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Litter Recommendations After a great deal of experimenting with various litters (and lots of feedback from other owners) I've found several good options for crystals. These are:
As you probably know, Fresh Step is the litter used in the cardboard cartridges and is what the SF system was originally designed to use. The Pet Essentials are very similar -- except they're fragrance free and ever-so-slightly larger, but not enough to cause any problems. These two seem to work the best not only in terms of crystal size, but also as far as the functions of odor control and urine absorption. Pet Essentials are available from Target stores (it's their house brand). I've found that often you can actually get a better price at Target, Walmart or similar large retailer rather than your local pet store -- where they tend to jack up the price on crystals a fair amount for some reason. Contrary to Scoop Free's claims, the Fresh Step crystals that come in their cartridges are no different than the Fresh Step crystals you can purchase in your local store for less than half the price. I've compared the two, and they're identical. (Besides -- would it really make sense for a corporation the size of Clorox (the parent company of Fresh Step) to have a separate manufacturing operation just so they could make crystals for Scoop Free and still put their (Fresh Step's) brand name on them? I think not.........) About 4 to 4 1/2 lbs. per change works the best. 4.5lbs is the amount that comes with the pre-packaged cardboard trays. If you find the rake isn't flipping back on the return stroke, it usually means you don't have enough crystals in the box, as the SF uses the drag of the litter to cause the rake to flip. As far as what works the best, the actual size of the crystals is critical. If they're too big (as in the case of Petco's Pet Gold crystals for example) they will simply bunch up at one end of the unit and will generally cause a big mess. Based on feedback from other Forever Tray users, the following crystal litters have been found to definitely be too large and will NOT work properly:
I've tested the smaller Mimi Crystals (from Walmart for around $4 for a 4lb. bag) and while they are adequate, they just don't have the same absorption and odor control as the Fresh Step or Pet Essentials. Again, this is from my own use with my two cats Jack and Stan -- there are many people who have reported great success with Mimi. If you've found a crystal that works for you, and/or found the Fresh Step for a particularly good price, please email me with the particulars and I will post it here so we can share that information with others together. Remember that this system is designed around crystal litter and not clay -- so be sure to read the labels when you shop (or verify if you're buying something on-line) that it's not some sort of clay/crystal mix. This could damage your machine. So far the least expensive source that most people have found is Walmart and Target -- and one of our fellow cat owners from Florida (thanks David) forwarded me Clorox's product locator link to help find stores that carry the Fresh Step. Here's the link: Please let me know if you find something better or a really good deal, and I'll be sure to post it here to help others. And from John in Canada -- for those folks in the Northland where stores often carry a different line of products: "Fresh Step crystals are not available to buy on their own in my area.I've tried other brands but they were too coarse and the raking didn't work properly.They just bunched up.
However, a couple of weeks ago while in PetSmart I noticed
a product where the crystal were somewhat finer as you can see through the clear plastic jugs that they come
in, so I thought that I would give that brand a try.
I would just like to report to you that they work great.(At
least in my unit.) The raking is right on.The odour control is not quite as good, but not bad at all.I
compensate for the difference by sprinkling a little Arm & Hammer Fresh 'n Clean Cat Litter Deodorizer in
with them.
The product's name is:
Dr.Elsey's
Precious Cat
# 1 Long Haired
Cat Litter
Available here at PetSmart, Kingston Ontario Canada for
about 13$ (Canadian) for an 8 pound jug.Good for about 2 months.I was paying about
$23 (Canadian) for the ScoopFree cartridges and only good for
1 month. Cut my cost x4...Awesome!!"
Another great tip from a fellow Forever tray user to help you extend crystal life: Below is some info sent in by Chuck, who has been using the system for a couple of years now. This is good info, which also substantiates what many others (besides me) have said about doing an occasional "rake and stir": "Tip on making the litter last longer: good air circulation. Silica gel absorbs liquid fairly quickly, and releases it as water vapor fairly slowly. When used as litter, it absorbs urine and dessicates solid waste. Unless the silica gel itself can dry out (by releasing water vapor), it won't last long at all in a litter box. So, it works better in the summer than in the winter, and better on dry days than rainy ones. If you can place the litter box where there's a breeze, the litter will last a lot longer. Or, you can try what I've recently done: put a small fan above the box, so that it constantly blows air down onto the litter. During the Winter and Spring, the litter has been lasting only 10 days with two cats (in the Summer, it was stretching out to 14 days). With the fan, in the Spring, the litter was still OK after 15 days. The litter still needs to be stirred every few days, especially towards the end of its useful life."
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