How often should I completely change the litter?

[fogkitty]

I own one adult cat and have one litter box. I scoop it daily, add some when there's not enough, and there's no odors or anything. I've heard that you should completely change the litter at least once a month? I'm not sure why--is it because of bacteria or smells? It's been a month and my litter box seems fine though there may be something I don't know. What are your litter box routines, and how often should I change all of the litter? Thank you :-)

 

[stephanietx]

It depends on the cat and the kind of litter you use.  With just one cat, I would change it when you need to add new litter or at least every 2 weeks.

 

[happybird]

I do a 'dump and scrub' when the box itself starts getting funky. I scoop several times a day, but eventually crusty litter will start to stick to the insides and bottom of the box, especially if a cat pees or poops down the side. I will sometimes spot clean those areas, especially if I have recently done a dump and scrub, but they are hard to get rid of without changing the whole box.

As the litter is used, it loses some of it's clumping ability, allowing small bits of dirty litter to sift through the scooper. After a couple weeks of this, the box is not in top shape. I dump the whole thing out, scrub it with hot water and dishsoap, dry thoroughly, and fill with new litter every four weeks or so. With only one cat, you may not have to do it that often. It all depends on how often you scoop, how you maintain the box everyday, your cat's bathroom habits, what kind of litter you use, etc. A good indicator of needing to be changed is when your litter is just not clumping very well, even after you add in some fresh.

 

[fogkitty]

I do a 'dump and scrub' when the box itself starts getting funky. I scoop several times a day, but eventually crusty litter will start to stick to the insides and bottom of the box, especially if a cat pees or poops down the side. I will sometimes spot clean those areas, especially if I have recently done a dump and scrub, but they are hard to get rid of without changing the whole box.

As the litter is used, it loses some of it's clumping ability, allowing small bits of dirty litter to sift through the scooper. After a couple weeks of this, the box is not in top shape. I dump the whole thing out, scrub it with hot water and dishsoap, dry thoroughly, and fill with new litter every four weeks or so. With only one cat, you may not have to do it that often. It all depends on how often you scoop, how you maintain the box everyday, your cat's bathroom habits, what kind of litter you use, etc. A good indicator of needing to be changed is when your litter is just not clumping very well, even after you add in some fresh.

thank you so much! i've only had my cat for three weeks so i'm probably going to completely dump it out next week and scrub it down as you described. 

 

[2bcat]

With good litter and perhaps depending also somewhat on how you feed your cat, you may not need to do it nearly as often as this. You also have to keep the litter deep so nothing gets all the way to the bottom. This depth might be as much as 4 inches or more to be effective.

My odor issues went way down a few years ago when I switched to Precious Cat Ultra clumping. It's just a clumping clay litter but it seems to work better than others I used previously such as Tidy Cats.

My current cats also eat all low-carb wet food, either from cans or from rehydrated freeze-dried raw. The amount of solid waste is pretty low, and urine output does not smell. Two females if that matters, not sure, but they're sharing one box still and it doesn't smell.

I've always read people saying they change their litter and clean box anywhere from every month or two to as often as every couple weeks. More recently, though, I've seen some theories go the other way, and not just from individuals but from people like TV personality Jackson Galaxy and a veterinarian whose writing on this I read online. They stretch this procedure to many months or more.

These recommendations were born out by my own cats who, upon encountering a completely cleaned box with completely fresh litter several months ago, basically looked at me like "What is this?" It's the identical box (I have two of them for ease in doing such a cleaning) in the identical place, but on the first day of that refresh it was definitely not well received.

So my personal new theory is that I will give them a completely cleaned BOX every few months or so, with many touch-up cleanings around the edges in between (they tend to pee towards the edges a fair bit) which I do with vinegar-based Windex cleaner on a paper towel and shifting the litter around a bit to wipe all sides. When I give them the clean box, I will only remove some of the litter. A few weeks ago I gave them a clean box and mostly dumped the existing litter into it, topping off with some fresh litter. This went over without incident. Clearly the completely fresh box and litter just smelled too clean for them!

 

[silverpersian]

My experience is very similar to 2bcat's. I use Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat litter and scoop very thoroughly at least twice a day. I keep the litter 5-6 inches deep. On the very rare occasions that anything touches the box, I disinfect the spot. Every month or so, I dump the litter into a paper bad, wash and disinfect the box, then dump the old litter back in. The box never smells, and neither does the litter.

It seems wasteful to discard litter that doesn't smell at all. I have asked quite a few people, and no one has given me a reason to completely refresh the letter if it doesn't smell.

All of that being said, my cat has always been raw-fed, so his output and its scent are a lot less than they would be on a regular diet. I tried feeding him canned food a few times, but quickly saw the difference in his stool, and decided not to try again. Even cat treats (Whiskas) have the same effect, so I gave up on those too.

 

[fogkitty]

With good litter and perhaps depending also somewhat on how you feed your cat, you may not need to do it nearly as often as this. You also have to keep the litter deep so nothing gets all the way to the bottom. This depth might be as much as 4 inches or more to be effective.

My odor issues went way down a few years ago when I switched to Precious Cat Ultra clumping. It's just a clumping clay litter but it seems to work better than others I used previously such as Tidy Cats.

My current cats also eat all low-carb wet food, either from cans or from rehydrated freeze-dried raw. The amount of solid waste is pretty low, and urine output does not smell. Two females if that matters, not sure, but they're sharing one box still and it doesn't smell.

I've always read people saying they change their litter and clean box anywhere from every month or two to as often as every couple weeks. More recently, though, I've seen some theories go the other way, and not just from individuals but from people like TV personality Jackson Galaxy and a veterinarian whose writing on this I read online. They stretch this procedure to many months or more.

These recommendations were born out by my own cats who, upon encountering a completely cleaned box with completely fresh litter several months ago, basically looked at me like "What is this?" It's the identical box (I have two of them for ease in doing such a cleaning) in the identical place, but on the first day of that refresh it was definitely not well received.

So my personal new theory is that I will give them a completely cleaned BOX every few months or so, with many touch-up cleanings around the edges in between (they tend to pee towards the edges a fair bit) which I do with vinegar-based Windex cleaner on a paper towel and shifting the litter around a bit to wipe all sides. When I give them the clean box, I will only remove some of the litter. A few weeks ago I gave them a clean box and mostly dumped the existing litter into it, topping off with some fresh litter. This went over without incident. Clearly the completely fresh box and litter just smelled too clean for them!

this seems very reasonable! i feed my cat a low carb wet food as well, though he can't have raw food because he's fiv+. his waste doesn't smell much at all and im planning to just completely clean it out every one and a half months or so. thank you for your help!!

 

[rubysmama]

I have 1 cat and 1 litter box.  I use Purina clumping litter and scoop twice a day. 

Ruby tends to do her business so that it often sticks on the sides of the box, so I will tip the box so the litter all goes to one end and then using paper towels, clean off anything that stuck to the sides.  

I also buy litter box wipes which I use when plain paper towels aren't enough. 

Also every week I dump out all the litter into a spare plastic litter container and wipe down both the inside and outside of the litter box with the litter box wipes, dry with paper towels, then dump the litter back into the box, adding some fresh litter.  .

I almost never throw out all the litter and replace completely with fresh. Most recent was a few weeks ago when I spotted a bug in the litter box. I think it was an outside bug that found it's way inside and got stuck in the litter box, but nevertheless, it freaked me out and all the litter ended up in the garbage!

 

[krazykatjenn]

Interesting discussion! This is something I've wondered about since I saw that Jackson Galaxy video where he said not to change it out too often. When I first got my cat I went crazy changing it out completely every week, but then I realized I was wasting a lot of perfectly good litter so I stopped.

I actually use disposable litter boxes because I'm lazy and don't want to clean a plastic box. I scoop everyday I've never had any trouble with smell or mess. The boxes say to throw them out every month, but I've heard someone say they can last up to six months. My cat loves clawing at them so I throw them out when the edges look frayed, which is about every two to three months. I've been throwing out the litter with the box and doing my complete change over then, but now I'm wondering if I should transfer the litter to the new box instead. Should I do any kind of sifting when I move the litter over to a new box, or should I just dump half the old litter in then add half new litter?

 

[artiemom]

I also use Dr Elsey's Precious Cats litter for my guy. I do have 2 litter boxes for him. One was originally a spare for when I washed the main one. Artie had one episode of iFLUTD,  which I think, began when I was cleaning his box. I did not have an extra one for him to use at the time. He was acting as if he needed to use it while I was washing it out. The Vet who saw him, not my regular Vet, made me feel so guilty by saying: "You mean you do not have another box for when you are cleaning the other?".

Since then I have 2 boxes. 

Artie used to ignore the second box. Over the past 6 months he has decided to use one box for pee and the other box for poop!! Silly boy!

I scoop a couple times a day, more if he poops. I do wash and change the litter once a month. I do find it gets a bit nasty for me if I let it go longer. Artie will also let me know. He will keep taking me into the litter area; to show me.  He is a smart boy. 

I have also found that the more litter I have in there, the happier he is, and the less sticking I get from his pee. Artie digs so hard. I keep telling him he is going to dig a hole to China! Ha HA!!!

 

[sassychic]

I have one cat as well and use Dr Elseys litter. Thus far, I add litter a couple times during the week. Well I'm a new cat owner so don't really have a set routine other than scooping twice a day (faithfully). I also use a disposable box inside of a sterilite container.

 

[stewball]

When the litter is completely changed and I box washed, whisky can't wait to be the first in. No need here to put dirty litter back.

 

[franciscan]

Since Anna was a semi-feral cat, I was lucky that she knew how or remembered how to use a box. So, I needed something fast! So, I just use a dish pan for a box. I scoop it in the morning and then again before I go to bed. If there is stuff stuck to the sides, I dump it and wash it with dish soap and hot water, dry it well and put it back.

I have a trick I have been using for scooping. I was using plastic bags, but the smell was, well, smelly! So, now when I buy coffee I buy two cans, small, and dump them into a big can and use the small cans to put my scooped poop in. With the lid, I can not smell it and when I open the cans it smells like Hazelnut coffee! I have also used oatmeal card board containers. and if I run out of all of those, I use small zip lock bags. I can put any of these into my garbage can when the container of poop is full and still not smell it.