Cat Litter - Environmently Friendly

[fossyant]

OK, We have 5 cats, indoors. Cat litter is a big issue, not so much cost, but disposal.....

We've used wood, paper, corn, normal stuff. Wood reprocessed stuff is good, if messy with it becoming wood dust and cats trailing it. Paper is good too, but it's expensive, very.

My missus is on the 'posh cat' facebook page for the breed we have (popular in America), but getting a £500 cat litter machine is a bit daft. Pet planet have the 'manual' version for £30... (use clumping litter, and slowly rotate the 'enclosure' so clean litter goies in one bit, and the poo and wet litter falls in a tray. I'm not exactly lasy, but £500 to do that... American's for you.

Anyway... we have a tray with a grate in it - the idea is the wet passes through and the solids stay on top, pee goes in bottom (with appropriate disinfectant) .But, the cat litter is that good, loads get's absorbed before it passes through.

Idea.. pea shingle, stone, no pee in 'material'.

Loaded litter with it, pee goes through, poop is on top for disposal. Bottom get's emptied, shingle can be tipped into bucket for washing, then back into tray.

So far so good, cat's have pee'ed into it loads... liquid emptied, poop disposed, wash shingle, back in litter tray....

I'll let you know how it goes.... might be a miss, might be a go.

 

[Milkfloat]

I have a cat flap, much easier

 

[Mo1959]

OK, We have 5 cats, indoors. Cat litter is a big issue, not so much cost, but disposal.....

We've used wood, paper, corn, normal stuff. Wood reprocessed stuff is good, if messy with it becoming wood dust and cats trailing it. Paper is good too, but it's expensive, very.

My missus is on the 'posh cat' facebook page for the breed we have (popular in America), but getting a £500 cat litter machine is a bit daft. Pet planet have the 'manual' version for £30... (use clumping litter, and slowly rotate the 'enclosure' so clean litter goies in one bit, and the poo and wet litter falls in a tray. I'm not exactly lasy, but £500 to do that... American's for you.

Anyway... we have a tray with a grate in it - the idea is the wet passes through and the solids stay on top, pee goes in bottom (with appropriate disinfectant) .But, the cat litter is that good, loads get's absorbed before it passes through.

Idea.. pea shingle, stone, no pee in 'material'.

Loaded litter with it, pee goes through, poop is on top for disposal. Bottom get's emptied, shingle can be tipped into bucket for washing, then back into tray.

So far so good, cat's have pee'ed into it loads... liquid emptied, poop disposed, wash shingle, back in litter tray....

I'll let you know how it goes.... might be a miss, might be a go.

Glad I only have one cat now! Fortunately I seem to manage ok with a decent clumping litter.

 

[fossyant]

I have a cat flap, much easier

Ours are indoor, one partially sighted, one with cat flu, and 3 pedigrees.

 

[Mo1959]

Ours are indoor, one partially sighted, one with cat flu, and 3 pedigrees.

I occasionally feel sorry for Molly not getting out, but I would be a nervous wreck. I seem to constantly read of people who’s cats have gone missing or been injured/killed on the road. My last Siamese got out by mistake and she got run over and died the next morning. It’s 3 years ago now but I still get flashbacks and feel physically sick remembering her damaged little body. I’m ultra careful now as I could never go through that again.

 

[Drago]

Chuck it over the fence into @Dave7 s garden.

 

[Reynard]

Hah, my two will come *IN* to use the litter tray - and they have access to a very large garden / woodland. In the summer, they might pee outside if caught short, but beyond that, no...

I use the Benek Corn litter (in the 40 litre sacks from Zooplus - £22 something per sack) and the girls love it. OK, it tracks a little, but nothing a dustpan and brush won't solve. It's clumping, keeps the smell down and is pretty economical. Plus it's biodegradable and flushable. I chuck it in the garden, can't flush here as it's a tank.

My two will refuse to use the paper or wood pellets. That's the only concern with litter that's more chunky, as some cats find it uncomfortable to stand on.

Do you only have one tray @fossyant ? Maybe add an extra tray or two - the recommended is typically one per cat plus one extra, although realistically that's a little bit of overkill. Also, if litter tracking is a big issue, get a top access tray - it's like a hooded tray, but the hole to get inside is in the lid, and it keeps the litter containerised.

FWIW, most of my cat show / cat rescue friends, many with big multi-cat households (we're talking anywhere between 6 and 18 cats here) just use ordinary trays and scoop morning and evening. Most have tried the fancy litter systems and say that they're more hassle than what they're worth.

 

[fossyant]

3 trays !

 

[Threevok]

We have two cats, one permanently indoors - 2 litter trays

We usually use the Wood stuff - Big bag from B & M and cheap as chips (pardon the pun)

Unfortunately, I couldn't get any this week so I switched to the normal stone-chip stuff

I forgot how much of a pain in the arse this stuff is

 

[goo_mason]

I'm trying to find a more economical cat litter - my indoor cat suffered from recurrent UTIs, so in the end the vet suggested changing the litter completely every day as he reckoned she was so fussy that anything other than fresh was stressing her out. The suggestion was the dirt-cheap Tesco Value stuff: line the tray with a few sheets of newspaper, put in a thin layer of litter and it'd be cheap and quick to tip out without having to wash the tray daily too.

It's been going fine now for a year, but for the last few months Tesco's value stuff has been unavailable, so I was paying almost £5 (instead of £1.55) for their next-up-in-price own-label. Now that's no longer available either and all that's been left to buy for months is the almost £8-a-bag Catsan.

I've tried the Lidl Fullers' Earth stuff and the Tesco wooden pellet stuff, but the cat doesn't like it and tries to avoid the tray as long as possible (hence the chance of another UTI).

I thought perhaps I could buy in bulk online & reduce the cost that way - but even the cheapest online stuff seems to be way more expensive than Tesco Value.

Anyone found any bargain bulk litter suppliers?

 

[welsh dragon]

I don't have a cat so no mess at all for me.

 

[Mo1959]

I'm trying to find a more economical cat litter - my indoor cat suffered from recurrent UTIs, so in the end the vet suggested changing the litter completely every day as he reckoned she was so fussy that anything other than fresh was stressing her out. The suggestion was the dirt-cheap Tesco Value stuff: line the tray with a few sheets of newspaper, put in a thin layer of litter and it'd be cheap and quick to tip out without having to wash the tray daily too.

It's been going fine now for a year, but for the last few months Tesco's value stuff has been unavailable, so I was paying almost £5 (instead of £1.55) for their next-up-in-price own-label. Now that's no longer available either and all that's been left to buy for months is the almost £8-a-bag Catsan.

I've tried the Lidl Fullers' Earth stuff and the Tesco wooden pellet stuff, but the cat doesn't like it and tries to avoid the tray as long as possible (hence the chance of another UTI).

I thought perhaps I could buy in bulk online & reduce the cost that way - but even the cheapest online stuff seems to be way more expensive than Tesco Value.

Anyone found any bargain bulk litter suppliers?

What about some of the fine clumping litter. I get a couple of big bags at a time from Zooplus. The wee goes into nice clumps and can be scooped right away to keep it fresh for her.

 

[Threevok]

I'm trying to find a more economical cat litter - my indoor cat suffered from recurrent UTIs, so in the end the vet suggested changing the litter completely every day as he reckoned she was so fussy that anything other than fresh was stressing her out. The suggestion was the dirt-cheap Tesco Value stuff: line the tray with a few sheets of newspaper, put in a thin layer of litter and it'd be cheap and quick to tip out without having to wash the tray daily too.

It's been going fine now for a year, but for the last few months Tesco's value stuff has been unavailable, so I was paying almost £5 (instead of £1.55) for their next-up-in-price own-label. Now that's no longer available either and all that's been left to buy for months is the almost £8-a-bag Catsan.

I've tried the Lidl Fullers' Earth stuff and the Tesco wooden pellet stuff, but the cat doesn't like it and tries to avoid the tray as long as possible (hence the chance of another UTI).

I thought perhaps I could buy in bulk online & reduce the cost that way - but even the cheapest online stuff seems to be way more expensive than Tesco Value.

Anyone found any bargain bulk litter suppliers?

The one I mentioned earlier was the Morrisons cheap one - perhaps that would suit you

I can't see it on their site, but it's in a plain white bag

 

[Chromatic]

I'm trying to find a more economical cat litter - my indoor cat suffered from recurrent UTIs, so in the end the vet suggested changing the litter completely every day as he reckoned she was so fussy that anything other than fresh was stressing her out. The suggestion was the dirt-cheap Tesco Value stuff: line the tray with a few sheets of newspaper, put in a thin layer of litter and it'd be cheap and quick to tip out without having to wash the tray daily too.

It's been going fine now for a year, but for the last few months Tesco's value stuff has been unavailable, so I was paying almost £5 (instead of £1.55) for their next-up-in-price own-label. Now that's no longer available either and all that's been left to buy for months is the almost £8-a-bag Catsan.

I've tried the Lidl Fullers' Earth stuff and the Tesco wooden pellet stuff, but the cat doesn't like it and tries to avoid the tray as long as possible (hence the chance of another UTI).

I thought perhaps I could buy in bulk online & reduce the cost that way - but even the cheapest online stuff seems to be way more expensive than Tesco Value.

Anyone found any bargain bulk litter suppliers?

I found the Sainsbury's value stuff is the same as the Tesco value stuff, more or less the same price too

 

[sheddy]

Is there a market for the long drop cat latrine ?