I think it's trial and error and definitely depends on the cat. After years of using pine litter, I made the switch to clay again and haven't looked back. I did a lot of searching of reviews and finally tried out Dr. Elsey's cat litter: https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Elseys-Precious-Ultra-Litter/dp/B0009X29WK.

I'm pretty happy with it and the cats love it. It does track but never past the bathroom where the cat litter is housed. I scoop at least once a day (twice if I remember). We also use the Litter Genie system and it makes maintenance so much easier.

I've found that I need to dump and clean the litter box every month (but to be honest I get lazy and it happens more like once every two months) for it to stay fresh smelling. We have two cats though that are poop machines so for only one cat you could probably get away with less frequent cleanings.

Anonymous wrote:The cat

Yep!

Other pet owners are probably your best source for advice. Then your cat will tell you if he/she likes your routine, brand of litter, etc...or not.

It's not worth the effort. Plastic is porous and holds the smell. After a while they all smell even completely emptied and clean. Just recycle and get a new one.

The cat

If you could name one, who would be an authority on cat litter boxes? Cleaning routine etc.

Martha Stewart?
Some pet-care expert?

I have seen some detailed and thorough YouTube videos. However, they were a little over the top in their level of care. Or were they

Just looking for info on the 'right' way to approach litter box cleaning. Daily/weekly/long term routines.