Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK

Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Dawn F on January 25, 2007, 10:57:37 AM

Title: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Dawn F on January 25, 2007, 10:57:37 AM
I seem to be spending loads more on litter than most people here!!  How often do people change trays completely, I am scooping daily and completely changing and disinfecting weekly surely that can't be too much?
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: carl (billy and baggys dad) on January 25, 2007, 11:00:08 AM
I scoop out morning and night, and top up as required, then a complete empty and clean twice a week.

I get a big old bag of wood pellets which lasts roughly a month.

Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Em on January 25, 2007, 11:03:50 AM
Me too - scoop as required (usually twice daily, it depends on the weather) and try to completely empty/clean weekly.

Don't know if anyone else does this, but once I've emptied mine I usually wash it out in the bath using the shower hose - I can get the whole thing, including cover, with really hot water. I do this every couple of months maybe - on a weekly basis I just give the tray and inside of the cover a wipe down with some white vinegar..
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Déborah on January 25, 2007, 11:05:26 AM
Hiya!

I use wood pellets (catsan). I clean out the solids every morning and I change the whole + disinfect the tray every fortnight. My bag of wood pellets lasts 1 1/2 month (I've only got 1 cat and 1 tray)
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Susanne (urbantigers) on January 25, 2007, 11:15:36 AM
I use clumping litter and I scoop twice a day, topping up as required.  I clean, scrub and disinfect the bottom tray (covered litter tray) about once every 10 days - 2 weeks and the hood about once a month, although I do wipe the inside of the hood with cleaner/disinfectant between cleanings.  I empty out the litter completely and start over with new about once every 6 weeks or sooner if it looks like it needs changing. 
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Michelle (furbabystar) on January 25, 2007, 11:18:59 AM
I use Smartcat paper litter and i change my trays 3 or 4 times a day.
I use a 30lt bag a week
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Ela on January 25, 2007, 11:27:00 AM
We when I say we it is the Royal we as it is usually my husband he  scoops out dumps as and when seen ,  obviously if he  out I have to do it. re changing it just depends which cat has been in a certain tray, if Jessica  who's bum is like a cows backside  has been in a tray it needs changing completely immediately. All trays  changed as and when but certainly every few days and when a tray is changed it is always washed thoroughly and Vercon or similar used.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Leanne on January 25, 2007, 11:27:35 AM
We seem to be completely changing the litter once a day, and scooping out in the evening. Jess seems to be quite fussy and won't go unless its totally clean! The only thing is we're using a whole bag of Catsan litter a week (5kg I think). We're then washing and disfecting the tray and hood out once a week
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: carl (billy and baggys dad) on January 25, 2007, 11:46:25 AM
Does anyone else's cats wait until the tray is clean and spangly fresh, then go in and use it? Even if they don't need to, Bilbo and Baggins will ALWAYS go in within five minutes of me changing their litter  :evillaugh:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Yvie on January 25, 2007, 11:48:39 AM
I have 3 cats - 2 who are outdoor cats and 1 completely indoor. I have 2 litter trays and scoop out as and when.
I completely empty and scrub trays once a week.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Ela on January 25, 2007, 11:52:15 AM
Quote
Does anyone else's cats wait until the tray is clean and spangly fresh, then go in and use it?

Oh yes. and if I ever want a urine sample it would be easy to get from some of the cats  as they will go and weeeeee as soon as an empty  clean tray is put on the floor before we (again that is the Royal we) have time to put the litter in.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Yvie on January 25, 2007, 11:53:31 AM
Does anyone else's cats wait until the tray is clean and spangly fresh, then go in and use it? Even if they don't need to, Bilbo and Baggins will ALWAYS go in within five minutes of me changing their litter  :evillaugh:
Oh yes!! And they dig away at it as if they're trying to bury a dead cow or something!!  :tired:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Déborah on January 25, 2007, 11:56:17 AM
Does anyone else's cats wait until the tray is clean and spangly fresh, then go in and use it? Even if they don't need to, Bilbo and Baggins will ALWAYS go in within five minutes of me changing their litter  :evillaugh:

lol! Mia tends to have a pee WHILE I'm changing her litter (or even while I'm scooping stuff out)  :rofl: She's very territorial!
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Susanne (urbantigers) on January 25, 2007, 11:59:13 AM
Jaffa's like that - he'll come and use it while I'm scooping and doesnt always wait until I'm done.  at least that way I can scoop up what he's done and put a nice, clean tray back in the corner  :evillaugh:  I think the sound of me digging away in the litter attracts him.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Michelle (furbabystar) on January 25, 2007, 12:00:41 PM

lol! Mia tends to have a pee WHILE I'm changing her litter (or even while I'm scooping stuff out)  :rofl: She's very territorial!

SNAP !!!!
That really does my head in  :rofl:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Leanne on January 25, 2007, 12:38:31 PM
Jess also goes once the tray has been empted, he sits and watches us clean it out and then goes, its as if to say thank you  :rofl:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Ela on January 25, 2007, 13:00:00 PM
Quote
they dig away at it as if they're trying to bury a dead cow or something!!

That is my Jeannie in the litter tray which is at the bottom of our bed in the middle of every night.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Em on January 25, 2007, 13:16:24 PM
Does anyone else's cats wait until the tray is clean and spangly fresh, then go in and use it? Even if they don't need to, Bilbo and Baggins will ALWAYS go in within five minutes of me changing their litter  :evillaugh:
Kind of... Charley's so fond of the Catolet litter that, if I've cleaned the tray and put new litter down, she'll go and lie in it and fall asleep - but only in the old, big tray. Don't think she can get comfy in the new one  :rofl: :rofl:

Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: ChrisB on January 25, 2007, 13:23:13 PM
Yes, our three kittens always wee in it as soon as it is cleaned.   Ellie and Cleo were even in there together the other day with Daisy looking in through the vent at the top waiting for them to finish !
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Kittybabe (Ruth) on January 25, 2007, 13:30:15 PM
I use wood pellets, scoop out once a day, and clean out completely once a week. A large 30L bag lasts me ages.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: tan160581 on January 25, 2007, 15:05:14 PM
i scoop up all the poo and wee, and every morning i throw out the day b4 litter and disinfect and put new wood chip clumping smart cat litter in

when they go to wee and the woodchip turns to dust, i hae been scooping that up as well should i not bother when it goes to dust and just scoop out the number twos - is that where i am going wrong cause i go throw a 30litre bag in under 2 weeks
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on January 25, 2007, 18:58:59 PM
Yes I think thats why younusing so much. I use Smartcat wood pellets and like the others take out the soiled bits and dust but dont completely change the litter every day.

Misa wont use a tray once it has been used but I dont have to throw all the litter away for him, he is a bully though and if he wants stuff in the tray taking out he will pester me and keep going and covering it up. He makes a neat parcel of all the litter in the tray which is right pain cos I have to scrape so much off the heap to get to the used bit  :rofl: :rofl: But Misa will be Misa and why not  ;D
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Desley (booktigger) on January 25, 2007, 19:30:33 PM
I scoop 3 times a day, and change completely every other day - but I only have one cat using each tray - have just put the girls on clumping, so that only needs changing weekly.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Team Svartalfheims on January 25, 2007, 20:27:14 PM
When I'm at home the solids and clumps (I use WBCL) get scooped out immediately. If I'm out all day then it gets done before I go out and when I get home it gets cleaned out and then back to my usual 'at home' routine.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Littlebobo on January 25, 2007, 21:21:43 PM
Does anyone else's cats wait until the tray is clean and spangly fresh, then go in and use it? Even if they don't need to, Bilbo and Baggins will ALWAYS go in within five minutes of me changing their litter  :evillaugh:

Yumi waits by the litter tray and is in there sometimes even when i am halfway through filling it up ..cheeky madam  :rofl:

I spend fortune on litter scoop out every day and night at least ..and then completley empty every 7-10 days..!
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: karenjet on March 07, 2007, 09:22:23 AM
Same as alot of others, I buy clumping and scoop twice a day, and change trays weekly. I've got 2 so I wash one and have the other one sat ready. I go through a bag a week but I'm not sure what weight the bag is  :-:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: COSMIC CREEPERS on March 07, 2007, 09:34:38 AM
every morning i empty compleatly but i am mrs bucket  :evillaugh: i cant use a clumping litter as she has asthma

plus if mango treds in something she will get covered as she is a persian  :-[

she aites for me to empty it at 8am and then she will have a wee  ;) every cat has there strange ways i suppose , i wouldnt go to the toillett if it was dirty  ;D
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: CurlyCatz on March 07, 2007, 10:26:53 AM
codys tray get totally emptied and cleaned properly once per month !! (of course i scoop every day  :rofl:)

he uses wbcl which is fab and he religiously has 1 poop per day, nice and perfectly formed...never loose LOL

I think there are a few others on the wbcl who do pretty much the same as me, of course the emptying and cleaning would be and occasionally has been more often if he's managed to piddle up the side of the tray etc.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: LeighK on March 07, 2007, 11:02:38 AM
Hiya,

I have three litter tray, 1 per cat and I use wood-based cat litter in all three. I scoop out and solid matter twice a day, in the mornings and evenings and totally change the litter once a week. On average each cat has 1.5 poops a day :), about as meaningfull as the 2.4 children national average for offspring statistic :) but they do switch trays as is their whim and will always use a tray 0.5 nanoseconds after it has been serviced, that's a cat thing :). Frankie is particlarly bad, he has this routine which goes something like this.

1. have a pooh
2 Start eating
3. Break off for a pooh to make room for more.
4. Re-commence eating.

Repeat above as many times as neccessary in order to consume all food.

Alfie's strictly a one pooh a day in the morning sort of a chap, I can set my watch by him :) and Suzie's a one pooh of a nightime sort of girl. So everything works pretty much like clockwork except Frankie delights in having a spontaneous pooh just to keep me on my toes. In Frankie's case the equation goes something like this where S = the size of the cat, Fi = Food intake (directly proportional), Eq = Exercise quotiant, Pf = Pooh Frequency and R = the random keep humans on their toes factor, note S is inversely proportional to 1/Eq, or, to put it another way  :

S = K1Fi x R or S = K2/Eq x R ;and Pf = (Fi x 1/Eq) x R where F1 and F2 are both constants :) I know this is an over simplification as it doesn't take the cat's metabolism into consideration but I'm at work so can't take my shoes and socks off to work it out :).

Hope this helps,

Cheers

Leigh





Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Kittybabe (Ruth) on March 07, 2007, 11:46:36 AM
 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: x Beckie x (Buffy) on March 07, 2007, 11:50:02 AM
Leigh thats fantastic and so true about the stopping half way to make room for more food - Missy does that - Fantastic!

 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Cheesecat on March 07, 2007, 12:17:03 PM
Cheese and Doc fight over who gets to be first to go in the newly cleaned tray - they are all hanging about anxious and Gerti just watches them and hopes meowmy will get out the food instead! lol

The other day Doc got so worked up he had to go in the space where the tray normally is in the two minutes it took me to clean it  :rofl:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: LeighK on March 07, 2007, 13:12:17 PM
As a footnote I should just add that, cat litter costs excluded from the equation, it costs me 1.66p per poop-per cat. As I live in a second floor flat I use sealable "doggie-pooh" type bags which cost approx. 75p per 20 bags so with an average of 4.5 poohs and two scooping sessions/bags a day that works out as the aformention 1.66p per pooh :) :)

Needless to say I get very upset if they don't do a proper pooh :)

Note to self : I really should get out more :)

Cheers

Leigh
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa) on March 07, 2007, 14:04:04 PM
While we r on the subject of poohs
ive just added up on an averge day i pick up 16 piles of poohs :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: that includes the dogs pooh aswell
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: LeighK on March 07, 2007, 14:09:21 PM
 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

How long would you say it takes to clean out every pooh ? or how many minutes a day ?, frightening to think what proportion of an average three-score-and-ten lifespan is spent doing that ! :)

Cheers

Leigh
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: deniseb90 on March 07, 2007, 14:34:01 PM
as I always have quite a few cats and trays and litter does add up, I always put a layer of newspaper down first and then a sprinkle of litter on top - they all use it with no problem - that way the litter lasts for quite a wihle - without massive expense to the rescue.  I've just spent the best part of the day pressure washing the cat houses and just cleaned and disinfected 7 litter trays - my hands are like sawdust!!!!

Dx
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: CurlyCatz on March 07, 2007, 15:03:58 PM
if your really at a loose end leigh spare a thought for us dog owners..specially greyhound owners..they poop for europe i tell you !!!

i have 2..on average i'd say 10 BIG piles of poop per day..i fill a tesco carrier bag every day or as filled up as i care for them to be anyway.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: LeighK on March 07, 2007, 15:11:32 PM
Blimey !!!, not at that much of a loose end Lynn :) :)

Cheers

Leigh
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Lyn-Su on March 07, 2007, 17:18:12 PM
Does anyone else's cats wait until the tray is clean and spangly fresh, then go in and use it? Even if they don't need to, Bilbo and Baggins will ALWAYS go in within five minutes of me changing their litter  :evillaugh:
Kind of... Charley's so fond of the Catolet litter that, if I've cleaned the tray and put new litter down, she'll go and lie in it and fall asleep - but only in the old, big tray. Don't think she can get comfy in the new one  :rofl: :rofl:

That reminds me, when we went to the rescue to find a cat, Fearne was asleep in her litter tray, she's never done it since, but it still cracks me up when I think our pampered little princess who's favourite place to sleep is on our bed, once liked sleeping in a litter tray....

Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa) on March 07, 2007, 22:21:53 PM
lynn  :rofl: :rofl: 10 aday omg  :rofl:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa) on March 07, 2007, 22:23:30 PM
as soon as im just about to put fresh litter in max is desperete to jump in it and pooh n pee
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Ela on March 07, 2007, 22:37:11 PM
Quote
i have 2..

I am assuming you have 2 dogs not the fact you do 2 poos a day.

Quote
on average I'd say 10 BIG piles of poop per day..[/

Our Badger used to do at least 5 piles a day and always in the garden, he could go on a long walk but would never do a dump outside the garden.
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Cheesecat on March 08, 2007, 08:17:20 AM
Doc stood over me all morning this morning while I scooped (at least 9 poos between 3 cats in 24 hours  :Crazy: ) he was really interested in my scooping, walking all around the tray and putting his paws in - needless to say he went RIGHT after I had finished.

I think hearing the litter really makes him want to go in the way a dripping tap might do to humans  :rofl:
Title: Re: how often do people change litter trays??
Post by: Rhona on March 08, 2007, 21:34:29 PM
We tend to scoop twice a day (morning & late evening) & wash out once a week.  I used to use Sainsbury's own brand clumping litter which was fairly good, but I recently switched to 'Extreme Classic Cat Litter' from Zooplus.  Although a bit pricey it smells just fine, is really effective & lasts for ages.