What Cat Litter Do You Use?

I have 5 cats. I use the Special Kitty the clumping kind and my cats track it but not as badly. Maybe also invest in a kitty mat and put it near the cat boxes so that way if they do track some out of the box it stays right in the mat.They have some at Wal-mart. or just put a old towel or something down in front of the box it might help.

We use the clumping litter from Walmart, I think it is called special kitty or something. It comes in a green box. I think it is close to the same as tidy cat or those but is cheaper. Otherwise if I can't get to Walmart for it I just use whatever clumping litter I can get to.

L.,
We have two cats and use Yesterday's News. It doesn't dissolve like the pine litter and the cats don't track it everywhere. And, it's fairly good at absorbing odor (my husband typically changes the box every 2-3 days).

I bet your daughter is loving the new kitty! In my opinion, Arm and Hammer is the best litter all-around. It clumps the best and tracks the least, not to mention, it absorbs the smell quite well. The only drawback is, when you pour fresh litter in the box, BEWARE, it gets really dusty. Make sure your daughter is free and clear. I had a bench made last year for my litter box. It has a small opening on the side so my cat can go in and out as he pleases. There is a carpet inside so his paws are pretty much wiped clean as he walks out. Although, now instead of sweeping the floor, I have to vacuum the carpet inside the box! LOL At least the litter is not as noticeable when people come over. As someone already said, I don't think any litter is track-proof. Good luck!

Hi L., I have two cats and we use Tidy Cats Small Spaces--it works really well for the smell, but still tracks all over. I bought a couple bath mats and put one under the litter box and one leading away from the litter box. When the cat gets out hopefully most of the litter will stay on the mat. You will however have to shake the mats out every couple of days and the nice thing about a bath mat is it is washable so that when it looks yucky you just throw it in the wash (after shaking the litter out, of course). Hope that helps. C.

I'd recommend placing the box in a porch or anywhere a little further away from main baby traffic. Then, place one of those bristly throw rugs in front of the box (I got a cheap one at Ikea) to catch and clean the excess litter from the kitty's paws. As far as clay, I'm thinking that would stick on the paws more - but I have never used that. I use the Arm & Hammer kind (not too much dust like Fresh Step has.). Oh, and make sure you try to clean it out every day. The reason it may be sticking onto the kitty's paws is because it's not dry enough. Always add more fresh litter once you clean it.

We use the Arm and Hammer clumping litter. I've tried a lot of different once but this is definitely the best in my opinion. We also keep our litter box in the bathroom, so we can just use a hand-brush and dustpan and sweep it a little each day. You can get mats at petco etc that supposedly help keep the litter from tracking, but I never really found one that worked great - easier just to sweep.

Hi, L.. I use Fresh Step clumping litter. I have 3 cats, and this litter has pretty amazing odor control as well as being easy to clean. I should empty the litter boxes (I have 2) daily, but I might go 2 or 3 days before I do anything. It helps to have a litter collecting "rug" or tray outside the litterbox. This way, it collects more litter than gets tracked through the house. I have to clean around the litterbox a couple times a week because the cats can get a little carried away with the digging, but it's generally not tracked through the house.

I also bought the cat box equvialent to the Diaper Genie. You dump the waste in there, turn the dial, and it locks away the odors until it's time to dump it in the garbage. Sure beats what I was doing--using plastic bags from the stores and then dumping it in the garbage in the garage. Even in the winter my garage was stinking. I was starting to panic about what I was going to do in the summer. Hope all this helps!

M.

I have owned cats all my life and just recently had to put down our 14 year old cat I got from a shelter many years ago. I don't know of any litter that doesn't track a little. I found that the scoopable kinds tracked less than the clay but it was more expensive than just dumping the box out once or twice a week using the clay. I could sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the box and then layer about two inches of clay on top then dump the whole box once or twice a week alot cheaper than using the scoopable stuff.

I found a rubber mat that if I kept a hood over the box so there was only one way in and out that helped with litter because at the opening I had a rubber matt that grabbed some of the litter off the paws as she came out. If I kept the mat clean and rinsed everytime I changed the box, it worked well. You might even try putting a large piece of carpet under that as well to grab more...

I kept the box in the basement so it didn't track all over the house, but just down there. I never had litter upstairs.

Hope those help.

I have had the same problem. Wheatscoop is an environmentally -friendly, soft litter that doesn't seem to track as badly as most other litters. And, when it does track, it's soft so it doesn't crunch or hurt under your feet.

Some people don't like the clay cause of the dust and allergies. we switched from fresh step clumping cause of that, but I liked the fresh step. didn't track too much. went to the one made of corn, that didn't clump too well, have just tried the Healthy pet kind made of pea pod fiber, smells like mint, but odor control for #2 isn't too great. My cat is a little stupid about that. doesn't cover her poop. She probably runs out of there cause it stinks too much to her too! anyhow. I'm now going to try a new one that is mail order only-link found on the Animal Planet website called World's Best litter or something like that. We'll see. She tracks the pea pod stuff everywhere.

Just a note---one person sprinkles baking soda in their litter pan. Do not do this. It is toxic to your cat. After spending about 2 grand to have surgery on our male cat for having a bladder literally completely full of sandy granuales our vet (Capricorn Clinic for Cats in Lockport) said pure baking soda can get on your cats paws and then into their body when they clean their paws where it can assist in forming a big mess in his bladder and urinary tract. The commercial Arm & Hammer cat litter is NOT what I'm talking about---I would hope it is ok. I'm talking about the yellow box baking soda. If your cat has any propencity to bladder or urinary issues (which you won't know until it's too late) baking soda in the pan can really make things worse.

we've used about 5 dif kinds cuz of pooping on the floor issues... but i can say, as long as the box has a cover most the liter they kick around sound stay in : )

We use Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract. It's available at PetSmart and online. It is 99% dust free and it's guaranteed to make any cat use the litterbox, especially if your cat's been prone to stray (like ours, and it worked). Inside each bag is a $1.00 off coupon for your next bag. It lasts pretty long and is odorless. We also have one box with Arm and Hammer and although that's what we used to use, when you put the A & H box next to the Cat Attract, it's so obvious it's an inferior product. Also, you might want to buy what the shelter was using and mix the two until your cat's used to the new litter. Good luck!

Another vote for the Arm & Hammer brand. It clumps well, doesn't break when raking (we use a Litter Maid, but occasionally I just scoop it out and it is a nice, neat compact patty), and it does a good job with odor.

That's weird - I do notice some litter scattered right in front of the box, but no further than that. Does the cat have long hair? (mine doesn't, but maybe it's different for longhairs?) We use whatever scoopable litter is on sale. Right now it looks like we have some Happy Tails. But you might try non-scoopable since the pieces are larger and maybe won't stick to the paws.

Also, you can get a mat that is made specifically for in front of the cat box, like this: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=27552...

Congratulations on your new kitty!

We use a covered little pan that has a little track they walk over as they go in and out...that cuts down on the mess, but anytime you have cats no matter what type of litter, there is some tracking. http://www.petco.com/product/11197/Booda-Clean-Step-Litte...

I have found the best litter as far as reducing odor is Arm and Hammer High Performance or Super Scoop. I have had cats for over 10 years and tried lots of different kinds.

Hi L.,

We used the non-brand name litter at Sam's Club. We also had one of those pads in front of the box, which caught quite a bit of the excess.

Best of luck!

M.

I just use Tidy Cats, or whatever is on sale. I have made sure that there is always a mat or real rough rug in front of the litter box. That seems to catch some of it as they get out. It does seem to trail a little bit, but not as much as when I don't have anything in front of it. They have special litter trapping mats, but a cheap rug from Walmart seems to work just as well. And it's no big deal to throw it out if there's an accident.

We use Tidy Cat Scoopable. Put a rug in fromt of the litter box. I have not found a way to eliminate the tracking any other way. We have had a cat for many years. We are senior citizens.
Good luck and God Bless you for adopting this cat.
A.

Hi L.,

We use yesterday's news. It's recycled newspaper that can also be flushed down the toilet. My cats are almost 6 and I've used it for 5 1/2 years. It's definitely not all over our house. I hope you find something that works for you.

D.

Tidy Cat Scoop and a LitterMaid have worked wonders for me.

As Denika noted, use the newspaper kind and flush it down the toilet. I am the wife of a water/sewer department manager and it's ideas like that that will get you nothing but a call to the plumber and a $200 bill for them to unstop your toilet and then tell you do not flush cat litter or anything that will not dissolve or break up within less than 5 minutes should not go down the stool! Hope this is helpful and makes you think the next time you decide to flush something that should be flushed!

We use the feline pine cat litter. You said it did not work for you. The biggest thing is to have the litter box somewhere where it wont get strewn all over. Sorry, some gets tracked out onto the floor. We have a litter box with a lid on it and we face it toward the wall, maybe a half foot away...that way when they track some out it stays in a more confined area. I'm surprised you didn't like the pine litter, we have found less allergies, less smell, and healthier for the cats.....another thing you can try is to toilet train your kitten/cat. Google toilet train your cat and you should be able to come up with some alternatives...then you wont even need a litter box!!

We had a similar problem no matter what litter we used until we bought a rubber mat from a pet supply store designed to help with that problem. It sits under the litter boxes and picks up the worst of the litter from their paws when they get out.