08/09/2023
Can we talk about litter? I think I’ve seen just about every possible cat litter setup by now. It’s clear to me that a lot of people struggle with the litter box area in their home. Not being judgmental here, just noting the reality of one of the less fun aspects of owning a cat.
I’m going to state, for the record, that standard clay litter is the worst. It’s dusty, it tracks all over the place, it may or may not clump, and it doesn’t do much for odour control. A lot of people use it because it’s in all of the grocery stores. And maybe because it’s the old standard, it’s just how litter boxes have always been.
There are better options.
My current top recommendation is Okocat. It is sold in pet stores. It is a wood pellet that clumps. Easy cleanup, flushable and compostable, excellent odour control, no dust and minimal tracking. In the homes of my clients who use this, you can be right beside the litter box and not know it is there. P**p and clumps can be scooped right into a toilet and flushed.
A strong runner up is Odourlock, by Intersand. It is an improved clay litter. It clumps well, has excellent odour control and is dust free and tracks less than the old fashioned clay litter. Not flushable or compostable. Everything goes in the trash.
Another runner up, and the one I use myself, is ordinary wood pellets. These do not clump, they dissolve into sawdust. Some folks use a two-box system to sift out the sawdust and some just allow it to accumulate for a week or so and replace all of the litter. P**p gets scooped into the toilet and flushed. Odour control is very good, there is no dust, and little tracking. The plain wood pellets are not as wonderful as Okocat but they are very affordable. A big bag is around $9 at Canadian Tire and lasts me about 3 months.
Whatever you use, here are a couple of tips to keep your litter area at its best:
- Put a lid over your box. If a covered litter box is too small for your kitty, get a large lidded plastic bin and cut an entry in one end. Or put your litter box inside another receptacle.
- Use some sort of mat outside the litter box entrance, to catch any bits stuck to the cat’s paws as it exits.
- Scoop daily and clean out the litter box regularly. I dump my wood pellet litter into the green bin once a week, wash the litter box and put in fresh litter. It takes all of 5 minutes.
You don’t need to do what I do. One thing I know by now is that there are infinite variations on litter box management! Weigh in in the comments and give us your best litter tips!
