apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Just something to think about -

If the kitty gets some clumping litter trapped between their pads and cleans it out by licking/swallowing, it can clump in their intestines and cause a blockage. Be careful with the clumpy stuff!

I don't understand. Does it smell bad even if you clean the box every day? I'll be the first to confess that I am a lazy box cleaner, but a whiff of my cats' business gets me motivated to take care of the task. Despite this my home doesn't smell like cats the minute you walk in the door . I thank my lucky stars or the organic high protein cat food that I think creates less smelly waste.

i'd love to try the mix, as i use 'world's best' and have had the same issue.

ANOTHER OPTION that my petstore recommended: nature's miracle makes an enzyme powder that you can sprinkle into 'world's best' (or any litter). it's worked well for me and seems like it might achieve the same result as mixing the two litters.

So far as I'm aware, anecdotal claims of the danger of clumping litters have only been made for *clay* litter -- and at that, I don't think they've ever been confirmed. World's Best and Nature's Miracle are made of corn, and when ingested seem to pass through just fine. In fact, one of the reasons we use World's Best is that we've a dog who will eat litter if he gets into it, and I reckon better safe than sorry.

What bothers me about World's Best is that it's made of whole corn, not corn waste. However, at least it's not the product of strip mining, so that's all to the good.

Well, I got a Litter Robot, and that solved the problem. :)

On a similar note, I've been using "the Worlds Best" for a while and it's worked pretty well. However, although my cat seemed to like it at first, she has been using her box less and less. The box is clean so I don't think the smell is bothering her, she tends to go right next to the box instead. (The box is in an unfinished basement) Any ideas on how to get her to use it again?

@elissa, have you had your cat checked by a vet for a urinary tract infection or other GI tract problem? Thing is, when it hurts to go, cats often go outside the box -- one hypothesis is that they come to associate the pain with the box. Anyway, every time one of my cats has taken to going outside the box the problem *has* been disease, and they've gone back to the box once it's been treated.

Yeah, the most common reason for going out of the box is a urinary tract infection. So it is worth checking out.

If it's just behavioral, you could try buying a second litter box, and putting it on the floor where your cat is peeing. Maybe with a different kind of litter.

I use Cedarific. It doesn't clump and it's biodegradable. I hate clumping litter. It's harder to clean up because it gets stuck to the bottom on the pan. Cedarific is made from cedar only but it's soft and it smells so good. I'm not kidding. You would never know I have two cats. The Weavers Way co-op here in Philadelphia sells it but it's also available online.

I hated World's Best Cat Litter. Too damn stinky! And the fact that it was made out of corn, aka FOOD, made me feel weird. I use Yesterdays News, which is 100% recycled newspaper. Absolutely NO SMELL whatsoever. I guess the newspaper soaks up the odor somehow. It's really cheap and comes in a huge bag. It doesn't clump but cleaning the litterbox isn't any harder in my opinion.

Sweat Scoop, y'all.

Er, make that Swheat. Awful name, great product.

http://swheatscoop.com/

Freakymysty - I haven't done the research, but with Swheat Scoop the wheat isn't food grade, and I'd assume that's the case with Worlds' Best. Anyway, whatever works. I never had that kind of luck with Yesterday's News, although I've seen the odor-absorbing properties of newspaper in other applications. To deodorize an empty fridge, put a bowl of water on a shelf and then stuff the rest loosely with newspaper.

Re: UTIs... when my cat had one, he'd go outside of the box and I'd move him to the box, and he'd squat in it but not produce anything. It was really strange. I'm not sure if he was trying to fake me out or trying to tell me something was wrong (like he thought maybe I could do something about it.) Mystifying.

@whytephoenix, UTIs in people can be make it difficult to squeeze out much, and can cause a sense of urgency when there's at most a few drops. I've always assumed it's pretty much the same for cats.

I've used World's Best litter for almost a year and I've finally switched to Cat's Country (Wheat-based). While it doesn't clump, unlike World's Best, there's no dust and I much prefer it.

The cat doesn't seem to mind either.

I second the Sweat Scoop. We too have go through SOOO many different types of litter. We like Swheat Scoop the best because it controls odor better, seems more natural than others (b/c it's made of wheat) and the BEST PART is that it's flushable...yay! We keep our box in the bathroom. So it's super easy to scoop and flush. Oh, and it doesn't track as much as any of the other litters because the particles don't seem to get stuck between their toes.

Oh no! Until reading this I was happy with World's Best scooped regularly--am I deluding myself that my house doesn't smell catty?

I'm horrified.. I thought clay litter was made not mined.... (hangs head in shame) ugh... I am switching asap

Thanks for this. I tried mixing the two after reading this post, and it really is the best solution I've found. But after reading the comments I'm definitely going to look for that enzyme powder, too.