I have used:
Thomas cat litter – mineral, non clumping, similar to Catsan but much cheaper. My mum used this for years for her indoor cat and I used it when I needed to have a litter tray for my late boy Woody.
Sophisticat Beauticat – wood pellets, non clumping. James and Christopher used this when they were in rescue and I continued with it. Poop gets scooped and the pellets break down to sawdust as they absorb the wee; once it’s all sawdust, dump the lot (can go on compost heap if you have one) and start again. 30 litres used to last about 6 weeks.
Oko Cats Best – plant matter granules, clumping. When Eleanor arrived she didn’t get on with the wood pellets (she’s missing a front leg and can’t dig to cover up). Initially I got this just for her but the boys didn’t object to it so now I use it in all the trays. Poop gets scooped and flushed, wee forms clumps for scooping which in theory can be flushed but I don’t. You never “use up” all the litter – as long as it’s dry it’s usable, you just keep topping it up. When I clean the litter trays I tip out all the loose litter, clean the trays, replace the original litter and top up if necessary. 40 litres lasts about 10 weeks.
I’ve never used tray liners – Christopher tries to dig to Australia so they’d be pretty pointless. I now use covered trays with the doors taken off but have used open trays in the past – Eleanor had one when she first arrived but she was also sporting the cone of shame from her spay and couldn’t have got into a covered tray.
I've never noticed a lot of difference in "odour control" between the wood pellets and Cats Best. Both are pretty good but if anything is particularly stinky I use
http://www.commandenvironmentalsolutions.com/epages/BT4547.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT4547/Products/RX23 All litters track to some extent – it’s the joy of cats! – and hoovering is in the job description for slaves.
And you thought you were sad
