Litter advice - indoor cat

[ObelixtheGaul]

Our new beautiful rescue boy is an indoor cat as he has health issues. I have never had a cat that doesn't go outside.

My question is about litter. We use wood pellets in an open tray at the moment. I am loath to get a lidded one as apparently a lot of cats don't like it. I empty solids out every day, often more than once and empty the whole thing every two or three days, but the litter odor hits me when I come through the door after being out.
I want to use a biodegradable litter rather than a sillica-gel based one.

Should I empty the whole thing every day, or is there a better biodegradable litter I could be using? Have any of you used a covered tray, and were your cats OK with it? He's an older street cat who is great at using the tray, I don't want to put him off using it altogether by introducing a lidded one.

It's not that we never used trays before, our other cats were always in at night so I kept a tray for them on case they got caught short, but have never had a cat who will only be using an indoor tray.

I would appreciate any advice.

We got a lidded one when cat was 12 and I didn’t know if he’d adjust but it was fine although I’ve left off the door as suspected it would be a step too far

Our 2 were initially suspicious of covered litter trays but now they prefer them as they feel safe (a bit like a cardboard box or igloo bed). We use cats best original which isn't as good as it used to be and tracks but definitely no odour. Would be interested to hear recommendations from others as to anything better out there. Definitely not the "world's best" which is insanely expensive nd made of corn so they tried to eat it!

That's good to know. He likes to dig for Britain as well, and despite the high-sided tray, he still manages to kick litter out, so a hooded tray would help.

Try a lidded one but remove the door/flap so it's less closed-in for the cat. Try paper pellet litter - brand is Celect but you can get other brands and supermarket own brands - it's made of recycled paper. it doesn't clump so you do have to change it every day or two, but that stops your house stinking anyway!

I'd definitely suggest switching to a clumping litter so you can remove wee more effectively. We use Cats Best and only change the entire litter tray every few weeks or so, when the level in the tray gets too low. It doesn't smell at all. I've used those pine pellets in the past and the tray absolutely reeked within a day or two.

I'd also suggest a stainless steel tray rather than a plastic one, so you can clean it properly when you do a full change. In my experience it's impossible to get the odour out of the plastic ones.

Like @OreganoandFeta, I use Cats Best and it has no odour. It’s not cheap but is way better than any other litter I’ve used.

My cats litter box is lidded and still manages to kick litter out 🙈

I use breeder celect. No odour and price not too bad

I use Katkin Scoop Planet litter. Excellent at reducing odour and clumps really well. It's 100% biodegradable and made out of recycled plant based food industry waste (pea fibre/millet). It also doesn't track and there's no dust. I wouldn't get anything else now.

Just ordered some cats best on Amazon! Thanks for the recommendation. We are 'trying' to train them to use the toilet. It's not that successful yet but I live in hope because my god our entire bin is kitty litter and poop!

I tried pea clumping litter too. The cats don't like it much and it turns into a goo like substance. However it is flushable.

@ObelixtheGaul we used this and wood chip. She preferred it to open

I use Breeder Select as my vacuum cleaner seemed to struggle with the wood pellets which seem to go everywhere. My cat happily uses a large open tray inside this enclosure. There’s very rarely any smell. She is raw fed though which makes a huge difference.

Wow, that's amazing. Do you put a tray inside, or is there a built in tray?

Thank you, that's really helpful. I will have a look at Cat Best

Yes, to be fair that could be wishful thinking on my part.

My cat likes an audience and announces loudly when he needs to go so someone can watch him. Thanks for all the litter recommendations. I use a clumping one and have just purchased a steel box. Previous cat would go outside for a wee but liked to poo in the safety of home and I didn't mind that. Id be delighted if this cat does the same if we decide to give him outside access. He's only 6 months and not neutered yet so is indoors for now.

Yep, we joke that the bin men probably think there's a dead body in ours as it's so heavy with litter.

Oh and previous cat had a box with a lid and a door and was fine going from an open tray to that but then she also used a cat flap so it wasn't a new concept.

Our bin only gets picked up every 4 weeks so litter taking up a good half of it isn't ideal.

Intersand Classic. Buy it in bulk from Bitiba.

It is the best clumping litter I’ve ever had and it lasts AGES!

I love that he likes an audience.

It stinks because you're not removing the wee soaked litter! You need to sift the litter to remove it.

I use Intersand at home, but at the rescue where I volunteer we use woodchip litter. Twice a day poo is removed and any wet/disintegrated litter is sifted over the bin so only whole pellets remain. It never smells.

Thanks so much, everyone. We'll try a clumping litter and a stainless steel tray to start with and see how we get on. I like the litter tray 'furniture' a couple of you have posted, they look really good.

I use an underbed storage box.

Mine are Maine coons though and are massive so would not be able to use a regular tray easily without making a mess.