Clumping Litter Hazards..

[truthisouthere]

After getting tired of the place being covered in the dust from clumping litter, (I refuse to get a tray with a hood and subject my cats to confinement with a litter that creates this much dust!). After finding out that clumping litter is a possible carcinogen and could cause silicosis (sorry for the mis-spell), I'm changing to wood pellets; the environment (and the bin men) will thank me for it.

The link below is written from experience and also leads to a link that has letters from cat (and dog) owners futher personal (and shocking) experiences with clumping litter.

http://www.felinesandfriends.org/content/clumping.htm

[Velvet]

To certain extent I agree. In the early days I tried many litters - clumpers included, none of which did what they claimed. I had given up & was using a shop brand non clumper. one of ours is a fastidious little lady and unless her litter is spotless,she won't use it. By that I mean fresh clear out every day. Even with the shop own brand it was still quite pricey.

I happened to be in Jollyes one day and they had a promotion on for one type of litter. Initially it's expensive and I thought long and hard especially as it's a clumper, however bought a bag & never looked back - minimal dust and it really does last a month plus so long as it's cleaned out twice a day our fastidious lady is more than happy to use it. It's a derivative of wood products - much softer on the paws - "Cats Best" - can't recommend it highly enough:-D

You can flush it down the loo - I flushed a poo ball once and spent a week worrying if it would block the system:-D so now i don't do that :-D

[Velvet]

As for covered litter trays - you don't know what you are missing, they are the best invention ever. Only time I use an ordinary tray is like now with Mindy in an Eliza collar, put extra open tray out just for her - of course the others can use it I'd they want - however they prefer the Privacy of their covered trays, even little Mindy tries to get into the covered trays , which is sad as she can't manage it at present

[truthisouthere]

Fortunately my 2 aren't litter throwers. Mitzi just plonks herself in postion and goes, has a sniff and walks off, only making a mild attempt to dig a hole for 'number twos'. Chesi has been known to dig for Australia now and then but only if the tray isn't fastidiously clean before he goes. I take each 'visit' out as they go, and they have 2 trays. That and c/w the fact that Mitzi only uses a tray when she is housebound with a collar on doesn't warrant me investing in one with a hood at present.

Dear Mindy! She's probably wondering how come her 'whiskers' won't fit in the litter tray entrance, bless.

This is my most recent purchase, and seems a reasonable price for the litter type that you mentioned Velvet.

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=518&pf_id=3805

[Squirrel]

See... I'd love to start Cloud on 'Cats Best' or similar (seems there are 2-3 of them) but she refuses to use litter of those 'little balls' think she finds them uncomfortable or something. She's tried it once or twice when there has been no other option, but she'll choose pretty well anything over it, unfortunately :(

[Hevvur]

I happened to be in Jollyes one day and they had a promotion on for one type of litter. Initially it's expensive and I thought long and hard especially as it's a clumper, however bought a bag & never looked back - minimal dust and it really does last a month plus so long as it's cleaned out twice a day our fastidious lady is more than happy to use it. It's a derivative of wood products - much softer on the paws - "Cats Best" - can't recommend it highly enough:-D

You can flush it down the loo - I flushed a poo ball once and spent a week worrying if it would block the system:-D so now i don't do that :-D

I use this...it's fantastic!!!
I get it from 'Zooplus', as it's the cheapest i've found!

[Velvet]

I'm a bit limited as only buy smaller bags, can't manage the bigger bags which are probably cheaper. Must have look at Zooplus especially as they deliver.

The bag puss is very reasonable

Squirrel - Cats Best is unique as the pooh & wee balls are softish - some of the clumpers go hard like lead so know what you mean

[Squirrel]

Not sure if it was cats best, or worlds best as they both looked the same, but Cloud refused to use it. :(

[truthisouthere]

Looks like the Cat's Best is little more @ 40L £24.99..?

I'm happy with my Pampuss wood based from Petplanet, 90L @ £29.99 it's good val' for money. Although it doesn't clump I like it; it smells good, not overpowering but fresh and 'clean', and I find it reasonable with odour control and great at soaking up. You can compost it too, or put it in the wood burner, it just breaks up.

[angieh]

My two have been going au naturel over the Summer, but prior to that they (well mainly Pip) used Cats' Best. I like it because it's totally biodegradable, flushable, compostable and really no trouble to use. I still have a bag which I am saving in case the weather gets too bad for them to go out - poor loves.

[fancyabrew]

I use this...it's fantastic!!!
I get it from 'Zooplus', as it's the cheapest i've found!

been using best cat since we got Marmaduke (his breeder uses it) she also put us on to zooplus, cheapest place around for just about everything. Just done an order for a load of food and 40l cats best. They are doing a payment plan, pay £9.99 and get 5% off every order for the next 3yr's well worth doing (already saved nearly £5 on just this one order)

[angieh]

If you join TopCashBack (free) you can get another 5.15% cash back from Zooplus.

I would recommend people join TopCashBack - we have had over £200 back this year. Just search on the site you want to use and if it is a member of the scheme click the link to take you there.

[JMPARK]

My Two Kittens Will Not Go Anywhere Near Pellets, In Fact The Only Time They Have Toileted Outside Their Tray Was When I Had Pellets!! Having Tried A Few Different Types I Got Lucky When They Both Were Ok With The Tesco "value! Litter Which Is Very Cheap!!
They Donnt Mind The Slightly Dearer "clumping " One, But I Just Get The Normal One And They Are Both Quite Happy!
They Don't Dig At All When Weeing, But Both Dig To Australia When Poohing Then Sometimes Cover It Up And Other Times Just Leave It. But Joy Nearly Always Walks On The Stuff Trying To Cover It. Which Is Annoying. When I Try And Clean Her Paws, She Hates It!

[CatZmother85]

I use non clumping Catsan or its slightly cheaper clone from Pets at Home ,its expensive but appears to last longer and seems to keep odours to a minimum (important if you have 4 litter trays lol) I dont like clumping litter it seems to have a lot of negative effects if accidently ingested by pets and is as you say dusty . I have not tried wooden pellets .

[miki]

OK - maybe this is a dum question but ... If you use non-clumping litter than how do you get what the cats urine out? I mean OK the poo, but the wee? Or do you just leave it in there and if so how many times per week (day?) do you change the litter?
I only have experience with clumping litters and had so far never had any probs...
THX

[truthisouthere]

OK - maybe this is a dum question but ... If you use non-clumping litter than how do you get what the cats urine out? I mean OK the poo, but the wee? Or do you just leave it in there and if so how many times per week (day?) do you change the litter?
I only have experience with clumping litters and had so far never had any probs...
THX

Although you can't smell it you can see where the cat has recently urinated because the wood pellets in that small area'explode', they become puffed up and not compact anymore. I just take the trowel and scoop out their wee more or less each time they go, I then dump it in the outside burner, when enough has built up I set a match to it, once it gets going it smells all woody and lovely! You can just as well put in on the log burner, at no stage do these wood pellets smell of cat urine, I'm amazed!('Number 2s' you would need to pick up with the trowel and flush down the toilet or put in a nappy bag and in the bin, not tried burning them yet but I guess they would burn?!)
How often to change? I refresh as they go, then I let the whole tray get low before washing out and changing completely, it all depends how often you want to devote to changing and topping up as they go, but if you were to leave it for a day you still probably still wouldn't get any smell. Overall I'm sold on the wood pellets, it's pretty good stuff, more natural for the cats with no dust getting in their tiny lungs and has got to be one of the most environmentally friendly litters around. You can use it for cage animals too.

[Velvet]

OK - maybe this is a dum question but ... If you use non-clumping litter than how do you get what the cats urine out? I mean OK the poo, but the wee? Or do you just leave it in there and if so how many times per week (day?) do you change the litter?
I only have experience with clumping litters and had so far never had any probs...
THX

If using non Clumping litter our eldest girl Amber won't use the litter unless it is a complete change & thorough washout every single day. I tried many litters including clumpers before I hit on Cats Best. Amber approves of it :-D I scoop out the pee & poo balls twice a day and it stays nice and fresh and lasts 4 weeks with occasional top up of fresh litter mixed in:)

[paulinef2]

I changed over to wood pellets a few months ago and must admit I am sold. I did use catsan before but a friend put me onto the wood, they are fantastic and a really decent pice P@H are doing them at 60L for £18. My two don't mind them at all, tbh they are not fussy, they have used anything I have put into their loos. I am very fortunate :)

[x-clo-x]

i only use a pets at home own brand lightweight cat litter. they dont tend to use the box very often, they tend to go outside, even if the weather is bad they will ask to go out the back door, go the toilet then meow to come back in :D
a 5kg bag lasts well over a month...

i thought about getting one of those cat trays with a hood on, but in all honesty dont know if the cats would use the doors on them, they dont have a cat flap so arent used to going through them, and they are four years old now...

[Mags]

i only use a pets at home own brand lightweight cat litter. they dont tend to use the box very often, they tend to go outside, even if the weather is bad they will ask to go out the back door, go the toilet then meow to come back in :D
a 5kg bag lasts well over a month...

i thought about getting one of those cat trays with a hood on, but in all honesty dont know if the cats would use the doors on them, they dont have a cat flap so arent used to going through them, and they are four years old now...
Cassie has a hooded litter tray and I just leave the flap off ......... you can also buy hooded litter trays without a flap :)

[Hevvur]

I leave the flap off my hooded trays too, as James won't go in with them on!

[TiggerMoon]

i thought about getting one of those cat trays with a hood on, but in all honesty dont know if the cats would use the doors on them, they dont have a cat flap so arent used to going through them, and they are four years old now...

I trained my cat to use a flap when she was 16 years old! She now ker-thunks the flap to wake me up for food when I'm trying to have a lie-in. You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but teaching a cat anything can, and will, backfire!