Anonymous wrote:Have you tried those new (but expensive) plastic sheaths that have holes in them? I love the product. You buy the size you need (we're jumbo users) and position @ 20 layers of the plastic in the box and then put the clumping litter on top. Since the sheets are expensive, I usually shovel twice a day, but when it gets really bad, you just bring the found ends of th e plastic together and the clean litter falls through the holes. You then just add fresh litter to what fell through on top of the next sheet of plastic. I've tried just about everything and this works the best for me. Amazon.com has it.

This sounds interesting. Can you post the brand name or link?

Thanks!

The World's Best multicat lavender scented stuff is evil (I got it once by mistake: didn't realize the purple bag is scented) but the regular multicat litter in the green bag is okay. It doesn't reek, at least... has a vaguely corny smell but it's not bad and none of the cats I've ever had have had issues with it.

Tidy Cats--the "premium," not the regular. We swear by it. All the colors are the same (small spaces, etc) but you want the premium kind. Goes for about 9 bucks at Target.

We use Tidy Cat. I can't tell much difference between the multiple cats, small spaces, and instant action kinds of Tidy Cat, but I can tell a huge difference between Tidy Cat and other cat litter. We have 3 cats with 2 top-loading litter boxes (these are the best!). We scoop litter about once a day and change it out completely whenever it starts to smell like ammonia... so probably every 1-2 months.

Have you tried those new (but expensive) plastic sheaths that have holes in them? I love the product. You buy the size you need (we're jumbo users) and position @ 20 layers of the plastic in the box and then put the clumping litter on top. Since the sheets are expensive, I usually shovel twice a day, but when it gets really bad, you just bring the found ends of th e plastic together and the clean litter falls through the holes. You then just add fresh litter to what fell through on top of the next sheet of plastic. I've tried just about everything and this works the best for me. Amazon.com has it.

We use Tidy Cat. A LOT of Tidy Cat. We have two litter boxes for two cats, scoop 2-3 times a week, and change the litter entirely once a week. And we use a 20-lb litter bag in each box. It is crazy but these cats, for whatever reason, produce much smellier products than my old cats did. And they are very fastidious; they won't go in the box if it doesn't meet their standards, and I am not interested in cleaning up poop elsewhere. Admittedly it is a very small house and the litter boxes are in a small room right off the living room, so that may be why we are more sensitive to it and use so much. My parents use half as much for their two cats but their boxes are in the basement of a house 3x as big as ours.

It is annoying and not cheap but I would rather spend the money on this than have the house smell or have to clean up after the cats more than we already do. And I love the cats so we do what is necessary.

OP here, thanks so much for all of the great tips!

I am gonna try Jeff's suggestion- it looks like a good environmental choice. From what I have read the bentonite in the clumping litter needs to be strip mined and doesn't break down in the landfill. I feel guilty enough about all of those diapers I put there....

Sorry for the repeat posts. To be clear, by "removing everything daily" I obviously mean the pee and poop. I only do a complete switch once a month with the Tidy Cat it clumps so well, so I don't use much, all considered. I found I use a lot less product than when I tried some "environmentally friendly" ones that had to be switched in their entirety on a weekly basis (or more) to maintain a decent odor situation. Maybe I'm just self-justifying my choices but hey, I don't want one of those houses that smells like cat. And so far, after four years it still doesn't. If it did, I am sure my MIL would let me know!

By the way, I use pelleted pine bedding for my horses and cannot imagine the mess it would make in a house. The dust, oh my God. It make my barn incredibly dusty, I would never in a million years let that stuff in my house.

I am really loving the new Tidy Cat Small Spaces. It's more expensive than some but really nice. Perfect clumps, low odor. My house is not exactly small but I *hate* any traveling cat odor and this is the best I've found. I prioritize cat smell and mess minimization over the environment, though, to be honest, so I haven't considered it from that angle.

Make sure you are doing at least 4 inches deep constantly and removing everything daily. That's the key for keeping the mess down. More is more with cat litter. That and having one with a "house", not an open top.

And I agree on the Arm and Hammer. Absolute worst litter ever! I always laugh when I see the cheesy commercials knowing it's such crap.

I like Scoop Away - either the unscented Super Clump or the Extra Stength. They both clump well and have good odor control. Also, I switched to the Clever Cat top entry box and that helped a lot because it's really deep and I can keep a thick layer of litter in there at all times.

I only get a nasty layer of poop and pee at the bottom of the litter box when I am too lazy to keep 3 inches of cat litter in there. I just bought some of the 20 lb bags with the hope that these bags would be easier for me to lift and replenish low cat litter. I use Dr. Elsey's too and although the clumps occasionally break, I think it's still better than most other brands.

While it's expensive, we've had good luck with Blue Buffalo. It's made from walnut shells, clumps well, has decent oder control, is flushable, etc.

http://bluebuffalo.com/healthy-home/naturally-fresh-multi-cat-litter

I have two kittens and I am trying to optimize my litter box situation. I currently have just a standard box and am using Dr. Elsey's litter
The clumping is inconsistent and sometimes the urine and feces form a nasty layer at the bottom of the box that involves an insane amount of scrubbing and clean up. I find that a plastic liner is nasty and just makes changing the litter even worse.

My other experiences:
Feline Pine, smells nice but very dusty and messy once the urine starts to break down the pellets.

Dr Elseys Kitten Atrract, worked wonderfully but one kitten likes to roll in the poopy litter and its very expensive for the long term

Arm and Hammer unscented, terrible amonnia odor after one day and not effective at clumping or making urine. This one was the worst.

Worlds Best multicat: my kitten pooped about 10 times out of the box when I tried this. I think it was the lavender scent.

Thanks in advance for any leads!