Another Litter Question

sailon

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Here are the particulars:

- one cat, one litter box
- clumping litter
- scoop at least 2 times a day
- nothing sticking to tray
- add litter as required to keep depth
- no smells
- no problem with cat or litter

My question is, given these circumstances is it really necessary to ever completely change the litter? If so, how often?

Thanks for feedback.
 

maggiedemi

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​I completely dump the litter on the first of every month and wash the litter box out with dish soap, then replace with new litter.
 
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sailon

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Thanks Maggie. Another question. Do you do this because it seems like the sensible thing to do, or because there might be something growing in there that wouldn't be obvious just by scooping.
 

Willowy

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Supposedly the guy that invented clumping litter didn't change the box entirely for his cat's 16-year lifetime! As long as it's scooped carefully, changing shouldn't be necessary very often. But the box should be washed at least every 6 months. If you have a spare pan, you can just transfer the litter to the spare.
 

maggiedemi

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I feel like it's the best thing to do for their health. No matter how well the litter clumps, I feel like there has got to be some germs left behind. I wouldn't want to go in a toilet that was never, ever cleaned!
 
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sailon

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Good point.
 
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sailon

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Thanks Willow. Wow, 16 years! At my age that won't be an option, but maybe every few months. Like the idea of a second tray.
 

maggiedemi

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​Yeah, that's a good idea, if you want to save the old litter, pour it in a clean litter box once a month. I imagine the litter will eventually start to smell, but probably not for a couple months.
 

ileen

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After a while doesn't the clumping litter lose its clumpability? I bought non-clumping once by mistake and that's when I fully changed the litter, but I was planning on changing this litter when it seemed like the texture of the majority of the litter had changed somewhat.

Also, two scoopings a day with one cat? Wow, I'm a slacker. I scoop every 2-3 days. Is that wrong?
 

maggiedemi

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​It will definitely lose it's clumpability if you let it get too low. But if you keep topping it up with new litter whenever you scoop some out, it should still clump well. You have to keep the litter level at least 3 inches deep. I scoop twice a day because if they dig or hit a urine ball with their paw, it would probably break apart if there are a bunch of them in there. Plus, you have to scoop those urine balls out before you can add new litter to top it off.
 

1CatOverTheLine

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​Yeah, that's a good idea, if you want to save the old litter, pour it in a clean litter box once a month. I imagine the litter will eventually start to smell, but probably not for a couple months.
...unless you're a cat, with twice as many receptors in the olfactory epithelium as Humans, and with a vomeronasal organ as well, accounting for more than 80 million scent receptors in total, in which case it probably begins to smell after only a few uses, and might promote behavioural changes as well.

Just for fun, next time you change a litterbox, do a scraping from any damp spot and prepare a slide.  Stick it under the microscope and do just a cursory examination for Proteus, E. coli, Staphylococcus, and  Streptococcus, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Corynebacterium and Klebsiella - the eight most common bacteria implicated in Urinary Tract Infections in cats.

I scoop as necessary, change the litter completely twice a week, wash the boxes in a 25% solution of sodium hypochlorite, rinse completely, and follow up with dishwashing detergent and a good rinse (so-called antibacterials and antimicrobials have been proven almost no more effective than Dawn detergent, and the the FDA ban this past September on triclosan, triclocarban and nearly twenty other actual antibacterial agents, the current crop of "antibacterials" does virtually nothing to control growth nor disrupt bacterial cell wall structure).  In more than half a century, I've never had a single cat contract a U.T.I. 

YMMV.

.
 

ileen

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Yeah, I'll just grab my microscope and get on that - lol. :)
You sound very thorough. If you ever need a challenge for your cleaning habit, you're welcome to try my place. You can make as many slides as you want.
Thanks.
 

maggiedemi

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You change it twice a week? That would get really expensive unless you are putting less litter in. I keep it really deep and change once a month. It should last at least two weeks without smelling.

The other poster wanted to try keeping the litter more than a month, so I suggested at least pouring it in a clean litter box and adding more. But I still would recommend dumping the litter completely every month to be safe.
 
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maggiedemi

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​On Fresh Step's website, they say to change Non-Clumping litter once a week, and Clumping litter every 1 to 2 months. I don't think I could stretch it to 2 months. If money was no object, I would probably do it every 2 weeks, but not more often than that, because it stays really fresh for at least 2 weeks.
 
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sailon

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Yikes. We're all over the place here - everywhere from 2 weeks to never. I guess that's what makes the Cat Site interesting. I really do appreciate the feedback though.

I think, at least for now, I'll go about every 45 days and see how that works. I'll continue to scoop at least twice a day simply because I'm here, and can. I've also found that the more clear space Maxine has in her box to work with, the less litter she sends flying out of the box while covering up.

Thanks again to all for your input.
 

maggiedemi

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Ha, ha. Yes, please report back and let us know how it goes at 45 or 60 days. I wouldn't go over a month, but it might work if you keep the litter deep enough and if they don't pee on the sides.
 

tuffsmom

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I use Fresh Step clumping. Scoop once daily and completely change litter and wash the box with dish detergent every 6 weeks. After every scooping I add about one cup fresh litter. Never have an odor or any other litter box problem. I have only 1 cat and he is on a wet diet. I'm not sure if wet food cuts down odor. Does anyone know?
 

maggiedemi

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Yes, I think the wet food does help cut down on the urine odors. If my cat eats even a half a cup of dry food, his urine starts to reek. So I have to keep it under a half cup of dry food, and the rest wet.
 
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sailon

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One more question. Is their an accepted ratio of cat size to litter box size, like twice as long as the Cat?
 
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