Cat Litter

Rainbulimic

Just a quick question on cat litter.
I'm picking up my new kitten on Saturday (omfgyay) and people have been recommending 'clumping' cat litter as the best to get, but I'm sure I read somewhere that it was bad because they would swallow it when grooming and it would clump in their stomach. I might be making that up, but I'm not sure.
I've had cats before, and we used the normal litter as far as I know. What's the major difference?

And, because no kitty thread is complete without pics, here's the first and only photo I have of Penelope (its terribly blurry, sorry about that, I was in a rush.) :

Penny's the one playing with the ball

Djeet

The clumping litter makes urine cleanup much easier. My parents and I have taken care of 7 cats over the years and never had a problem with clumping litter. It is mainly a convenience thing; I could never eliminate the smell of urine using the gravel type without changing out the whole box.

VisionOfClarity

I use Arm and Hammer Odor Alert and it clumps. I've never had a problem with my cat eating it, treating her litter box like a sand box yes, but never eating it.

Goofball

Swheat Scoop is what we use. Clumps well and is flushable so you can just scoop directly into your toilet for disposal. Seems to be pretty good at not getting stinky as long as you scoop it fairly regularly. We also use a covered litter pan with filters on the vents that get changed every 3 months or so.

Entriech

Clumping litter's definitely a must. Otherwise you'll have a hell of a time getting all the urine out of a litterbox without a complete dump and wash. Unscented is best, no need to irritate a cat's sensitive airways with perfumes for your benefit. Provided you're putting enough litter in there that they can cover their excrement there shouldn't be much in the way of potent odours anyways.

The one caveat I've seen with clumping litter and kittens is that when they're young they can be fairly clumsy, and occasionally step in their own excrement then in the litter, giving them a bit of a cement boot as a consequence. Just keep an eye on it, and possibly switch to a non clumping litter until they're more proficient at cleaning up after themselves.

mts

the problem with clay clumping litter is young kittens are messier/not as firm so in the process of cleaning themselves eat the litter. their intestines cant handle the clumping and risk blockage.

young kittens should have non-clumping or wheat which is digestable. we use the sweet scoop for our guys, its nice

dispatch.o

Tidy Cat for Multiple Cats is the best I've found, Arm n Hammer is good too.

DO NOT get anything with crystals in it. They're sharp and irritating and get stuck in fur. Your cat will probably just start shitting in the closet.

zilo

We use something called World's Best Cat Litter. It really is pretty awesome. I've used the fancy chemical stuff but this works just as well and won't cause problems if your kitten eats some.

Octobot

ill second for Tidy Cat multiple cat formula. Ive got 4 cats and of all the litters ive tried so far its the best. Clumps well, controls odor pretty well, isnt too dusty and is easy to clean up.

UEAKCrash

Tidy cats and the Arm and Hammer brand seems to work pretty good for us.

Unfortunately my cat is a neat freak and stands on the edge of the litter box, digs herself out a spot, goes, and then buries it quickly and leaves. It's funny because she'll have 3 paws up on th edge of the box, leaning down to dig with the other. The unfortunate part, though, is that if it is too dirty she finds the nearest plastic bag or tossed towel and pees on that instead.

mts

if you are costco member the litter they sell there is pretty nice. it coes in a big green tub. its only 7 bucks but its actually pretty nice not super dusty, clumps nice and fast, and it smells like lemongrass rather than litter

EggyToast

I've got fancy, bougie cats. They get fed cans of food that cost close to $2 a pop. But their litter is the cheapest clumping litter out there. We used to get it from Petco, then discovered that the generic clumping litter at the grocery store is $2 cheaper and works great. Then we switched to a different grocery store's litter because they were yet another dollar cheaper.

We tried World's Best, it stunk. We have no interest in swheat because 2 of our friends use it and it stinks (we watch their cats when they're out of town). We tried the pine pellets, one of our cats was like "wtf this isn't litter" and then held it all day, having an accident on our bed in the morning. Poor guy.

They both have been happiest in plain, cheap, clay clumping cat litter. And the cheap stuff seems to only be dusty when we put it in -- it quickly dissipiates and then there's no dust from scooping or from them using it, so we're cool with that. And the clay clumping stuff seems to control odors well, too.

However, the best way to keep a litter box from stinking is to feed your cats high quality food. Makes sense when you think about it. It also makes their fur softer and gives them more energy, which justifies the extra cost to me.

How old is the kitten? Typically they should be separated from mom/the litter no earlier than 10 weeks, at which point they won't have any issues using a litter box.

dispatch.o

EggyToast wrote: »

I've got fancy, bougie cats. They get fed cans of food that cost close to $2 a pop. But their litter is the cheapest clumping litter out there. We used to get it from Petco, then discovered that the generic clumping litter at the grocery store is $2 cheaper and works great. Then we switched to a different grocery store's litter because they were yet another dollar cheaper.

We tried World's Best, it stunk. We have no interest in swheat because 2 of our friends use it and it stinks (we watch their cats when they're out of town). We tried the pine pellets, one of our cats was like "wtf this isn't litter" and then held it all day, having an accident on our bed in the morning. Poor guy.

They both have been happiest in plain, cheap, clay clumping cat litter. And the cheap stuff seems to only be dusty when we put it in -- it quickly dissipiates and then there's no dust from scooping or from them using it, so we're cool with that. And the clay clumping stuff seems to control odors well, too.

However, the best way to keep a litter box from stinking is to feed your cats high quality food. Makes sense when you think about it. It also makes their fur softer and gives them more energy, which justifies the extra cost to me.

How old is the kitten? Typically they should be separated from mom/the litter no earlier than 10 weeks, at which point they won't have any issues using a litter box.

Soft food basically decays their teeth from the gum up. I wouldn't feed em that at all.

Yeah the pine dust and stuff sounds all great, but most of it doesn't work very well. It doesn't clump or control odor and unless you want to scoop the box 7 times a day they wont use it.

EggyToast

If it's mush, sure. Just because food is "wet" doesn't mean it's mush. And, there's plenty of similar evidence that dry food does nothing to "scrub" teeth and the dust from it sits on the teeth, decaying their teeth as well.

I spent the better part of summer 06 researching food types, because I'd never had a cat before. Spent a lot of time on The Cat Site, where people who have significantly more experience and knowledge on cats are happy to share their knowledge. I think they've tried every possible combination (even mixes) of litter, as well. If anyone in this thread wants to learn more about cat health/habits in general, I'd suggest they spend some time there.

mellestad

I've tried a bajillion cat litters over the years, and Tidy Cats Multiple Cats Formula seems to work the best.

It costs more than the cheaper brands but I find it more cost effective in the long run, because with the cheaper stuff you have to swap the whole pan out more often because even the non-clumped litter starts to get gross.

I also recommend a giant over sized pan and a giant over sized scoop. I think the cats like the larger pan more and you get fewer issues with poop outside the box (Or on the rim, yuck).

Then put a separate rug or something under it. The only bad thing about clumping litter is it is so light when a cat leaves the box they track it around...a nice rug helps contain it so vacuuming/sweeping is easier.

EggyToast

Oh, as I alluded to, and as mellestad points out, cat litter is easy to change. You typically just mix 50/50 when you get something new, and the cats get used to it.

Djeet

I also like the extra large litter box. I've an enclosed one, that's pretty big, and fill it about 3" deep with litter. Seems to control odor well and dries out the stuff quicker than using less litter.

Orogogus

Regarding the box, I have a Booda Dome, and honestly I would recommend against getting a round litter box. For whatever reason my cat likes to pee on the edges instead of the middle, and the round edge makes it hard to scoop off clumps without breaking them up -- I have to lift the edge of the liner, which is often covered in pee, again because of the peeing on the edges thing. So get a rectangular litter box.

My roommate has a robotic litter box, but I don't know if I'd recommend paying the extra money just to avoid scooping.

Also, my brother is toilet training his cat, but apparently it's somewhat hard work and involves basically giving up the use of one toilet while the cat learns. And his cat doesn't like to use the toilet if there's anything in it, so sometimes they'll come home to find cat pee in the bathtub.

zilo

dispatch.o wrote: »

We tried World's Best, it stunk.

Really? We've been using it for months in a 2-cat household and it doesn't smell. We dose the box with Arm and Hammer every once in awhile but I had to do that the last time I lived with a cat and we were using Tidy Cats back then.

Rainbulimic

EggyToast wrote: »

How old is the kitten? Typically they should be separated from mom/the litter no earlier than 10 weeks, at which point they won't have any issues using a litter box.

According to the pet shop, she's 9 weeks, and judging by how the kittens were getting on in the shop without their Mother I did believe it.

I've already brought a bloody HUGE enclosed cat tray (so much bigger than the photos in the catalogue!) and it has the carbon filters. I'm leaving off the catflap because poor little thing probably wouldn't be able to move it!
I've decided to go with ordinary litter until she's a little older, then I'll try to switch, though I know cats can be picky about that.


As for food, I used to feed my cats wet food in the morning and evening and have just a bowl of dried food for them to nibble on whenever they wanted it, which worked well for them I think. Never had any toothy problems until they were old (well, one of them, the other developed cancer in the roof of her mouth, but I think that was just bad luck).

I've never had a kitten that was younger than a year before, however, so I welcome all tips 'n tricks to making her happy and healthy!

Delzhand

Entriech wrote: »

The one caveat I've seen with clumping litter and kittens is that when they're young they can be fairly clumsy, and occasionally step in their own excrement then in the litter, giving them a bit of a cement boot as a consequence.

But watching a cat with cement boot freak out is hilarious! It's like that limb is moving independently, oh and it's on meth.

Also, another vote for Tidy Cats. I like the big yellow bucket, because once it's empty you can use it as a temporary repository. During the winter when I didn't want to walk outside to the dumpster I'd just scoop out the clumps and toss them into the bucket and snap the lid closed, then take a week's worth out to the dumpster in one trip.