Any health-related reason to replace clay litter frequently?

silverpersian

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Hello all,

I am posting here and not in Care and Grooming because my concern is strictly health-related. I use clumping clay litter (Dr. Elsey's). I scoop at least twice a day and keep the litter deep enough that nothing ever touches the bottom of the box. If a clump touches the sides of the box, I disinfect the spot and clean it with enzymatic cleaner. I wash the box about once a month. The litter seems clean and does not smell at all, so I dump it out and replace it only twice a year. That seems to be what Dr. Pierson (catinfo.org) does as well.

Is there any health-related reason to dump and replace litter that looks and smells clean? For example, does bacteria build up to a dangerous degree? It seems to me that even brand new litter is contaminated the first time it is used, so there is no way to keep the litterbox sanitized, regardless of how frequently the litter is replaced.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 

nora1

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I'm curious too! I also use this litter, and only dump and clean the entire box about once every month and a half. I feel bad throwing away what's left (I usually let it get low in the box when I feel it's time for a complete dump - so I dump about an inch of litter out), and have wondered if there is harm to just putting it back into the box until next time??

I don't go through a lot of litter, as we only have 1 cat so the 40 pound bag lasts awhile, but if I just kept using the remaining litter, it would last way longer!

Hopefully someone can respond with more info!
 
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