What cat litter system do I want? (2024)

I am not happy with my current cat litter situation, but I'm not sure what to replace it with.

posted by Serene Empress Dork to (15 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite

You want Arm & Hammer Platinum Slide. It’s a game changer.
posted by sacrifix at 6:43 PM on August 30 [2 favorites]

I use equine pellets and a sifting litter box and it's been a game changer. First of all, the pellets are dirt cheap as you can see. They sell them at home depot and other large hardware stores so you should be able to get some. They do sell the same pellets marketed as cat litter at pet stores for significantly more money, but I would highly recommend just buying the equine pellets for much less. The big thing is to make sure they're unscented and untreated with anything. The equine pellets should be fine since they need to be unscented and untreated for the horses. Basically how it works is when they pee on the pellets, or whenever the pellets get wet, they turn to sawdust and are totally odorless. So if it's the smell of cat pee in particular is what bothers you, it should be really helpful in making this more tolerable. The poop does smell, but I just scoop it right away and it's not much of a problem.

The daily routine is to scoop the poop into the litter genie everyday. That's it. When they pee on the pellets the sawdust is odorless. When you do a full clean, you basically shake the box back and forth while stirring it with the scooper in order to sift out all of the sawdust. I don't bother with this everyday. It doesn't smell, it's completely dry, and as long as it doesn't sit too long it doesn't bother the cats at all.

Once a week I do a full clean. I sift the box out completely so all the sawdust falls into the bottom pan. Then I dump it in the trash and wipe down the bottom pan with a cleaner specific to getting rid of pet smells. I also wipe down the sides of the top litter box, the sifting one, since I'm pretty sure cat pee occasionally gets on the sides. Once I'm done I add more pellets. This takes about 10-15 minutes with two litter boxes. Here is a video explaining how all of this works in case my explanation makes no sense (very likely).

Beyond that, my only tip is to sloooooowly switch your cats over. You may know this, but I was new to cats when I tried this system and switched them over way too fast. They got confused and peed all over the bag of pellets and all over the carpet. Mix in just a few pellets to start and slowly--SLOWLY--add more. They'll get the hang of it eventually. My cats learned surprisingly quickly and it's been smooth sailing ever since.
posted by Amy93 at 7:49 PM on August 30 [7 favorites]

I came to talk about wood pellets, but a much better job has been done by Amy93.

We used the side litter before and I think it was great. Pellets are just also great and cheaper (and less tracking)
posted by Acari at 8:15 PM on August 30 [1 favorite]

This SmartCat 100% grass litter, also available on chewy.com and this Kitangle Corner Kitty litter box are great. She sells liners as well. They can be washed. This extra large cat litter genie is good too.

Still in search of the best setup and the boxes aren't inexpensive. It also looks like they're made a bit thinner than when I bought them but they're worth it. I keep the lid off and scoop when needed, and lift the liner up to throw away the used litter when it needs to be replaced.
posted by VyanSelei at 5:37 AM on August 31 [1 favorite]

I have two cats and for a long time also limited space, meaning the litterbox was right near some of my living areas. I've experimented with a lot of different litters, but my conclusion is this is 90% of odor control:

* Scooping daily or twice daily
* Replacing litter when it still smells after scooping
* Replacing the litter box itself when it still smells after washing

If you can use litter liners (not a problem with all cats) that takes care of the third point. I can't because one of my cats likes to to tear them up. They also make steel litter box pans now, which won't retain odors.

It is kind of gross to wash a litter box in the tub but what I do is just make sure there's no litter left in it at all - scrape it clean, using latex gloves and a paper towel if I need to get off any gloop. Then I wash both litter box and tub. If your husband isn't reliable on scooping, maybe he could be enlisted for this specific task when needed.

The other 10% is the specific litter. By all means find the one that you like best but I think just being on top of it will make a world of difference.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 6:00 AM on August 31 [2 favorites]

Litter boxes are upsettingly expensive. Sierra.com has one for $9.99 right now that I am eyeing, though we have 1 large plastic tub also in use (also confusingly expensive at the big box store but easy enough to find at the thrift store/creative reuse store). That cuts down on litter getting flung out of the litter box since the sides are so high. I don't have a good litter recommendation for you, I use Worlds Best or the in-store wheat litter from the regional chain Mud Bay because my treehugger heart hates clay litter.

We scoop two times a day (two cats, two boxes, one cat who has some neuroses and almost never covers pee or poop). If I don't have time but the stinker laid a stinker I'll just cruise by and cover it with some fresh litter until I do have time. We don't actually fully switch out the litter or wash out the litter box more than once a year but I do wipe down the sides of the litter box regularly because mr. neuroses often gets his preferred litter box a bit grody.

If the ambient odor is a problem, I find that having a window fan blowing out and a air purifier (I use the IKEA one) does the trick.

Good luck! Having different sensitivities to odors is rough.
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:00 AM on August 31 [1 favorite]

I use Tidy Cats Free and Clean unscented clumping clay litter, which seems to handle odors pretty well. (But not the Lightweight version, since I read something about it being dustier and not so good for their breathing.) I also scoop twice a day and cover stinkers immediately as necessary.

To make litter scooping as quick and painless as possible, I keep a garbage bag inside a closed plastic box right next to the litter box. Take the bag out, scoop, put it back in the box and close. Boom. Odors contained. (This is essentially the same principle as the Litter Genie, minus the specialized bags.) My amount of time spent in the task is approximately 30 seconds, maybe a little longer if I need to top off the litter. I wash the box and replace all the litter once a month, and I'm probably due to replace the box itself, as it's reached the crud-ground-into-the-scratch-marks stage. The only time I tried to use liners, the cat just shredded them, so there didn't seem to be much point.

To minimize tracking, my main weird trick is to have the cat make at least one right-angle turn when leaving the box. For example, my box right now is in a half-open closet--the cat has to turn sharply right to leave the closet, then left to get around the screen that blocks the closet from the rest of the room. This keeps most of the litter in or adjacent to the closet, but the feasibility of this plan depends on the size and layout of your space, of course. If you don't have a closet, a covered box is good for controlling exit direction. I also had good luck in the past with a top-entry box, but it's not great for aging or otherwise mobility-challenged cats.

Not sure if any of this helps, but good luck!
posted by velvet_n_purrs at 9:58 AM on August 31 [1 favorite]

Here's what we do (NYC, small apartment, only reasonable place for the litter box is the kitchen, so smell control is very important). We have the Modkat top-entry litter box, which is kind of stupidly expensive for a litter box, but we have a cat who likes to pee with her butt sticking up in the air so we needed the tallest litter box we could find.

Top-entry significantly reduces (but doesn't totally eliminate) litter tracking. The liners really reduce the amount of cleaning that needs to be done and our cats haven't managed to tear or destroy any of them yet. We also got the little packet of activated charcoal that clips onto the lid of the box to absorb smells.

We use Dr. Elsey's Ultra litter (used to use Dr Elsey's Cat Attract for a previous cat with weird hangups, but switched to Ultra with our current cats since it's less expensive and we no longer need the value-added "cat attracting herbs"). Happy with the clumping power, smell control, and the cats like it.

Cleaning routine: scoop box once a day into biodegradable dog poop bags, tie them shut, put in the trash can. We have trash pickup 3x a week so it never sits in our house too long. Add more litter when it's getting low. Dump everything and replace liner/litter if the scooped box stinks and switching the charcoal filter doesn't solve it.

When replacing the liner, we do a quick clean of the box itself (vacuum out any stray particles, wipe down with cleaning spray) if everything seems OK. Deeper clean when necessary - for us this unfortunately also involves the tub but since there should be no litter clumps stuck to a box with a liner, less stress about litter going down the drain.

I think we probably end up replacing the liner around every 3 months, and hose the whole thing down in the tub with OxiClean 1-2 times a year. I'm very smell-sensitive myself, and non-cat people have also confirmed the house doesn't stink, so the routine seems to be working!

Scooping every day & switching to a box with liners and lid are probably the best decisions I've made. Before this I had an open stainless steel litter box, which was definitely better than an open plastic box, but I think it was grosser than I would have liked at times because of my reluctance to scrub it out in the shower and get litter in the drain.
posted by sparkling at 10:33 AM on August 31 [1 favorite]

We use Rubbermaid Roughneck bins as litter boxes, the 53L size (not the short one, not the tall one). They are tall enough to contain litter and short enough for cats to just bop in and out of. They're easy to clean and fairly indestructible, unlike most cheap plastic litter boxes.

Every few weeks you pour the litter out of one bin into another (outside to contain dust) and hose out the dirty one.

I urge you to scoop litter twice a day to minimize smell. Just do it when you get up, and when you go to bed.

We are using OkoCat wood-based litter. Clay/silica litter is a health hazard for inhalation for everyone, cats and humans, and we have sworn off using it.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:18 AM on August 31 [1 favorite]

In my experience, scooping more frequently goes a long way to reducing smells and ick overall, with any kind of litter, as long as it's unscented. I prefer Okocat or any of the lightweight clay litters; my cat is not super picky so I grab the cheapest of what's available. If you have the space for it, I strongly encourage putting out two or more litter boxes, so the mess gets split between them and each box is less gross over time. (Plus, cats tend to like it.) Thanks to bluesky78987, above, for the recommendation of the mixing tub, that looks super handy!

For cleaning, yes, outside is best, if you have the option. It's not clear if you don't have outdoor space at all, or if it's just a hose you're missing--if it's the latter, you can use a regular bucket for the rinse water. But if it's bathtub or nothing, then I would say go with it and just schedule a bathroom deep clean for the same time; it's all kinda the same purpose really. The amount of litter left in the box when you tip it out for a clean should be super minimal to none, even with kind of indifferent scooping; this might be just a problem with your current litter & box combo, but I'd consider checking with the vet if it continues to be an issue.
posted by radiogreentea at 5:15 PM on August 31 [1 favorite]

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