How do you clean yours?

United States
April 18, 2007 4:39pm CST
Since both cats were napping, I decided it was a good time to dump their litter box. As we speak it's sitting in the bathtub soaking. And that brought up this thought...what do you use to clean your cat's litter box? I usually use an all-purpose cleaner (free of bleach or ammonia). I have used litter box cleaner before that I purchased at PetSmart but haven't noticed much difference between that and using an all-purpose cleaner.
3 people like this
7 responses
@Nebuloso (179)
• United States
18 Apr 07
We usually just dump the litter and then take the litterbox to the back yard and hose it out really well. We don't use any type of cleaner - after sitting in the sun and air-drying, there isn't any residual smell.
1 person likes this
• United States
19 Apr 07
Well we used to live in a 3rd floor apartment with only a balcony. We have since moved and now live in a 2nd floor apartment. We do have a yard but I think some of my sketchy neighbors would actually steal it. haha
• United States
19 Apr 07
You never know! haha there are some weird people in this world. We laso leave right down the street from a psych center....some of the patients are allowed to go out for walks....oy.lol
@Nebuloso (179)
• United States
19 Apr 07
Wow....you really have to be hardcore if yu're willing to steal a used litterbox! lol
1 person likes this
@babykay (2131)
• Ireland
20 Apr 07
when my cats used litter trays I always put a liner at the bottom as this meant there was no soaking involved and just a quick wipe of a disposable wipe was all that was required unless one of them had scratched through. Now they both do their business outside thank goodness, I think they go under some bushes. This is much preferable to having them go indoors and I would advise you to try this. But if it is not possible, try getting some litter tray liners or else if you can't get these, cut up some heavy duty bin bags and line the bottom of the tray. Minimizes cleaning.
1 person likes this
• United States
20 Apr 07
My cats are indoor cats and therefore I definitely do not want them going outside. Besides we live in an urban area and I would not trust letting my cats outside here even if I chose to have indoor/outdoor cats. We live on the 2nd floor and I also would not here them at the door. There is a lot of traffic here and it just would not be safe.
@Sissygrl (10912)
• Canada
18 Apr 07
I dont have a cat right now, but when i did, i used mr.clean. lol I LOVE mr clean! i use mr clean to clean almost everything. so many nice scents. mm i love the apple one i have now. it makes me want to get down on my hands and knees to scrub the floor it smells so good.
1 person likes this
• United States
19 Apr 07
Nice. I use that sometimes as well. Mine new favorite is the blue one....and it's amazing smelling!
• India
19 Apr 07
we never pet cats so far so i cant comment about the litter box cleaning. we had a black pomerian dog and we alway used to take it out in the morning into the woods, so the cleaning worry wasnt there.
1 person likes this
@mahmah (436)
• United States
18 Apr 07
To clean my kitties litter boxes I just plain old dish soap. I use Dawn dish detergent. I think that it does a great job in cleaning the litter box with little to no effort on my part. The cats don't seem to care and I don't really find it necessary to spend money on something separate just for the cat box. But to each their own right.
1 person likes this
• United States
19 Apr 07
I agree. Sure that stuff I bought specifically for litter boxes worked well. But I think the other stuff I've used works just as well. I have also used dish soap. I used to use the Dawn Odor eraser in like a lime scent and that worked very..for dishes and the litter box. Or I find that Awesome spray from the Dollar Tree works really well. That stuff works well in cleaning a LOT of things!
• United States
18 Apr 07
When I dump the litter box, I sprinkle the bottom with baking soda and then I add vinegar. It bubbles up, then I let it soak in that solution for about 10 minutes. I then wash it out with dish soap and put more baking soda in after drying it, before putting the litter back in. I have had cats all my life, and this system seems to work the best for me in keeping the smell down. It helps take the ammonia smell out, from their urine, and helps with the other smell,too. I am not sure where I read this, but I read it in a magazine a few years ago and decided to give it a try. With the new scoopable litters, it is a lot better than the non-scoopable. I try to scoop it every day and then do a full dump of the litter box once a week. tdbrower
• United States
19 Apr 07
I will have to try that sometime. I sure it works very well. I would not have thought of it but I can definitely see it working. Makes sense since baking soda absorbs odors. And vinegar would break things down since it's so acidic. Will add those to my shopping list.
@qouniq (1966)
• Malaysia
19 Apr 07
As far as I remember, we did not need to clean our cat litter box. It is because the sand which we use for the litter box automatically will wrap the sh*t of our cat. The next thing which we need to do is just throw the sh*t off from the litter box and it's done. It is clean and did not leave any smell which is unpleasant to our nose.