Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract Litter users, I have a question

[Catlady711]

I noticed the litter fresh from the bag has a 'garden dirt' smell to it. I assume that's part of the herbs they use in it.

My question is...

Is it possible for the herb smell to 'wear out' for lack of a better word?

I've been faithfully cleaning the litterboxes 2 sometimes 3 times a day, wiping down the sides, bought 2 large rubbermaid tubs, and am using the Cat Attract litter. I had went a MONTH without any accidents in the house. Just today I found, not one, not two, not three, but FOUR accidents!!!!!

When I cleaned the boxes yet AGAIN today I did happen to notice that while the litter appears to be clean (barely any ikky little stinky leftover pieces that are too small for the scooper), but the 'garden dirt' smell was not there anymore.

Would a bottle of the Cat Attract herbs be enough to freshen the box or does this litter require frequent full changes?

I added a sprinkling of fresh Cat Attract litter with the regular litter just in case they miss the 'garden dirt' smell.

I'd appreciate any insight as I really enjoyed the month of no accidents. *sigh*

[StarandBratsmom]

I have no idea if the smell of the garden will wear off. My cat prefers the little box. I don't know why. I use Tidy Cats crystals. I hardly have to clean her box because it locks in moisture and neutralizes the smell.

[catmandu]

THATS FUNNY HOW THE FOUND CATS LIKE THE SMALLEST BOX AS WELL. IN CANADA WE DONT HAVE THAT PRODUCT, SO I HAVE NO IDEA OF HOW WELL IT WORKS.
SORRY!!!!

[Catlady711]

Hopefully someone here may have experienced this before.

On a brighter note the cats have been very happy to use the boxes I topped off. I hadn't realized that gradually they hadn't been using those boxes as much. I've already had to clean them 3 times today, they aren't really using any of the other boxes now.

I guess tomorrow when I go to the pet store, I'll not only get more of that litter, but also the shaker can of the herbs to freshen the box between changings.

[Russian Blue]

I'm in Canada and we do have Cat Attract (you can get it at Petsmart, Global Foods or Pet Valu). We used it when we first brought Steve home last year. He started peeing outside the box within 3 months of being here. When I first brought the Cat Attract home and poured it into their boxes, BOTH Gigi and Steve jumped in to use the box at the same moment. I guess it really attracted them.

We found out that Steve was fearful of the vet and each time we took him in to have a butt shave, he would start having accidents.

Yes, you should put a little new litter in the box. I'd say once a week, just to keep the 'herb' smell there (rather than dumping the whole bag in at once). Do you have Feliway plugins in your house, as well? I used the litter and plugins when we were trying to solve Steve's issues.

Sorry to hear about all the accidents at once. That's not a fun thing to come home to. Do you know if it's a behavioural or medical reason yet? The litter may work for now, but might not be the long term solution.

Either way, I hope it works for you!

[Catlady711]

I'm in Canada and we do have Cat Attract (you can get it at Petsmart, Global Foods or Pet Valu). We used it when we first brought Steve home last year. He started peeing outside the box within 3 months of being here. When I first brought the Cat Attract home and poured it into their boxes, BOTH Gigi and Steve jumped in to use the box at the same moment. I guess it really attracted them.

We found out that Steve was fearful of the vet and each time we took him in to have a butt shave, he would start having accidents.

Yes, you should put a little new litter in the box. I'd say once a week, just to keep the 'herb' smell there (rather than dumping the whole bag in at once). Do you have Feliway plugins in your house, as well? I used the litter and plugins when we were trying to solve Steve's issues.

Sorry to hear about all the accidents at once. That's not a fun thing to come home to. Do you know if it's a behavioural or medical reason yet? The litter may work for now, but might not be the long term solution.

Either way, I hope it works for you!

I don't have the Feliway plug ins but I do have Feliway spray. It doesn't seem to help any though.

When I first brought the Cat Attract litter home I had 2 and 3 cats at a time in the sandbox wanting to go, and Bear wanted to play in it then lay in it.

Around here I get it at PetSmart. It's like $14 a bag but comes with $1 coupon in each bag. While it's about 1/2 the amount of litter I'm used to getting for that price, it clumps so good, scoops out better, and the cats like it so well, I'm not going back to my old brand (A&H).

I'm thinking a once a week freshner of new litter mixed in is probably a good idea. I didn't realize the herb stuff smell wore off. I hadn't actually noticed it recently, or rather the lack of it, when I've been scooping. I should have paid more attention to that little fact. It probably would have saved a bunch of cleaning yesterday.