# Litter Box Questions!



## 2DogsN3Cats (May 25, 2010)

For those of you with cats, especially mulitple cats....

How often do you replace your litter boxes? Not just washing them out or doing a complete litter change but actually purchase new litter boxes.

I have had 2 of my three litter boxes for a little over 2 yrs now and my 3rd box for just over a year. Im going to be replaced all three this weekend with high side litter boxes that I found at Tractor Supply. I have litter throwers so Im hoping the high side ones will help cut back on them flinging litter in their bedroom. Its carpeted and its very thick plush carpet so it makes it a pain sweeping it out all the time and making sure I get all the little bits of litter out. So Im going to get a 2 large sized boxes and one extra large for my extra large kitty, even though I know he uses the smallest litter box we have and my smallest cat uses the biggest. 

Also, what kind of litter do you use any specific brand of clumping or non clumping litter?

I use the generic stuff at Tractor Supply mainly because its cheap and does the job well. I used to use Scoop Away but found that I ended up needing to do a full emptying of the litter boxes 2 or 3 times a week rather than once a week with the gross stuff. It just started to smell too bad especially since I have 2 male cats and even though they are neutered their pee still smells just a little worse than my females pee. The regular unscented scoopable litter works good, its not great but at $10 for 40lbs its not a bad deal. Ive actually found that with my 3 Tidy Cats is the worst, they didnt like how fine it was and with my long hair he was ending up with sand butt and he didnt appreciate me cleaning his butt all the time. The larger clay type pieces work a lot better and dont stick to his butt because likes to hover a hairs breath away from the litter while peeing. *Yes I know way too much about my pets potty habits. I cant help it after having a cat get a UTI and tapeworm if I wasnt so obsessed with their bathroom habits it would have been longer till I noticed the issues.*


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## firedancer722 (Apr 12, 2010)

I have 2 cats myself... one is a 16 lb long-haired boy, and the other a 13 lb short-haired boy. Before I moved to Nashville earlier this summer, the cats actually had their own bedroom with 3 litter boxes. They were all different, but they were all covered. One was on the small side, the other was the "giant" size, and the other was what I called the Superdome litterbox. I think it's called the Booda Dome Clean Step or something. It actually has little stair steps to get inside and the part that holds the litter is shaped like a big kidney. I thought they would love it, but turns out, they really aren't crazy about it, but do use it. The one they loved the best was the giant sized one with clear cover. However, when I moved, I had to downsize to only one litter box, and since the booda dome one was almost brand new and the others were old, I donated them to a neighbor and just use the booda dome now. The cats are fine with it, but since we moved in with a person who also has 2 cats, she has this teeny, uncovered litter box in the corner of the living room, and THAT is the one my cats use all the time.  I mean... REALLY? 

Anyways... the litter I have found to work the BEST at odors is Fresh Step Multiple Cats Scoopable. Yes, it is pricier, but if you have a Sam's membership or know someone who does, you can get 42 lb bags for about 14 dollars. I have tried Tidy Cats, World's Best Cat Litter, Arm & Hammer, and Special Kitty (Wal-Mart kind), and NONE come close to beating the odor control and clumping power of Fresh Step. I used to just use Tidy Cats because it was cheap and I could always find coupons, BUT, that was when the cats had their own "room" and I could keep the door almost shut. I didn't really notice odors, but now that their litter box is in MY bedroom, I do NOT want it smelling like a litter box. And the Fresh Step has been AWESOME!!! I also like Scoop Away Complete Performance in a pinch, but it sounds like you did not have good luck with it. 

Anyways.... would love to see pics of your kitties!!  

Candace


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## 2DogsN3Cats (May 25, 2010)

Ill have to hunt some pics of the munsters up Ive got a million and one stored on photobucket. haha

I cant use covered ones because all three would beat me up in my sleep if I tried. My one cat Hercules used to have a litter box that has like a lippy attachment thing on it and I had to take it off because I caught him deliberately pooping outside over the edge of it..I swear he was looking at me saying "Either take this off or scoop my poop off the floor forever" so that was the end of 'fancy' type boxes. 

Ive noticed that some cats just dont like that whole closed in thing with their litter boxes especially cuz covered boxes tend to hold odor inside them more. I have a friend who has the Booda Dome thinger and her cat LOVES it they had to get her a second one that has a blanket it in for her to sleep because they constantly found her dozing off in her freshly cleaned litter box. Shes an odd one that kitty is haha she likes sleeping in closed in hidey spots.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

This is the type of kitty litter we use... 
http://www.petsuppliesplus.com/ProductGuide/Brands/Catproducts/litter/Litter/felinepine_litter.htm

It is THE BEST. We started out with regular kitty litter, but we have one of those fussy cats who doesn't like getting the granules on his feet. 

Replacing the litterboxes... <- With our previous cat, my parents bought the litterbox when they brought him home (a friend had kittens and was giving them away). We threw the litterbox away nineteen years later when we lost him. 

So yeah... I don't really see the point in throwing away a litterbox if you are cleaning it out regularly. 

And we have a regular litterbox. It came with the "lip" thing, but we threw that away. It's mainly there to keep the loose litter from spilling out on the floor. But that's what the vacuum cleaner is for. 

We tried the "hide away" house type litterbox, and our cat refused to go inside it. <- And it's a good thing, because my sister has one for her cat and it's pretty annoying keeping them clean.


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## Taz Monkey (Feb 25, 2007)

i have 10 cats,w ith 6 litter boxes in a closet that my ex specially cut a hole in the wall and lined with trim, so the cats could get it. I have the high sided, lidless litter boxes from Petco. I use the Sam's litter that isn't Fresh Step. It's $10 for a 40lb bucket. Works great. I dump and scrub about once a month and scoop daily, and i've had these boxes for about a year. I keep the litter deep in their boxes so I don't see a whole lot of scratching on the boxes, which is when odors start getting trapped in the plastic.


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## sdain31y (Jul 5, 2010)

We don't buy litter boxes, per so for our two cats, both neutered males. We buy large, high-sided clear storage containers from Lowes or Home Depot and use that for a box (we make sure the bottom is flat and without any channels, etc). It is insanely big and has nice, high sides for containement when they are too important to squat and pee. We typically use Arm and Hammer clumping litter, not the multiple cat type but the one with odor control. Seems to work for us. We clean it out several times a day and replace it when it starts really getting scratched, probably once a year or so.

We keep it in the pantry and we have cut a large "mouse door" so they can get to both their litter and food and Jazz can't. Also gives them a safe place, if the need it.


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

I have one cat. We use a hooded cat liter box, and fill it with any brand of CRYSTALS cat liter. It absorbs all the urine and there really is no smell. We just bought a new liter box after having the orginal one for about 4 years. We do bleach it out from time to time, and we use cat liter pan liners to make clean up much easier. I also turn the opening toward the wall, in a small nook area of my basement. This way, the dogs really can't get to it unless they are down there alone for long. One reason why we dont ever allow them in the basement unsupervised.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Our vet recommends changing the actual litter box (if you use plastic) every year.

Recent research has shown that cats prefer open areas for doing their business (at least 2 exits) and thus a closed litter box is not recommended. I know some cats love their covered litter boxes but many won't use them, perhaps that is why. 

I was also told that you should have one more litter box than you have cats, can't remember why. The feline behaviourist I was working with told me this. 

I recommend any natural litter (pine, wheat, corn) because they are better for animals (mostly if ingested) and because they are environmentally friendly and thus can be flushed right down the toilet (so easy!). In particular I recommend pine for it's natural deoderizing feature and because it doesn't stick to the litter pan like wheat does (not sure about corn). At the shelter we sell the Feline Pine (both in pellets and in scoopable) that Megora posted the link to. At home we use Feline Fresh scoopable (http://www.planetwiseproducts.com/). Can $6.99 for a small bag that lasts 3 weeks for one cat. If you switch do it very gradually. BTW, a lot of cats don't like the pellets if they have used a finer material before.

We also keep the litter box in the closet (our bathroom has a storage closet in it so he gets his personal bathroom right next to ours). We use a small doggy door.


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

Personally, I HATE the natural liters/ They don't absorb the smell nearly as much as the crystals. As far as the scoopables, that would assume you keep the liter box near a toilet, which we don't anymore. One perk for us, when moving into our house was NO MORE LITER in our bathroom.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

We have 4 cats and we buy a new box about once a year and we always get one with a cover. We scoop it out twice a day, in the morning after we get up and then at night before bed. We wash it out with dish soap every few weeks or so. We usually use either Tidy Cats litter or Fresh Step, always the scoopable kind.

I don't like the natural litters either. They're not nearly as good as controlling the smell! We once tried a cedar cat litter and it smelled AWFUL! :yuck:


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Jax's Mom said:


> Personally, I HATE the natural liters/ They don't absorb the smell nearly as much as the crystals. As far as the scoopables, that would assume you keep the liter box near a toilet, which we don't anymore. One perk for us, when moving into our house was NO MORE LITER in our bathroom.


Ours is pine litter (looks like sawdust). It actually does neutralize the smell pretty good and our rec room (where the box is kept) does not have a "kitty litter" smell. <- I'm not really a cat person, so yes, I'd definitely notice if the room outside my bedroom smelled like either cat poop or litter. :yuck: Admittedly, it doesn't have the fresh smell of the crystal type litter, but our cat objected to digging in that litter and would not bury his poop. He came from a barn, what can I say?

When we scoop the clumps, we bag them and take it out to the compost heap. And we do this every couple days. The entire litterbox gets cleaned out with all new litter every few weeks. 



> I was also told that you should have one more litter box than you have cats, can't remember why. The feline behaviourist I was working with told me this.


Probably because they are territorial and might object to their personal digging spot smelling like another cat. 

Though actually, when I catsit for my sister or other people - I ask that they bring their own litter boxes, but the cats wind up using the same box. Frequently. Like competing for the last mark. Cats really are more neurotic about their pee than dogs. :bowl:

@Jackie - did the vet say why you should buy a new box every year? Even if you keep it clean?


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## Golden123 (Dec 6, 2009)

I like FreshStep Non-clumping litter. It seems to have the best odor control out of all the litters Ive tried. The litter box I have is the booda dome with the steps. I have 3 cats. 1 is inside only and the other 2 are inside/outside cats, those 2 are outside usually all day except to come in and eat. I change the litter and santize the box once a week. I dont like the clumping litter, thats just a big mess for me, plus then I cant flush the poop down the toilite, like I can with non-clumping.


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## 2DogsN3Cats (May 25, 2010)

Megora- I get new ones every year or sometimes every 6 mths depending on how much the kitties scratch the box. When the plastic gets scratched a lot it can hold in bacteria and smell from urine and poop. It kind of falls into the same lines as why your shouldnt use plastic food dishes for pets because of bacteria. 

I got 2 high sided ones from Tractor Supply. I wanted 3 to replace all my litter boxes but they only had 2 there. So I kept the newest old litter box till I can replace that one and go figure all 3 cats will not use the old litter box. They are all using the high sided ones and OMG I love em. No more massive piles of litter from them throwing it out. 2 of my cats are turbo scratchers and have to get down to the bottom of the litter box before they go potty. Im definately looking today to see if they have a jumbo one (the 2 I got were just large) when we go get dog food today.


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

I just switched Ronin to this one recently:

http://www.petco.com/product/108493/PETCO-Mega-Rectangular-Litter-Box.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch










It's quite large and has very tall sides.

Another really good one is a Biddy Box. The nice thing about these is their design makes them very easy to do daily scoop-outs. They are even a bit bigger than the one above.

I swapped it out because the Biddy Box is white. It was getting grungy and needs power washing. I happened to be at Petco and saw this one, and it actually fits in the spot a bit better than the Biddy Box.

Biddy Box here:

http://www.biddycat.com/


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

We used to get the biggest litter boxes available as my cats growing up were BIG kitties. About 15 and 20 lbs each. We usually had 3 boxes and all had low sides, especially when the kitties were getting older and less nimble. Then my one cat couldn't make it all the way downstairs, so she got a covered box just to herself upstairs (other cat didn't like it) and she LOVED it since she was a very private cat anyway. We changed the litter boxes every 6 months, cleaned the boxes every day, and changed the whole litter once a week. Never had a problem with smell or anything.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

We have one fatso cat (almost 20 lbs) and one 15 lb cat, which is still pretty big. We have 2 litter boxes that I found at PetPeople. They're really big and high sided with a little dip in the front for fatso to maneuver in and out easier. (Can you tell I'm frustrated with his weight? We've did 2 rounds of complete blood work with 2 different vets, gave him an enema (ew.), had xrays, and cut back his food and nothing has worked for him. So, he's fat. It is what it is.) I think they're about 1.5 years old now. I guess I could buy new ones soon. I scoop once a day and I clean them out fully every couple of months, but probably should do it more often. I used to have a Littermaid that was AWESOME. But they did something weird with the new design of them and when my first one broke I went through 6 new ones that didn't work or broke after a couple weeks. Thankfully they were returnable. I also tried the Litter Robot but one of the cats wouldn't use it....he was terrified of it. So we went back to regular litter boxes.

For litter I only use Fresh Step. Tidy Cats is awful. I tried the corn based litter too....that was just gunky mess and fatso hated the smell. He was PISSED (pun intended) about the corn litter and would pee right next to his box to make his point. We switched back to Fresh Step and have had no problems since. It's definitely more expensive but worth it to not have kitty bathroom smell in the house. When I know our house is being shown I also sprinkle some of the Arm & Hammer deodorizer in the boxes. That stuff works wonders!


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## brandiwine (Nov 28, 2009)

I'm another vote for the the Fresh Step Litter. I have tried them all and this one is hands down the best for my cat.

I have tried every litterbox imaginable. I have even had two of the expensive automatic ones. I recently tried an Omega Paw Self Cleaning Litter Box. I am in love with this thing. Just roll it onto the roof and then roll back. All the clumps are sifted and deposited into the drawer. Done. LOVE this thing!
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754459


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

I had one of these, but found out you need a pretty good size open area to do it's tumble routine. It worked, but I had to keep picking it up, putting it down, rotating a little, pick up, put down, rotate a little, etc... It was too much work in the small space it was in 

I've been using Petco's store brand litter for a few years now. It works wonderful.



brandiwine said:


> I'm another vote for the the Fresh Step Litter. I have tried them all and this one is hands down the best for my cat.
> 
> I have tried every litterbox imaginable. I have even had two of the expensive automatic ones. I recently tried an Omega Paw Self Cleaning Litter Box. I am in love with this thing. Just roll it onto the roof and then roll back. All the clumps are sifted and deposited into the drawer. Done. LOVE this thing!
> 
> ...


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

I got a rebate for entire purchase price on World's Best Cat Litter so bought some today. I filled a litter box with it and set it next to my cat's old litter box with the old type of litter. It has been 12 hours and he hasn't used the new stuff yet.....


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## caligal (Jul 28, 2010)

I use ExquisCat Pine litter for our 13lb cat. I scoop the box every other day and put new litter in about 3 weeks. I actually don't have to scrub the box but every other month because the pine is so absorbant. very low odor.

If you use new litter, make sure you save some old to mix in as you switch it over. I just sprinkled a little of the old litter on top of the pine litter and that seemed to be good for our cat.....oh and I added one of her poos as well.


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