I clean out the urine and feces every day and throw out the entire litter, wash the box, and put fresh litter. Am I doing right? Or how often do you guys change the litter?
Alicia
Alicia
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Litterbox questions
- Thread starter nena10
- Start Date
Nena10,
That's an awful lot of work and money. What kind of litter are you using? If you're using a non-scooping litter then tossing it is probably the way to go. A scoopable litter is much less work. All you need to do is scoop once a day and add more when the litter gets low. When the litter becomes too saturated with urine, dump it out, wash the box and put new stuff in. I have 6 boxes and scoop once or sometimes twice a day. Twice a month I dump everything out, wash it thoroughly with a disinfectant and put fresh scoopable litter in them.
You might want to invest in a book on cats as a reference guide. I've got tons of them and boy have they helped me!
That's an awful lot of work and money. What kind of litter are you using? If you're using a non-scooping litter then tossing it is probably the way to go. A scoopable litter is much less work. All you need to do is scoop once a day and add more when the litter gets low. When the litter becomes too saturated with urine, dump it out, wash the box and put new stuff in. I have 6 boxes and scoop once or sometimes twice a day. Twice a month I dump everything out, wash it thoroughly with a disinfectant and put fresh scoopable litter in them.
You might want to invest in a book on cats as a reference guide. I've got tons of them and boy have they helped me!
Scooping is the best way to go. It helps to monitor your cats for illness, too. I use litter liners now, so when I do change the litter completely (about once a month) I just tie the bag up with a twist tie and dump in the garbage. I also use a product called Odor-Eze about once every 10 days to keep the box free of smells.
I read somewhere that changing and cleaning everyday is not the best thing to do because the cats like to smell where they've been. By scooping, you get rid of the clumps (urine) and feces, but there is still a little bit of smell (only they can smell it) for them to return and know that they are going in the right spot. Definitely scoop daily, though.
I read somewhere that changing and cleaning everyday is not the best thing to do because the cats like to smell where they've been. By scooping, you get rid of the clumps (urine) and feces, but there is still a little bit of smell (only they can smell it) for them to return and know that they are going in the right spot. Definitely scoop daily, though.
mofong: How do you use those litter liners? My cat always scratches holes in the bottom!
Nena: changing the littler completely every day is a bit extreme. You could just clean the poop out once a day, "turn" the litter, and then change it completely once a week. This all depends on how much litter you put in the box, though. I used to use about half a 25-lb bag, or even just an entire 10-lb bag when I used standard clay litter.
Nena: changing the littler completely every day is a bit extreme. You could just clean the poop out once a day, "turn" the litter, and then change it completely once a week. This all depends on how much litter you put in the box, though. I used to use about half a 25-lb bag, or even just an entire 10-lb bag when I used standard clay litter.
Uh-oh! I guess I haven't been doing this right for the last 10 years.. I only change the entire box about 1 every 2 months or so.. I clean out the box each day and just keep adding more... Is that really bad??? It doesn't smell...
Barb
Barb
I scoop twice daily, but never completely dump the boxes. The only exception is if one of the cats made a mess on the side of the box. Then, I pour that litter into one of the other boxes, clean the dirty box, and put new litter in. I figure that I am removing used litter and adding fresh daily, so no need to dump. (I have 8 litter boxes for 5 cats.) I've been doing it this way ever since the scoopable litter was invented and have never had any problems!
Wow,
I thought I had alot of cat boxes (6 for 7 cats)! Geeez! I have found if I don't dump the boxes totally that there are little bugs that crawl through the litter (eeeeeeewwwwwww!!!!
) Besides, I live in a two bedroom apartment and can't STAND the any kind of litterbox smell that's why I'm so nutty
about it. And my cats are happy.
I thought I had alot of cat boxes (6 for 7 cats)! Geeez! I have found if I don't dump the boxes totally that there are little bugs that crawl through the litter (eeeeeeewwwwwww!!!!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
Sorry, I meant to say that I clean out the entire litter box every two weeks and just scoop the mess out every day. Every three weeks I would spray some deodorizer that I bought at the pet store on the litter. I buy Scoop Away and it works well for me. I buy the big boxes that they sell.
Alicia
Alicia
The liners that I use can be scratched through, so I use two. Since I through out the entire litter about once a month, it works out okay. Ever since I use the liners, I don't need to clean the box. If there is a mess, then I use the cat urine deodorizer sprays. The only time that I had leakage was when I used the litter pearls. Now that I've switched back to the clumping kind and the liners, I haven't found the need to wash my boxes since.
mofong: I read that you can put folded up newspaper in the bottom, on top of the liner and under the litter, to prevent them from scratching through, but my cat scratches around in there so much. I think he is Obsessive-compulsive about it or something :laughing2
Scratching and digging is part of their instinct to cover their "stuff". My older cat couldn't care less and flips the litter just a few times. My little one digs like she found oil!!!:laughing:
So not only do I double line, but I also double fill. The litter in both of my boxes are quite deep, and she has been very happy with it that way.
So not only do I double line, but I also double fill. The litter in both of my boxes are quite deep, and she has been very happy with it that way.
