using pine pellet cat litter

I read several cat owner's on boats recommend the pine pellets as cat litter to avoid having clay in your bilge. So, I bout a bag & tried it - BUT - how do you scoop it and avoid not taking away all the pellets with each scoop?

Greetings,
Ms. Sue. Is this stuff being used for it's intended purpose and if so, how the heck would it end up in the bilge? The answer might be obvious to a cat person so please explain.

Sue, my wife is a cat owner (2) and she's tried some of the "pellet" litter products but always goes back to the "clay" clumping kind, for the reason you said. Way easier to scoop. But to echo RTF's question... do you keep the litterbox in the bilge??

HI RTF,
Cats carry the litter on their paws as they exit the litter box and they sometimes kick it out as they're covering, so the small clay pieces end up on the floor and even with constant cleaning, some will seek the lowest level & end up in the bilge. Once they're wet, they stick & form a glob - not the best for boat bilges. (No we don't keep the litter box in the bilge - we keep it is a side stateroom, although I'd prefer to move it into the shower stall so it's more out of the way. But I don't dare do that while using clumping clay litter.)

Greetings,
Ms. Sue. Ah, I see. I thought cats were supposed to be such clean pets. How about the litter box centered in a sheet of this stuff. or an enclosed litter box?

Clean Room Mats, Sticky Mats, Tacky Mats | American Floor Mats

Or something like this....

My cat is terrified of being on the boat. He finds the darkest, quietest place he can to hide. But if I was to cruise with a cat I'd be looking for a place to install a Litter-Bot Litter-Robot | Self Cleaning Litter Box

It's a bit large, and a bit expensive. But it is far and away the best litter box solution I've ever worked with. My first one lasted over 10 years. Worth every penny.

As usual, no commercial interest and YMMV.

Greetings,
Mr. Lurker. THAT'S exactly what I meant by suggesting an enclosed litter box but the one you link appears to be the CAT-ILAC model.

Sue, we purchased a mat at one of the large national pet stores that solved the traveling clay issue. It is rubber on the bottom and some sort of open cell fabric on top that reminds me of a scotch bright pad only fluffier. Pad sits outside the box in their path of travel and collects the clay from their paws. Works great, I'll try to find a link tonight from my computer.

Pelleted pine litter is not ment to be scooped. When the cat urinates the pellets are designed to turn to a powder and sink to the bottom of the litter box. All you remove on a daily basis is the stool. Once all the pellets have turned to dust you throw everything away and start again.
If you want to you can buy clumping pine litter which has the consistency of clumping clay litter and is designed to clump and the clumps scooped out daily.
You can also get clumping litter made from corn and wheat. We use a corn variety which clumps extremely well and can be flushed down the toilet in town or city but not into septic systems.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It would be helpful to have the name of the "scotch Bright" like pad. We just purchased some Nature's Best litter (the clumping corn type) and I plan to give it a test.

I'm trying this litter box at home.
Tidy Cats Breeze Litter Box System - Kitty Litter Box and Cat Litter Box from petco.com
It uses ceramic pellets that allow unine to flow through to a tray underneath. The urine is absorbed by a diaper like pad which is changed every few days. The pellets are much larger than grains of clay or clumping litter but they still get out of the box and have to be swept up.

I think this is the Scotch Brite like mat: Petco Half Moon Litter Trapper Mat at PETCO
I've been thinking of trying one.

I sell a product at my store that is like a much coarser and heavier version of that. My customers make door mats out of it or put it under matteress to allow air circulation. I put a big piece of it in front of my office cat's box and it has contained the litter (regular clumping). I think when I pick it up to clean it, the litter will fall through to the floor. At least it will be in a small area where I can sweep it up.

RTF - I know you're working up to a big old cat joke. Let me warn you, don't mess with cat people.

Some years ago the mayor of Miami Beach decided it would be a good idea to round up all the stray cats on Miami Beach and send them to Animal Control.

Some time later he was heard telling another politician "Never mess with cat people."

Miami Beach still has a plenty of well fed mostly nuetered stray cats.
There is an ongoing TNR program, (Trap, Neuter, Release)

Sue Freeman said:

Thanks for all the suggestions. It would be helpful to have the name of the "scotch Bright" like pad.

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Surely Scotch Bright would be a bit hard on a cat`s bottom.

"Surely Scotch Bright would be a bit hard on a cat`s bottom"
Doesn't bother the cats bottom a bit. Ever noticed the rasp like hooks on a cats tongue? Designed to scrape meat off of bones. That's what they usually use to clean their bottoms.

Please note my warning about cat jokes. Us crazy old cat ladies can get pretty mean.

HopCar said:

I think this is the Scotch Brite like mat: Petco Half Moon Litter Trapper Mat at PETCO
I've been thinking of trying one.

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Sue, the link above is the exact product we use. Works great for us as it traps the majority of the clay that sticks to her paws. Our cat likes the feeling on her feet and steps out of the box and hesitates on the pad and kind of kneads her paws on it before walking away. Pick it up and hold over the trash and it comes clean with a couple light taps.

Greetings,
Mr. Hopcar. Yes, as you may have correctly surmised I am NOT a cat person BUT believe it or not I have/had no intention of posting any gratuitous cat jokes. The thought never entered my mind. Cats? Neutral feelings and it's NOT from any fear what-so-ever of cat "people".

"There is an ongoing TNR program, (Trap, Neuter, Release)"

I see some benefits if the program was adopted to humans.

RTF, I'm disapointed, I was actually looking forward to your cat joke. I wasn't kidding about cat people, we're nuts.

Anode, do we have to release them?

This product would be ok on a PDQ or some other cat but I own a monohull

Greetings,
Mr. HC. Oh, I know ALL about cat people and as I said, I'm pretty much cat neutral. Wouldn't want one. As far as having a warm body sleeping in your lap, there are options.

My god, what do you feed that thing? Don't say cats.

Beans!!!!!!.........human beans(sic)

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. HC. Oh, I know ALL about cat people and as I said, I'm pretty much cat neutral. Wouldn't want one. As far as having a warm body sleeping in your lap, there are options.

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Here's my boat cat. His name is Chevy. He's a Ragdoll breed. Weighs 10.2 kgs. Chevy is a strictly indoors cat. He's never been outside other than on the boat. The type of litter we use is called Wonder Wheat. Lovely stuff and dissolves in water.

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Greetings,
Mr. Hendo. Awww......Never said that St. Barnyard was MY dog. I was just suggesting lap warming options. I'm a hound person....BUT unlike the "smarter" one in the family, I'm usually barking up the wrong tree.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. Hendo. Awww......Never said that St. Barnyard was MY dog. I was just suggesting lap warming options. I'm a hound person....BUT unlike the "smarter" one in the family, I'm usually barking up the wrong tree.

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Ah my mistake ;-)

Pets are great. Beit cats, dogs or whatever else tickles your fancy. There's a great video clip on YouTube of a boat cat leaning over the edge of the boat playing with a dolphin. It's called "cat and dolphins playing together"

I'd post the link but can't do it on my iPad.

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