Switching litter brands for the first time--need advice

Hi everyone,

I have decided that after having my cats for a year and a half, that I am tired of litter dust getting on everything. We've always used Fresh Step scoopable litter. I'm tired of tracking, too, but it's the dust that I really can't stand. I've always been afraid to try something new for fear that they won't want to use it, but I think it's time.

I've spent time reading past threads and have narrowed down my choices. I'd appreciate any advice on the specific litters, and I also have questions about switching.

General questions: would I be better off trying the new litter in one box, first (we have two)? Or would this confuse the cats, or just encourage them to ignore one box and use the one that is more familar to them? Is mixing the new litter with the current litter the way to go?

I think WBCL is in the running for first choice, though I wish it wasn't so expensive. How much do you put in the box? Currently I use one of the large buckets of Fresh Step per month (two boxes). Based on this, it seems like the 17 lb. bag might not be enough. How long can you keep it in the box before changing it completely.

Feline Pine-- I've read a lot of mixed reviews on this one, but it does seem like it might be dust-free.

Precious Kitty/Cat Attract-- seems reasonably priced, though I've read different posts that say it isn't as dust-free as it claims.

Yesterday's News-- I like the idea of this a lot, but am not sure I want to have to empty and wash the boxes weekly, though if it is the best choice I will do it. Is the soft texture closer to the texture of scoopable clay litter?

What would your pick be? I'm sorry this is so long! I am amazed what a huge decision this seems to be for me! thanks in advance.

Jill
(and Ruby and Max)

When I switched my cats to WBCL, I just got a new box, poured it in and they adjusted to it really well. Obviously that method doesn't work for all cats, so I would either start off with 2 boxes (one for Fresh Step and one for WBCL). Encourgae your cats to use the WBCL box, and slowly take away the Fresh Scoop box. Or, you could try a 50/50 mixture and keep increasing the WBCL portion until you're completely set on that. As for the amount of WBCL to use, I usually fill the box with 2-3 inches. But only because my cats love to dig. I change the litter every 2 weeks, and so far the 17 lb bag lasts for one month.

Feline Pine - I've used it and the pellets turn into sawdust when the cats pee, so the dust is too much to handle. I felt like I was working in a lumber yard with all the sawdust everywhere.

I haven't tried the other brands, so based on my personal experience, I would choose WBCL.

My parents have always used the store bought clay, and then clumping clay, so when I got Chester I decided to experiment. I really do like the WBCL a whole lot, it's so low in dust (I was having allergic reactions to the dust of the clay), flushable, and I feel really good about not stripmining and having a biodigradible substance for my kitty to use. I don't know how long the bag would have lasted me because Chester was diagnosed with a pretty bad case of round worms and I'm cleaning the entire box pretty regularly. I put about 2 inches in the box and it fills 2 full boxes plus some extra to top the box up with. I don't think you really NEED that much, it's just how much they recomend on the bag.
If you're in Canada, there's a cheaper option to WBCL available through "Presidents Choice" brand. I changed over yesterday, and it's good stuff so far!
Feline Pine and Yesterday's News: I haven't used them at all, but they're the same "sort" of litter. They come in a pellet form and as far as I know you have to change the box every week or every other week. It's really why I didn't look at them as an alternative.
There's a pretty recent thread on here about the silica crystals if you're interested.

Thanks for your responses. I will probably test out the WBCL, once I have the chance to get to the store to pick up a bag.

Though it's not my primary consideration, I'm thinking about cost effectiveness. WBCL might not be such an expensive proposition if you take into the account that the box won't have to be dumped each week, like I am thinking I'd have to do if I used Yesterday's News.

I'm in IL, and President's Choice products are sold in Jewel/Osco grocery stores (Albertson's). I'll have to see if they have the cat litter, though. That could be a good option.

thanks, everyone! If anyone has any further ideas, I'd be glad to hear them!

Jill

Just one word of caution, Jill. I tried switching cat litters almost two years ago and Mac quit using the litter box and started using the couch! I think I might not have eased him into it slowly enough or maybe he just didn't like the smell (Feline Pine). Just stay very attentive to your cat. He may have his own opinion. Good luck!

i tried the WBCL, & mine don't like it! they prefer arm & hammer. i also think it controls odor better than WBCL, but that may just be my nose!
really, the 'unpopular' litter box still has WBCL because no one seems to use it! gotta empty the receptacle on the other one every other day (littermaid automatic)

Emma's friend, that's what I am afraid of! Though I think they are pretty easygoing overall. fingers crossed! Maybe I'll start out by just adding a little bit of WBCL to the top of the box, and then adding a little more each day or every couple of days. I'll pick up a bag this weekend.

I checked at the grocery store last night for the President's choice litter, and it appears that they don't carry it. I would have tried it if they had. PC makes great cookies, and I love their shrimp cocktail sauce

Jill

Originally Posted by Jili

Feline Pine-- I've read a lot of mixed reviews on this one, but it does seem like it might be dust-free.

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I wouldn't quite say that it is "dust free", but I do find it easy and "light" to clean up. I hated having to scrape litter off of the pan with clay and over used scoopable. The ease of cleaning it up makes it so easy every time I do not mind doing it in the least.

Originally Posted by Jili

Emma's friend, that's what I am afraid of! Though I think they are pretty easygoing overall. fingers crossed! Maybe I'll start out by just adding a little bit of WBCL to the top of the box, and then adding a little more each day or every couple of days. I'll pick up a bag this weekend.

I checked at the grocery store last night for the President's choice litter, and it appears that they don't carry it. I would have tried it if they had. PC makes great cookies, and I love their shrimp cocktail sauce

Jill

Click to expand...

I think it's a great start with the WBCL. Its unfortunate that they don't carry the litter, as I am having good luck with it so far. They do indeed make wonderful cookies though! My sister and I used to take their chocolate chip cookies with us camping, put them on the bricks that outlined the fire and roast marshmellows. I call it "lazymans smores", but really, the cookie is good and the cocolate chips melt...mmmmmm

When I've switched brands in the past, I add a second box next to their existing one (where I have space to do that) and leave it that way until they start using the new one. And actually, if you do that, you can see if your cats like the new brand. I did this with Feline Pine and none of mine would go near that box, so I didn't waste any money on it.

Since I have multiple boxes throughout the house, I do the side by side where room permits, and once they accept the new, I replace within the entire house.

I use Litter Mate Additive (found online only) and add it to clay to make clumping clay. There is no dust, no odor and it cut my cost of litter by 3/4 when I switched from clumping. My cats love it and I will never use anything else.

I've posted about this before so you may have read it but I really am a "Precious Cat" fan. I've tried all of the ones you mentioned except the WBCL so if that doesn't work for you try Precious Cat next. I've wanted to try the WBCL but I just can't quite afford that with 3 cats. I don't think any litter is completely dust free and I find that some bags of the same brand can be different in that respect. I really noticed that with Swheat Scoop. I actually liked that litter but the dustiness really varied. Some bags were very dusty, my cats, 2 whom are black, looked like they took a flour bath. Precious Cat has definitely been almost dust free, more so than any other brand we've tried and we have tried many (my son and hubby work at a pet store), we now only use Precious Cat as that has been the best for us. I have asthma and all 3 boxes are covered because of the kitty poo eating dog so that is important to us. It clumps very, very well. The one thing I don't like about it is that the bags are heavy, I wish they would put it in a bucket. I would agree with what someone else said, just be in tune to your cats. You'll know if it's not working if you stay in tune. I think there is something to be said about both methods of changing...2 boxes, different litters or mixing. I tried this one litter and I knew within a couple of days it was not going to work. My cats hated it. The Yesterday's News and Feline Pine are quite good, they are excellent for oder control, unless the poop isn't covered, but you do have to do a complete change more often. I used it when they were kittens so it wasn't much of an adjustment but those 2 brands are harder for the cat to get used to because of the harder pellets. One of my cats was actually allergic to Feline Pine. Hope this helps!

I will check out both WBCL and Precious Cat the next time I get to the pet store. This has all been great advice, thanks!

Hijacking my own thread here-- I love the PC cookies that are lemon sandwich cremes, and there's the lemon jelly in the center of the top cookie (lucullan delights?), and the ones that are similar to oreos-- I think they're called Symphony? They're richer tasting than oreos. their chocolate chips (World's best chocolate chip cookie?) are excellent! I'm making myself hungry!

Jill

Thank you everyone for your input. I went to PetSmart on Friday and took forever making up my mind

I looked seriously at WBCL, Feline Pine, Precious Kitty, and something by ExquisiCat (the PetSmart brand?) that is made of newspaper (it was flushable, clumpable, and lightweight).

I went with WBCL. The ExquisiCat stuff looked interesting, but wasn't any cheaper than WBCL, so I didn't think it made sense, in that it wouldn't be available anywhere else but PetSmart.

I'm really intrigued by the idea of Feline Pine, but I'm kind of scared of it, for some reason! I won't rule it out in the future, though.

The Precious Kitty bags looked really dusty to me! However, I'd give it a try if the WBCL doesn't go over.

So.. I filled one box with WBCL on Friday night. Ruby and Max wouldn't touch it! So... very late Saturday night I mixed WBCL with Fresh Step in both boxes. They did accept this, so I have been removing the mix 2-3 scoops a day and replacing with WBCL. So far, so good. I'm not sure what I think of it just yet, though, since we're not 'there' yet. I'm still seeing dust because of the clay! And we can't flush yet because of that, either. This litter is in bigger particles and is more lightweight, so the sifting aspect of scooping seems to take longer, but if it works that is not a problem!

thanks again!
Jill

I switched litters numerous times but my cats are pretty easy going. THey however did not like Feline Pine. I think it's texture is very different, so some cats just flat out refuse to use it. I am currently using WBCL and I must say I am pretty happy with it, it's the best from what I tried so far. Altough I might switch in the future if something better comes along, I would definetly recommend it.