Crystal litter advice

[Jacques and Pumpkin]

Pumpkin started having litter box avoidance problems for the first time in her life. It’s not a huge surprise considering she’s spending a lot more time in the litter box than she used to. I’m adding additional litter boxes and watching like a hawk to scoop as often as I can.

I also tried a new litter, Dr. Elsey’s Senior Litter, a crystal litter from the same brand as the clay litter I usually use. I put it next to the clay litter and Pumpkin took to it right away.

I’ve never used crystal litter so I have a few questions:

I read online that it doesn’t clump, and you just remove solid waste (which I assume means poop), stir the litter box regularly and then change out after a about month. But, when I tried stirring, I found clumps. Should I just stir vigorously enough to break up the clumps, or should I try to remove the clumps?

Is Dr. Elsey’s a good crystal litter? I’ve been pretty happy with their clay product, but I’m not sure if there’s a better/just as good but cheaper crystal litter for old arthritic cats.

Anything else I need to know about crystal litter?

 

[Jacques and Pumpkin]

One other thing. I know since Pumpkin is urinating more than 4x as much as a typical cat, I'll have to adjust the instructions to account for that. Changing out the litter weekly instead of monthly, for example (but really just watching for it to turn yellow and stop seeming fresh). Anything else I need to do differently for a diabetic cat compared to the regular litter box advice?

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I tried the crystals and didn't like them. I didn't find they clumped but I was using a different brand. I would remove the clumps if there are any. I found the smell was much worse with the crystals than the clumping litter and it didn't last nearly as long ass they said it would..
I hope you have better luck.

 

[Jacques and Pumpkin]

I tried the crystals and didn't like them. I didn't find they clumped but I was using a different brand. I would remove the clumps if there are any. I found the smell was much worse with the crystals than the clumping litter and it didn't last nearly as long ass they said it would..
I hope you have better luck.

The biggest factor for me right now is that Pumpkin likes the crystals better. I’ve got two litter boxes side by side and she’s going for the crystals every time. I didn’t even need to do a gradual transition. She walked in the crystals once, went back to the clay that time, and then ever since she’s only used the crystals.

I’ve done a deep clean on her clay litter box and I’m going to try to make everything as similar as possible between the two options to make sure it’s really the crystals she prefers. But, with the alternative being peeing on my shoes I might be stuck with the crystals even if they smell more :-(.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I used to put the crystals out in the sun to try and improve the smell. But whatever works for you.
My cats liked the crystals. I was the one who didn't!

 

[Bedina]

I haven't tried this brand, but I do use Pretty Litter. It's pricey for what it is and it doesn't last as long as promised (in part as my girl also goes more than she used to), but I use more of it and I change it out every 2-3 weeks rather than monthly. I think the key to a crystal litter is to stir it frequently to prevent clumps, although it's fine to remove them if you find them.

I also changed to a senior litter box with lower sides. I do have to sweep frequently as this combined with the crystals results in tracking, but it's much easier for her to get in and out of.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I am definitely not a Martha Stewart zombie, our home is decorated in the 'early motel' motif. She is smart, an animal lover and with a net worth of over 400 million she has no monetary need to promote it and you can bet her advisors have vetted Pretty Litter extensively.
Pretty Litter is a lightweight silica gel. Both clay based litter and silica crystals are a finite resource and are not biodegradable, they end up sitting in landfills effectively forever. Does it work? I didn't have the time to sort through a Google "does pretty litter work as advertised" search.
Plastic bags, dog and cat poop are a fact of life, at least we're not eating whale and dolphin meat. As for training a cat to use a toilet that's like watching a bear ride a bicycle at the circus. Toonces the cat was not a documentary. There's a Galaxy Quest / Gilligan's Island joke somewhere in there.

I'm General Sarris and I approved this message.

 

[Bedina]

I am definitely not a Martha Stewart zombie, our home is decorated in the 'early motel' motif. She is smart, an animal lover and with a net worth of over 400 million she has no monetary need to promote it and you can bet her advisors have vetted Pretty Litter extensively.
Pretty Litter is a lightweight silica gel. Both clay based litter and silica crystals are a finite resource and are not biodegradable, they end up sitting in landfills effectively forever. Does it work? I didn't have the time to sort through a Google "does pretty litter work as advertised" search.
Plastic bags, dog and cat poop are a fact of life, at least we're not eating whale and dolphin meat. As for training a cat to use a toilet that's like watching a bear ride a bicycle at the circus. Toonces the cat was not a documentary. There's a Galaxy Quest / Gilligan's Island joke somewhere in there.

View attachment 66660 I'm General Sarris and I approved this message.

I don't like the silica aspect either. I gave it a try when I missed a UTI and it caught the next one, so I would cautiously say it works, although I go through it at a much faster rate than advertised. I've actually stuck with it after a decade plus of using shredded paper for litter because my geriatric kitty is arthritic and started to have balance issues in using the other. She really likes this (I don't, as it tracks something awful).

The environmental impact of consumables is absolutely a topic worth discussing.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

environmental impact

We used to use Purina Maxx when it came in those blue plastic pails with the handle. For years we put it out on recycle day until one day we got the yellow tag on our bin. It turned out the handle was made of some kind of nylon so for years all those buckets went straight to the landfill. We had nine cats back then and one weighed 28 pounds so that's a lot of doo-doo. All we had to do was tear the "plastic" handle off but no one told us, extra friggin' stupid.
On the plus side some idiot bought a chunk of land just outside the city and chopped down 400 trees for his dream home. The county wasn't bluffing, he had to pay to have 400 semi mature trees replanted.
We live near the Laurentian trough aquifer system, almost 2,000 square miles and in some places almost 400 feet deep. From our house I can see subdivisions going up on what was supposed to be "forever" green space. I'm old enough to remember car batteries being put out with the trash. This stuff makes me steaming mad.