How Often Should You Change Cat Litter?

Spot cleaning litter trays isn’t just an option but a necessity. Checking your feline friend’s tray once or twice a day to remove any urine soaked litter will keep their toilet smelling nice and fresh to encourage them to continue using it. If urine soaked litter is left in a tray too long, not only does it smell but your beloved pet has to dig through and stand in the dirty litter to go to the toilet. When exposed to the skin for a duration, urine can burn which leaves their paw pads vulnerable to burns while also running the risk of them traipsing cat litter and urine through the house. Once or twice a day should be enough to remove any soiled litter and if you notice they’ve done a poo, this should always be picked up immediately

While a poo in a standard litter tray may be too noticeable to ignore, trays with lids like the Savic Nestor Jumbo Litter Tray can mask the smell so you should be checking multiple times a day to make sure nothing is sitting around for too long in there.

While spot cleaning should be done once a day at a minimum, cleaning out the entire litter tray and replacing all the cat litter can be done once a week. If you have multiple cats, you should have multiple toilets for them to use. However, if you have two litter trays and four cats then they will obviously fill up faster and will need more regular cleaning.

Clumping cat litter and non-clumping litter have an impact on how often you will need to clean the tray out entirely. Jollyes have a range of cat litter that offers ultra clumping, essential clumping, and anti-bacterial clumping and non-clumping, so you and your feline can decide what suits them the best. The once per week is a general rule of thumb for both types of litter, however, you will probably notice that non-clumping litter tends to need cleaning more often than clumping litter. As the wet litter clumps together, it makes it easier to remove any soiled litter from the tray on a daily basis. When litter doesn’t clump, the soiled litter can get mixed in with clean litter making it harder to remove so the tray becomes dirty faster.

When you clean out their litter tray every week, the box should be scrubbed to make sure there are no bacteria clinging on for dear life in there.

Cleaning a litter tray is pretty simple once you have the right tools you need and the know-how, it can even be mess-free once you get used to it. With the right cleaning products and getting it done often enough, you shouldn’t need much elbow grease at all.

While you won’t need to throw out all of the litter when you’re doing spot cleans, the weekly clean will require you to throw out everything in their litter tray. Most litter trays are easy to empty, you either unclip the top or if there’s a detachable rim to keep any mess inside and then pour the litter directly into a bin bag. This should be done in a well-ventilated area as some litter can get a little dusty when it’s being poured out.

Most cat litter can be disposed of in your regular non recyclable bin bags to be collected along with your other rubbish. Some cat litter like CJs Premium Cat Litter Ultra Absorbent Wood Pellets is biodegradable and can be placed into a compost bin to break down over time.

Once emptied, there will usually be some residue and dust along the edge of the litter. Cats will usually go to the toilet in the corners of their litter tray which can be harder to clean so you may need to scrape out any clumped leftover litter.

You can wipe down the inside with a wipe like Johnsons Cleansing Wipes to remove any leftover debris before using a pet safe cleaning spray like Johnson's Clean 'n' Safe Litter Tray Disinfectant to remove any bacteria. Any staining or residue should be removed with this and then allowed to dry.

Only once the litter tray is completely dry should you add whatever preferred litter you want to use. A cat needs enough substrate to have a good dig around in as they often like to tidy up and hide anything in the tray after they’re done going to the toilet. Their litter should be around three to four inches deep to give them plenty to move around and to last the whole week. If the litter isn’t quite deep enough, it will become saturated too quickly and will need cleaning more regularly.

Some cats can be quite fussy and when something isn’t quite right, they will usually just flat out refuse to use their litter box. If it gets messy and smelly, it will become unpleasant to use and cats don’t like to go to the toilet in the same place over and over again which is why having a good cleaning schedule is important.

Your feline friend will gladly tell you when their toilet is too dirty by going elsewhere in the house that might be more attractive. Anywhere from inside shoes to a pile of clean laundry can be a target so it’s best to keep their litter trays nice and clean to encourage them to use it. If it’s clean and they still don’t seem fond of using it, try moving it to a different location or trialling a different type of litter that they might enjoy more.

For everything you need to give your beloved pet the most luxurious toilet and all of your other cat necessities, take a look at our wide range in store and online.