Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: kittykat on January 22, 2007, 00:00:16 AM
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Ok you can tell i'm completely new to being a cat owner!
I've bought a hooded cat litter tray for our new kitten that we get tomorrow. Do i put the cat litter (wood pellets) directly in the litter tray or am i meant to line the tray with anything first?
Then how will i know when she has been a poo or wee?
And how often do i change the tray completely?
Thank you! I'm hoping i'll learn fast!
ooh one more thing.........shes never used a hooded litter tray before, so shall i start her without the lid on? Or will this make it harder to get used to it later on?
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Dont worry you will have loads more questions :rofl:
I would try leaving the hood on but taking off the little door, if she doesnt like it then take off the hood.
I use wood pellets for the Gang of 4 and put them straight into the tray............the pellets not the cats :rofl: You will know that she has used the tray cos the pellets swell up with liquid and if allowed to dry go back to sawdust. I empty the soiled parts as soon as I can cos Misa is very fussy and will only use a tray once. You will see or maybe even smell thew solids LOL. Remove asap.
I think everyone has different ways of doing things but I would only remove everything from tray once a week. The kitten will get to knoew its her tray by being able to smell herself in the remaining contents in the tray.
It may also be useful to get one ordinary tray too cos some cats dont like to do liquids and solids in the same tray and that way she wont get caught short. ;D
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I would try leaving the hood on but taking off the little door, if she doesnt like it then take off the hood.
I do that with Lexy as she never learned to use a flap and she point black refuses to use one even if I try to prop it open she just avoids it.
I used wood pellets and just switched to Worlds Best Cat Litter. Have to be honest though, even though the WBCL is better for the environment and for the cat, its a pain in the neck every day to have to clean out the clumps. I know some on here do well with it though, but maybe its just me. The pellets are so much easier to clean and I feel like it doesn't smell whereas WBCL is supposed to have good odour control of its own but I find that I can smell the tray now so am constantly cleaning it out. It was worth a try but will go back to pellets I think, much easier to clean out and Lexy doesn't seem to mind either one.
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Kittybabe, do you use a good couple of inches of WBCL in the tray? The deeper you keep it, the better it works. I like it but not all of my cats will use it so i have clay as well.
When you say removing the clumps daily is a pain do you not have to do that with wood pellets? Im on tray duty 3 times a day!
Kittykat, has your kitten used wood pellets before? If not, id use two trays one with the wood and one with whatever shes used to. They can be funny about the size/pointyness of granules :innocent:
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Yes its kept deep but clearning them out is worse than the wood pellets..that is much easier, quicker and seems cleaner.
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Yes its kept deep but clearning them out is worse than the wood pellets..that is much easier, quicker and seems cleaner.
Have you got the WBCL litter scoop? With that it's really simple. I get the extra strength litter due to Bilbo having very stinky wee and it doesn't smell at all so is odd you're finding it does with Lexy.
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I havent tried WB but when the birmans arrived they came with a clumping litter and it was horrible, much prefer the wood chips and as you say Kitty its just easier to clean out.
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I can't imagine wood chips being easier to clean out than clumping :shify: Don't they go to sawdust when wet? With the clumping that I use it's just scoop, scoop and it's done in seconds. I can't imagine getting sawdust up as easily. But whatever works for you!
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Its not loose sawdust, regardless of whether its wet or dry (when it dries the pellets expand and will crumble if agitated) the section where teh cat pees sticks together pretty much so if you use a good scoop you can get all the wet/dry patches in one go. I think its just a comedy of errors in my house. The WBCL is so lovely and soft Lexy sinks into it when she gets in all the fine dust clings to her paws and legs so she spends so long cleaning up her paws. As a result I think the corn that she's been ingesting has constipated her because she hasn't pooped properly now since a day or so after she started using the new litter. She keeps leaving me one or two small poops but not her regular healthy amount.
Last night I cleaned out the WBCL and got the pellets out and Lexy was squeaking at me happily for a bit after. I hope she goes!
I honestly do think that the type of litter you use is totally dependent on what your cat needs and what is easiest for you. A few people I know use clumping litter and love it, others not so much.
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Waw, I had no idea there were so many different makes of litter haha.
We use Bio-Catolet (I think thats the name)
Thats proven the best for our kittys so far and because they throw it around and pounce on it this one is easier to clean up lol.
Anyone else use it?
Sarah x