New cat owner questions - cat litter, letting cat out etc

[xsquared]

I have recently adopted a cat for a couple of weeks and she has settled in very well in our home, and we are enjoying caring for her.

Her previous owner however, lives very close to us and for this reason, I am reluctant to let her out of the house as she will probably try and succeed in finding her way back to her previous home.

She used to go out for a few hours during the day before settling in at night, but since we got her a couple of weeks ago, she has stayed indoors most of the time and have only let her out in the garden very briefly with either myself or dh being there. When would be appropriate to let her out for a bit longer, and how do we do this gradually? At some point we will consider installing a cat flap to the back of our house.

Her previous owner gave us a bag of silica cat litter which supposedly lasted a month, but I am thinking of replacing it this weekend as I think it's losing its effectiveness to neutralise the odour. Owner said she's tried all types and found this type to be the best litter.

Should I stick to the same type and brand?
Would the cat refuse to use their litter tray if I change the type of litter? I know there are lots of different types, and ideally, I'd like to use compostable litter.

Thank you if you got this far!

No advice in terms of letting her out as mine has always stayed in.

I'd keep an eye on the smell of the litter tray - they have much stronger senses of smell than us and my girl, again, finds somewhere else to go if she deems her litter too pungent. We didn't have much luck with the silica types - as you said, I found that the smell wasn't really neutralized after a while and the whole thing got pretty funky quite quickly, which meant changing the whole thing. My cat refused to use it, which I think was related to the smell!

I use clumping litter, as you can kind of 'scoop' the dirty litter out and leave the fresh stuff behind. If you're looking for biodegradable pets at home do massive bags of wood pellets, which I use for my rabbits and have had no issues with! Just try her with a different litter- she'll soon make it known if she doesn't like it

When I switched my boys from silica litter to a clumping wood-based one, I mixed the two together for the first few litter changes before making the full change. It seemed to help. I also get the odour neutralising powder to add to the litter and it really helps. Think it is the Beaphar one, it’s one of the ones that Zooplus sells.

Ali think about the type of fur your cat has, mine have long thick fur, and some litter types stick in their paws and then go EVERYWHERE, so that may be a factor, too.

Thanks both.

Re litter tray business, I was thinking of mixing another type with the silica to start with. Luckily, it's a short hair type cat, so not too fluffy!

Mixing litter that goes mushy when wet isn't a good idea with silica. I would get 2 trays with different types, put a little bit of the used litter on top so she knows it's her tray and let her decide.
I used to use silica litter and it just about lasted a month with normal use. The bottom goes yellow with pee.
I find clumping litter is best as you just remove all the used stuff and it can be topped up.
As for the going out, I personally prefer to know my cat is safe so a cat proofed garden or catio would be my choice. This site is very useful for anything pet related, and this thread might help if you decide to keep her safe but also outside access.
www.petforums.co.uk/threads/cat-runs-cat-proofed-gardens.211361/

Thank you @CatAssTrophic . I shall have look at the pet forums.

Is there a particular reason why mixing silica with other litter that goes mushy is bad?

@xsquared Mixing similar types of litter seems to work OK, but the mess you get with mixing others with silica wasn't pretty. Silica lets the pee go to the bottom of the tray whereas a clumping litter wouldn't be able to clump properly with bits of silica mixed in. A little bit of silica on a tray of clumping litter to encourage the transition wouldn't be so bad, but you need to get the mix right if you plan to use more of each.

I'm not sure how it happened, was a long time ago, but I found it didn't really work. By all means give it a go, and please let me know how you get on with it, you might have better results than I did (don't blame me if you don't though 😁).

I have just remembered the joy of standing on stray silica crystals on a hard floor in bare feet.

I switch between wood pellets and clay and my cat doesn't seem to care. The big difference is though that she doesn't bury her poop with the pellets, only the clay.

Shame really as there is much less dust with the pellets so I'd prefer if she would use that properly!

Thanks @Tribollite . That is interesting. According to a cat lady friend of mine, none of her cats ever liked wood litter amd she swears by Sainsbury's clumping clay litter. It has low reviews though. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I wonder if that’s the Felite one? Mine do bury with that one, which helps with odour, but they also scatter it everywhere and get it stuck in their fur so had to switch

I use the Sainsbury's non clumping. Seems fine to me but very dusty. It's cheap.

In the UK cats are considered only partly domesticated (not sure what the actual words are) and are legally allowed to roam because it’s deemed detrimental to their welfare not to allow them to do this. My personal opinion is it is that life is for living and, whilst I’m careful, I don’t minimise my own risk by never going out and being stuck in a prison, even a lovely one and I don’t agree with doing it to a cat either. (That’s not for you op but in response to some pp). A few cats don’t want to go out but that is a small minority.

I would keep you cat in for longer than I would usually recommend as your cat hasn’t moved far to come and live with you. I think the advice when you move with your cat is 2-3 weeks. I would double that in your circumstances. If you want your cat to come home and be in at nighttime then I would get into the habit of giving them a high value treat at the same time of day or at dusk so they come looking for it.

I have changed litter type without issue but some cats can by more fussy than others. If you don’t like the litter you’re using then it’s worth trying another type.

I'd keep the cat indoors. Since losing mine to an RTA I'm of the opinion it's actually a bit madness how we simply open our doors and let them roam! You wouldn't let a cockerpoo out for a roam let's face it.

Best option is to cat proof your garden. Let them enjoy the outdoors without the dangers. Or build a large catio for the cat.

I kept my rescue cat in for nearly 6 weeks. He had lived on the streets for years. Luckily he has never gone back and has established new territory near us. He was terrified when I first let him out, strange as he had lived outside. Good luck.