Something that you will continuously repurchase as a cat owner, particularly if your cat lives indoors or comes in at night, is cat litter.
It's one of those things you might not give much thought to. After all, they’re all the same, right? Just grab any bag and you’re on your way! Well erm, no, actually.
As very clean animals, cats require a suitable cat litter to keep them happy as anything they don’t like can lead to stress and even result in accidents.
That’s why we’ve done the hard work for you, not only answering those questions that will tell you all you need to know but helping to separate the bad from the good so you can make the best choice for your feline friend.
How many cat litter boxes do I need?
For indoor cats, you need one litter tray per cat. We recommend having one spare too for when you are giving the other one a deep clean.
How much litter should be in the tray?
The general rule of thumb is to fill up the tray about 2-3 inches high. This will vary depending on the type of litter you are using but the packaging will give you a guide of how much to use. Ultimately, you want enough litter for your cat to be able to bury their faeces and to absorb urine to stop it pooling on the bottom of the litter box.
How often should I clean the litter?
If you’ve got non-clumping litter, you will want to remove any faeces daily and replace the litter every 4-5 days.
For clumping litter, faeces and litter clumps need to be removed daily and then replaced with the same amount of litter that you have binned. Although you don’t need to replace clumping litter as frequently as non-clumping litter, you should still do this every month.
The best cat litter
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Every granule of Catsan Hygiene Cat Litter ensures long-lasting odour control as it absorbs liquids and locks away moisture before odours develop. Easy to scoop, it has very low dust when you pour it out of the bag and it's free of added fragrances that might upset your cat. Review: "A really great product by Catsan. I've been using this for my fur baby since I brought him home 2.5 years ago. He's only ever used Catsan since he was 13 weeks old. What I love about this hygiene litter is that it lasts for a long time and there's very little to no odour, so it does a great job at keep the smells at bay from pervading the rest of the apartment."
Made from 100 per cent pure organic fibre, this cat littler is a great choice for the eco-conscious as it's made from sustainable, secondary wood raw materials from the timber industry and is completely biodegradable. Cat's Best binds liquid and odour effectively inside the fibre, claiming to boast up to 3 times higher yield than mineral-based cat litters. Review: "Ok ... perhaps getting excited over cat litter is a little random, but ... this stuff is awesome. Declump it and flush in the morning, top it up a little ... get back from work, declump again and top up a little. What could be easier? NOTHING. It kills smell (sometimes smells a little like wet sawdust), it lasts for ages and its light. To give you an idea, we have had a bag of this for 2 full weeks and we've only used (almost) half of it ... and when you consider that we have 3 adult house cats, that's amazing."
Made with superior clumping clay that traps, locks and eliminates odour from urine and faeces through activated carbon technology, this scented cat litter is especially suited to multicat households with a high usage litter tray. It has paw activated fragrance so releases a fresh scent when the cat litter tray is in use. Review: "I've tried several brands, but this one is the best yet. I've changed our 2 boxes 1 week ago and with daily scooping plus refill as I scoop it's still as fresh as on the first day. We have 4 cats... The scooping is almost a joy these days. It clumps their pee very well and also doesn't leave much of a mess around the box. Eg no or very little dust when refilling etc."
Made from recycled wood, these pellets have a natural pine scent and are free from chemicals and dust, whilst also being light to handle and easy to dispose of. Highly absorbent and non-clumping, the wood-based pellets retain up to 2x their weight in liquid, helping to maintain a drier litter tray for longer. **Review: "**My cats always use this litter. It's a great product at a great price, and Prime's next day delivery is really helpful."
www.petscorner.co.uk
Biodegradable and made from recycled wood, the purse-friendly Great&Small Pine Magic has a fresh pine scent and can even be used with rabbits and guinea pigs. It's dust-free and can be disposed of in a biodegradable bag with normal household waste or dug into an area of the garden not in use.
natusan.co.uk
This 100% natural, tight-clumping cat litter develops a whopping absorptive power of up to seven times its own weight. Its made from recycled wood fibres so is soft on your cat's paws and there is no added fragrance so fussy cats will especially like it. Better yet, it's biodegradable and compostable too so makes a great eco-friendly option. Review: "This litter is amazing. I got a free bag and was initially skeptical, but Iu2019m fully converted! It never smells, it clumps really well and the litter lasts so much longer!"