Cat Litter, Help

[rabbit]

Right now I'm using some cheap clay litter from the dollar store. I live in a tiny one bedroom with my husband, Daughter, cat, snake and three fat mice. Amazingly, we have almost no pet odor. The only smell is the litter box and I know part of it is that we're using this cheap clay litter that doesn't clump well. Urine has to sit for a solid 24 hours to be scooped out as a clump otherwise it breaks apart.

Can someone recommend something that clumps really well and is good at controlling odor? Budget-friendly is preferred. I'm guessing since we're expecting kittens in a few weeks I need something multi-cat as well, heh.

 

[luvmy4]

I use tidy cats breeze box with pine pellets. I pay $5 for a 40lbs bag of equine pellets from a feed store. The pellets break down to sawdust and then you sift the dust into the drawer below. I scoop solid waste and just empty the bottom drawer. No urine odor.
My mom uses arm&hammer scoop able for clay and I don't spell her cat box.

Please consider getting your cat spayed after she has the kittens.

 

[rabbit]

Oh she is. She would have been spayed sooner, but my husband was hospitalized across state for 17 days. She'll be spayed when the little furries are around 10-12 weeks old.

Do they sell pine pellets in a smaller size? I'm not sure I maven the storage space for a 40lb Bag. A friend of mine was telling me alfalfa pellets work well too?

 

[Willowy]

I like Tidy Cats Scoop. . .Active Spaces and Power Blend are my favorites but they all work pretty well---the main difference is the scent (yes, I stand in the aisle smelling cat litter :lol3. It's not very cheap but if you manage it well (scooping carefully at least once a day so all the smelly bits are taken out), you only have to fully change it once a month or so, so the price comes out to be not too bad.

But little kittens shouldn't use clumping litter, because they might accidentally eat it and it clumps inside them :/. My favorite non-clumping litter is Fresh Step, but with the price it might actually be cheaper to buy dollar store cheap stuff and change it every day or two. Kittens use a ton of litter!

 

[luvmy4]

Oh she is. She would have been spayed sooner, but my husband was hospitalized across state for 17 days. She'll be spayed when the little furries are around 10-12 weeks old.

Do they sell pine pellets in a smaller size? I'm not sure I maven the storage space for a 40lb Bag. A friend of mine was telling me alfalfa pellets work well too?

They do sell smaller quantities in brands marketed for cats but it costs more $ for some reason so I buy the equine pellets. Might still be cost effective for you but i have 6 boxes so the big bag gets used fast. I forgot that yes kittens can't use clumping litter but pine or regular clay would be fine.
I've never used alfalfa pellets so I can't say.

Sorry to hear about your husband. Hope all is well now.

 

[franksmom]

It is very dangerous to use clumping litter with new kittens- the pine pellets are cheap and safe to use with kittens. They do not smell I used them when I first got my kitten because she was used to them and there was no smell. 

 

[kittymommy]

I've gotten the Tidy Cats Pure Nature (cedar, pine and corn) the last two times I've gotten new litter.  I've had to use it with the Active Spaces Tidy Cats clay clumping litter I had before to work it in a little at a time so they get used to it.  So far I like the Pure Nature.  It seems like the clumps stay together better and there's not as much "flaking off" of the clumps into those tiny tiny pieces you can never get with the scooper.  I'm glad because the flaking off really annoys me.  The rooms where the boxes are never really had a bad smell before but now they have a cedar smell which I like.  We'll see if it's something I stick with long term.

 

[hanathewitch]

I find that Tidy cats with Glade works well at masking odors. It's good with clumping too... However, it's ~$12-15 for a 35-40lbs tub. They're small tubs that make storage easy. It's just the price.