Cat thread

[rattran]

I dated a girl in college that had a pet bunny and a cat, they got along fine. And my experience with having rats and cats, it only took about 2 weeks for even my feral cat to understand that the rats were family, not food.

[Samwise]

I might have already told this story, but when my mom started keeping rabbits a few years back she brought one of the baby bunnies over to the family cat to introduce them.  The cat was so torn between his predatory instincts and staying on good behavior that he wet himself.

[Hawkbit]

Does anyone have experience/info regarding non-clay based litters, or dustless litters?

We downsized with our move into the townhouse here in Seattle.  I always just threw the litter boxes in the basement at the old house and never gave a thought to the dust they produce.  Here, the boxes are in the bathroom next to my office and I am getting a fine dust all over everything, which is pretty disgusting.  I can tell exactly that it is from the litter, because every time I scoop it a ton of dust wafts up. 

We currently use the Tidy Cats clumping litter, which is nice and disposable... but dusty.  They also get the small pieces trapped in their paws and track it all over the place.  Thoughts?

[Engels]

We tried various kinds, but they were just not as sanitary as the tidy cats kind. The wheat-based one gave our cat a urinary tract infection. We just went back to the usual tidy cat kind.

[MuffinMan]

I remember hearing good things about Feline Pine but I've never tried it. I stick to Fresh Step, I fear change.

[Minvaren]

I've tried the pine pellets - great for smell, though a bit expensive and awkward to clean.  But essentially every cat I've had/seen use that stuff has HATED it and started going anywhere but the box until the clay was put back.

[Reg]

There was a thread around here about automatic cat littler boxes wasn't there? Has anyone had any long term success with one?

[Sand]

We use arm and hammer baking soda brand cat litter. The boxes are near the home office and I don't notice a lot of dust from them. Maybe try that brand?

[MahrinSkel]

I've heard good things about the Fresh Step Crystals.  Essentially pieces of dehydrated gel.  Pricey, but completely dust free and excellent at controlling odor.

--Dave

[Lantyssa]

Arm and Hammer seems to make less dust than Tidy Cat.  I'll have to try the Fresh Step Crystals if I can find them.

My mom bought some of the pine stuff, and it's just terrible.  You can't really scoop it out because it's larger than any scoop and once it gets wet, it crumbles instead of clumps.

[Yegolev]

Space Age cat litter, desiccant spheres.  Get them.

[01101010]

There was a thread around here about automatic cat littler boxes wasn't there? Has anyone had any long term success with one?

My friend in SC has two cats and a single automatic box. Has had it for 5 years before she had to replace it due to the motor burning out on it. They are nice but can get hung up on the clumps at times. Her one cat sits and stares at it while it's working... kinda creepy.

[Azazel]

We're using a recycled paper type called Breeder's Choice - it's what the pet shelter uses, so they gave us a small bag of it when we adopted Leonard. We tried to make the gradual changeover to the normal clay-type litter we'd always used with Little Girl, but Leonard would have none of it, so we relented and tracked down a place that sells it. It's about twice as expensive as the clay stuff, but not so expensive as to be a burden. Does a good job of soaking the wet, and sometimes covers poop smells if he buries it properly. It certainly has good absorbent properties, because it's easy to scoop. I should probably go check his litter now, actually...
http://www.fibrecycle.com/

[rattran]

I've used the recycled newspaper pellets sometimes, works well for a single cat, not so great for my horde. I generally use Fresh Step now, not as dusty as Tidy Cat, but as good at clumping/covering odor. Feline Pine was annoying, the cats hated it, and the corn and wheat hull based litters my roommate's retard cat keeps trying to eat.

There was some cheap ($8 for 40 lbs) stuff I was getting at Costco, with lemongrass as a scent. Worked amazing, but they stopped carrying it and I can't recall the name.

[01101010]

Dust was only a problem when I had an open box. I got one of those "igloo" boxes and it reduced the dust thing completely.

[01101010]

Dust was only a problem when I had an open box. I got one of those "igloo" boxes and it reduced the dust thing completely.

edit: nevermind... scooping is the issue. 

[Hawkbit]

We use arm and hammer baking soda brand cat litter. The boxes are near the home office and I don't notice a lot of dust from them. Maybe try that brand?

I just mixed some of this in with the Tidy Cats to get them acclimated to it, but I find that it is actually producing more dust than Tidy Cats.  I think I'll try Fresh Step soon. 

I've read that the silica crystals can cause issues with some cats, but there is no hard evidence of it either way.  That seems more of a radical step than other clay litters, for the time being.

[Sjofn]

Speaking of litter! This is a pretty great litterbox, assuming your cats are, in fact, clever. Jack ... was not clever at first. BUT HE IS NOW.

Lizzie got it right away. Lizzie is awesome.

[Viin]

I tried one of those and my wife's cat refused to get in it - so she peed on the floor instead. Multiple times. So we gave up.

[rattran]

I tried one of those, but after Oscar (who had been toilet trained when he was young) decided to start pooping in it from the top before checking to see if there was another cat already in it, well, you can guess what happened. No more of those boxes.
I'm currently using a micro-ban ginourmous litter box like this 2 cats can and do use it at once, there's that much room.One in the bathroom, one in the upstairs closet, and even when I had 8 cats it was manageable.

[Hawkbit]

The funny thing about the Clevercat is that I made one out of a Rubbermaid bin ten years ago for one of my cats, cut a hole in the lid and everything.  I had no idea someone actually made them. 

I have actually switched back to using a tall Rubbermaid tub because one of the boys has decided to have his ass hang out when he pees.  I'm waiting a few weeks before I try to put a lid on it. 

[Strazos]

Solution - get a dog, or perhaps a bird or fish.

[Sand]

The dog I could see, but will a bird or fish use a litter box?

[Sjofn]

We were trying new things because for some reason Jack decided pooping NEXT to the litter box was good enough. He's finally remembered pooping where there is LITTER is the way to go.

[Sky]

Tidy Cat, change it out in the garage.

Need a new box, though, this one is getting old and he's starting to bitch about it. We have to use the largest size, and they're tough to find locally. Probably going to order a case of them online. He needs a real deep box with lots of litter in it or our life becomes hell.

Wish I could find a better place for the box, but in my small house there aren't good options. Right now it's in the den, which used to be mostly storage but has become our library/study room/conservatory (as originally intended). Nothing like relaxing with a good book or playing a beautiful guitar passage and having the boy drop a nice fresh, stinky turd.

[MuffinMan]

[Sand]

Speaking of litter! This is a pretty great litterbox, assuming your cats are, in fact, clever. Jack ... was not clever at first. BUT HE IS NOW.

Lizzie got it right away. Lizzie is awesome.

We bought one of those pans the other night and our cat loves it. And it keeps the litter all contained!
Thank you for the recommendation!!

[Sky]

Long prairie cat is long.

That top-entry box looks interesting, but Bart would never use it. It's WAY too small for him and he hates being confined when he poops, and he also loves to perch on the edge if he's not entirely happy with the terrain. Last night I saw him with all four feet on the box lip, standing on the corner of the box. Another reason we use a large box with a full bag of litter - counterbalance.

[rattran]

Random did that when he was young, due to a tendency to face the wrong way, it was covered litter boxes for a long time.
I did have one of the booda dome igloo style boxes  for a while, pretty good until the cats started figuring out how to trap each other in it.

[Sky]

[Furiously]

My cat has decided being vocal at 3:00 am is a good thing.

[Merusk]

Our 7 year old cat does that when she's lonely.  She then hisses and freaks the fuck out when you try to pet her.  I'm mildly convinced she's bipolar.

[Reg]

My cat Stuart is far prettier than the other cats in this thread.

Even when playing with his catnip mouse.

[Azazel]

We got Leonard something similar to this. It's cut right down on the amount of litter he sprays across the house.

[Azazel]

Muffinman - awesome photo. Is that your cat?

Sky - Love the pose. I see it a lot here as well when the heater is on during cold nights. The "it looks like he's playing dead" pose.