I have one of the self cleaning litter boxes. It scoops 10 minutes after every poop/pee they make. I empty the scooped stuff daily, and only add litter to replace what's been picked up. I change the litter completely about once a month. I don't smell anything bad.

I'm afraid I'm with your DB on this. If you ever entirely empty your box, you'll see that a lot of the litter that was urinated on doesn't clump and sits wet underneath everything. You have to completely empty all that out of there or it will mold! YUCK! Plus, you need to wash the walls of the litter pan if you don't use liners. But even if you do, you want to change the liner too. I think you're not smelling anything because the new litter covers any icky scent.

Blessings,
Haley

Gosh, I just re-read my post and I sound so disgusted, LOL! Not so! Not so! : D

Blessings!
Haley

Lydia, I have 4 cats, so we scoop every day, but I don't dump the litter once a week. I just add more when it is getting low. I make sure when I scoop that I scrape the bottom and sides of the box to get all the clumps out. I've done it like this forever and you can never smell my litterbox so I guess it works for me.

I have 3 litter boxes--scoop daily--add litter--empty & wash boxes about once per mo! If the sides look yucky, they get washed pronto. After I wash them & they're completely dry, I spray them with furniture polish & let dry before refilling them---(per someone here at KT) & theres never any pee in the bottom--LOL

I tried liners, but the BIG FAT cat would shred it----

Donna (^_^)

I dump mine and start fresh every Monday. That's when the trash man comes. I don't use the clumping kind. 1 cat, 1 litterbox.
Leslie

I use pine pellets and have two cats. I have to change the entire box every 4 days. I wash the box as often as I can, sometimes I'm too busy.
Donna

I should have said that I do wash the boxes out every few months (or as needed). I use a slotted metal spoon (used only for this purpose) to do the scooping and not one of the cheap plastic litter scoopers too, so maybe that makes a difference. I've never had a problem with wet litter at the bottom, but I do usually keep at least 6 inches of litter in both my boxes (they are both extra deep).

Drats! Guess I can't tell DB that he's the only person that dumps all his litter weekly! LOL

Three cats and three boxes. One is a hooded litter box upstairs for "nighttime emergencies". The other two are in the celler. They each hold about 35 lbs of litter! No way could I afford to replace them every week! I use giant storage containers because mine like to dig. I clean them regularly and don't seem to have any probems. They do not seem to mind the reused litter. No set pattern on when to replace the whole box, the cats "kind of tell me".

I buy those sifter liners from Walmart I think you can get them at target also there are ten layers of plastic and you gather up the top one and everything sifts down to the next one. I keep a plastic store bag handy and then carefully lower the sifted layer into it and tie up the bag. So much better than scooping up.
I look at it daily and probably sift every other day. I'm down to one cat now but a neighborhood cat visits and knows where the box is.
I have the box in the garage now with a kitty door in the kitchen door leading into the garage.

I do not use clumping litter, I sift as soon as I see a pee or poo and clean the boxes out weekly~~this includes washing. We have two cats and three boxes I read this was the way to do it. One box per cat plus one?? I read this in Cat Fancy mag.

I have the famous 'sink pooping' cat and do not want any accidents. We did do an experiment and used no litter at all in a brand new box and this crazy boy cat loved it! I also read that in the magazine, but I could not stand it, you would have to be right there to clean it out Phooie what a smell and what if I am gone and he needed to go again YIKES!! So he liked it but I now have him happily using the litter box with litter:) Gotta keep it clean clean!!

I have a litter box for the preschool bunny, but I need to dump the whole thing a couple times a week. There is always alot of wet stuff stuck to the bottom under the other litter. I never tried the clumpling stuff - afraid it would get too expensive. Anyone else have bunnies?

Barb -- our (dear departed) bunny started nibbling the clay litter so we switched to ground corncob litter for his box. We had to dump the whole thing a couple of times a week, like you do.

Lydia -- Is it really your DB's business how you maintain your litter box? We don't fill our cats' boxes as full as you do, only about 3-4" deep. My husband has that chore (bless him) because of my poor immunity. He scoops and refills daily and empties the boxes completely about every two weeks. We have two litter boxes between three indoor cats.

The brand of litter makes a difference too, as far as how well it clumps and how much loose litter contains urine. Maybe your brand does a better job than ours.

My cat is kinda big, and I use a plastic storage box for her. It holds a lot of litter and I keep it deep. I use FreshStep Scoopable with "oder eliminating carbon" which is the best of many I have tried. I scoop every couple days, and it doesn't smell. Lottie always pees in the same place, at the end of the box, and that clumps, and I make sure that I get all that out each time. BMs just look like large chocolate chips and are never messy. I don't dump it all, just clean and add more fresh. It is a chore to wash the whole thing because of the size, but I do that once in a while. I like to do that on a sunny day and leave it on the deck to dry and air out.

I have not heard of using furniture polish on the inside. Think I'll try that next time.

BTW, I watch the ads and when Kroger or WalMart has a special on FS, I buy two of the large size. Any of the good stuff is expensive.

Sue

2 cats, 2 litter boxes. I am a SAHM so I usually scoop 2-3 times per day when I pass by the boxes. I use Scoop Away, Fresh Step, or A & H scoopable. I don't wash the boxes weekly, probably every 4-6 weeks. Usually nothing is stuck to the sides or the bottom when I do wash them. I never thought of a slotted metal spoon! Maybe I'll try that. The plastic scoops break easily.

I scoop every day, or more often and dump it every week or so...depending on if the cats have used it very much or not.
I don't have any cats that stay in all the time, but various ones that are in and out. At night, I have 3 kittens that stay in. Sometimes only the 3 kittens use it, and other times, like today when it was raining...a couple of cats from outside came in, and went straight to the litter box. I get free cat litter along with food for the wildlife. I usually give the plain clay litter to the shelter and keep the scoopable kind in the plastic jugs.

7 cats and two big deep cement mixing trays for litter boxes that get cleaned (scooped) twice a day, scraping sides and bottom of the boxes. We add fresh litter as needed. We seldom dump.

I volunteer at a cat shelter. We wash all the boxes EVERY day. They said that before I started to volunteer, they had cats getting sick from sharing a box with another cat. As long as your cats are healthy you should be OK. If you have a sick cat, then you should wash the box daily or not share boxes.
Donna

barb - clumping litter isn't good for rabbits. They're too close to it (know what I mean?) and it sticks to them and turns to cement. It can ao also work its way up into them (I've heard).

I use regular clay litter for my cats and rabbit. Mostly due to the rabbit, but also because I just can't stand the feeling of the "sand" all over the floor. For some reason, they track that but don't track the clay.

I did use clumping for a short time between rabbits and just to try it. At that time I scooped multiple times a day and changed it entirely about every 1.5 to 2 weeks.

Suzieque

I use clumping litter, 3 boxes 2 cats. I scoop out the old and just add fresh litter. The boxes get an occasional wash out but I hardly ever replace the whole litter. I've never seen mold or wet litter anywhere but in clumps.

How would you feel if you flushed the toilet every day but never cleaned the bowl? Same thing for cats.
Donna

I now use the Fresh Step litter I scoop out the poop when ever I go into that bathroom for something (usually at least 2 times a day). I add some baking soda once in a while. Change the litter completely when it looks like it needs it,usually about every 2 weeks(coincides with payday). When I change it the box gets washed out with a cheap shampoo followed by a vinegar rinse. Then sprinkle some baking soda in bottom, followed by 3 to 4 inches of litter. (forget where I heard about using the shampoo to clean with, old wives tale likely, but seems to work, if I use a regular cleaner he acts like its hurting his nose)

I have 1 friend that claims to be sensitive to cat litter, if she can see the box she says the whole house stinks, if I know in advance she is on her way and hide it, she doesn't notice any stink, so I think the litter does a good job controlling the odor!

We have 8 cats and 3 jumbo covered litterboxes. We scoop at least twice a day and do "touch ups" when necessary, and fill as needed. We buy 40 lb. boxes of clumping litter at PetSmart.

We don't use liners because the cats scratch them to ribbons and it's an even bigger mess than going without.

We dump all the litter every two weeks and rinse the boxes out with a bleach solution. I'll swap around the inside with a paper towel and some Nature's Miracle if someone makes a mess inside the lid or around the edge of the litter.

I find that if you don't wash the boxes out periodically, the plastic itself will begin to absorb and retain the odor.

I scoop every morning. Once a month I empty entirely and wash the pan and wipe down with vinegar before re-filling.

I'm an everyday scooper and a when it needs it - completely wash box and put in new litter.

Hadn't heard about the furniture polish thing. I'm gonna try it.

We don't have any litter boxes anymore in the house (there are 3 in the garage but none of the cats will use them unless it's raining/pouring outside) so I have no advise, but I just have to say this about clumping litter-

When the boys were little, I used to just crack up when I would scoop the box and lift out little wet bon-bons. They were so tiny and cute! lol

I used to scoop out the spots and solids and when the box got real low, I would clean it out completely.

clever cat

Here is a link that might be useful: