegradable bag seems against the point!). I'll run out of grocery sacks soon too since I switched to the cloth reusable ones a while back. So it sounds like a silly question, but how do you contain the poop between the litter box and trash?
 

twokatz

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I don't use clumping litter, there has been some reports that the clumping kind gets licked off and causes GI problems because it clumps there also, this according to veterinarians. I use the regular clay, which I know also has some problems but the stool can just be flushed. Why pine if I may ask? I have heard that a lot of cats don't like the pine, you might want to post and see if anyone has experience. Some use the crystal but my long hair girls were getting that in thier fur and licking it off. There are a lot of options, maybe TCS can give us both some info. One thing I do know, if it works and they use the box I ain't gonna mess with it
The little darlings might decide to go elsewhere if they don't like the facilities.
 
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carla1183

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I appreciate your response, and I understand the problems with some clumping litters, and as I said above I'm switching. If the cats won't accept the pine, I'll obviously try something else. I've read reviews of it for hours on this site before making the decision to try it.

But that wasn't my question. Any advice on dealing with what you scoop?
 

ladylonewolf

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Harley's litterbox is along one of the walls in the kitchen, so the garbage isn't all that far away for me. Whatever I scoop out of there (usually about 2x/day) winds up in with the regular garbage and I cart it down to the dumpster.

If you're worried about using a whole bunch of plastic bags, you could probably use a small container of some sort to transport poo from the litterbox to the trash; it'd just have to get cleaned regularly and kept somewhere out of the way of kitties.
 

dave_l

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When I scoop the litter, I place the scoops into a four-gallon plastic trash bag. Actually I use two bags, one inside the other, because I found that a single layer can split at the bottom from the weight of the clumps. I twist the top of the bag and place it in an empty plastic litter tub whose top closes securely. That contains the odor, so I can keep the tub near the litter boxes.

For my two cats, two of the trash bags (really four, since they're doubled) last a week.

Once a week, I transfer the used four-gallon bags from the tub to one of the 13-gallon trash bags I use for normal garbage and take it out for the weekly garbage pickup.

That's my system.
 

twokatz

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Originally Posted by carla1183

I appreciate your response, and I understand the problems with some clumping litters, and as I said above I'm switching. If the cats won't accept the pine, I'll obviously try something else. I've read reviews of it for hours on this site before making the decision to try it.

But that wasn't my question. Any advice on dealing with what you scoop?
Sorry, I guess I didn't clearly answer the question. I don't know what is the best way to dispose of clumping litter but I would use the garbage.
 

mschauer

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I feel guilty putting litter waste in a plastic bag also. I use biodegradable doggie poop bags.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by mschauer

I feel guilty putting litter waste in a plastic bag also. I use biodegradable doggie poop bags.
great idea

I reuse the bags from the paper and the store ... then take them out to the trash
 

beturtlement

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Originally Posted by mschauer

I feel guilty putting litter waste in a plastic bag also. I use biodegradable doggie poop bags.
If ya can't find the biodegradable doggie bags, perhaps try looking for baby diaper sacks that are environmentally friendly. I use the 'Fresh Sacks' brand, they're biodegradable (or at least the package says "environmentally friendly", but doesn't specifically say "biodegradable", which might be a tricky marketing ploy- I'm not sure)

Some other ideas:
My aunt used to buy litter in those 14 lb. jugs and she would flush the poop in the toilet, and put the clumps into an empty jug. When trash day came, she would just dump in with the garbage. I believe she had twice a week pickup, so there wasn't too much of a build-up.

Another friend of mine used to use paper lunch sacks and keep them in a sealed container (like an empty litter pale) until garbage day. But then ya got the whole wasting of trees business. :/

I've also heard good things about those "litter locker" things (do a web search for "PetMate Litter Locker"), but I'm not sure if the sacks they use for it are biodegradable. It's also a bit pricey for a poop containment unit. *giggles*. Heck, mebbe you can even use one of those diaper genie things, too, if mebbe you know someone who had a baby, but doesn't use it anymore.. (the genie, not the baby, LOL).
What's always been my concern, is putting too much litter in with my garbage, which makes it EXTREMELY dense and heavy. I feel bad for the garbage man who may wrench his back or shoulder, thinking it's not all that heavy because it looks only like a partially filled bag. I'll say one good thing, though, about putting kitty litter in the trash... it keeps the opossums and raccoons from breaking into the bags.
 

artgecko

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Are you going to use the FP clumping or the regular FP pellets?

A couple comments on both (although this was not your question):

The FP "scoop" (clumping) is extremely light weight...so be prepared for them kicking it out, tracking, etc. Also, it will get on their face/paws and look like "dust" (really noticable on a dark kitty).

It also doesn't clump really hard.

The regular FP does a pretty good job on pee odor but my cats (at least) don't like to cover their poo in the pellets (weird texture maybe? ) so poo odor can be a problem.

It took a long time to get my cats to use the regular FP pellets...and now, they mostly use it for peeing, not pooping...so you might want to keep a regular box on hand until all your kitties are using it regularly for both.

Getting one of the FP sifting boxes really makes a difference in how much of a chore cleaning the box is...just sift out the pellet dust and toss.


OK, now to answer your question directly...

If you have a yard (we have some woods behind our house) then just either dig a shallow hole and dump the clumps / poo there...or put it in a compost pile.

What I do with most of my leavings is what you're doing now...I reuse the plastic grocery bags and scoop into them, then toss. I have been putting the bags in a ~2gallon foot-pedal covered trash can, scooping into it, then changing the bags out once every 3-4 days. Works pretty well.

I am going to look into scooping directly into a used litter container though, that will make outdoor composting easier for me.

BTW, I use the regular FP pellets and also use WBCL extra strength (it clumps better than the FP scoop).

Art
 

lmunsie

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I used clumping litter. I live in a small apartment and I find it to smell the least and be the most practical for my situation.
I use arm and hammer, clumps like a rock.

Generally I keep the box the litter comes in and I line it with a bag (often old dry food bags since they are really strong)

I scoop once - twice a day into this bag in the box. Close the box and put it on the balcony. Once every week - two weeks I close the bag up really well and put it in the apartment dumpster.

Once I go through a new box of litter, I replace the box.

thats my system!
 

catkiki

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DH has a big, plastic empty litter container that he has lined with a trash bag. The container has a tight fitting lid. Once a week or so, he will take the whole container out to the dumpster and empty it. Then he just puts a new trash bag in the container. The lid keeps the odor contained and it is very convenient.
 

weldrwomn

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I use a litter locker because it is just plain awesome. For litter, I use a mix of Disney Aristocats Pine Crumbles mixed with WBCL and Arm & Hammer biodegradable litter. This is much lighter weight than the regular clumping litter. When I clean the box out, I dump the used litter into my compost pile.
 

alpine'smom

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Hi everyone, newbie here!

First off, I'd like to say that I've learned a ton from this site and thank everyone for their excellent information.

Back to the litter scooping...we only have one cat so this may only work for those of us with lower kitty numbers. We scoop out her clumping litter once a day and put the "deposits" into biodegradable doggie bags called BioBags. These daily bags get put into a Diaper Champ that's lined with a kitchen-sized bag--also from BioBagsUSA. This larger bag gets put out in the trash along with our regular trash. We bought the Diaper Champ at Target in the baby section. The system is a little bit simpler than the Diaper Genie and doesn't depend on the bag system only good for the Genie. We have no odor problems doing this, and the biodegradable bags helps out the planet. Like I said, it works for us, but probably not applicable for everyone.
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by Catkiki

DH has a big, plastic empty litter container that he has lined with a trash bag. The container has a tight fitting lid. Once a week or so, he will take the whole container out to the dumpster and empty it. Then he just puts a new trash bag in the container. The lid keeps the odor contained and it is very convenient.
I do something very similar but reuse bags from the grocery store. Of course with 10 cats, I have to empty it every few days rather than once a week.

Any plastic bin with a tight fitting lid works great.
 

~*regina*~

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Originally Posted by mschauer

I feel guilty putting litter waste in a plastic bag also. I use biodegradable doggie poop bags.
I use these as well and It works great for me. Not very expensive and can be thrown away in the trash with no guilt.
 

carolina

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Hi, I use Feline Pine (original), and since it does not clump, I just flush the poop down the toilet. As far as the pee goes, you don't need to scoop it out - every day you just shake the litter box, and the fresh pellets go to the top. After 2 weeks you throw everything out. I think feline pine is the BEST thing EVER!
One thing though: Your cat might not realize it is a litter box, due to the nice pine smell (it completely neutralizes ammonia). When I noticed that my cat was not using the bathroom at all, I decided to cover the pellets with a layer of clamping litter clay. Little by little the clay would clump, and I would remove it, and adding more Feline Pine as I removed the clay. After a couple of weeks, I thew everything away, cleaned the box, and added feline pine only. She is doing just fine, I am saving money, and there are NO tracks, or urine smell in my house whatsoever! I hope this helps!
 

punkygirl0101

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I have actually noticed that with the number of cats I have, regular clay litter (Tidy cats) holds odors better. I was using clumping for a bit, and it smelled right away...it didn't take care of odors one bit. But the tidy cats does!

I scoop 2-4 times a day (Depending on the litterbox). The two in our office (Which are used by 6 cats) I scoop 2 times a day (Scooping it into a plastic bag and throwing in the trash can outside). The laundry room litter boxes, which are used by the majority of the cats I scoop 4 times a day, and change everyday.

And then the kitchen litter box is only used by 2 cats, and I scoop it 1-2 times a day. They don't go too often.
 
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