|
Post by dtesposito on Aug 19, 2018 20:52:21 GMT -5
Hi derby, I use scoopable litter, and I scoop morning and night.
I don't have a normal large garbage can on the floor like most people do, partly because of the inquisitive cats and partly because I'm the only human living here so by the time I filled a large bag it would really smell. I have a small plastic can that is up on a platform, and I use the grocery store size bags for garbage. I usually go out in the late morning either to do my paid dog walks or else shopping or the library, so my routine is as follows.
Right before bed I take a smallish plastic bag--for example, one I saved from bread, produce, chips, newspaper delivery, etc. I scoop the pans into it, then I sort of twist the top of the bag so that it won't smell, and set the bag down on my dustpan, which is right near where the litter scoop hangs on the wall. Then in the morning before I go out, I take the same bag and scoop again, then tie it shut and put it in the grocery store size bag. When I go out in the morning I take the grocery size garbage bag out to the dumpster, whether it's full or not. This way, it never smells because the garbage bag goes out every day, but I'm not wasting large garbage bags because I use a small one.
If I had a bigger supply of bags, I could just throw the small bag into the grocery store size garbage bag each each time I scoop, but as it is, I have to get creative with bags--our city charges for plastic grocery bags so all kinds of plastic bags are in short supply. So by using them at night and then saving them til morning, I'm using fewer plastic bags. And I set the bag on the dustpan instead of the floor because I have a very old wooden floor that has lost its finish, so I don't want the smell to go through the bag and get absorbed by the floor. Maybe that's overkill, but I've gotten into this habit and it works very well for me. If the dustpan should start smelling, it's much easier to wash the plastic dustpan than the absorbent wood floor.
If you use scoopable litter and keep enough litter in the pan so that the urine rarely touches the bottom, it's really not hard to scoop twice a day--it's one of the household chores that I don't mind at all--and believe me, there aren't many of those!
Diane
|
|
derbylee
New Member
Joined: August 2018
Posts: 21
|
Post by derbylee on Aug 20, 2018 21:22:02 GMT -5
Hi Unswamping! Glad you posted I keep wanting to update but not sure what the rules/etiquette are around double posting.
I've been scooping and vacuuming/sweeping daily for the last 7 days. Its awesome. I gotta keep doing this so it becomes a real habit.
|
|
|
Post by Di on Aug 21, 2018 1:39:36 GMT -5
SBD has decided that the storage room floor is her bathroom. I am so tired of sweeping and mopping up doggie messes. I know this is a cat thread, but I needed somewhere to gripe. Also the cats are not perfect in their bathroom habits.
can I just say I HATE ANIMAL MESSES!?!?!?!?!?!? I don't know what the answer is. They have an easy way out but it's been raining and I think they are afraid they will melt... Even though ZZ Kitty likes to roll in water.
|
|
|
Post by Di on Aug 21, 2018 1:44:32 GMT -5
Derby, when I actually owned a cat and had to deal with scooping, I scooped it into a ziplock bag and discarded it when it was fairly full. It contained the smell as well
(the two cats here do not belong to me. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Grumpy half Siamese belongs to my roommate and he will be moving out at the end of the month. ZZ Kitty was left behind by a former roommate. I get her rabies shots, and buy food for her. She wanders in and out at will but she does go outside to do her business -- she has a doggie door)
|
|
|
Post by Unswamping on Aug 22, 2018 3:29:57 GMT -5
Hi Di yes, feel free to gripe here about SBD. I promise i wont tell on you. Of course you dont own ZZ Kitty, no one owns cats. We are just their housekeepers.
derbylee post as often as you like, there are no rules about posting as much or as little as you like. If you do accidentally duplicate post, you can delete it. Im glad dtesposito was able to answer your question, she has great ideas. Hi Diane!
I scooped yesterday. I did not do my usual pan washing, i havent been doing that at all recently, i need to get that habit back. I didnt take the dirty litter out, although the bag is tied and sitting by front door to go out. Im on a crazy sleep cycle so i went back to bed.
|
|
|
Post by momof3boys on Aug 22, 2018 8:26:02 GMT -5
I did scoop yesterday! I had lost this thread.
|
|
|
Post by dtesposito on Aug 22, 2018 8:37:56 GMT -5
Unswamping, are you still using the clay litter? Do you not like the clumping kind, for some reason?
Diane
|
|
|
Post by Unswamping on Aug 25, 2018 19:08:35 GMT -5
great job momof3boys
I scooped yesterday and today. Washed two litter pans both days too.
dtesposito i dont use clay litter at all. I use feline pine, which is compressed pine pellets. When they pee on the pellets, the pellets disintergrate into sawdust, which i scoop out and put any pellets back in box. My two older boys were diggers so scoopable litter wasnt an option with them. I stopped using clay litter when i found i was allergic to the perfume in the litter (at the time, all i could find was the perfumed kind) and switched to feline pine. I did try scoopable with my boys and it was a disaster. Especially once zenkitty and kittens joined the household. i did bring my oldest boy outside when i gardened, he would dig holes on command. The trick was to get him to stop.
|
|
|
Post by dtesposito on Aug 26, 2018 21:01:02 GMT -5
Oh yes, I remember Feline Pine! During my 25 years working at a cageless cat shelter, the litter companies would often come and offer to give us some litter if we then gave an evaluation of it. We didn't want to do that in the shelter because it's hard enough for cats to live in a shelter without having their litter changed constantly, so the companies would give it to the employees/volunteers instead, and we would tell them what we thought. The Feline Pine was okay, but not all my cats liked those larger pellets. When the clumping litter first came out we all tried it at home--UGH, it was so dusty back then--within 2 days my whole room was coated with a visible layer of litter dust, and the floor had little dusty paw prints all over it. My evaluation was NO, I wasn't going to use it. Also some vets had a concern that ingesting the litter would be bad for the cats.
Over time they really improved it, and I don't hear much anymore about danger to the cats, especially adult cats. The dust factor has improved immensely. After caring for cats in homes where they used the clumping litter I saw how much better it is now, and wow, what a difference it has made in my wanting to change the litter. I used to dread that job, now scooping is almost a pleasure! I wanted to mention that if anyone is hesitating about the clumping litter because of the cost, you don't spend any more than with clay litter, because you don't have throw any litter out, you just replace it as you throw the clumps away.
I can see where the litter would fly everywhere if you had super-digger/coverers though.
I remember the companies also gave us that litter pan set up where there are permanent, non-absorbent pellets so the urine flows through into a tray beneath. I tried that too, not realizing that it's not a good fit if you have a cat who frequently has soft stool. Yuck, that was a mess!
I guess the lesson is to keep trying things until we find the thing that works best for our household and cats, and makes it as easy as possible for us to keep the pans clean.
Diane
|
|
|
Post by Unswamping on Aug 28, 2018 15:29:05 GMT -5
dtesposito that is a nice perk for working at the shelter! I agree, we need to try different things until we find what works for us and our cats.
I scooped today. Took dirty litter out to can. Swept floor. Will wash two litter pans as soon as the washer is done filling ( started some laundry too)
|
|
|
Post by Unswamping on Sept 2, 2018 16:01:36 GMT -5
scooped and swept today. Soaking two pans in tub, i should rinse them out. Need to take dirty litter out.
|
|
|
Post by Unswamping on Sept 7, 2018 12:13:16 GMT -5
oops missed posting a few days. I scooped and swept today. Wednesday i scooped swept and washed two pans. Ive been good about getting the dirty litter out, mostly because its been hot and gets stinky fast.
|
|