Cost effective cat litter

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2004
Cost effective cat litter
12
Thu, 10-21-2004 - 8:46am

Hi Everyone,

DH and I just adopted our 4th cat. I posted here about introductions and things are going pretty well.

We now have 3 litter boxes but I still use disposable litter. How many of you use clumping litter and does it pay off with multiple cats? I'm afraid to make the initial investment and end up going back to disposable. I also don't know if this would work for me as I use box liners. Would I end up just not needing those?

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

Renee'

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-01-2003
Thu, 10-21-2004 - 8:51am
Good ?? as I have wondered that also!!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 10-21-2004 - 10:02am

I think the scooping litter is less expensive in the long run than the disposable.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2004
Thu, 10-21-2004 - 1:06pm
I have 5 inside only cats and 10 more that come in and out. Some actually come inside to use the litter box. How rude!!! I have 2 extra lrg. boxes and 1 regular litter box. I use the clumping litter. You will have to experiment with the brands for "smell" problems. I clean mine out several times a day, and totally once a week. I don't know if its cheaper but it works much better. You can clean up just the pee/poo spots. I guess a liner would work. I don't use them with any type litter, my cats would scratch holes in it. I like the brands with crystals.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2010
Fri, 10-22-2004 - 10:21am

I think the clumping liter may be cheaper or almost as cheap in the long run, as others said, b/c you're not emptying it out all the time & constantly buying more. It is more expensive to buy. I can see from the responses that other folks are going to say "Eww!" to me, but I never empty mine completely. I haven't for quite a few years, & it seems to work fine for me & my furkids. You'll need to experiment to find the best one for your kids. I understand that it varies w/your cats' pH. I believe that, since different people swear that different brands clump better. I went through a bunch of brands that didn't clump very well for me, until I settled on Arm & Hammer. Don't settle til you find one that clumps HARD & completely. I don't think the liners would matter either way.

I think Leslie's idea of trying it in 1 box is an excellent idea. See if your kids come to prefer it, or at least use it as much as the others. Be aware that it takes a little time for the pee to clump. You can't scoop it immediately after your cat pees. A lot of us have said before that our cats line up to use the box right after we clean it. LOL. I now prefer that to their using it just as I'm about to clean it, 'cause then I have to wait. LOL.

Katz

 

 Katz

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2004
Mon, 10-25-2004 - 1:53pm
how can you find the time to clean out the litter boxes 5 times a day? i guess you don't work away from home, but i feel lucky to get it done once in the morning and once when i get home. but good for you. dena harris
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2004
Mon, 10-25-2004 - 6:47pm
Actually I DO work from home! I have had a daycare for 17 years. The Arm/hammer? brand works good for one box, but I used it in three boxes and the a/h smell about knocked me out worse than any stinky litter box could. I haven't seen many posts from you, are you kinda new here? Anyway, I'll be glad to hear about your cats! donna
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-01-2003
Mon, 10-25-2004 - 7:40pm
I have a daycare to,do you go to the daycare board at all?


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2004
Mon, 10-25-2004 - 9:31pm
I mean't to answer you on this a few weeks ago. I don't even know where the d/c board is. Its a great way to be able to stay at home with your own kids, the money in it esp. in this small town is almost double what I would have made at another job. Plus I would have had to pay d/c. My boys are 18 and 23 yrs. old, one son is still best friends with a child I kept from 11 mos. on. donna
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
Tue, 10-26-2004 - 12:49am
Hi --

I can't really tell you what to do, since all cats are different, but I can tell you what worked great for me.

Have you considered a mix of the regular cat litter and the clumping stuff? Put a shallow layer of the regular clay stuff on the bottom, then cover it with a slightly deeper layer of the clumping litter, and let the cats mix it up as they scratch. (And the key, with any amount of clumping cat litter is DON'T try to cheap out and try for shallow coverage -- it just sticks to the bottom and doesn't do much for anybody. Much more expensive that way. Use a minimum of three inches in the pan.) That way, you still get scoopable clumps (though not quite as hard as some people prefer) but you're not using only the expensive stuff. I've found this costs less than using clumping stuff by itself, and it cuts WAY down on the smell over the regular litter. You probably wouldn't need to use the liners at all, just clean the whole thing out as needed.

By the way, if you want to try it out as inexpensively as possible, you might try the Special Kitty brand clumping litter from Wal-Mart as a first time thing. It's something like $5 for 30 lbs, so it's not like you'd be throwing money away for something that might not work. And if you and your kittens like the experience, then you can shop around for the more expensive stuff if you want to.

Penelope

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-12-2004
Tue, 10-26-2004 - 8:09am

I run a Family daycare also. I am a nanny school graduate and after nannying for 7 years I opened up a Family Daycare. I have been doing the daycare for 8 years now.

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