For cat owners, the toilet issue is perhaps the most pressing problem that is often discussed. The solution to this issue directly determines how comfortable the relationship between the pet and the owner will be.
Buying a tray is not difficult, but choosing the right filler is much more important. Is litter even important, since some cats go to an empty litter box or torn newspapers? We still recommend using the filler for the following reasons:
When choosing a filler, be sure to pay attention to the following parameters:
The filler does not always have to be made from natural materials, synthetic fillers can also be of quite high quality. Let's understand the types of fillers and their strengths and weaknesses.
This type of filler is the most inexpensive and in demand. These fillers are made from sawdust, pressed together. When moisture gets into the sawdust, it separates and lumps form. The granules of this filler are of medium size.
In addition, almost all cats are very clean, so they do not go into a foul-smelling litter box. .
Advantages of wood filler:
Disadvantages of wood filler:
This type of filler is made from bentonite clay different varieties or zeolite. This type of filler is convenient option, but it is only suitable for adult cats, since kittens chew the filler, and it is not edible. When wet, hard lumps form that can be pulled out using a special spatula, that is, you do not have to change the entire tray. Sometimes mineral filler is poured together with wood filler. Sawdust is poured downwards, they serve to absorb moisture, and granules are poured on top, they eliminate the odor and prevent the sawdust from flying away.
Choose your Clumping Filler
Advantages of mineral fillers:
Disadvantages of mineral fillers:
Silica gel fillers are the most modern, so they are the most expensive. Probably, it was precisely because of the high price that they did not push other types of fillers out of the market. But if there is not one cat living in the house, but several, then it may be more profitable to use this litter than other types, since its consumption is small. You will need to change the tray once every 1-2 weeks. The filler consists of white crystals to which special odor-blocking substances are added.
Wood filler is an environmentally friendly range of fillers
All owners of mustachioed pets, no matter whether they are British cats or mongrel cats, have to use this important material as a toilet filler.
The quality of the filler determines the cleanliness around the tray, the amount of unpleasant odors, the ease of cleaning the toilet, and, most importantly, the ease of using the toilet for the cat.
Therefore, the question often arises: which toilet filler is better? In this article you can read how to choose the right filler for cat litter, reviews from cat owners about use different types fillers in the comments, and also read comparative characteristics different types of fillers.
The main function of the filler is to absorb urine and remove all that is emitted by it. unpleasant odors. Therefore, the material for the filler must be highly absorbent and also be safe for both cats and humans. In addition, the filler should be quite simple and easy to handle, and easy to dispose of after use.
Today, there are several types of filler materials, both natural and synthetic. These can be wood or mineral based materials; There are also fillers made of silica gel and bentonite. It should be noted that newsprint, often used as a cheap filler, is not suitable for these purposes, since it does not retain odors at all, does not absorb urine well, and also poses a danger to the cat’s health.
A properly selected filler will help avoid problems with, and there will also be one less reason why it is in the wrong place.
Among all the types of fillers currently found on sale in pet stores, the following can be distinguished:
The biggest advantage of wood fillers is their low price. At the same time, fillers of this type are very effective and easy to use. Wood fillers are usually supplied in the form of sawdust pellets.
When exposed to liquid, sawdust perfectly blocks unpleasant odors; in addition, sawdust usually does not cause allergies in animals.
Granules are available in several sizes; fillers with large granules are intended for adult animals, and those with small granules are intended for kittens.
However, wood fillers also have one drawback - they may contain large and sharp wood chips, which can cause injury to the animal. However, such chips can usually be easily noticed and removed.
As already mentioned, paper does not have good characteristics in absorbing moisture and retaining odors, but fillers on this basis have one undeniable dignity– extremely low price.
In addition, fillers from grain processing waste are often used.
The most widespread of this type of fillers are fillers made from corn raw materials.
In our country, such fillers are still rare, largely due to their relatively high price, but it more than pays for the excellent qualities inherent in this type of filler.
Corn litters are made from the porous core of the cob, and therefore they perfectly absorb moisture and retain odors, are safe for people and animals, and, most importantly, have a long service life.
However, these fillers also have a drawback - the relatively small weight of the granules, so this filler can be easily scattered on the floor by a cat or a person.
Perhaps the most popular class of fillers today are fillers based on minerals and clays.
As a rule, bentonite clays of various types are used as the material for these fillers.
Bentonite fillers have excellent absorbent properties and form lumps well, which are easy to sift out from the toilet and put away.
However, bentonite's ability to retain odors leaves much to be desired; in addition, these litters generate a lot of dust and can stick to cat paws.
In addition to bentonite, opalcristobalite is often used as a material for fillers; this type of filler usually has good qualities and reasonable price.
Typically, this type of filler is made from the volcanic mineral zeolite.
Due to the fact that zeolite contains microscopic pores, it perfectly absorbs all liquids and retains unpleasant odors.
Sometimes other components are added to zeolite to improve the properties of the material.
Zeolite is environmentally friendly pure product It has excellent absorbent properties and eliminates unpleasant odors very well.
The principle of “working” of zeolite-based cat litter is the uniform absorption of moisture by the absorbent.
Cat urine does not stay in top layer filler, but is evenly absorbed into its granules.
Silica gel fillers are still considered the highest quality fillers.
Silica gel is white crystals with very high absorbency and long service life.
Although silica gel litter can cost several times more than other litters, its long lifespan can make it less expensive for the cat owner to use.
Special substances are also usually added to silica gel fillers to improve absorption and eliminate unpleasant odors.
We switched our cat to silica gel litter and felt a huge difference between the wood litter. For us, it is easy to care for: the litter does not need to be constantly cleaned, just remove solid excrement - once a month you fill it up and that’s it. And for the cat - a constantly clean, odorless tray.
In many ways, the question of choosing litter for the toilet is a matter of the preferences of the cat owner and the cost of the litter. But there are a few things that should still be taken into account when choosing. For example, wood fillers, as the safest for animal health, are better suited for those cats that suffer from allergies or skin diseases.
Due to their cost-effectiveness, silica gel litters are suitable for those owners who have several cats at once, but it should be noted that these litters are of little use for kittens - for them it is better to use lighter natural litters.
It is worth paying attention to the “opinion” of the cat herself regarding the filler. A puddle left in the wrong place can be the most eloquent evidence that the litter is not suitable for the cat.
At the moment, fillers are produced by many companies, some of which offer entire lines of fillers, and the quality of fillers from domestic companies is often not worse quality products from imported manufacturers.
Among foreign silica gel fillers, brands such as Fresh Step and Catsan are especially popular, and among domestic ones - “Murzik” and “Kotyara”. All of them have reasonable prices and excellent quality. However, you should not ignore the products of other manufacturers.
High-quality clay clumping litters are available from brands such as Ever Clean, Pi-Pi-Bent, Cat's Choice and Barsik. Wood fillers are usually produced by domestic companies, for example, these are fillers of such brands as “Kotyara”, “Murzik” and “Barsik”.
It’s worth telling a little more about some famous brands and their products.
Cat’s Best are natural fir fillers made in Germany, which are distinguished by high quality and environmental friendliness.
The Fresh Step brand from the American company Clorox is known for its clumping clay and silica gel fillers.
One of the oldest domestic brands is the “Clean Paws” line. It combines high-quality bentonite and wood fillers.
The American manufacturer of clumping litter Ever Clean is well known. Its fillers are distinguished by a unique composition, a mixture of minerals, clays and activated carbon.
Cat's Choice produces many lines of inexpensive products, from wood waste and bentonite with various additives.
Pi-Pi-Bent is a domestic line of bentonite fillers. The line includes special litters for cats and kittens.
Also among the domestic brands, “Kotyaru” should be noted. Under the Kotyara brand, both silica gel and bentonite and wood fillers are sold.
As you can see, the choice of different fillers today is very large. The cat owner just needs to come to the store and choose the litter that best meets his and his pet’s needs.
Friends, it’s very interesting to know which cat litter you prefer? Does your cat like litter?
How to choose cat litter?
Which cat litter is better - more effective, safer and more economical to use? To choose the best option for yourself and your pet, the animal owner must know all the pros and cons of the products for this purpose on the market.
Main parameters that determine quality:
An important element when choosing a filler is its price. The filler is a consumable material and therefore purchasing it will take part of the monthly family budget. Here it is important to choose an affordable price-quality ratio that will completely suit the owner.
The price of fillers varies widely and depends mainly on the material used and the production technology used by the manufacturer.
The cheapest fillers are made from sawdust, paper and grain industry waste.
The most expensive and modern ones are silica gel fillers. Silica gel is a mineral synthetic sorbent obtained by the interaction of sodium silicate ( liquid glass) and sulfuric acid.
The greatest fame and popularity on domestic market use fillers brands : “Pretty Cat”, “Barsik”, “Kotyara”, “Kuzya”, “Zoonik”, “Siberian Cat”, “Pi-Pi-Bent”, “Brava” “Clean Paws”, “C.C. Cat” and others .
Popular from imported ones: “Catsan”, “Cat’s Best”, “Cats Choice”, “Silicat”, “Super Cat”, “Fresh step”, “Kat Step”, “CleanyKat”, “Ever Clean”, “Ultra Lite”, etc.
They are made from wood waste from the processing of pine, spruce and, less commonly, fir. They are granules that, when exposed to moisture, swell and crumble into small components.
Due to their low cost, wood fillers are in good demand and popularity. Many people prefer this type of filler because of its naturalness. Wood filler is safe for animals, especially kittens.
The wood of pine trees contains resins, which give the wood filler antiseptic properties. After use, the filler can be applied as fertilizer.
Absorbs moisture quite well and eliminates odors, but these 
the indicators are lower than those of other types of fillers, so the filler needs to be changed more often, it is consumed faster.
Another drawback is lightness. When burying, the cat can scatter it around the tray, so you need a deep tray with sides rounded inward.
Scattering into fine dust, it sticks to the paws and spreads throughout the apartment.
If you prefer this type of filler, guided by considerations of naturalness, safety and cheapness, then it would be a good idea to purchase a special closed toilet with a mat.
Walls closed toilet will not allow the cat to scatter the litter around the tray, and the mat will clean the paws from adhering particles and prevent them from being dragged around the apartment.
When using this filler, a tray with a grid is also convenient; whole granules will remain on the surface, and the used ones will be sifted through the grid into the tray.
Wood filler differs from other types of fillers in its ease of disposal. It can be flushed down the toilet. To avoid clogging, rinse off the filler in small portions.
Fillers made from corn and paper are similar in properties and price to wood fillers.
Mineral fillers are somewhat more expensive than wood fillers and are also in high demand.
The ability of mineral fillers to absorb moisture and retain odors is better than that of wood fillers.
They are made from natural mineral raw materials - soft clay minerals and hard minerals from sedimentary and volcanic rocks. There are also artificial mineral fillers made from sibit.
Except source material mineral fillers differ in:
The disadvantage of this type of fillers is their dustiness. Granules in 
During transportation, they rub against each other, forming fine dust, which can cause allergic reactions.
Higher quality fillers have a denser consistency and generate less dust.
Absorbent fillers absorb moisture over the entire surface of the material from which the filler is made, without forming lumps. The absorbency is due to the porous structure of the mineral.
Such minerals, for example, include zeolites, which perfectly absorb moisture and insulate odor.
The activity of the absorbent filler is lost gradually. From time to time, it can be mixed to evenly distribute more active and less active granules.
The absorbent filler is replaced at once, that is, the used filler is completely removed, and a fresh portion is poured into the tray, in the volume indicated on the packaging.
Clumping fillers, have not only absorbent properties, its granules, when moistened, stick together into a lump, isolating the wet area from the rest of the filler.
A complete replacement of the filler is not required; it is enough to remove the formed lumps with a special spatula. The filler is poured into the tray as needed.
Made mainly from bentonite clays different composition. During the manufacturing process, they can be subjected to thermal or chemical treatment to improve quality.
Natural mineral fillers have antibacterial properties.
Both fillers cope with odors approximately equally well, but do it in different ways.
Clumping, enveloping the wet area, locking the smell inside the coma. Absorbents, due to their porous structure, are able to absorb urine and neutralize its odor through ion exchange reactions, then evaporating clean water.
Among both there are more and less quality ones, it depends on the composition of the raw materials and production technology. 
Based on the results of the television program “ Test purchase", out of 10 popular brands of clumping litter, the first place went to the Pretty Cat brand. Second and third, fillers from the “Clean Paws” and “Catsan” brands.
Silica gel litter is the most modern, highly effective and practical litter for cats.
Important! This litter should not be used for small kittens.
Selico-helium filler advantages:
Natural fillers made of wood, paper or corn, without any flavorings, are suitable for a kitten. They are safe to swallow and will not cause allergies.
In the future, you can easily accustom an older kitten to any other type of filler simply by adding, at first, the usual filler to a new one that is unfamiliar to the kitten.
Maine Coon cats are the largest domestic cats in the world, therefore, they excrete the most urine of all cats in the world, therefore, they need the best litter in the world - silica gel.
But seriously, a Maine Coon cat is, in addition to being great 
In other words, it is no fundamentally different from its smaller brothers, and all of the above applies to it as well.
For a kitten of this breed it is better to use natural
fillers made of wood, paper or corn. It’s good if the owner takes some of the used litter from the breeder and puts it in the kitten’s tray, so he will quickly understand where his new litter box is now.
In the future, you can use any filler at the discretion of the owner and with the approval of the Maine Coon himself.
The natural cleanliness of cats makes keeping them at home much easier than keeping dogs: there is no need to walk cats, as they easily get used to doing their natural needs in a designated place. The pet industry has taken this feature of cats into account and today offers a huge selection of products that make life easier for cats and their owners.
If earlier we used boxes with scraps of newspapers or sand from a nearby construction site, now cat owners have the opportunity to choose both a tray and filler, taking into account all their requirements. We are considering the option with a tray without filler, as its only advantage is its low cost. Otherwise, it, firstly, does not take into account the cat’s natural need to bury its “deeds”, and secondly, it requires the owner to clean the litter box after each time the cat goes to the toilet. Otherwise, especially clean individuals may refuse to use the litter box and will demonstrate their love of cleanliness in a way that is unlikely to please their owners.
It is convenient to step on it with your paw pads;
It is convenient to dig into it;
When you dig for cat litter, it doesn’t generate dust;
It has a natural smell;
It does not cause allergies in the form of cracks on the paw pads;
Nothing bad will happen if you try to swallow it;
It should hold the smell perfectly;
Cat litter should not be spread throughout the apartment on the cat’s paws;
It should not become dusty when you pour it into the tray;
It should be convenient to clean;
It should not cause poisoning or obstruction if the cat suddenly decides to swallow it;
It must be economical because the filler is " consumables", and you have to buy it constantly.
Basically, the cat's and the owner's ideas about the ideal litter coincide. The only thing is that the cat, naturally, does not care about the price of the litter. But a person does not always remember that the smell of a flavored litter that is pleasant to him is not always pleasant to a cat with its sensitive sense of smell.
In order to determine which litter is best for your cat, we will first find out how different litters differ from each other.
They appeared on Russian market relatively recently, but have already gained considerable popularity. Their peculiarity is that, unlike other fillers, it can be disposed of directly into the toilet without fear of clogging the sewer. It absorbs moisture well and also reliably retains the smell inside itself.
If we sum it up and try choose the perfect filler, which the cat would like and satisfy all the requirements of its owner, then we can say that it is most suitable for this role clumping clay filler, For example, Russian litter "Pi-Pi-Bent"
It is most similar to what a cat is used to wearing to go to the toilet in nature
It is easy to clean without completely changing it every three days, just removing lumps and solid waste
When used correctly, it is very economical and lasts a long time
When used correctly, it perfectly neutralizes odor
When used correctly, it does not leave whitish marks on the floor.
It doesn't rub off on your cat's paws and fur as much as wood filler.
He's not sad.
Under correct use We understand the use of filler in full accordance with the manufacturer's requirements. The manufacturer requires you to pour a layer of filler of at least 8 cm, which means you need to pour no less. Usually, all complaints about the quality of the filler arise in cases where the owner decides to save money and pours a thinner layer into the tray. An insufficient amount of filler in the tray causes liquid to accumulate at the bottom without forming lumps, soggy clay sticks to the cat’s paws, which then leaves white marks on the floor, and an unpleasant odor emanates from the tray itself.
When choosing one for your cat, you should not lose sight of its uninterrupted supply. Because no matter how good the litter is, the cat will not be able to appreciate its merits if you cannot buy it.
The site will help you purchase the selected filler.
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