Litter Trays

There are quite a few different sorts of litter trays that you can buy these days believe it or not. 

The cheapest litter trays are the basic open top litter trays, you can buy them in different sizes and in a rainbow of colours.  They are usually made of plastic, so they can be easily washed out.

Rimmed Litter trays, are the same as your basic open topped litter tray appart from a rim around the edge of it, which reduces the amount of litter being scooped onto your floor by kitty.

 Hooded litter trays have been designed so that they give your kitty a bit more privacy when it needs to go.  They also tend to be not as smelly or as messy as the open top litter trays.  To clean them you just unclip the hood.  Some hooded litter trays, have a cat flap on the front too.

Sifting litter trays have a built in sifter, when kitty has done its business, you lift the sifter and give it a shake.  Litter which hasn't been soiled will fall through into the bottom of the tray ready to be reused.  And any waste can then be lifted out on the sifting tray and disposed of.

Self cleaning litter trays (now we are getting more advanced),

Basic self cleaning trays seperate the waste from the litter, using a specially designed grill.
motorized self cleaning trays such as the Littermaid self cleaning litter box has infrared sensors and automatically rakes waste into a sealable container, which is ideal if you have more than one cat.  And as I was doing my research on what cat litter trays you can buy I came across this (make sure your kitty isn't in the room when you look at this, because their bound to want one !) a litter free self washing cat box

Cat Litter

Reusable litter, this type of litter is what is generally recommended when using self cleaning litter trays

Crystals are the newest type of litter out at the moment.  We bought a bag of these for Kali, Rosie & Tobi to try.  A bag crystals have been designed to last one cat a month, the crystals absorb liquids and solid waste odours.  The kitties were amazed by these crystals because they felt crunchy and made crunchy noises.  And we were quite impressed with it too, as you don't seem to waste so much litter,  because the crystals actually stay dry, but as we have more than one cat they didn't last as long.

Natural Clay litter, Cuddles, Bracken and Co use this type of litter, we have tried them with other litters but they won't use anything else, which is fine by us as it tends to be the cheapest type of litter.  It isn't the nicest of smelling litters though, and can be quite messy but as we keep our litter trays outside, it doesn't matter too much for us.

Woodbase made from compressed sawdust pellets, this is what Kali and Co normally use, this smells nicer than the clay, although it can be a bit messy, especially when the kitties are trying to cover up all there little smellies, and always manage to get half the litter out of tray and on the carpet.  It is very good for absorbing liquid.  And is easy for scooping out waste.

Clumping litter when wet, clumps together, making it easier to scoop out liquid waste.

Paper based litter is made from recycled waste paper, it looks like normal clay litter, but is dust free.

Charcoal litter absorbs and traps odours, it works in the same sort of way that charcoal does in aquarium filters

Scented litters may be nice for you, but if your kitty doesn't like the smell, you may find that he won't want to use his litter tray.

Flushable litter is biodegradable so it can be flushed down the toilet.

Antibacterial litter stops the growth of odour causing bacteria, in waste

Other products

Litter liners, are placed into your cat litter tray, and the cat litter is then placed on top.  When the tray is dirty you simply lift out the liner with the two handles at the side, tie it up and throw it away.

Litter scoops are used to remove waste from the litter.

Litter mats are placed on the door front of hooded litter trays so that when kitty walks out of their tray, the mat traps the litter, so to prevent it from going on your carpet.