Best cat litter?

[TimO]

I've got Talisker Clive O to look after for a couple of weeks.  I don't have a lot of choice about him using a litter tray, since I can't let him outside, so he has to use a tray.  I have to change the litter after probably four or five days when it starts getting a bit too odorous, and he'll refuse to use it (and just use the floor if I don't ).

Since I look after him probably once or twice a year, I tend to forget what brand I've used previously.  At the moment I'm using Catsan, and it absorbs most of the strong smells quite fast, but it does eventually have a low level unpleasant smell.  What cat litter do people find does the best job of absorbing the smells?  He mostly eats Iams dry food, and probably one meal of wet food first thing in the morning, as well as water, cat milk, and occasional cat treats.

[Jaded]

We use a wood shavings one. SmartCat or something like that.

[kyuss]

I was looking after my sister-in-laws cat a few weeks back and the cheap regular litter she supplied me with was absolutely rubbish. After about 2 days I got sick of the smell and went out and got some fancy silica gel based odour control stuff. Can't remember what it was called, but I got it from Sainsburys. Cost about £5 if I remember right but it lasted for ages and no smell at all. Worth every penny. It wasn't dusty like regular stuff either so had the added benefit of not getting dragged through the house on kitty's feet.

[fred the great]

I think Catsan or a similar product is as good as any. The crystal stuff is not popular.

You need to clean out the Catsan on a daily basis and replace when it starts to smell. Otherwise the Cat will start bad habits which are impossible to reverse.

[rogerzilla]

The heaviest fuller's earth stuff you can find.  Anything else finds its way to every corner of the house.

Cat litter is vile.  Ours crap outside.

[tiermat]

Having just recently been adopted by a kitten we have gone through the trials and tribulations of testing cat litter, and here are our findings:

Catsan, ok but you do need to clean out the tray TWICE a day or the whole house will start to smell
Compressed wood shavings stuff, he wouldn't use it
Litter Purrfect (fine clay like powder with added lemongrass and Bicarb), close to perfect as you can get, no smell, easy to clean out and it comes in a large plastic container so easier to pour out than catsan et al that come in bags.  It is also silent in use (unlike Catsan) and doesn't hurt the cat's feet like other litters can.  Unfortunately (and this is quite a biggy, unless you have access to one of the stores) you can only buy it from Costco....

[border-rider]

The fuller's earth stuff (did you know that lots of it comes out of a big hole in the ground near Farringdon ?) is terribly dusty though

Our old cat used it, and the grey dust went everywhere

We use the wood pellet stuff now - it's not too dusty, is very absorbant and (when the poo has been removed) helps the compost heap

It can, though, be kicked quite a distance...

[TimO]

I like the comments about clearing it out once or twice a day, I end up doing it three of four times!  At least twice in the morning, once when I get up (after nighttime use), and then once he's eaten breakfast and has a nice clean tray, I'll have to empty it again before I go to work.

If I don't clean it out, he won't use it, and if he won't use it, he'll find somewhere else...

I doubt he'll learn many bad habits, he's about ten now, and knew about litter trays, cat flaps etc when we got him from the Blue Cross.  Yay for pre-owned cats.

[tiermat]

The fuller's earth stuff (did you know that lots of it comes out of a big hole in the ground near Farringdon ?) is terribly dusty though

Oddly enough I thought this Litter Purrfect stuff would be really really dusty, but it is less so than Catsan, which sends me into snezzing fits for about 10 minutes after re-filling the tray.

[Rapples]

We sell the wood pellet stuff "Nature's Best" and use it as horse bedding.  This is a much cheaper way of buying it as it's sold on 30 lb bags, for £4.99;)

Our kitten didn't like it at first but if you damp it first it turns into a sawdust like material that is still vey absorbent. (That's how it's used for horses).  You can then add the pellets which turn into dust as they draw moisture from the existing litter.

[Mrs Pingu]

I found the compressed wood pellet type of litter best. I think it was called Beauticat and came in a bag with kiddy drawings on it.
However if the cat has got no access to the outdoors at all at the moment I would say you need to be changing the entire lot every couple of days, not every 5. Even though the odour may be absorbed enough for humans not to notice it, the cat probably can stil smell it.
(Personally I find just pouring the entire contents of the tray in a bin bag less of a pain than having to rake through the contents).

[tiermat]

I found the compressed wood pellet type of litter best. I think it was called Beauticat and came in a bag with kiddy drawings on it.
However if the cat has got no access to the outdoors at all at the moment I would say you need to be changing the entire lot every couple of days, not every 5. Even though the odour may be absorbed enough for humans not to notice it, the cat probably can stil smell it.
(Personally I find just pouring the entire contents of the tray in a bin bag less of a pain than having to rake through the contents).

That's the stuff that Lord Dashworth refused to use, I think it's cos his poos just sat on top of it, which confused the hell out of him...

In good news he has found that the soil under the Cordyline in the garden is the ideal friability for him to do his business it, so there tends to be very little in the tray now....

[border-rider]

I found the compressed wood pellet type of litter best. I think it was called Beauticat and came in a bag with kiddy drawings on it.
However if the cat has got no access to the outdoors at all at the moment I would say you need to be changing the entire lot every couple of days, not every 5. Even though the odour may be absorbed enough for humans not to notice it, the cat probably can stil smell it.
(Personally I find just pouring the entire contents of the tray in a bin bag less of a pain than having to rake through the contents).

We've used Beauticat.  It seems to hold together better than some of the others.

We  scoop the poos out as soon as they are done (or when we go in the utility room) and then as you say, bin/compost the soggy remains every few days. 

Raffles: where do you get big bags for £4.99 ?

[Regulator]

Next door's garden....   

[TimO]

Reading around a bit more, reviews are very diverse, some people will report almost the exact opposite of other reviewers, I suspect that diet has more than a little do with it.

This stuff supposedly can last up to a month.

I'm tempted to get some just to try it out, there's a Pet At Home just around the corner (actually closer than Sainsburys, and they are in effect my local shop!)

Different litters do seem to "last" different lengths of time, although five days is probably about the limit for any I've ever used with Tali.  I don't wait until it smells too bad for me, it's fairly obvious when he doesn't want to use it anymore.

(For my next post, what carpet cleaner do you use to clean out cat vomit... guess what I've been doing).

[Rapples]

Raffles: where do you get big bags for £4.99 ?

We are distributors for Nature's Best and that's what we sell it for, Usually quite a few bags at a time. However, you are miles from me, so I don't think I can help.  Try emailing Chris from the website ( my real name is Keith Rapley) there may be someone near you

Horse Bedding | Natures Best

Failing that it also marketed in the UK as Woodypet and Aquamax.  They usually retail a little higher (although it's exactly the same), but it's probably still going to be cheaper than those brands marketed for small animals

Try local feed merchants/saddleries, but it is not particularly common at the moment in the UK for horses.  We have started selling it because there is a huge shortage of wood shavings and prices have gone through the roof.

"This time next year I'll be a miwlionaire"

[Rapples]

(For my next post, what carpet cleaner do you use to clean out cat vomit... guess what I've been doing).

You need a big dog

They also clean the litter tray if you don't cover it up

[Charlotte]

I buy the cheapo stuff from Wilkinsons and use it in a tray that has a removable lid/edge thing to stop too much litter being kicked out when Monty gets to scratching.

I rarely fish the fresh turds out, preferring to just let him bury them and clear out the litter entirely about twice a week.  The smell's only ever nasty when it's due to be changed or when he's just curled up a really loose one...

[RogerT]

(For my next post, what carpet cleaner do you use to clean out cat vomit... guess what I've been doing).

You need a big dog

They also clean the litter tray if you don't cover it up

I have one of those as well, he also does his best to empty the field next door of cow poo 

[nutkin]

I think part of it depends on your cat, some can be very fussy and refuse to use a tray if they don't like the litter!

I've tried quite few and I'm now using the Tesco version of Catsan. Looks the same, works the same, just costs a £1 less per bag. I have to clear the trays at least twice a day otherwise they do smell, but I only change the litter once a week, sometimes I can even get away with leaving it for a fortnight. I do have 4 litter trays though, two very deep open trays, and two covered ones. I end up sweeping scattered litter most days!

My cats were not impressed with the very fine litter that looks like a cross between sand and gravel and only reluctantly used the tray with it in when the others needed clearing. I wasn't impressed when I discovered that unless you clear out clumping litter within a few hours, the whole lot sets like concrete...

The Dr. Martin's stuff seems to work quite well (I think there are other brands of crystal litter too) but you have to turn it over daily otherwise the urine won't evaporate (or whatever happens to it) and it will just puddle in the bottom of the tray and smell.

You can get litter deodorisers so that you can't smell noxious niffs from the tray - kitty will though, so you'll still have to clean it  and change the litter regularly, otherwise he'll find an alternative spot...

[TimO]

... I end up sweeping scattered litter most days! ...

I just use the machine which eats kittens, aka the Dyson.

Once upon a time he would have legged it and hidden under the bed, these days he's more blasé about it, and sits on the stairs, watching somewhat paranoidly.

[Baggy]

Madam arrived with a bag of the City Cat stuff - if you whip the poos out on a daily basis have found it lasts about two weeks.  It really doesn't smell until you clean it out and the bottom layer is exposed 

[TimO]

My local "Pets at Home" didn't have any CityCat, so in the spirit of experimenting, I bought a small packet of their own brand Fuller's Earth.  The small £1.99 bag is really only enough to fill the tray once.  It does seem to work pretty well, it seems to be a lot less smelly than the CatSan, and Tali doesn't seem overly fussed about using it instead of the CatSan (he doesn't usually use litter, so I suspect it makes little difference to him).  He'll go back home in a day or two, so their flower beds will have to withstand him in the near future!

I did come across the Litter Robot, which looks interesting, although at £300 you really need to be keen on avoiding handling cat litter!  I shouldn't happen, but the thought of it triggering into it's "spin cycle" with a cat still inside is evily funny.

[Mrs Pingu]

How cool is that! I'd love to see one in action - I bet it's rubbish really, and if the drawer isn't hermetically sealed I bet it still hums.
I wonder how much noise it makes....

[TimO]

It seems to get better reviews than a lot of others which require special waste collection bags or container, and sometimes are very fussy about what sort of litter is used.  Having said all that, I'm not about to spend £300 on one, but I only have Tali for the odd few weeks once or twice a year.  Of course, if/when I get a cat(s) I may change my tune!