Cats are popular indoor pets, and many of us can’t imagine our homes without them. Regularly replacing used kitty litter can be expensive, so knowing how to make it last longer can mean more money for extra treats and toys.
Cat litter will last longer if you:
- Use clumping litter
- Clean often
- Use tray with high sides
- Use a mat
- Use a slotted scooper
- Don’t shake clumps
- Check height
- Check depth
- Self-cleaning tray
- Use a dehumidifier
- Use unscented litter
- Try other brands
- Multiple litter boxes
Scooping the cats’ litter box is not a chore that anyone looks forward to but keeping it clean is important to keep your cat content and your home hygienically clean. If you feel like you are constantly replacing the cat litter to keep it clean, read on to find some litter-saving tips recommended by cat owners.
How to Make Cat Litter Last Longer
Cats silently rule their tiny kingdoms and provide us with companionship and hours of entertainment. However, indoor cats rely on us to fulfill all their needs, and providing them with a clean toileting area is essential.
To understand how to make cat litter last longer, we need to understand the feline minimum basic requirements when it comes to using a litter box.
Felines cover their waste because it is an inborn trait that stems back to their ancestors and cousins in the wild. Since they don’t want other predators to have any clues that they are around, neatly burying all the evidence is a good way of going undetected within a territory.
Dominant cats may sometimes leave their poop uncovered as a sign of dominance over other cats in the household, but most domestic house cats fastidiously cover their waste. That is if their litter boxes are kept fresh and clean.
Keeping the cat litter box clean without changing it every day is possible, and the more attention you give it, the longer it will last. By keeping the litter in your cat box looking and smelling clean, your cat will keep using it for longer, and it will last longer.
Cats are very sensitive to smells, far more so than humans. To make your cat litter last longer, you need to keep it smelling hygienic. This does not mean adding artificial perfumes but rather maintaining the entire area, so it smells neutral and absorbs as much smell as possible.
Using the litter box is when your cat will feel most vulnerable. It appreciates retreating to a small patch of quiet to do its business before rejoining the household activities.
By implementing some small changes, you will be able to extend the life of your cat’s litter without compromising hygiene.
1 – Use Clumping Litter to Make Cat Litter Last Longer
The first thing you can do to make cat litter last longer is choose clumping litter. This makes it possible to remove all waste from the litter box without throwing away litter that may still be clean.
There are multiple types of cat litter available. The most popular brands are made from clay, silica gel, or natural materials like paper, pine, or wheat. Cats often favor a particular type of litter and are reluctant to change.
Regardless of what type of litter you select, if you want your kitty litter to last a little longer, look out for the word ‘clumping’ when purchasing pet supplies. Clumping cat litter makes it possible to remove all urine and poop from the tray without any nasty buildup forming on the bottom.
Although it might feel like you are scooping out golf-ball sized balls of cat litter each time you scoop, it does, in fact, end up being more hygienic and economical because the tray will stay fresher for longer, so you won’t need to dump out the entire contents every couple of weeks.
It is good practice to keep a bag of fresh litter handy so that each time you scoop and remove urine-caked balls from the tray, you can add a cup full of new litter. Clumping litter forms a ball as soon as it makes contact with moisture, so a layer of smelly urine doesn’t settle on the bottom of the litter box.
2 – Scoop the Litter Tray Frequently to Keep It Fresh
The best way to make cat litter last longer is to keep the litter in the tray as clean and hygienic as possible. Cat waste should be removed from the tray as soon as possible after it is deposited.
Cat litter lasts longer if kept clean because you won’t have to toss the entire contents as often. Allowing cat waste to build up in the tray will soon have your cat pulling up its nose at the area, and before long, you will need to discard all the contents and sanitize the tray before refilling.
Regular scooping and topping up with fresh cat litter to compensate for the amount that has been removed will make the cat litter last longer. When scooping, try to remove any wet layer that may have settled on the bottom of the tray.
3 – Get a Litter Tray with High Sides to Keep It In
To save cat litter, choose a tray that has sides high enough to keep the material inside the box no matter how enthusiastically the kitty digs. Cats tend to turn around inside their litter trays and may dig in all directions.
Using a cat litter box with higher sides will ensure that less cat litter ends up on the floor around the tray during the toileting routine. This will keep the area neater, and less fresh cat litter will end up in the vacuum or in the dustbin.
4 – Use A Catch Mat Under The Cat Litter Box
It is often inevitable that a tiny amount of cat litter will stick to your cat’s feet after using its tray. This is usually walked off on the first few paces outside the box.
A simple trick to catching excessive litter is placing a large low-pile mat underneath the litter box. If the little box has one entry and exit, ensure that most of the carpet is situated where the cat will walk over it.
Each time you scoop your cat’s litter box, use a dustpan and broom to sweep up the litter on the mat or shake the mat into the box. This is an excellent way to prevent throwing out perfectly fresh cat litter that has simply been walked away.
5 – Scoop Cat Litter Regularly with a Slotted Scooper
Although everyone knows it’s important to clean out a cat’s litter box every day or immediately after it has been used, it is also vital to use the correct scooper to make cat litter last longer.
Cat litter tray scoopers come in all shapes and sizes and are made from different materials. When selecting a scooper, always keep in mind what type of cat litter you will be using.
Some cat litter has a fine texture, almost like sand, while other types are larger pellets. To make your cat litter go further, select a slotted scooper with the appropriate size holes to allow clean litter to strain through.
6 – Don’t Shake the Clumps When Cleaning the Tray
If you are trying to make your cat litter last longer, it may feel like a good idea to give each clump a vigorous shake to allow clean litter to fall back into the box. However, shaking clumps tends to chip bits off the dirty ball, which falls back into the litter box.
Although it may look clean, the odor attached to the litter will quickly add up, and you may soon find that you need to discard the entire contents of the tray, even though you scoop it out often.
When scooping cat litter, be sure to get underneath each clump and lift it out entirely. Accidently chopping it in half with your scooper can cause it to disintegrate into smaller pieces which will be more difficult to remove altogether.
7 – Make Sure the Litter Box Is Big Enough
Even though cats like to feel safe while using their litter tray, they also need space to dig and turn comfortably. Since you probably can’t monitor the cat litter box throughout the day, the tray must also be big enough so the cat can avoid the results of any previous visits to the tray.
If your cat tray is too small, the chances are that the limited space will result in a lot of litter landing outside the tray while the cat is making digging preparations.
The correct litter box should be at least the length of your cat from its nose to the tip of its extended tail. The width should be at least the length of the cat, excluding the tail.
Remember that you don’t have to use a specifically marked cat litter box. Your kitty will appreciate any plastic tray, even a large plastic under-bed storage box, that allows easy access and is large enough to finish its toileting routine comfortably.
8 – Ensure the Cat Litter Is Deep Enough
You may think that cats prefer very deep litter, but they are quite content if the litter is between 2 and 4 inches in depth. It is a matter of trial and error for most cat owners to find the best depth for their felines.
Often putting too little or too much cat litter in the tray creates a situation where the material gets scratched out of the tray.
The cat will scrape the bottom of the tray to try to cover its waste if it isn’t deep enough, and besides being unsanitary, the likely result is that some litter will be pushed out of the tray.
On the other hand, too much cat litter will create a situation where the litter readily falls over the sides of the tray. The correct depth of litter is enough to cover the cat’s waste but won’t spill out easily.
9 – Get a Self-Cleaning or Shifting Litter Box
If you have a busy routine and do not have time to scoop the cats’ litter box regularly, consider investing in a self-cleaning litter box. Although your cat may initially be apprehensive of the strange sound and movement from its tray, it will soon appreciate the consistently clean litter.
Self-cleaning litter boxes can make litter last longer by ensuring that cat waste is cleared away immediately after being deposited. Therefore, the dirty litter is removed immediately and does not have time to saturate any clean cat litter around it.
Another excellent, non-scoop way to keep your cat’s litter clean and hygienic is to invest in a shifting litter box. These stackable litter trays allow clean litter to filter through while removing all the soiled material each time you clean, resulting in less wasted cat litter.
10 – Use a Dehumidifier to Keep Litter Tray Dry
Moisture is the number one enemy of cat litter, so to make cat litter last longer, keep the litter tray in a dry area. It is designed to absorb moisture effectively, so keeping it in a humid environment like a steamy bathroom is not a good idea.
Losing the top layer of clumping cat litter to a layer of moisture will make your kitty litter go down faster. It also tends to amplify the powerful odor associated with cat urine.
The best solution is to keep the litter tray in the driest possible room in the home. It also helps, especially if the climate is cold and damp for an extended period, to add a small dehumidifier close to the litter box.
An easy solution to keep the cat litter dry and deodorized for longer is to keep a shaker of baking soda on hand to use each time you scoop the tray. Baking soda has a neutral odor and has excellent moisture and odor absorbing properties, so the litter tray will stay fresher for longer.
Diatomaceous earth is another valuable moisture-absorbing powder that can be added to cat litter to make it last longer. This natural substance acts as a deodorizer and can absorb twice its weight in moisture.
11 – Use Unscented Cat Litter
One of the reasons cats meticulously cover their waste is to hide any chemical scent of their presence. Therefore, it is essential to keep the litter box odor as neutral as possible so that it doesn’t become a place where the cat is overwhelmed with strange fragrances.
Although scented cat litter may seem like a good idea to mask odors, it is better to purchase neutral cat litter and scoop it often. The combination of strong-smelling urine and a perfume fragrance will soon have you throwing out the entire tray sooner.
12 – Try out Different Brands of Cat Litter
Like people, cats all have unique personalities and personal preferences, and habits. While one cat may accept silica crystal cat litter, another may scratch excessively to hide a smell or struggle to cover its waste.
Before purchasing cat litter in bulk for a new feline addition to the family, it is worth trying a few brands to see what type results in the least digging and performs best for your kitty. You will avoid waste and save money as the litter will all be used rather than scratched onto the floor.
13 – Have Multiple Litter Boxes for Multiple Cats
Having multiple litter boxes may sound like you will use more cat litter, but allowing each cat to have their own litter box can result in less waste. It is generally recommended to have one litter box per cat, plus an additional one to keep things clean and tidy.
Cats, particularly young kittens, will share litter boxes, but as they mature, they prefer to have their own quiet toilet areas, and over time, each will develop a preference for a particular litter box. Since your cats aren’t all competing and trying to continuously ‘cover’ the scent of the previous cat that used the box, they will be less vigorous in their toileting routine.
Providing additional litter boxes may seem like more work, but it can be easier to keep several lightly used cat pans hygienically clean rather than servicing fewer intensively used ones. In the long run, this will not only be less work, but you will find that they are using less litter.
Final Thoughts
Cats are a delight, and we all love sharing our homes with them. Even though various cat litter brands are available, it can be costly to keep replacing litter, and we need it to last for as long as possible.
By paying attention to a few factors, like selecting the correct litter and tray, it is possible to be more economical while still remaining hygienic.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Film/Video/Media Studies, as well as an associates degree in Communications. I began producing videos and musical recordings nearly 15 years ago. I am a guitarist and bassist in Southwest MI and have been in a few different bands since 2009, and in 2012 I began building custom guitars and basses in my home workshop as well. When I’m home, I love spending time with my three pets (a dog, cat, and snake) and gardening in my backyard.