How to Keep Litter From Sticking to the Cat Box

I have noticed that when a litter box becomes old and scratched up, the urine clumps (multi-cat clumping litter), especially the ones in the corners, tend to stick to the side of the box. I had broken a few scoops, and resorted to a trowel to dig them out. My cat is a diabetic. Some of those clumps were the size of Texas!

I found a great solution, short of buying a new box. Empty and clean the box REALLY well. Soak it with 1/2 cup Clorox in a box full of hot water. Scrub off anything that remains, and rinse well. Let it dry completely. Make sure the pets can't get to it, the laundry sink works well for me.

Get an old sock or something and apply a thin coat of TURTLE WAX to the box. Let it dry, and buff lightly. Apply a second coat, let dry and buff pretty well. I checked with the manufacturer and my vet, and they say it is inert when dry. NOTHING sticks to the sides or bottom anymore. I went wild and waxed the scoops, they are a lot easier to keep sanitary.

It's been 2 months and its still working. It will probably wear off sometime but when things start to stick again I will repeat the procedure.

One other thing, if kitty is a litter thrower, those big black plastic tubs they sell in home improvement stores to mix concrete in make a great place to set the box inside. It's nice too, for the large kitty who "goes over the side" because he has no idea where his butt is. :)

From the Slave of a Bug-Butted Kitty.

By Mistressdevine50 from Youngstown, OH

Answers:

Keeping Litter From Sticking to the Cat Box

I am really going to have to try that one! My boxes are the same way. Thank you!

Mine also "over shoot" and they all dig to the very bottom of the box and throw litter every where! (I'd swear they were diggin' for gold, LOL) I have learned that a cheap fix to this is to get a cardboard box that is bigger than your box. Cut it down and leave it high in the back and sides (only a few inches) and lower in the front. That seems to keep a lot of the litter right under it.

I used to keep a carpet under the boxes to catch the litter but they decided that it was better IN the box. This new box takes care of that and I just pitch them as often as needed and cut new ones. (03/17/2006)

By Katie

Keeping Litter From Sticking to the Cat Box

I had a cat once I found and he was lovely except he would use the box and scatter all the litter everywhere but his stuff, wonderful! I tried putting oversized boxes around his box wish I had your tip back then it is good. (03/17/2006)

By Annie Rios Hill

Keeping Litter From Sticking to the Cat Box

We have two cats. One has diabetes and I sympathize with the lady that describes the amount of digested food coming out of a little cat.This may not work for everyone, but I just use a large plastic garbage bag, put the clean litter box inside the bag and then pour the litter in, you can mix plain baking soda in with the litter to make it last longer and smell better. This cat does not take the time to cover it's art work so sometimes if I can change it right away I use the powder for carpets on the mess and it helps us all deal with the odor.

I am not sure of the safety, but it is a good temporary fix. When you are ready to dispose of the litter, you already have the garbage bag in there so that you just have to turn it inside out and throw it away. We use the 33gallon bag, but it would even work better with a slightly larger bag. You may want someone who is stronger to empty it for you, as it does get a little heavy. (03/25/2006)

By Lois Kersti Brouillette

Keeping Litter From Sticking to the Cat Box

One thing that helps is to cover the bottom with baking soda, THEN sprinkle the cat litter on top. Another thing I do is use the empty litter sacks and feed sacks to store the "used" litter in. I dump a little baking soda in it also, and close the bag and roll it down as far as possible, then when it gets as full as I want, I take it (the whole bag) out.

The bags are thick, so the smell doesn't escape until you have it open to dump more in. But I'm gonna try the wax thing- looks like it'd help. Thanks (03/27/2006)

By Alyssa Lair

Keeping Litter From Sticking to the Cat Box

I slip a cheap (from dollar store) kitchen garbage bag over the litter box before I fill it with litter. When I dispose of the litter, I turn the bag inside out as I remove it from the litter box, keeping the used litter inside. I used to buy litter pan liners until I realized that they cost a lot more and were unnecessary. (06/10/2006)

By SusannL

Keeping Litter From Sticking to the Cat Box

I have been experimenting with a variety of eco-friendly cat litters and by far my favorite is "World's Best Cat Litter" for its pleasant smell, clumpability, and natural ingredients (corn). "Swheat Scoop" didn't clump that well and the ammonia smell was really strong when I'd go to scoop out the frequently-falling-apart clumps. It's not very absorbent either (I wonder if they need to make the granules finer for more surface area...); unless I had about six inches of it in the pan the urine would find its way to the bottom and create a caked on mess. "Healthy Pet P-Pod Clumping Cat Litter" clumps better than "Swheat Scoop" (not as well as "World's Best") but it's very dusty; it gets tracked all over by the cats and when I'm cleaning it I have to cover my mouth and nose. The cats (three of them) don't like this litter either. We have two boxes and (we're at the tail-end of experimenting) their preference is for the one with "World's Best" in it. (12/01/2008)

By Sirius Putsch