What to do With Old Cat Litter?

Smartin wrote:
Just wondering if anyone has creative ideas for what to do with old cat
litter that has been reused for months on end...

We have four boxes and use clumping litter with sifting pan liners.
Every week we sift out the clumpy bits, add a generous sprinkle of
deodorizer to the box, and top off with a little fresh litter.

This works great for quite some time, but eventually the deodorizer
makes the litter quite dusty, and I suspect there is an accumulation of
odor I do not detect but the kitties do.

So, it's time to change out all the little boxes! Aside from paying the
rubbish hauler to take away many pounds of smelly litter, is there
anything useful I could do with it? Maybe in the compost, or the garden?
Make a pinata for bad kids?


Thank you to all who responded!

--
Smartin

On 9 Apr, 16:36, Lynne wrote:
on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:26:15 GMT, "Jennifer" wrote:

Of course, composting litter is not exactly easy in some areas. A
decent-sized composter, one big enough to handle loads of cat litter,
takes up a pretty decent amount of space. Plus, it takes time for all
that to break down, and when I was doing it, we were generating too
much cat litter for the (large) composter to keep up even with
frequent turning and watering, especially in the winter. After three
months, there was more cat litter than grass clippings, leaves, and
kitchen scraps. Even when the litter looks like it's done composting,
to be safe, you still shouldn't use it on vegetables because you can't
guarantee that the bits of mixed-in feces got hot enough to kill all
the microorganisms.

I have no problem using composted pine cat litter in planting beds, but I
*definitely* would not use it on a vegetable garden. I haven't had one
in a while, but am planting one here again this year. I may do a second
compost pile just for the vegetable garden, with no cat litter/sawdust.

With just two cats, I don't have too much sawdust to compost. I also
have a place I can just spread it (on my property), if for some reason I
don't want to compost it all. I wonder if there would be any businesses
interested in having the sawdust for recycling? There's a paper shredder
company here who will shred your documents for free (while you watch for
the untrusting types) and they sell the shredded paper for manufacturing
something-or-other. Win-win.

--
Lynne

We have always used a brand called Sofisticat, which is rather like
tiny bits of shingle. I guess the nearest alternative would be a clay
clumping litter, when trying to describe it.
Would it be hard to introduce a new type of cat litter to all 7 of
them?
It was hell on earth trying to get Lucy(fur!!) to accept that we
wanted her to try out the normal litter we used rather than plain soil
which is what she was used to(we did that gradually over a month with
half and half). Ringo was happy to use anything as long as it was a
hooded litter....

The only other time that I tried out a new brand recently, it happened
to be one of the new ones recently that look like white sand (almost),
that was supposed to contain all nasty odours & turn into a gel like
substance, rather like the stuff that is inside babies nappies do -
all we had to do was sift it to take the refuse out. However, I found
that we seemed to use rather a lot of it.....

It was ok, but I found that it was rather expensive when we tried it.
The only thing stopping me using the pine wood based one is because
they didn't seem very keen on it....
But that was a couple of years ago & we have new feline family to try
it out on now
I suppose it is going to cost us a fair amount whichever way you look
@ it, so really I should give the pine one a go if it is
biodegradable??
Any advice on this one?
Thanks,
S;o)

on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:59:17 GMT, "sheelagh"
wrote:

The only thing stopping me using the pine wood based one is because
they didn't seem very keen on it....
But that was a couple of years ago & we have new feline family to try
it out on now
I suppose it is going to cost us a fair amount whichever way you look
@ it, so really I should give the pine one a go if it is
biodegradable??
Any advice on this one?

Yes, you must transition them very, very, VERY slowly. From the Feline
Pine website,

http://www.naturesearth.com/faq.html

"First start with covering the bottom of your litter box with an inch of
our litter. Then cover with 3 inches of your old litter. Do not mix!
Allow your cats to use their box as they normally would. With each litter
box change, increase the amount of Feline Pine® and decrease the amount
of your old litter until you are using nothing but the pine. After 3 to 4
changes, all cats adjust."

This is exactly how I transitioned Rudy, but he's exceptionally relaxed
about change so take that FWIW. I think that if you go slowly enough,
even slower than recommended above, then all cats really will adjust.
But you need to watch them carefully for any signs of litter box
misbehavior, and you really need to do it in all the boxes at the same
time, which will be quite a chore and perhaps overwhelming.

If you do make the transistion, you also need to keep the sawdust to a
minimum once you are switched over, because it can stay wet and it's got
to be unpleasant for them. I switched to using sifting boxes recently
and it makes using pine pellet litter much, much easier and cleaner. I
just shake the sawdust into the bottom tray and dump it when it gets
full. When the pine pellets get really, really low (like barely any left
in the top part of the box), I wash both parts of the box. It always
smells like pine and not unpleasant at all. Well, except when one of
them has made one of thier ultra stinky poos... I'm really pleased with
this stuff in every way.

It doesn't have to be Feline Pine, by the way. I am using something
called Woody Pet now that is a fraction of the cost of Feline Pine. It
is sold as horse and small animal bedding in 30 lb bags and it looks (and
is) nearly identical. You can probably find something similar at a horse
supply shop in England. It will take quite an effort and commitment on
your part to make the change, though, and with 7 cats, I think even I'd
hesitate!

By the way, when Levi came home at the tender age of 4 weeks, he was
using old fashioned clay litter. So I made the transition as described
above in the upstairs box, but left the downstairs box with all pine.
Rudy continued to poo downstairs and pee upstairs, as always. I really
thought he would prefer the clay and stop using the pine, but I was
wrong. This cat would probably use a litter box I suspended from the
ceiling with springs, though, so he may not be a good data point.

--
Lynne

On 10 Apr, 02:16, Lynne wrote:
on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:59:17 GMT, "sheelagh"

wrote:
The only thing stopping me using the pine wood based one is because
they didn't seem very keen on it....
But that was a couple of years ago & we have new feline family to try
it out on now
I suppose it is going to cost us a fair amount whichever way you look
@ it, so really I should give the pine one a go if it is
biodegradable??
Any advice on this one?

Yes, you must transition them very, very, VERY slowly. From the Feline
Pine website,

http://www.naturesearth.com/faq.html

"First start with covering the bottom of your litter box with an inch of
our litter. Then cover with 3 inches of your old litter. Do not mix!
Allow your cats to use their box as they normally would. With each litter
box change, increase the amount of Feline Pine® and decrease the amount
of your old litter until you are using nothing but the pine. After 3 to 4
changes, all cats adjust."

This is exactly how I transitioned Rudy, but he's exceptionally relaxed
about change so take that FWIW. I think that if you go slowly enough,
even slower than recommended above, then all cats really will adjust.
But you need to watch them carefully for any signs of litter box
misbehavior, and you really need to do it in all the boxes at the same
time, which will be quite a chore and perhaps overwhelming.

If you do make the transistion, you also need to keep the sawdust to a
minimum once you are switched over, because it can stay wet and it's got
to be unpleasant for them. I switched to using sifting boxes recently
and it makes using pine pellet litter much, much easier and cleaner. I
just shake the sawdust into the bottom tray and dump it when it gets
full. When the pine pellets get really, really low (like barely any left
in the top part of the box), I wash both parts of the box. It always
smells like pine and not unpleasant at all. Well, except when one of
them has made one of thier ultra stinky poos... I'm really pleased with
this stuff in every way.

It doesn't have to be Feline Pine, by the way. I am using something
called Woody Pet now that is a fraction of the cost of Feline Pine. It
is sold as horse and small animal bedding in 30 lb bags and it looks (and
is) nearly identical. You can probably find something similar at a horse
supply shop in England. It will take quite an effort and commitment on
your part to make the change, though, and with 7 cats, I think even I'd
hesitate!

By the way, when Levi came home at the tender age of 4 weeks, he was
using old fashioned clay litter. So I made the transition as described
above in the upstairs box, but left the downstairs box with all pine.
Rudy continued to poo downstairs and pee upstairs, as always. I really
thought he would prefer the clay and stop using the pine, but I was
wrong. This cat would probably use a litter box I suspended from the
ceiling with springs, though, so he may not be a good data point.

--
Lynne

Anything is worth a go Lynne. With this new pilot scheme, they will be
charging us by the kg of waste that we put out., so I have got to try
and minimise the amount that goes out in the rubbish(trash.)

I thought we had hit rock bottom when they told us that we would only
get one rubbish collection once a fortnight... but it just goes to
show you how wrong I could be, doesn't it?

It is not so bad in the winter, but come the summer, it is a real
problem over here. Can you imagine not having your waste disposed of
for 6 people and 7 cats too? It is minging by the time they collect
it, & living right next to a public alleyway really doesn't help when
you have a fortnights worth of cat litter out there, even if it is in
a sealed heavy duty bag. It smells dreadful, is full of maggots and
unsightly to boot!! Every single time they come to collect our
rubbish, we have to get a power hose out to disinfect the
bins..YUCKY!!

I am willing to try just about anything, because the cost is
dreadful.
As if that is not bad enough, the water board are considering charging
us for water by consumption too.
I am not against saving the world by doing my bit & recycling. Far
from it.. if I can, I do. It is easy once you get the hang of it...
but the water charge as well as the Refuse charge is going to be
darned expensive!!

I don't expect it to be a doddle, but it has to be done because I
simply don't think I could afford to get rid of the clay clumping type
stuff in the quantities
we are using;o(

I will get some pine sawdust in then and give it a try. I will leave
one of the cat litters normal as they are used to it, then change all
6 of the rest of them with the measures that you suggest & let you
know how it goes..
Thank you for the information, l &ink too BTW, I appreciate it no
end.
S;o)

on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 01:52:41 GMT, "sheelagh"
wrote:

I will get some pine sawdust in then and give it a try. I will leave
one of the cat litters normal as they are used to it, then change all
6 of the rest of them with the measures that you suggest & let you
know how it goes..


Just to clarify, it's pine pellets when you buy it. When the pellets get
wet, they turn into sawdust, and the sawdust can be composted.

I highly recommend converting ALL the boxes at once (slowly!), otherwise
you may find all the cats using only one box and not adapting at all.

--
Lynne

On 10 Apr, 03:04, Lynne wrote:
on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 01:52:41 GMT, "sheelagh"

wrote:
I will get some pine sawdust in then and give it a try. I will leave
one of the cat litters normal as they are used to it, then change all
6 of the rest of them with the measures that you suggest & let you
know how it goes..

Just to clarify, it's pine pellets when you buy it. When the pellets get
wet, they turn into sawdust, and the sawdust can be composted.

I highly recommend converting ALL the boxes at once (slowly!), otherwise
you may find all the cats using only one box and not adapting at all.

--
Lynne


Just to clarify, it's pine pellets when you buy it. When the pellets get
wet, they turn into sawdust, and the sawdust can be composted.

I highly recommend converting ALL the boxes at once (slowly!), otherwise
you may find all the cats using only one box and not adapting at all.
Thanks for that Lynne.
I must admit that I thought it was a bit strange that I had never seen
it for sale in sawdust form when browsing at the pet shop...

You mean the pellet shaped ones?

I will do all of the litters together than..
Now this will be interesting, lol...
Keep you up to date with how we are doing.
S;o)

on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 03:47:41 GMT, "sheelagh"
wrote:

You mean the pellet shaped ones?

Yep! That's right.

I will do all of the litters together than..

I think that will be the best way to go about this.

Now this will be interesting, lol...
Keep you up to date with how we are doing.

Just go slowly! And do let us know. I hope it works out for you!!

Being forced to reduce your refuse is no fun, but I would actually like to
see that day come here. I'm appalled by what and how much garbage people
throw out.

--
Lynne

On 10 Apr, 14:36, Lynne wrote:
on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 03:47:41 GMT, "sheelagh"

wrote:
You mean the pellet shaped ones?

Yep! That's right.

I will do all of the litters together than..

I think that will be the best way to go about this.

Now this will be interesting, lol...
Keep you up to date with how we are doing.

Just go slowly! And do let us know. I hope it works out for you!!

Being forced to reduce your refuse is no fun, but I would actually like to
see that day come here. I'm appalled by what and how much garbage people
throw out.

--
Lynne

Bookie & I have just been talking about a similar issue under, Sad
story has reached us here too.
I agree with you.

In the beginning when they handed us a box the size of a small
cardboard box, & told us that we must recycle from now on. I filled
that box in the first day that we got it, which forced me to throw
excess recyclables in with the waste....
A bit pointless, wouldn't you say?

In the end I rang our local authority, & asked them to send out extra
bins for us. When you consider that there were 7 of us here, one poxy
little box was a joke. They ended up sending us to wheelie bins out
which we fill in about 4 days., but they only empty them on rotated
weeks, so it leaves us a whole week & a half to think about where the
hell we are going to store it & how we can leave it out in a clear bag
so that they don't up end it on the garden...
It wouldn't be the first time either.!! Most of the refuse bags that
you can buy over here are all black & they won't take them. clear ones
are around 5 x the price of the black ones.

If they really want us to do our bit, &save the planet, then it
shouldn't be too much to ask for them to give us extra bins in view of
the amount/volume of people living here, should it?

I am happy to try and do anything that we can to preserve what we
have, but Big Brother doesn't make it easy to help them In fact after
posting this, I am going to ring and ask them if they would send us
another 2 out, because that would be about right & we wouldn't have
the problems that we do.

I am most definately doing to try the wood pine passed one out next
time I go shopping this week end. I have a small spare bag in case
everything goes T**''s up...
But I do intend to persevere with it. I hate using the clay clumping
one, but It is my fault that they are used to using it, so I must bare
the consequences of it. By the sound of it, it smells a darned sight
better too, lol...

I will be only too pleased if they do accept it with no problems.
If we hit snags, then I I'll be back to ask advice)
Thanks Lynne,
S;o)

On Apr 10, 10:55 am, "sheelagh" wrote:
On 10 Apr, 14:36, Lynne wrote:





on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 03:47:41 GMT, "sheelagh"

wrote:
You mean the pellet shaped ones?

Yep! That's right.

I will do all of the litters together than..

I think that will be the best way to go about this.

Now this will be interesting, lol...
Keep you up to date with how we are doing.

Just go slowly! And do let us know. I hope it works out for you!!

Being forced to reduce your refuse is no fun, but I would actually like to
see that day come here. I'm appalled by what and how much garbage people
throw out.

--
Lynne

Bookie & I have just been talking about a similar issue under, Sad
story has reached us here too.
I agree with you.

In the beginning when they handed us a box the size of a small
cardboard box, & told us that we must recycle from now on. I filled
that box in the first day that we got it, which forced me to throw
excess recyclables in with the waste....
A bit pointless, wouldn't you say?

In the end I rang our local authority, & asked them to send out extra
bins for us. When you consider that there were 7 of us here, one poxy
little box was a joke. They ended up sending us to wheelie bins out
which we fill in about 4 days., but they only empty them on rotated
weeks, so it leaves us a whole week & a half to think about where the
hell we are going to store it & how we can leave it out in a clear bag
so that they don't up end it on the garden...
It wouldn't be the first time either.!! Most of the refuse bags that
you can buy over here are all black & they won't take them. clear ones
are around 5 x the price of the black ones.

If they really want us to do our bit, &save the planet, then it
shouldn't be too much to ask for them to give us extra bins in view of
the amount/volume of people living here, should it?

I am happy to try and do anything that we can to preserve what we
have, but Big Brother doesn't make it easy to help them In fact after
posting this, I am going to ring and ask them if they would send us
another 2 out, because that would be about right & we wouldn't have
the problems that we do.

Almost twenty years ago, I was living in an, um, economically
depressed medium-sized city in New England, that decided to adopt a
recycling program and charge for the removal of anything that wasn't
recyclable. This is what they did:

They made the rules for what could go in recycling and what couldn't
clear, simple, and easy to understand. They printed those rules in
every language spoken in the city--twenty-seven in all, which included
Slovenian and Vietnamese and Chinese.

They provided two bins per household automatically. If you needed
more, you could request more--or you could use anything you wanted
that more-or-less fit the description. It just had to be clear that
you intended it as a recycling bin. You could even take a regular old
trash bin, and mark it "recycling."

For non-recyclable trash, you had to use city trash bags, which were
day-glo yellow and had the recycling instructions on them. In their
first incarnation, they were $0.50 each and held up to thirty pounds.
Very quickly, elderly residents and handicapped residents complained
that they couldn't fill them more than half-full or they couldn't lift
and maneuver them adequately, so they were effectively being charged
twice as much for the same amount of trash as everyone else. The
city's response, within a month or two, was to make half-size bags
available, at $0.25 each, in addition to the full-size bags. Anyone
could use whichever they found best suited their needs.

In very short order, we had a recycling program that for many years
put to shame the efforts of hoity-toity inner suburbs that looked down
their noses at industrial wastelands like that city and most of the
places I've lived.

So, yes, it is possible to do it right, IF the local government
actually cares about making it practical for the residents to
cooperate.

I am most definately doing to try the wood pine passed one out next
time I go shopping this week end. I have a small spare bag in case
everything goes T**''s up...
But I do intend to persevere with it. I hate using the clay clumping
one, but It is my fault that they are used to using it, so I must bare
the consequences of it. By the sound of it, it smells a darned sight
better too, lol...

It does.

I will be only too pleased if they do accept it with no problems.
If we hit snags, then I I'll be back to ask advice)
Thanks Lynne,
S;o)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Here's hoping they're in a cooperative mood when you introduce it.

Lis

On Tue 10 Apr 2007 09:36:28a, Lynne wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
:

Being forced to reduce your refuse is no fun, but I would
actually like to see that day come here. I'm appalled by what
and how much garbage people throw out.

You and me both, Lynne. While I have trash pickup 2x per week (no
weight limit) and recycle pickup once a week, I don't have enough
trash for 2 pickups unless I'm on a cleaning binge, and then I try to
use Freecycle for what's still usable. My next door neighbors OTOH
have several bins full of refuge for both weekly pickups EVERY week.
I do have to say that they have a houseful, but not in proportion
with the amount of trash IMO.

--
Cheryl