Kitty Litter

[Tank Woman]

I realize this thread is mostly for indoor cats, but we got tired of our 3 outdoor mousers shitting in our herb garden and flower beds, so we dug a shallow 2X2 foot hole and filled it with sand.. they have been going there ever since.

That's totally relevant, and a really smart idea!

[Visionz]

Well in a SHTF scenario my cat can, and will do his doodie outside...lol
He is an indoor cat 99.9% of the time, but for the 5-10 minutes he manages to escape the house he usually takes a crap in the front lawn and then kills a bird.
He is a great hunting cat and I plan to keep him in a SHTF scenario for pest control should things become less sanitary when I can't rely on weekly trash pickup and I have to burn, bury, or compost my trash.
And of course in the direst of circumstances my cat might make a tastey meal (hopefully things won't get that dire though)

[tookieblueeyes]

a bit off topic, but I never have the dust/litter on the floor problem.

I designed a catbox that's made out of an old dresser. I tossed the drawers, and built a cabinet style front (hinged on one side.) Then I cut a hole in the bottom of it for the cat box to sit in over to one side, then cut a cat door on the other side (in the fixed "door"). It's about 6" up from the bottom of the dresser. Between that cat door and the cat box on the inside is a wire mesh shelf that the cats have to walk on to get to the box/out of the whole deal. When they walk on it after doing their biz, the litter stuck in their paws drops thru the mesh onto the bottom of the dresser floor that can then be swept back into the box from there. works like a charm. Very rarely do I ever have an issue with litter making it all the way out of the box, and the whole thing looks pretty nice in the laundry room, doesn't scream "CATBOX!" - most people never notice it.

OK! First of all I freakin' love the way that looks in my head and I really really want to see a picture of it, because if it looks as cool in the picture as it does in my head I want to figure out something like it of my own. You might think of building and marketing that design! Cat fanatics would pour all over that in a high end pet store. Seriously!

Also... Good idea about the corn. That had never occurred to me. However, I think I will keep the feed for the chickens so I can keep eating the eggs and the roosters and hte cats can go outside and find themselves a patch of sand. LOL.

[DJH]

I'll take some pics after I clean the kitchen/laundry room this weekend. It's kinda... dirty at the moment. But the basic idea is like this -

http://petprojectblog.com/archives/cats/diy-make-your-own-litter-box-cabinet/

-Except I wasn't as smart as this guy - my mesh shelf is off to the side in a larger cabinet, where in his the shelf is above the box, which recycles the litter back down into the box. Wish I'd thought of that lol

[tookieblueeyes]

Still a kick ass idea!

[mariposa]

I've found that Fresh Step has slightly better odor control than Tidy Cat. I tried Arm & Hammer, but didn't feel the odor control was as good, and it didn't clump as well as either of the other two. However, I do like the scent of the Arm & Hammer--very clean, with a bit of citrus.

I've got one kitty who prefers pottying outside, and (if things got that bad) I'm sure she could give the others lessons.

[Chantrea]

Just as a friendly reminder, while I really couldn't care less what you personally do with your pets when the SHTF is upon us, please keep your commentary in this sub-forum on topic and helpful rather than "throw it out the window, the window, the second story window" (great now I'll have that song stuck in my head all day). You can discuss the merits of abandoning your animals/loved ones in other areas of the larger forum. Here it's assumed you wish to, you know, prepare for them.

If you're confused, please read the "what is the purpose of this forum" sticky at the top of the main Family Prep screen.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or any other person on the moderating team.

[Illini Warrior]

chicken feed is cheaper than oil dry (cat litter)??? ....... find that hard to believe .....

[Tank Woman]

chicken feed is cheaper than oil dry (cat litter)??? ....... find that hard to believe .....

Here in the NW 50 lbs of laying crumbles is right around $15. The 30 lb tubs of Tidy Cat we were getting at Walmart were about $14. We always had to buy 3 tubs a month vs. 2 bags of crumbles. So:
Tidy Cat: $42
Crumbles: $30
Savings = $12 a month for a better and compostable litter

[tookieblueeyes]

chicken feed is cheaper than oil dry (cat litter)??? ....... find that hard to believe .....

Here in the NW 50 lbs of laying crumbles is right around $15. The 30 lb tubs of Tidy Cat we were getting at Walmart were about $14. We always had to buy 3 tubs a month vs. 2 bags of crumbles. So:
Tidy Cat: $42
Crumbles: $30
Savings = $12 a month for a better and compostable litter

That is actually a pretty impressive dent in spending. That $12 adds up each month and can be put to better use on personal use or preperations (however you decide to spend it).

Even though the savings is definitly there i still am not sure I would want to use my chicken feed for the cats.

The way things currently are I think I will experiment with the crumbles to see how it works out because this thread has got me really curious to see how well it performs and works out and then breaks down. I wonder if my chickens will still peck through it. Do you know tank woman? Will chickens still peck through the remainders of the crumbles once the kitty has done his biz and you discard it?

But if SHTF... Im totally assigning the cat sand and the chickens crumbles Lol

[Tank Woman]

Do you know tank woman? Will chickens still peck through the remainders of the crumbles once the kitty has done his biz and you discard it?

That's a very good question. I have been mulling this over, and am not sure how to go about finding out. It stands to reason that they could and would go through it. In free ranging, they regularly scratch though all kinds of poops for goodies within, but I am scared to just throw it to them to see. Knowing that it is from carnivores, and has kitty pee in it makes it kind of different. I guess what I need to do is head over to the backyard chickens forum and ask.
And just to clarify our personal reason for making this switch, we were looking for an alternative litter that was cheaper and biodegradable. Something we wouldnt have to haul to the dump. We already have our dump run pared down to once every 6 months (1 pickup load) and fully HALF of that was kitty litter!
Another alternative mentioned earlier in the thread, and something I had seen many times in other forums, is wood stove pellets. They are even cheaper than chicken feed, and are essentially the same thing as Feline Pine.
About SHTF, totally agree. If the need ever arises, they will find their own potties outside! All 6 of them.

[tookieblueeyes]

About SHTF, totally agree. If the need ever arises, they will find their own potties outside! All 6 of them.

All 6? Wow, you must love cats. Though I am not far behind with 4 total. 2 boys outside and 2 boys inside. The 2 boys inside I raised with a bottle from 3 days old after their mother was killed by a Bard owl. I had 3, 2 boys 1 girl but somone wanted Tizzy so we gave her to them and I ended up keeping Zipper aka professer fuzzy bottom aka handsome cat... and Spock aka puss puss aka col. fluffy butt aka king tater.

I did see that post on the pellets but those are items that aren't really available in the area I live in. It is rare to find them around here. I would have to go to the next big city over and see about finding them.

WHen you find out about the chickens peckin through the remainders let me know. I am curious.

Like you I too know that chickens peck through any kind of dung pile they can find for yummy bugs and stuff carnivore or herbavore so it wouldn't be too far of a streatch to think they would do the same with the used up kitty crumbles but i don't know. Maybe the strong odor would be a turn off for them. I am not sure.

[Doubletap715]

We use wood fuel pellets. They're sold in forty pound bags to burn in pellet-burning wood stoves for six to eight dollars a bag. It doesn't clump much, but it's almost dust free, and it goes into the compost when we change the box.

you compost your cat poop?

My wife and I have two cats. One uses a box and the other goes in the toilet.


Ha. Good one.

[dukman]

We use wood fuel pellets. They're sold in forty pound bags to burn in pellet-burning wood stoves for six to eight dollars a bag. It doesn't clump much, but it's almost dust free, and it goes into the compost when we change the box.

you compost your cat poop?

My wife and I have two cats. One uses a box and the other goes in the toilet.


Ha. Good one.

I was wondering about the toilet thing, one infomercial I saw was talking about how easy it was to train your cat to do their business in the toilet with their patented system for a low low price of $50

[Nyx]

While it's not compostable, Del's Feed Stores here in the NW often has a (store brand) 50 pound bag of clumping cat litter for $9.99 on sale. It's not as great as Tidy Cats but when you're pinching pennies or trying to put a little extra away for emergencies, it'll do just fine. FYI it comes in a paper bag, not a bucket so it can get wet if not stored properly.

[mariposa]

While it's not compostable, Del's Feed Stores here in the NW often has a (store brand) 50 pound bag of clumping cat litter for $9.99 on sale. It's not as great as Tidy Cats but when you're pinching pennies or trying to put a little extra away for emergencies, it'll do just fine. FYI it comes in a paper bag, not a bucket so it can get wet if not stored properly.

Save, or ask someone for, a Tidy Cat bucket and put your bagged litter into it. I sometimes buy the 42-pounder of Fresh Step, and pour it into a couple of Tidy Cat buckets I keep for that purpose.

[RachelBB]

Did anyone ever try running this through the chickens to see how it goes?

I currently buy the special kitty litter from Wallys, it's $4 for 20 lbs. But, it's for an outside litter box, just for the explosion of kitten we had who aren't old enough to get off the porch and fend off the dogs while they do their business. So I don't know how it does for indoor use--odor control, etc.

I may have to try some chicken food and then toss it to the girls and see how it goes. I'm thinking if nothing else, they'll scratch it and break it down on the floor of the run so it'll decompose easier. Might lead to more smell, though, as my run is just dirt and I'm in the PNW. Might have to try that.

Did anyone ask on byc? I can just imagine the strokes THAT could have caused!

[Regulator]

We use Bentonite for cat litter. Natural as you can get as it is clay, of course it clumps beautifully. Bentonite is used by farmers as a feed additive and can be picked up at most farm stores or coop's. Around $8 for 50# here. It absorbs moisture very quickly and keeps oder fairly low. We do scoop ours every day or two too though.