Crystal cat litter

I bought a litter scoop with larger wholes so the crystals will fall through. The litter is STILL smelling okay. I just scoop the solid out and mix the litter. So far i'm still happy, and I really like not having those heavy bags of clumps to lug out to the trash.

I tried the crystals and i loved it at first. Maybe i just have hyper senses but after a while i started to smell it and for me it smelled worse than the regular litter I used, not as strong but weirder in a way. And also my kitten started to take crystals and play around with them, and I didn't find that very plesant I gave it two attempts but then i switched back to the clumpy one :-)

I am presently using the Tidy Cats Crystals but my concern (and I haven't seen this addressed in the thread) is the crystal's principal component-silica-and its potentially harmful effects on the cat's (and human's) respiratory system. Any thoughts on this?

i don't like crystals at all but my Nana swears by them. When we trialed it in our cat room we had three cats, and each tray was ABSOLUTELY disgusting - OK no odor until you tip the crystals out and it just absolutely hits you. Nope, went right back to our usual kitty litter - Vitapet.

Originally Posted by mjl1297

I am presently using the Tidy Cats Crystals but my concern (and I haven't seen this addressed in the thread) is the crystal's principal component-silica-and its potentially harmful effects on the cat's (and human's) respiratory system. Any thoughts on this?

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I'm not sure... I would think if there was any harmful effects, it would've been brought up... and I haven't heard anything. What effects are you thinking could occur?

It is known to cause respiratory distress in some cats and their humans. It's the fine dust primarily that is easily inhaled. There is information online and I believe elsewhere on this site. Apologize for the delay in responding, I've been away.

I nearly picked a bag of the crystals up last night when i was grocery shopping but was undecided?!.

So even after a week do you not need to completely change the litter at all?!

I have used crystals and I loved them except for two things. When they stop absorbing they really stop absorbing. If you have a cat with bladder/kidney problems I do not recommend it as you might start wishing for a milk jug to pour off the excess liquid. More importantly was the cats hacking after inhaling the dust, very disturbing.

We have also tried clay, clumping, and wood shavings. Finally we stumbled across FELINE PINE and so far I love it the best out of any of them. It is extreamly absorbant, flushable if you want to scoop solids, starts as pellets, ends up powdery and light and even combats oder from the liquid. There is no silicon dust to get in your cats lungs (used to happen EVERYTIME we changed using crystals) and make them cough terribly. I find that the tracking is minimal and limited to the area directly around the box most of the time. It also sweeps up very easy and vaccumes up easier. I am so glad we do not use heavy clay or clumping litter that gets stuck to their paws and defintly glad they are not inhaling silicon!

I say give FELINE PINE a try for a week or two and see if you find it easy to manage. When the pellets all break down and you can see the pine starting to be "used up" then just dump it an pour in some more. If the box needs it, give it a hot rinse in the tub first.

I use the Tidy Cats Crystal Blend and I like it best out of all the other litters I've tried. I've tried Feline Pine, but the cats don't like it, otherwise it was great. Has anyone tried flushable litters, like Arm and Hammer? I loved that I could just flush the feline pine and I'd like to find one the cats will tolerate.

I use silica crystals exclusively

My brand is FreshMagic, i use the chunky style. They're great. One bag lasts about 3 weeks for one cat. The crystals soak up the pee and dry out the droppings, all you need to do is scoop them out. The litter will turn yellow and when the smell becomes strong when you stir the litter, it's time to throw out and start a new bag.

Marsh's grew up on it at this breeder, so he's 100% used to it from birth

I have a write-up on it on my website: http://www.marshu.com/marsh-cat-fres...cat-litter.php

Crystal litter is on my shopping list for next week now!!.

I just started Luke on the ExquisiCat Crystals. He loves it. I havent noticed any odor and he doesnt track it on the floor as much as he did with the kitty litter. Luke seems to like it alot better too. I think it feels better on his paws.

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

i don't like crystals at all but my Nana swears by them. When we trialed it in our cat room we had three cats, and each tray was ABSOLUTELY disgusting - OK no odor until you tip the crystals out and it just absolutely hits you. Nope, went right back to our usual kitty litter - Vitapet.

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one of my cats hated those crystals so much he pooped on the floor right in front of me. i immediately went to the store and bought the cats their regular litter again. and we did do the slow intro that is recommended on the box....a few days into using all crystal litter, poor raven had just had enough. there was actually several days urine just pooled at the bottom of the box. it was nasty. i couldn't believe raven had put up with it for that long (he's REALLY fussy about his box).

personally, i think those things probably work if you just have one cat. but in our home (at that time we had just 2 cats) it just didn't work.

I have 2 young cats and still love experimenting with litter. I have 3 boxes set up. Since reading this thread I have now put the Tidy Cat Crystals in the smaller box in my bedroom. They don't use that box often, just a tinkle now and then in the middle of the night or early morning. The box in the family room, which also isn't their favorite spot, now has some of the Feline Pine in it. I'm not sure about the 1" only thing. If a cat poops, how does he cover it? I've only had the occasional pee in it, which I can tell from it absorbing and turning into the sawdust. I can see really liking the feline pine if they would start to use it, because I could toss it outside rather than in the trash. Plus the cost is quite good.

The box they use constantly is in the living room (naturally) and is full of a 40lb bag of Precious Cat. I really like the Precious Cat (no dust at all) and the cats like the 4" depth of it for digging. I also use a bit of the Tidy Cat deodorizer after cleaning.

I'm not sure where to go with my little experiment though because I really see advantages to all different types.

Originally Posted by littleraven7726

there was actually several days urine just pooled at the bottom of the box. it was nasty. i couldn't believe raven had put up with it for that long (he's REALLY fussy about his box).

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the urine will pool if you don't mix the crystals each time you clean your box. Also, it will pool if the litter is on it's last days and can't absorb as much as it did when it was new.

I have a friend who i gave a free bag to, trying to switch her. We visited them a few weeks later and i was HORRIFIED to find they not only didn't mix up the litter after scooping, but also used a liner with the crystals! So the smell was extremely strong, and it was white on top and dark yellow in the lower layer... in fact, one of their cats refused the litter after a week or so. I tried to change their minds, but they went back to they old brand.

IMO, crystal litter is great and it's much better than the oldfashioned kind, but you have to follow precise steps when handling it and change it as soon as it looses it's absorbency.

Originally Posted by RarePuss

the urine will pool if you don't mix the crystals each time you clean your box. Also, it will pool if the litter is on it's last days and can't absorb as much as it did when it was new.

I have a friend who i gave a free bag to, trying to switch her. We visited them a few weeks later and i was HORRIFIED to find they not only didn't mix up the litter after scooping, but also used a liner with the crystals!

So the smell was extremely strong, and it was white on top and dark yellow in the lower layer... in fact, one of their cats refused the litter after a week or so. I tried to change their minds, but they went back to they old brand.

IMO, crystal litter is great and it's much better than the oldfashioned kind, but you have to follow precise steps when handling it and change it as soon as it looses it's absorbency.

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that's pretty nasty. i think raven would have packed his bags well before it got THAT bad. when ours got "bad" and raven had enough, you could only smell it if you practically stuck your nose in there (but no matter how much i stirred the stuff, it just wasn't absorbing).

i followed the instructions to the letter (scooping and stirring and what-not). that's why i thought it just isn't great for a multicat household. it was also before i knew better, and we only had 1 box for our 2 cats. live and learn. now we have 4 boxes for 3 cats.

my crew doesn't like anything other than fine clumping litter, but they were all declawed by previous owners. so i think a lot of litters are also too pokey on their feet (at least for raven and nabu, stimpy isn't so fussy).

ps-perhaps they've also improved those litters over the years. we tried them when they first came out in 2000/2001.

I've been unable to find any Fresh Step crystals for months. No one seems to have them. Anybody know where I can find them retail or online?

Also, to prevent the pooling with the crystals, I put some clay litter at the bottom of the box and crystals on top.