Cat litter: all possibilities have now been eliminated

pinkspore

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#1
We have three indoor cats and three litterboxes (should have one more but it's an 800 square foot house and I can't figure out where to put another dogproof one without getting rid of some furniture) and cat litter is driving me to drink.

We started out using clay litter. It worked pretty good but was heavy and dusty and tracked easily and was impossible to vacuum up because no vacuum on earth can handle clay litter for some reason. Then James developed Cat Asthma (also Cat Acne, he's a special boy) so we had to find something less dusty.

We tried Fresh Step's non-clay clumping litter and it was pretty awesome, light and easy to carry, but nobody in town sold it so I had to drive an hour or so to get more. Also the little grains tracked everywhere no matter what I did. Target stopped carrying it so we had to find something else.

Switched to World's Best and loved it for a while. Brisbane loves food-based cat litters so he would hoover up any grains that got tracked out of the dog-proof zone. Those nice grains would break down after a week and a half though, and transform into a fine powder than got tracked everywhere on a level I never expected. We haven't used it in months and I'm still wiping World's Best powder off random surfaces.

Our most recent switch was to Blue Buffalo's walnut shell litter. It was amazing, controlled odors beautifully, didn't track very much at all, and was easier to carry than clay. Then I finally tracked the pantry moth infestation to the litterboxes and seriously, WTF?!?! How the hell do walnut shells work as a substrate for moth larvae?

So now I need to get rid of the moths, and I'm going back to clay for the moment because I've basically run out of options.

1.Corn/wheat/walnut/etc-based litters can harbor moths, and I'm not jamming the deep freeze full of cat litter every time we need a new bag.
2. Clay litters irritate James and his Cat Asthma.
3. I hate pelleted, non-scoopable litters (Yesterday's News, Feline Pine) with a passion because they are impossible to scoop and the urine just sits there until the whole box is dumped.

Is there anything left? It has to be scoopable, clumping, non-scented, and not harbor pantry moths.
 

pinkspore

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#3
I haven't tried crystal litter since I've had these cats, but I remember it being incredibly expensive, perfumy, and the urine also just sat there until the whole box was dumped.
 

*blackrose

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#5
There are those litterboxes that wick the urine to the bottom to a tray underneath lined with essentially a puppy pad. The non clumping pellets on top stop odor from the poo and you just scoop it off and flush it.

May be an option? They're supposed to be pretty good and have great reviews. I can post a link tomorrow when I'm not on my phone!
 

Julee

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#6
I'm sorry World's Best didn't work for you - I adoooore it.

I was going to suggest leaving bags of the walnut stuff outside until you figured out a better option, and then I remembered where you live. :p
 

pinkspore

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Yup, winter is something that happens to other people. We can't flush litter either because it can end up contaminating sensitive sea otter habitats.

I'm hesitant to try the Tidy Cats Breeze litter system mostly because it would require buying all new $40 litterboxes just to see if we like it.
 

pinkspore

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#9
It's my all time fave too.

I have found that it can vary in consistency a bit from bag to bag....maybe you got a few dustier bags?
Pretty much every bag crumbled into dust after about a week. That stuff costs way too much to dump and replace weekly and even says on the bag that it's supposed to last a lot longer than that. My husband bought a bag recently when the store was out of the walnut stuff, and I was reminded again how insanely powdery that stuff is. Might as well have the cats using constarch. Tan pawprints all over the house.
 
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#10
You could try putting a rubber backed rug, like one of the heavy duty ones you can get at Home Depot, under or around the boxes. It helps the cats "wipe their feet" as they're leaving the box.
 

pinkspore

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#11
I tried that, the cat boxes are surrounded by a veritable maze of rugs, litter catchers, and gates intended to get everything off their feet before they make it into the rest of the house. I could probably mitigate the World's Best Powder by wiping everything down and vacuuming it every single day, but that's way too much work. I'd just rather not have my cats poop in flour.

Also we can't go back right now because the moths would probably love that stuff.
 

crazedACD

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#12
I've been using the Arm&Hammer cedar/pine mix at Wal-Mart... clumping and lightweight. I think the odor control is fine, but the clumps aren't as tight as I prefer. It's okay stuff.

I did use WBC and that was a favorite.

Also, Feline Pine has a clumping version with small particles :).
 

AmberD

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#13
There are those litterboxes that wick the urine to the bottom to a tray underneath lined with essentially a puppy pad. The non clumping pellets on top stop odor from the poo and you just scoop it off and flush it.
The Breeze is fantastic for urine/used litter smell, but trust me - they do NOT stop Poo odor. And they don't even have a lidded option.
 

busannie

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#14
The company that makes cat attract litter also makes a general clay litter (precious cat) and one specifically for cats with respiratory sensitivities. Both are like 99% dust free. I used the regular clay litter for a while, and liked it well enough, though I switched because odor control wasn't the best. I have 3 cats and two approx 18" x 24" rubbermaid totes for litterboxes because 1 cat pees standing up and I was tired of cleaning pee from the crack of the covered litter boxes (unexpected bonus- my little dogs can no longer easily eat cat poop from the totes :D), Admittedly, I don't scoop as much as I should, my cats are saints about the litter box, so if I miss a day, it's not the end of the world. I can attest to the litter having very little dust, and if the boxes weren't in such close proximity to my living space (2 room apt area), it probably wouldn't have been a problem.

I currently am using arm and hammer clump and seal, and finally have a litter I'm pretty close to 100% happy with. It's pretty low dust, not too bad on tracking, clumps great, and though it's scented, it's not an overwhelming scent, and doesn't cling to the cats. I would say it's slightly dustier than precious cat, but even when stirred around it's not bad to me... not sure about for a cat or person with resp. issues though. I prefer the "fresh home" scent over the "multi cat" scent, but either works pretty well.

http://www.preciouscat.com/product/respiratory-relief-clumping-clay/
 

Barb04

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#15
I like using Cat's Pride. It comes in a big plastic jug. I've been getting the Natural one that seems to work well.
 
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#16
We have three indoor cats and three litterboxes (should have one more but it's an 800 square foot house and I can't figure out where to put another dogproof one without getting rid of some furniture) and cat litter is driving me to drink.

We started out using clay litter. It worked pretty good but was heavy and dusty and tracked easily and was impossible to vacuum up because no vacuum on earth can handle clay litter for some reason. Then James developed Cat Asthma (also Cat Acne, he's a special boy) so we had to find something less dusty.

We tried Fresh Step's non-clay clumping litter and it was pretty awesome, light and easy to carry, but nobody in town sold it so I had to drive an hour or so to get more. Also the little grains tracked everywhere no matter what I did. Target stopped carrying it so we had to find something else.

Switched to World's Best and loved it for a while. Brisbane loves food-based cat litters so he would hoover up any grains that got tracked out of the dog-proof zone. Those nice grains would break down after a week and a half though, and transform into a fine powder than got tracked everywhere on a level I never expected. We haven't used it in months and I'm still wiping World's Best powder off random surfaces.

Our most recent switch was to Blue Buffalo's walnut shell litter. It was amazing, controlled odors beautifully, didn't track very much at all, and was easier to carry than clay. Then I finally tracked the pantry moth infestation to the litterboxes and seriously, WTF?!?! How the hell do walnut shells work as a substrate for moth larvae?

So now I need to get rid of the moths, and I'm going back to clay for the moment because I've basically run out of options.

1.Corn/wheat/walnut/etc-based litters can harbor moths, and I'm not jamming the deep freeze full of cat litter every time we need a new bag.
2. Clay litters irritate James and his Cat Asthma.
3. I hate pelleted, non-scoopable litters (Yesterday's News, Feline Pine) with a passion because they are impossible to scoop and the urine just sits there until the whole box is dumped.

Is there anything left? It has to be scoopable, clumping, non-scented, and not harbor pantry moths.
I have 4 cats, 4 litter boxes.
We use Arm and Hammer clump and seal.
I don't find it dusty, it clumps AWESOMELY, and my vacuum doesn't self-destruct trying to bring it out of my carpeted closet. (Who the hell carpets a closet!? seriously rentals...)

My eldest cat has issues, and has no issue with this litter.

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/arm-ham...FRQ3vcewCOpljTHLiPnryn9J2MDPu1Mb3MaAlYE8P8HAQ
 

Fran27

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#17
Great thread!

I like World Best but the price... I can't really stomach it. So I've been using a store brand... but will try the Arms and Hammer one next because what I have doesn't clump enough and I hate it.
 

JazzyTheSibe

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#18
You could try putting a rubber backed rug, like one of the heavy duty ones you can get at Home Depot, under or around the boxes. It helps the cats "wipe their feet" as they're leaving the box.
I use something similar-but, it's specifically made for cats. So far, it has worked wonders for me,I love it,& I'd suggest it to anyone who has a cat.
 

Izzy's Valkyrie

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#19
Yup, winter is something that happens to other people. We can't flush litter either because it can end up contaminating sensitive sea otter habitats.

I'm hesitant to try the Tidy Cats Breeze litter system mostly because it would require buying all new $40 litterboxes just to see if we like it.
We have the breeze system and LOVE it. IT took care of Jade's accidental peeing over the edge of the box immediately. We keep it by the toilet and scoop the poop to flush every evening. You just change out the pee pad once a week and it holds a lot!
 

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