Not the corn stuff!
The corn stuff is just corn, no scent, and no pee smell either.
[/end sales pitch]
~mixie
Wow, Blown, I’m impressed - both my mother and brother have had cats that refuse to use Fresh Step (something with the constantly released scent, apparently). It’s interesting to me that your kitties like it.
Concrete at the bottom for scoopable? Really? Do other people notice this behavior as well?
One more - do you scoop it to your regular trash, do you have a dedicated trash recepticle for the kitties leavings, or do you take it to the trash outside? Really - enquiring minds need to know.
Snicks
Wow, Blown, I’m impressed - both my mother and brother have had cats that refuse to use Fresh Step (something with the constantly released scent, apparently). It’s interesting to me that your kitties like it.
Concrete at the bottom for scoopable? Really? Do other people notice this behavior as well?
One more - do you scoop it to your regular trash, do you have a dedicated trash recepticle for the kitties leavings, or do you take it to the trash outside? Really - enquiring minds need to know.
Snicks
Well, since we just got a Littermaid self cleaning system, we use Arm and Hammor clumping litter. So far we really love the system. All we have to do is empty the little container at the end periodically. We’re still getting used to it, so emptying routines still aren’t down just yet, but it’s getting there.
Now if we could just get the one to stop scratching in it so much, and spraying litter all over the place…sigh
I scoop either into the plastic grocery store bags, or if I’m out of them, I have some small trash plastic bags that I got a roll of at WalMart for less than $1 and I’ll use those.
Depending on the stinkiness, I either drop the bag into my regular trash can or walk it down the hall to the garbage chute. It also depends on whether I feel like chatting with the cute neighbor while holding a bag of cat poop/piss.
One of my friends keeps the big empty litter container (I guess the 35 pound box), scoops into it and seals it back up. Once it’s full, she’ll put that in the dumpster - I’m not sure if she scoops into a bag and then puts the bag into that or not.
Personally, I have found that while the scoopable litter tastes great, the regular litter is less filling.
Ah, but will you still like the Littermaid once this happens to it?
We use clumping. Our new Booda Dome litter box is doing a reasonable job of cutting down on the tracking, although we still use a rug by the exit to cut down on the spread of litter through the house. A covered box is a necessity in our house, since digging is Cobalt’s favorite hobby. He frequently goes into the litterbox (even when it’s clean), throws some litter in all directions, and comes back out, without actually using it.
We scoop once a day, and keep the results in a covered trash can by the box until trash day. I’ve heard that people have good results by using a Diaper Genie to hold the scoopings, also.
i’ve used regular kitty litter in the past. (i’ve consistently had a cat in my life since i was 7. that’s a number of decades now…) i switched to the scoopable variety about 5 years ago – and haven’t looked back since. if it’s a variety that clumps well, it does seem to keep the odors reasonably in check. i did have the misfortune to once use a variety that absorbed wetness and held it, but didn’t form very firm clumps. THAT got pretty nasty over time, since you couldn’t get all of the old urine-soaked sand out when you cleaned. i finally just dumped it all and started fresh with a new brand. (pity i can’t recall which brand it was that proved to be an underperformer.) and porcupine, several scoopable varieties advertise themselves as low-dust types.
bughunter, i might have a solution for your Extreme Cattage problem. i’ve got a covered corner unit that i keep in the upstairs master bathroom for our two girls. (there’s a regular large-sized open air model in the utility room downstairs.) this kittypan is specifically designed to fit in corners, so it’s shaped roughly like a pie wedge; right-angled straight sides to fit in corner, and rounded outer edge to face the room. because it’s covered, you don’t worry about the “overhang” issue. and because it’s wedge-shaped, there’s a bit more room on the diagonal that may give your Big Guy the extra length he apparently needs. it even comes with a little flap-type door for the entrance, but that’s something that can be used or not at the owner’s option. (i’ve left it off ours, but it would certainly be helpful on cutting down on the outside scratching/odor leaking issues, if your cat will deal with going through it to get into the pan.) one word of warning, though – this model, which i believe i picked up at PetsMart, comes with a grid-type “sifter” that they recommend putting on the bottom unit and using to clean out the deposits. (obviously recommended for clumping-type litter.) i tried doing it their way a time or two, but if you’ve got a big load to clean out, it’s not very helpful. (probably one of those designs that looked really good on paper, but should have been tested waaay more before going to market.) worse, since the sand sifts into and under the grid material, you get wet clumps that form around and under the sifter. i finally just left the stupid thing out and use a normal kitty scoop to clean the pan. the top half lifts right off, so it’s easy.
Snickers, i think a number of scoopable litter brands make unscented versions for cats (or people) that find the scented versions unappealing.
regarding the corn versus clay debate – i’ve never tried the corn-based stuff, although i did make a (regrettable) foray into the paper-based variety once. really, though, the same economy of scale applies to either variety, since you take out the waste and replenish the filler as needed. my guess is that the scoopable clay would probably be more economical over time, since it probably costs less per pound than the corn litter, and should conceivably last about as long.
oh, yes… removal technique. we use the plastic sleeve bags that our newspaper regularly gets delivered in. (extra-large Sunday sizes are always good on heavy-load cleaning days.) just scoop lumps of either variety into bag, twist top and tie into knot. smell is effectively contained, as well as spillage, so the load can go into the regular trash can. and if there’s a small hole at the bottom of the bag, i just tie a knot down there to separate it from the usable portion of the bag. best of all, they’re free, and arrive daily!
quietman1920, most pet stores now carry more heavy-duty versions of the plastic scoopers, probably in response to this heavier-load phenomena.
j66, i buy the cheapest variety of the “old fashioned” cat litter i can find and keep a bag in my garage, just for uses like absorbing nasty garage spills or spreading on the driveway after shoveling off the snow. it’s strictly non-cat use, and since it doesn’t go bad, you can keep it practically forever.
I am catless right now (I miss my boy, but he’s got new people to spoil him…) and was using a mixture of the crystal stuff and the regular store brand litter (cheaper) with him. Sort of a homemade version of the crystals plus litter, only with a lot more crystals. It kept the smell way the hell down; far better than the litter alone. I never tried the scoopable stuff with him because he was a messy kitty in the box – he’d kick and kick and kick and kick and kick and kick – and I figured it was at least easier to sweep up the bigger particles.
Fixed the tittle for you. 
We got our young cat just a week ago, and Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat(or T.H.E. Cat for short) seems to like the Arm And Hammer scoopable kitty litter just fine.
The one thing I’ll add is get a metal scoop. Better than any type of plastic. If you can’t find a metal one in the pet shop, get a scoop designed for kitchen use. Obviously, it will be cat use only once you get it home, though.
I live in an apartment, and have 5 cats. I know the “number of cats +1” rule about litter boxes, but I don’t have room for 6 litterboxes. The apartment is largeish but the only non-visible area I have for the boxes is this utility hallway that’s really narrow. Plus, the landlord thinks I have 2 cats and 6 boxes would um… make it very apparent I have more than 2 cats. So I have 2 and use Arm and Hammer’s scoopable. Sometimes I use FreshStep scoopable too. Works great! As long as I keep up with it, scooping every day, it doesn’t smell bad and I can usually get a week out of each box as long as I scoop regularly.
I tried the non scoopable kind and it was just too expensive/too much work, had to change it every other day or so. As it is, I go through about 1 30 lb box a week!
My only complaint is that the cats seem to enjoy digging the litter out, then peeing on the pile of litter on the floor so I have to keep an eye on that. They’re freaks like that; it’s not a cleanliness issue because they’ll do it even when the box is perfectly clean.
4 of the 5 cats are my SO’s, and he’s always said “a clean litterbox is kitty laxative” and he’s right. AS I AM SCOOPING, one will inevitably come over and pretend to use the box!
Oh, and I have a big plastic scoop that I found at the grocery store, and it works great. Those flimsy ones are the suck!
I have a LitterMaid Plus and had to get the old standard box with cover. At five months my Main Coons already could not fit into the damn thing.
Anybody wanna buy it?
I really like the crystal litter. It cuts down on the smell, doesn’t have to be changed as often, and is a lot lighter to carry in from the car.
Czarcasm, you rock. Thanks for the laugh, too.
Hmmm, it appears I might be trying me this new fangled “scoopable” litter type stuff when my old fashioned bag runs out.
Thanks, all.
Snicks
When we got our kitties a couple of months ago, we stopped by Petco on the way home from the shelter. We got this great scoop that is very sturdy and open at one end. You scoop the litter up the slotted end, and tip it all back through the other end, which has a bag attached to it. It comes with a starter pack of long ziploc bags, which you just slide over the open handle end. It’s great! You don’t have to try to maneuver the clumps into a bag, or spill litter, and you just detach the bag when you’re done. Zip, and into the trash it goes.
Also, a product that really neutralizes odors: Nature’s Miracle Litter Treatment. When we walk into the room right after one of our cats makes a big stink (how can such little things make so much smell??), we just sprinkle a little of it on the litter, and the stink goes away in seconds. This stuff doesn’t really have much scent – sort of the equivalent of unscented soap – and we’ve found it to be very effective on whatever type of litter we’re using.