How Often Should You Replace Your Cat's Litter box

Have you ever sat and watched your cat licking itself, up down and everywhere? Well cats are quite sensitive when it comes on to their cleanliness (can't say the same about me) They love to stay clean and as such would expect their surroundings to remain clean also, especially their litter boxes.  Owners are required to change the litter, but how often may depend on a couple factors, factors such as:

• The type of litter you use in the cats box
• How many litter boxes are available to your cat
• How many cats use the same litter box

Different Types Of Cat Litter

Statistics have shown that most cats prefer the fine grains of clumping cat litter because of  it's softer feel on the surface of the cat's paw. One other benefit of clumping litter is that it allows for easily scooping. Clumping litter also allows you to easily scoop the urine out of the box.  By taking away these waste regularly from the box, it will make your litter last longer i the box.

Clumping Vs Non-Clumping
Before the long awaited clumping litter was available, there was the non-clumping (sounds like a new dance move).

Non clumping litter had a few advantage and disadvantages, lets look at them:

 Advantages

• Non-clumping cat litter is good at removing odors associated with cat urine because it has the ability to absorb relatively large volumes of urine
• Good Odor Control - baking soda or charcoal helps to control unpleasant odors.
  

Disadvantages

• As the litter becomes saturated,  urine will begin to settle at the bottom of the litter box.  Making the removal of soiled non-clumping litter difficult without changing the whole box.
• Needs To be Replaced and Cleaned more often, at least one a week, sometimes even twice.

---

Clumping Cat Litter

Advantages

• Clumping cat litters are those that are designed so that urine and feces can be removed easily from the box without having to empty the entire box.
• The ability to scoop and remove soiled litter from the box means that the box stays cleaner longer

Disadvantages
None

What Should You Do If You Have Too Few Litter Boxes?
This is a easy answer question, as your options become more limited. You would have to either acquire more litter boxes or change your cat's litter much more often.  You must try and practice the plus one litter box rule. The plus one litter box rule says that cat owners should have at least one extra litter box than the number of felines he/she owns. So if you have 10 cats hat home, it is good to have at least 11 litter boxes available. If your home has several floors, and your cat is allowed access on all floors, provide a litter box for the cat on each floor. If the cat is well trained, he most likely will go to the litter box if there is only one.

So for a clumped litter for every single cat, it is recommended to change at least twice a month. If you are using non-clump litter in your box, cleaning should be done once per week. All this effort is doubled if you have more cats than litter boxes.  Remember that no matter the type of litter used, always practice consistent cleaning, if litter is allowed to fester for months without cleaning, you and your cat may begin to develop health issues. Remember that a healthy cat, is a happy cat.