Changing litter

How often should I change my cats litter? I have one cat and keep the litter very clean.

You should clean the waste from the box at least twice a day, depending on the type of litter box you have covered or open. You should change out litter at least twice a week if you are just using plain clay litter but scoopable can go at least two weeks if you clean the waste out daily.

When you wash your litterpan out, use vinegar and hot water or bleach and hot water. Let the pan air dry- and then spray it with PAM cooking spray on the bottom where you fill the pan up with litter. Also spray your scoop and let it all air dry, then the litter won't stick to the pan or the scoop. I wash my pans 3 times a week, but I have 12 cats.

Rosie has 'clumping' litter. The clumps get dug out in the morning and when i get in at night. But every week the tray gets a good soak in boiling water and bleach, followed by fresh litter.

HISSY: I like your tip on the cooking spray, but i dont think we have PAM here in the UK, so will any cooking spray do?.

Any kind of cooking spray that is non-stick would work. I just said PAM as it it the most common name here, but there are other brands out there that would work as well. I had to laugh a few months ago, someone emailed me and told me my tip didn't work for her. I had posted to spray the bottom of the litterpan- well she did, she sprayed the bottom of the litterpan, the bottom that sits on the floor! LOL

I may have a go with the cooking spray. I line mine with newspaper and then put the litter on the top. The whole lot comes out in a oner when I change it. Dont always have enough newspaper though. I have 2 litter trays and 4 cats.

HISSY: Bless her poor thing, but thats without doubt a paper bag over the head!! LOL

I've been wondering how often litter should be completely changed. I don't use clumping clay litter. I use World's Best Cat Litter which is corn and the clumping type. I don't need to use cooking spray since the clumps never stick to box. I've gone as long as 6 weeks without doing a complete litter change, and even then, the litter doesn't stink or seem to have lost it's usefulness. I've been using the product for 3 months and think it's a great product.

Before i started Rosie on the clumping, i still changed it every week. I had to, because if i went over the week, even though i could'nt smell anything, she obviously could because she would stand in the tray and sniff about but would'nt do anything, but as soon as i changed it, she went no problem

I have to change litter every day. We use woodbase and Jeepers gets annoyed if I just scoop out the used bits.

Originally posted by MissCharlotte
I've been wondering how often litter should be completely changed. I don't use clumping clay litter. I use World's Best Cat Litter which is corn and the clumping type. I don't need to use cooking spray since the clumps never stick to box. I've gone as long as 6 weeks without doing a complete litter change, and even then, the litter doesn't stink or seem to have lost it's usefulness. I've been using the product for 3 months and think it's a great product.

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I feel the same way. My litter NEVER stinks and the clumps don't stick to the bottom or scoop. Why should you change it if it doesn't stink and the cats still go in it?? Is there a risk of the cats getting sick???

Karen

When I used World's Best, it stunk more than the Swheat Scoop I used before. I think it's partly because the clumps flaked off and left small bits in the litter.

Now I'm trying a crystal kind and seeing how long it'll last. It's doing pretty well so far. It doesn't stink of kitty waste but it smells sort of chemical-y when it's mixed around.

If you spray the bottom with pam and the scoop with pam, does it stay oily or will it dry to just be slick? When I used Swheat Scoop, they suggested spraying the bottom with pam because the clumps DO stick to the bottom, but I didn't want it to be all oily and mix with the rest of the litter.

Anyway, I scoop & mix around once a day because it's a big, big litterbox and he doesn't make that much poo. (The pee is absorbed in the crystals) and I don't know when I have to change it yet. With scoopable, I was changing it once a week (twice with World's Best).

I have 5 cats and remove the clumps every other day or every day if it is extra dirty. Everytime I scoop it, I add a bit of fresh litter and mix it around. That works for me and my cats are fine with it. I am curious though if the cats can get sick or something from it if I don't scoop everyday or if I don't completely change it once a week or so. Also, if I give my cats wet food as a treat sometimes, it give them really nasty dirreah so then I scoop it right after they go. I am not sure why it does that to them and I try not to give it to them too often, but they love it so much, oh well. If anyone knows why it does this to them I would appreciate some ideas.

I thought using the Pam spray sounded like such a good idea, since my two, no matter how deep the litter is will dig down to the bottom and urinate on the bottom, causing clumps to break up when you try to clean it. Well, I had a canola oil spray on hand so that is what I used. Unfortunately, one of the cats used the box once, but after that they refused to use that box. I didn't use all that much, but apparently it gave the litter just enough of an oily smell that they didn't like it. So I had to get rid of that litter, wash the box thoroughly and go back to no spray. <sigh> It sounded like such a good idea, too. It really kept the mess from sticking.

Wow, twice a day? Really? I feel like a neglectful mom all of the sudden... I have two that share one (BIG!) box with the clumping litter. I clean it every third day and only toss out all the litter when I notice it still stinks even when it's clean. I'd guess maybe once every 3 months or so. I don't do it very often b/c it takes like 30lbs of litter to fill it back up! I mix in some fresh everytime I clean it and that seems to work well. We've never had any problems with the litter box at all (knock on wood!) so I guess my cleaning frequency is alright.... Neither of the cats have complained!

Last time I bought the Wal-Mart brand for multiple cats and it does not control the odor as well as the tidy cats brand. I think it's worth the extra $$ for the Tidy Cats.... next time I'm going back to it.

I clean the box whenever I think of it, but since my mind is sort of forgetful, I find it's best when I move both boxes into the main room downstairs. If it's kept in an open closet, I rarely clean it, because I'm bend over, coats getting in my face, hair falling foward, Buffy bugging me, etc. so I take both boxes, move them into the main room, and they stay until dad finds out and moves them back.

But when they're in the main room, I scoop them every day. If one of the cats go when I'm in the room (they're behind me, near the wall) then I'll scoop when they're done. I find that Willow never goes when I'm there, only Buffy. I guess Will got fed up of having people stare at her and laugh at the "concentrated" look on her face! lol!

Aaaaanyway, both boxes have different litters. They're both stuff from Superstore, where the low quality food is. Its because my parents never think to go to a pet store to get pet stuff, they get the pet stuff when they do their major grocery shopping. But the cats have never complained (bless their souls! they didn't even complain that one time when there box wasn't cleaned for *gasp* almost a month!). One box is clumbing, a no-name brand. The other is a kind that turns pee into black dust, and I hate it. It's looks exactly like gravel you sprinkle on ice. Now, what I would like is for the cats to use the clumping litter for pee, and the gravel-stuff (also a no-name brand) for poo. So far, they're getting the idea. Well, they're using the clumping the most anyways, but it seems like every time I scoop the litter boxes, there's one pile of pee in the gravel and at least 3 in the clumping.

A few days ago, I found a pet store not too far from my house, so I may be going there more often to get the pets stuff. The cats don't get new litter until the major shopping spree, which is about once every 3 months. But now i can get new litter every couple of weeks! weee! (and new cat food too! The new stuff we got [also a no-name brand] is making Buffy's poo stink!). Right now, the litter seems to be starting to smell, so they're in dire need of new litter. (oh, and I think I'm lucky in the fact that i don't put spray or newspaper in the boxes, and the clumping litter doesn't stick to the pan. The sides may be as straight as can be, as they were lying against the walls, but they come free easy as can be).


One question: every time I scoop the clumping litter, i know which clump of pee came from which cat. Buffy is a tiny thing, so all the small stuff comes from her. Willow, on the other hand, holds in her pee till late at night, and then just lets it all go. Every time I scoop, theres a huge clump of pee, about the size of a baseball (or maybe a smidge smaller). Could that be something to worry about, or do other cats pee that much too? I've got suspicions that Willow could be diabetic, as she drinks alot and pees alot (she used to pee as much as she cared too, several times a day, but it seems now she prefers to do it once a day and pee and extra amount).

Sierra requires that I scoop the box every morning and every evening. Since we started using this Arm and Hammer Super Scoop fragrance free litter, the box is like new everytime it's scooped! I add just a bit more litter about every other day, and then change and thoroughly clean it every 3-4 weeks, and then not because it needs it but just because I feel like I should.

Originally posted by dawnofsierra
Sierra requires that I scoop the box every morning and every evening. Since we started using this Arm and Hammer Super Scoop fragrance free litter, the box is like new everytime it's scooped! I add just a bit more litter about every other day, and then change and thoroughly clean it every 3-4 weeks, and then not because it needs it but just because I feel like I should.

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We have the same experience with the Arm & Hammer SuperScoop fragrance-free litter and our cats. Controls odours extremely well, and more importantly, the cats aren't sensitive to this litter like they were to other brands.

Of course, it also helps that we use a Littermaid automatic litter box, so we now only have to clean out the litter about once a week.

- Donna and George

Hissy : I had to laugh a few months ago, someone emailed me and told me my tip didn't work for her. I had posted to spray the bottom of the litterpan- well she did, she sprayed the bottom of the litterpan, the bottom that sits on the floor! LOL

OMG this is to funny LMAO

Who ever email you : Please don't get mad at me , I really needet that laugh today . This is so cute

I use a CARDBOARD BOX because someone might steal a plastic litterbox if I left it out here at school -- either anti-cat people, to make me mad, or pro-cat people, to use it for their own cats. Another reason is that I do not want to wash a litterbox, and cardboard boxes are cheap. I tape one end closed, cut off the "roof" and use that to line the "floor" for extra strength and absorbing power. Then I cut a side opening and voila! Litterbox. After two weeks I throw everything away and make a new one. A litterbox makes both the students and the janitors happy, because the cats do not poo and pee everywhere, and the lobby does not smell.

I use Cat's Choice Non-Clumping, which is biodegradable and costs about $5.50 for a five pound bag. I think it's expensive, so I try to make a bag stretch for a month.
Half a bag lasts for two weeks. That's spread pretty thin, but it's okay. I try to clean out the litter everyday, but I think they like it better when it's ditry. They think that a spanking clean, smelling fresh litterbox is a bed! They need some scent hints, I think.

It is amazing the differences in frequency of changing litter reported here and the differences that the cats will accept.

I have two large litterboxes for two cats and use scoopable litter. Yet I have to change the litter completely every week or two, even though one of my cats demands that I clean the boxes every time used and then get every minute particle of soiled litter out. I kid you not, I am so careful when I scoop that I try to get out every little piece of soiled litter that may have broken off from a clump, even if they are only 1/8 inch in diameter. If I don't, my persnickety Red Cat will just stand in front of the box and whine or go to the door and demand out until I do a better cleaning job or change the litter completely. Purdy is a bit more accepting of a less-than-perfectly clean box.