Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: tigerbaby on January 03, 2009, 17:42:39 PM
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So...
What cat litter is popular amongst the furries and what litter isn't?
When I volunteered at the cats home they used the wooden pellet type litter, but a woman at PAH today said Catsan (or another similar clumping brand) is more cost-effective. I also saw another brand (Clean n' Tidy) that I liked the look/sound of.
I got a small bag today of the wooden pellet variety only because I saw that in Busters picture so thought it would be better to use something he is used to first, and then gradually change if need be.
We bought a medium (well, it's quite large actually) tray as well, and got a smaller one somewhere too.
I feel quite clueless as when we had Jameson he didn't like using the tray, but admittedly his ex owner used the cheapest variety of cat litter so maybe that was why. Regardless we ended up not keeping a tray for him inside as he would cry at the door to be let outside and not wanting to use his tray indoors.
Any advise would be appreciated
Thank you!
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I have to differ with the lady at the cat place. I find catsan and others quite messy and they track through the house and require full replacing far more frequently than a wood-based litter. But then, my cats have access to outdoors during the day and will only use the tray at night or if it is too cold or rainy out. They are using it at present despite full sunshine during the day because the frost has not thawed for a few days ...
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Thanks.
Have you heard of Clean n' Tidy? This is what it says on the packet 'Clumping Adult Cat Litter 7kg by Clean 'N' Tidy is 99% dust free, keeping paw prints to a minimum for a clean home'
I liked the sound of that but then again I don't know how much to a minimum the paw prints would be kept!
We also looked at a 'litter tray mat' that apparently helps absorbing up the 'dirt' on their paws as they climb out of the tray. Anyone knows if they are any good?
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any fine textured material will track. It sticks to the fur between your cat's toes. Mats are, to my mind, waste of time. They assume the cat will wipe its feet, which it won't. More likely to be dug over and torn by over-vigorous cleanups of smelly poos in my house ...
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Ok. Do you need to change the wooden litter daily? As on the other ones it tells you to scoop the clumps and refill, but then clean everything out weekly.
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I use fine grain clumping litter. I generally buy it from zooplus (golden grey) as it's cheap to buy the big sacks from there, but when I can't get that I use sainsburys ultra clumping.
I disagree about mats being a waste of time. I have one and an amazing amount of litter comes off their feet as they walk across it. They don't need to specifically wipe their feet. At first they used to jump across it (and Jaffa still has a habit of jumping out of the tray rather then stepping out of it ;D) but as they got used to it they stopped purposely avoiding it and it does work. It's a worthwhile investment imo.
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I saw the Sainsburys ultra clumping litter today - good price. Does it neutralise odours too?
We will be keeping the main litter tray in the hallway, tucked away, so as he would step out of it, he would walk on the mat and then across the hallway still on a rough mat that I often hoover so I'm thinking that would be a fair amount of walking on 'safe' mats before jumping on my £600 sofa (that admittedly Jameson used as his scratching post!)
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I use Cats Best OKO, it's biodegradeable and flushable (if you're brave enough to try), clumps and never whiffs, well not for aaaaaages and lasts forever. there's a few of us on here who are devotees to it, Mark I know off the top of my head uses it. I also have a mat, as I have a hooded tray so he has to step out to the mat, it catches a fair few granules, certainly a lot less to be found on the sofa and in the bed than previously :sick: It is also quite cheap.
Do a thread search and you will find a few discussions about it, they are what prompted me to try it.
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I saw the Sainsburys ultra clumping litter today - good price. Does it neutralise odours too?
It's not the best for odout control, although I do only smell anything if they've just done a poo. That's why I prefer the golden grey from zooplus as it is better for odour control (and cheaper), but in every other way the sainsburys one is pretty good.
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I used to use Golden Grey but after trying Cats Best I would say it is 1000% better at odour control. Tracks less too but that's just my opinion.
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I used to use Golden Grey but after trying Cats Best I would say it is 1000% better at odour control.
Really? I don't get any odour at all when using Golden grey. Only if I'm sitting next to the tray when they do a poo, will I smell anything at all.
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Some cats arent fussy so see what he likes, if he doesnt mind wood then cats best oko is very good, if he is fussier then a fine clay clumping litter like golden grey. Tbh all litter tracks, these 2 are both pretty good.
Normal wood pellets turn to dust and non clumping clay mixes up and i find it a nightmare to scoop everything out, so i would be binning the lot on a daily basis so i prefer clumping, its much easier having 6 enthusiastic tray diggers :tired:
The most important thing about clumpnig litter is to keep it deep ;)
Should also mention that worlds best is a good performing litter which you can get in cheaper form as chick crumb
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Chick Crumb, (I really believe you need hooded trays with chick crumb)
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My guys love Asda's clay litter, they hate it when we have tried them on anything else.
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I used clay ultra-clumping for a while but find it heavy and not very effective. I started using Cats Best OKO clumping around 6 months ago and would never use anything else. It clumps really well so easy to get the soiled litter out. Weighs a fraction of clay. Easy and bio-friendly compared to clay. They say it can be flushed but it can block the toilet. It is easy to bag & bin although at the moment, I throw soiled litter on our wood burner.
It is really cost effective an I would say one bag lasts around 6 weeks (for one tray)
I would never go back to clay - so much so that I have 1 1/2 unused containers of clean n easy that I am planning to dump as I hate using it so much. I bought it a while ago when PAH were out of stock of Cats Best and it was BOGOF but I wish I hadn't bothered.
There are also health issues with ultra clumping clay http://www.thelighthouseonline.com/articles/clump.html http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-dangers-of-clumping-cat-litter.html- just some of the many articles about it.
If you look on Zooplus, it gets 5 star reviews (including one from me)
Some does end up on the floor but I find it easy to sweep up as it is light, whereas clumping clay litter when wet is disgusting and sticks to everything (like any wet clay)
I would say Cats Best Oko is the best ever cat product I have tried :)
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Cats Best for me too at the moment. Good on odour control, nicely clumping, soft for cats to use, economical (only scoop the poop and clumps of wee - then top up) - only drawback is the tracking.
I like wood pellets too, but I prefer clumping litters on the whole.
Sainsbury's Ultra Clumping was pretty good, it clumps well.
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Thanks.
Have you heard of Clean n' Tidy? This is what it says on the packet 'Clumping Adult Cat Litter 7kg by Clean 'N' Tidy is 99% dust free, keeping paw prints to a minimum for a clean home'
I liked the sound of that but then again I don't know how much to a minimum the paw prints would be kept!
I've just started using this litter and it's wonderful! I have tried pretty much everything on the market and this is the best I've ever tried. It's a sand-like texture, is very good for clumping so easy to clean the tray and very economical. Plus, most importantly the cats love it with the added bonus of no chalky paw prints.
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We use Chick Crumb and have both open and covered trays - TBH it doesnt make any more mess than any other litter I have tried but is definately kind on the pennies.
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I used to use Golden Grey but after trying Cats Best I would say it is 1000% better at odour control.
Really? I don't get any odour at all when using Golden grey. Only if I'm sitting next to the tray when they do a poo, will I smell anything at all.
I found that after a few days of scooping it started to smell, not really of soiled litter but a bit off, hard to explain, basically I could smell there was a litter tray and in a small flat it could be a bit off putting. When I went to Cats Best I honestly rarely ever smell the tray, even when getting close to complete change over day. I also like the environmental aspect.
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Chick crumb here, no odours and lasts for ages, plus it clumps wees really well, and you can flush it down the loo as well (I flush poos and put wees in the bin).
I pay about £11 for a 20kg bag as well which lasts for ages :)
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Ohhh TB I use the Clean and Tidy... :attention:it's not bad, lasts ages, is very odour absorbing, clumps well and is fine grained. The only down side I have is that is does track, but put a litter mat or old rug under it and the problem lessens considerably.
If you can still get hold of the bucket packs do so..cos the online site only does it in bags now (though techinically you now get two bags and 2 extra Kgs for less than the price of 1 bucket if not on BOGOF!
I've tried a lot of litters and to be honest all but the large grained litters track to a degree, but then they're uncomfortable for cats to stand on..... you can't win :shify:
Thats my twopenneth worth :donate:
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Thanks all!
We will start off with using the wood pellets, and will compare prices between the other litters you have mentioned.
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Sorry, a bit of topic. but with regards to flushing animal poo, i was under the impression that you shouldn't as there are some things carried by cats and dogs that can contaminate our water...? :-:
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I think Beth that there are far worse things put down toilets than cat poo :sick: Our flushed water goes straight to treatment plants so really in theory you can put just about anything down there, of course most of things you shouldn't put down there. :evillaugh:
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My two hate wooden litters and I hate really clumpy ones so I use catsan. It does track a lot (I use one of those mats which really helps) and does need totally changing really regularly so it's not perfect but mine mostly go outside so it's fine for here.
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Actually, there were threads on here and CC about not flushing poos down the tray - here is the CC thread - apparently toxo isn't killed and can then go on to kill marine animals.
http://www.catchat.org/discus/messages/18/76999.html
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I ahve just done a quick bit of research and there is no concrete evidence to suggest flushing cat faeces is the culprit behind marine deaths. You are advised against it just in case but the debate is ongoing amongst researchers and scientists. :sneaky:
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The Clan Cats have a variety of litters on the go - wood pellet as we now get it off our old CP for taking the three old ferals and have always used it its easy to pick up the number 2's and soaks the numbers 1's well - we only just cover the bottom of the trays so its econmical that way and lessens the deep burriers from chucking it everywhere
We also use clumping clay, paper pellet type stuff and use a clumping wood one can't remeber the name but it was great as it clumps and removes really well
We also have the litter mats and find them useful for the clumping litter users
We use a variety as some came with specific types and others have fitted in I think the worst sort is the compost use for the ferals till we can change them over compost goes everywhere!!!
Good luck and I'm sure Buster will tell you if he doesn't like them!
We also have open, and hooded trays and some with lips our lot are never short of trying out any new types and litters to!
Most of ours come from Zooplus, Petplanet and Pet supermarket when they are on offer
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OKO cats best for me too - by far the best Ive ever tried!
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OKO Cats Best in my household too :) I started off with wood pellets but it was impossible to scoop the wee's up, Cats best tracks because my two are long hair but I dont suppose i t would with Buster :)
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I'm another chick crumb fan, it is so cheap and performs really well
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We (all fosterers) l use the wood pellets as we find that there is absolutely no urine smell and that to us is important. If there is a smell of urine then we would know a cat has a problem. I am sure many of you know you can put your nose right up to it ;D and still there is no smell of urine. When people come to view a cat I deliberately leave a tray down that a cat will have weeeed in just to show them that there is no smell, sometimes there fact is a picture as I offer the tray up to them to smell.
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We (all fosterers) l use the wood pellets as we find that there is absolutely no urine smell and that to us is important. If there is a smell of urine then we would know a cat has a problem. I am sure many of you know you can put your nose right up to it ;D and still there is no smell of urine. When people come to view a cat I deliberately leave a tray down that a cat will have weeeed in just to show them that there is no smell, sometimes there face is a picture as I offer the tray up to them to smell.
Bet that offer's taken up regularly(!)
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OKO Cats Best in my household too :) I started off with wood pellets but it was impossible to scoop the wee's up, Cats best tracks because my two are long hair but I dont suppose i t would with Buster :)
Have you tried the OKO pellets? - not sure if they would be any better? - I normally find some by the trays but it takes 2 seconds to sweep up. I have mentioned it before but I got some miniature dustpans and brushes in Wilkinsons for 49p each and just keep on on each tray (5 trays)
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Another one here for OKO cats best, lasts ages, doesn't smell and is really easy to clean out, wouldn't change now, started on wooden pellets but found that when they got wet they went really dusty so there was slightly wee-y dust being walked round the flat!
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Mine prefer the wooden pellets get the 30litre sacks £8.49 i think form the local pets store or the pets at home one.
I go thru quite a bit as more goes to waste, as Pod will bang on the door where litter kept when its been used.(am sure he's half human with his ways)
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Another one here for OKO cats best, lasts ages, doesn't smell and is really easy to clean out, wouldn't change now, started on wooden pellets but found that when they got wet they went really dusty so there was slightly wee-y dust being walked round the flat!
I bought 2 more yesterday after buying 2 last week - not because it ran out but I want to make sure it doesn't run out in future :evillaugh: I would hate to have to resort to anything inferior - ie anything else :evillaugh:
I can't believe how long I used Catsan for and put up with smells and complete changes every few days. Although OKO is about £1 more a bag than catsan, it lasts 4 x longer and so much easier all round.
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Thanks all, very useful info from all of you.
Well little 'Buster' is ok using the wood pellets, but I think it would be easier with a clumping litter - I like the thought of it anyway. I will try a few of the litters mentioned here, and see what he AND we prefer. We have a few mats under and around the tray, and I hoover lots anyway so not worried too much about litter getting on the floor. My main concern is the smell - our apartment is not big enough for stinky whiffs like the one this morning :rofl: So whatever masks the smell the best is a winner in our books.
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Usually my boys have PAH Antibacterial litter and the girls have Oko Plus.
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I get a wood pellet litter from my local market, £6 for 30l !! and I scoop poop every day, it also claims to be flushable but my darlings doings won't flush :evillaugh:
I have no odor issues and the whole lot (minus poos) goes into out compost where it seems to break down fairly quickly... done wonders for the garden too as it breaks up the clay soil we have nicely
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Thanks all, very useful info from all of you.
Well little 'Buster' is ok using the wood pellets, but I think it would be easier with a clumping litter - I like the thought of it anyway. I will try a few of the litters mentioned here, and see what he AND we prefer. We have a few mats under and around the tray, and I hoover lots anyway so not worried too much about litter getting on the floor. My main concern is the smell - our apartment is not big enough for stinky whiffs like the one this morning :rofl: So whatever masks the smell the best is a winner in our books.
Don't forget Cats Best OKO is wood but also clumping so the best of both worlds :) - other wood pellets just turn to mush but OKO clumps really well but unlike clay clumping, it doesn't stick to the tray like cement.
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:thanks:
I'm going to get some OKO Cats Best I think, either that or Chick Crumbs or Clean n Tidy. Will see once I'm in the shop reading the packets & labels.
I think I'm doing something seriously wrong as I've already used up a 5 litre bag in.... 2 days? I just found it hard to scoop out the wee and poo and ended up scooping out all of it and refilling (twice a day!)
This will get a bit of time getting used to.
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that is a lot lol! with the chick crumb I get 20kg and I change three trays weekly and it lasts about 3 weeks but its only £10 so I don't mind, I know other people who make it last much longer
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I use chick crumb too, a 20kg sack is £10 and lasts a month or more with two deep trays. I sccop the clumps of wee and poos out and when it's getting low I top up to make it deep again. Because it clumps so well you scoop out all the nasties so it can be left quite a while before you need to do a full change. I have hooded trays and only ever notice a niff when they've just deposited a fresh poo :evillaugh:
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Where can I get chick crumb from? And it doesn't smell?!
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I use Smart Cat wood pellets and 30 litres lasts for ages unless all 4 cats decide they want to use trays.............more than one is right now.
It costs about £12 from the pet shop and pet shop at end of road used to get it specially for me and the other shop has it in all of time. Reckon its best of the wood pellet ones.
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You can get the chick crumb from most animal feed and garden centres - I use the Arco 20kg sacks (£7.95) and my garden centre orders it in for me.
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mark thinks it smells of farmyards but I don't see that myself lol, the feed place I get mine from does 5kg bags so if you could get one of those you could give it a try, I also get it from Jolleyes
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I do think it has a funny smell :sick:
Cats best has a feint pine smell?
If you are buying chick crumb, make sure there are no additives as some have additives which can cause health issues for cats (paralysis of rear legs)
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OKO Cats Best in my household too :) I started off with wood pellets but it was impossible to scoop the wee's up, Cats best tracks because my two are long hair but I dont suppose i t would with Buster :)
Have you tried the OKO pellets? - not sure if they would be any better? - I normally find some by the trays but it takes 2 seconds to sweep up. I have mentioned it before but I got some miniature dustpans and brushes in Wilkinsons for 49p each and just keep on on each tray (5 trays)
Thanks, i'll have to try them. Where do you get yours from?
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I think I'm doing something seriously wrong as I've already used up a 5 litre bag in.... 2 days? I just found it hard to scoop out the wee and poo and ended up scooping out all of it and refilling (twice a day!)
Thats what makes cats best so much better, easy to scoop so no chucking out. ;D
I got duck/goose starter crumb which is also good, my local place has coccidia treatment in all its chick crumb so thats no good. Doesnt smell farmyardy to me just yeasty
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OKO Cats Best in my household too :) I started off with wood pellets but it was impossible to scoop the wee's up, Cats best tracks because my two are long hair but I dont suppose i t would with Buster :)
Have you tried the OKO pellets? - not sure if they would be any better? - I normally find some by the trays but it takes 2 seconds to sweep up. I have mentioned it before but I got some miniature dustpans and brushes in Wilkinsons for 49p each and just keep on on each tray (5 trays)
Thanks, i'll have to try them. Where do you get yours from?
I have tried the pellets but you can get them from Zooplus. They are more expensive than the regular Cats Best. I think the pellets are called Cats best gold if you want to google it.
Edit - Zooplus have it on offer x x 10L for £19.99 instead of £23.97 - so on offer it's not much more than the regular one.
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_litter/cats_best/43107
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I bought Cats Best OKO - 2 bags. 'Buster' has taken his first dump in the new litter - but didn't cover it up so I had to go after him and do it :sick: It doesn't smell of anything now though.
He did cover the poo up last time (wood pellets), but the first time he didn't (wood pellets). Wonder why? Do cats sometimes 'forget'? As he was digging around moving the litter around, so it looked like he was.
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We find the wooden pellets work really well and last a long time too. We just pick out the solids and then sieve the rest with a garden sieve to seperate the used from the clean. We don't really get many saw dust trails, although Hazel likes to take the pellets out and play with them. I found one in my shoe the other morning!
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We find the wooden pellets work really well and last a long time too. We just pick out the solids and then sieve the rest with a garden sieve to seperate the used from the clean.
I used to do that when I used the wood pellets - it does make them last much longer doesnt it? ;D