Litter

[Chris Elliott]

Reviving this thread after reading it all...

I'm using chick crumbles from TSC instead of chicken crumbles--they're smaller than the ones for adult chickens and they work well with an ordinary scooper. It's called "Dumor Chick Starter/Grower" and you want the plain one, not medicated or supplemented. It's <$17 for 50 lbs.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/dumor-reg-chick-starter-grower-20-feed-50-lb--5078210

I tried TSC's Best Cob Premium Horse Bedding, but it's too large for normal litter scoopers and seems to fall apart instead of clump with liquids. Haven't tried the Equine Pine.

I've now been using them for about a month, and 3 of the 4 boxes are fully converted. The last one has a bit of clay in it as Ziggy still prefers that one (at least I think it's Ziggy...). Another week and I'll go all crumbles.

We add some baking soda which initially was to stop them from eating it (Oni may have tried it once before adding it), but now add it for a bit more odor control. Costco had monster bags of baking soda for cheap-->$8 for 13.5 lbs. Business site apparently ships, retail site doesn't show it online, but it's in stores, so this is the business link:

http://www2.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=11488996&whse=BD_827&topnav=bd

It clumps but not as hard as clumping clay. As long as I don't try to sift too much at one time it works very well. Much less dust than clay, and no silica! The smell out of the bag is a bit corny with a hint of molasses--I find the smell of even the "unscented" clay really nasty. It is good on odor control with the baking soda, haven't tried without.

I'm using the PetSmart giant litter boxes--18x30" inside. The two 18" sides curve up, making scooping easy, and it has two slots for scoopers on one end. I know many of you use the sterilite containers--I find these easier to use and high enough to keep most of the litter inside:

http://m.petsmart.com/h5/hub?id=sup...d36-25934/cat-36-catid-200094?var_id=36-25934

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Horse bedding and pine pellets are not clumping litters. They are designed for the pellets to fall apart into sawdust when they absorb urine. When all the pellets are sawdust, then that is time to change the litter...and in the meantime you scoop the poops out.

Some people use the scoop to first get rid of the poops, then scoop out the pellets remaining into a new litterbox and then get rid of the sawdust that way...

 

[Chris Elliott]

Thanks for the explanation! That sounds like it could work, but the chick crumbles are working so well I'll stick with them unless/until there's a reason to change again.

 

[Louie'sDad]

I use Boreal pelletized pine sawdust horse bedding.
I do not have a septic tank, but do have town sanitary sewer.
I made a sifter myself, which was modeled after Feline Pine system.
I scoop the stool and goes into the toilet.
I sift the urine laden sawdust into the lower pan.
Every week or so, I flush the expended sawdust in the toilet.
There is only one downside to this extremely economical system: the ammonia stench of male feline urine can bowl you over whenever the male cat has a strongly scented urination, which occurs every three or four urinations.

 

[admin]

Reviving this thread after reading it all...

I'm using chick crumbles from TSC instead of chicken crumbles--they're smaller than the ones for adult chickens and they work well with an ordinary scooper. It's called "Dumor Chick Starter/Grower" and you want the plain one, not medicated or supplemented. It's <$17 for 50 lbs.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/dumor-reg-chick-starter-grower-20-feed-50-lb--5078210

I tried TSC's Best Cob Premium Horse Bedding, but it's too large for normal litter scoopers and seems to fall apart instead of clump with liquids. Haven't tried the Equine Pine.

I've now been using them for about a month, and 3 of the 4 boxes are fully converted. The last one has a bit of clay in it as Ziggy still prefers that one (at least I think it's Ziggy...). Another week and I'll go all crumbles.

We add some baking soda which initially was to stop them from eating it (Oni may have tried it once before adding it), but now add it for a bit more odor control. Costco had monster bags of baking soda for cheap-->$8 for 13.5 lbs. Business site apparently ships, retail site doesn't show it online, but it's in stores, so this is the business link:

http://www2.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=11488996&whse=BD_827&topnav=bd

It clumps but not as hard as clumping clay. As long as I don't try to sift too much at one time it works very well. Much less dust than clay, and no silica! The smell out of the bag is a bit corny with a hint of molasses--I find the smell of even the "unscented" clay really nasty. It is good on odor control with the baking soda, haven't tried without.

I'm using the PetSmart giant litter boxes--18x30" inside. The two 18" sides curve up, making scooping easy, and it has two slots for scoopers on one end. I know many of you use the sterilite containers--I find these easier to use and high enough to keep most of the litter inside:

http://m.petsmart.com/h5/hub?id=sup...d36-25934/cat-36-catid-200094?var_id=36-25934

Chris, what made you use this for litter...I'm always looking for an alternative to clay clumping litter.

How long does this last before you need to change it out? Does it work with a regular litter scoop?

 

[admin]

I use Boreal pelletized pine sawdust horse bedding.
I do not have a septic tank, but do have town sanitary sewer.
I made a sifter myself, which was modeled after Feline Pine system.
I scoop the stool and goes into the toilet.
I sift the urine laden sawdust into the lower pan.
Every week or so, I flush the expended sawdust in the toilet.
There is only one downside to this extremely economical system: the ammonia stench of male feline urine can bowl you over whenever the male cat has a strongly scented urination, which occurs every three or four urinations.

Joe what did you make the sifter out of?

 

[Louie'sDad]

Joe what did you make the sifter out of?

Paige,

I went to a Target, Walmart or other cheap store and bought 2 - 18 x 24 x 8 clear plastic storage bins. I tossed the lids and used a drill slightly smaller than the pellet diameter......say, 5/32"..........and drilled one of the tray bottoms until it looked like the Feline Pine system. Place the drilled tray inside of the undrilled tray, add a few inches of pellets to the upper tray. When stacked, there is about 1-2" of space for sawdust between the lower tray and the "screen".

 

[admin]

Paige,

I went to a Target, Walmart or other cheap store and bought 2 - 18 x 24 x 8 clear plastic storage bins. I tossed the lids and used a drill slightly smaller than the pellet diameter......say, 5/32"..........and drilled one of the tray bottoms until it looked like the Feline Pine system. Place the drilled tray inside of the undrilled tray, add a few inches of pellets to the upper tray. When stacked, there is about 1-2" of space for sawdust between the lower tray and the "screen".

Thanks, Joe! So you used both bins then and drilled holes in the bottom of one and then put inside the other? Is that what you mean by trays?

 

[John Campbell]

Elsa's Breeder was very specific into being Non-Clumping and that was all that I used with her. Her specific brand was Feline Pine Natural Cat Litter in Original (and Non Clumping). It worked great until her Toilet Training was complete, but still have to keep some around for recurrent training (She uses about 5 lbs a year with her training and traveling.)

 

[Chris Elliott]

Chris, what made you use this for litter...I'm always looking for an alternative to clay clumping litter.

It was recommended on another cat forum, possibly this one:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/260271/chicken-crumbles-as-cat-litter

How long does this last before you need to change it out? Does it work with a regular litter scoop?

I'm still determining how long. After a month I'm still mainly smelling the chick crumbles. And yes, it works with an ordinary scoop. It's not quite as fine as most clay litters, so sifting is a bit slower. There are occasional pieces larger than the scoop slots, but it's a very low percentage, >1%.