Wychwood Russian Blue Cats

Cat Litter trials

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We started Freja with good old fullers earth based cat litter. The cheapest that could be bought. I was under the impression that litter was a 'waste' product, so why 'waste' money on buying expensive types. We had tried the silica gel-based ones before and not been that wowed for the cost. We discovered that all of the water that is consumed by Freja comes out the other end eventually, and it would inevitably cover the whole bottom of her tray, which would need completely emptying out, scrubbing and replacing fresh at least once a week. On top of that, we decided that she was the world's smelliest cat.

When she had her babies, we changed to a paper-based litter, so that they would not be harmed if they ate it. We tried the softer types like Bio-Catolet and Bob Martin Recycled Paper Based Cat Litter, so that it would not hurt their tender little paws. It smelled very quickly, and got dirty even quicker, but it was for a good cause. We waited until our boys had been rehomed before deciding to try out the world's most expensive cat litters! We figured that training our babies to extravagant litter would not be welcomed by the purses of their new owners, no matter how much we raved about the benefits! But in fact, we have now decided to recommend several litters which in the long run will save effort and pounds.

More recently, we have made a few changes to Freja's routine, and have changed her litter again. We discovered the truly expensive 'Ever Clean' at the GCCF Supreme Cat Show in November 2009, and have been putting it through it's paces. Expensive it might be, but it has not been changed AT ALL in over a month. We filled her two large litter trays, which used less than a whole box of 10kg. And it works so well at controlling odours, that we could (if we wanted!) keep an open tray in our bedroom (those of you who have heard about Freja's 'productions' will know the force of this comment!). It also works so hard to contain liquid, that no matter how many or how large her wees (which would previously fill her old litter and smell dreadful), we can just gently scoop up the self-contained lump and pop it in the bin. We are back to flushing her poos, too. We consider it a snip at £10 a box of 10 kg, considering that we were spending £4 a week on her previous litters, and after a month we are no closer to changing the litter, which is pristine. -We are very careful to pick up every last tiny clump, to keep it looking like sand. We've been known to rake it into patterns for her too ;-) She really loves it, as well. It seems to have really good scrabble-ability. She spends a long time trying to dig to China when she is expecting (hormones telling her to be careful not to leave any traces of scent!), but she really looks like she's enjoying the experience with these fine granules. It does track outside the pans, but I think that cat-paws were made to track litter around, so we can live with it. More to the point, it is very obvious to us that the litter in question which is being tracked, is actually CLEAN, since all mess is contained in scoopable clumps in the tray. Although this is a very fine litter, it does not raise dust until you get to the very end of the bag. Dust is not a problem per-se, but it is a big factor with feline allergies, and we take this into account when deciding which litters to use and train our kittens to.

At the same show, I also bought a big bag of 'The World's Best Litter' which I intended to trial, but 'Ever Clean' has worked so hard and so well, that we are nowhere near the end of our first amount used. I will keep updating this page to let you know what we think of various litters. I will be switching to 'The World's Best Cat Litter' when the kittens are born, because I believe that it also doesn't present a health risk to them if it is ingested.

And here is that update! World's Best cat litter has the advantage of being flushable down the toilet. My only objection to it was the very strong smell, but I then realised that, considering Freja's smelly poos, I had bought the super strength World's Best litter. It lasts just as well as Ever Clean, it clumps well and performs to the same level of hygiene, and absorbancy. Now that I have found World's Best Original, I am very happy to say that we have changed over to this, rather more environmentally friendly, flushable cat litter, and it has the advantage of being much easier to find. It also has a very low dust distribution, which is a great feature for our more allergic families.

The paper-based litters definitely give off lots of dust when the tray is filled, and I who do not have any allergies, find it difficult to breathe for a short while after I have filled the tray. This is a bad feature for our allergic families. The dust isn't so irritating with the cheap, fullers earth based litters, but it is still present. With regards to allergic reactions, less contact with the changing of litter the better, I feel. Thre will always be dust at the botom of any bag of litter, but if you are using a high quality litter where you are scooping every day, and so keeping on top of hygiene, then you will not need to change your litter more than every month, and probably even less for the first three months of your new kitten's life with you.

On the litter cleaning front, we now empty out the trays and clean them thoroughly before replacing the old litter back. World's Best and Ever Clean are so effective at trapping liquids and poos, that although Freja is an expert at peeing in corners, we can just empty the trays as usual, then shake the clean litter and scoop it out into a bucket and give the trays a really good clean.

Just because we like to check every now and again, we trialled the PURA brand of clumping cat litter in Baby Powder scent, and we weren't bowled over by the quality or the smell-reducing abilities. The wet clumps were very soft and tend to crumble to a mush that coats the litter scoop and fall through or back into the once-clean litter. Other than that it is no different to Ever Clean in it's aim, but it just doesn't achieve it for us, and the cost is not significantly cheaper for the product not working as well.

We have tried the Pets at Home litter which you buy the container and bring it back to be re-filled, and it performed much the same as PURA. Soft, wet clumps falling through and clogging the litter scoop. So, in an attempt to get back to a more ecologically sound kitty litter, we are now trying a wood-based litter. It gets a bit wiffy, the cats are not convinced by the texture, but it is flushable, or compostable, and when weed on makes a nice firm, scoopable lump, which is very high on my list of criteria for ease of litter scooping!

My first love remains Ever Clean though, for sheer smell control, scoopability and longevity. Nothing comes even close to the longevity of this fabulous kitty litter. It's only draw-back is that it is not flushable or compostable. Of the others, I like the wood based ones, but the kittens are certainly not impresses and neither are our big girls.

So far beautifully trained girls (and kittens) have been ever so patient with our on-going litter trials.

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