Which litter has the best odor control?

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hey all! I am in serious need of changing litter brands as the one I am using (Yesterday’s News pelletized litter) just is not doing the trick with odor control, so I thought I would ask all the members here help me make a choice! I need to go get litter today, so the more responses the better! Oh and one last thing, if you use Yesterday’s News or any other brand, could you tell me if it is the pelletized one or the fluffy one? Thanks!

[osprey]

In my opinion, the best litter for odor control is the Aspen Supreme pellet made by Green Pet.  It has a distinctive woody smell though, and if you don’t like that smell it will be hard to use.  All natural, compostable.  PetCo sells it.  Here is a picture:

 

I use Cat Country in a few of their boxes and the Aspen pellets in the one that is closest to sofa.  The Cat Country is pretty good too, and composts faster than any of the wood based pellets.  I used wood stove pellets (Atlas brand) when they were available, the biggest advantage to these is the price.  They have a distictive smell too, and because they are made of sawdust they take forever to compost.  I tried Feline Pine, it’s basically the same as the woodstove pellets at 3X the price.  We use Yesterday’s News at all of our adoption shows because it is dark in color, and the boxes look better after they have been used.  I used Carefresh for the previous litter of babies that we were fostering, and I really did not like it.  Terrible odor control (the only time one of my litterboxes had an ammonia smell), sticks to the box and makes the boxes hard to clean.  I have also used a horse stall pellet, which was basically like the wood stove pellets, with less of a funky odor.

 

[Floppy]

I changed from trying that Soft Sorbent stuff to Yesterdays News (which unfortunately I can only
find at Petsmart..and I am sort of trying to avoid going there as much as I can.) Anyway, Yesterdays
News is working just fine for me, But I might give that aspen pellet stuff a try now…hmmm..

[Scarlet_Rose]

Osprey thank you soo much! I am definately going to try the Aspen Pellet. I have had the same undesireable results with the Yesterday’s News. You have used the pine though? Pine shavings emit phenols that can give bunnies liver damage. I know that the wood stove pellets are processed and they tend to be OK but what about the horse stall one? I wouldn’t think that those are OK because I would think that they are less processed. Hey Binky or moderators, we could use your humble opinion here. : )

Floppy, I have two 9 pound rabbits that use one litter box, that might be why you aren’t experiencing any problems as you may have smaller and/or fewer bunnies.

OK it looks like I am off to the pet store now!

[osprey]

These are not pine shavings, but pine pellets.  The extrusion process they use to make the pellets involves heating which causes the phenols to outgas.  The horse stall product is made the same way as the wood stove pellet, but using a lower quality wood, so the pellets are more crubmbly and break apart easily.   They also produce more ash when burned, so they are less desireable for fuel.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Awesome info thanks again! I have never used wood pellets before and so am gaining a whole education from them as I do not want to use the wrong thing.

[Scarlet_Rose]

I picked up some of the Aspen Supreme pellets and they smell great! I’ll have to see how they do. Oh and I just had to shudder when I passed by the “bunny treat” section, a new thing I saw was the colored chew sticks with multi-colored jimmies on them (the candies you put on donuts and cakes to decorate them). I wanted to have a fit right then & there.

[Molotov]

I use the crushed up variety of yesterdays news on top of newspapers. It works reasonably well, Wal-Mart carries it in some stores so I can avoid petsmart. I put a little baking soda underneath to absorb some of the odor.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Posted By Scarlet_Rose on 09/08/2007 8:55 PM
I picked up some of the Aspen Supreme pellets and they smell great! I’ll have to see how they do. Oh and I just had to shudder when I passed by the "bunny treat" section, a new thing I saw was the colored chew sticks with multi-colored jimmies on them (the candies you put on donuts and cakes to decorate them). I wanted to have a fit right then & there.

I know what you’re talking about, seen them before. I doubt they’re real sprinkles.

[BinkyBunny]

Interesting – I love Yesterday’s news, (I find carefresh does nothing to help in the odor department), but I may have to try the Aspen just so see the difference.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi Binky, I’m glad it’s still faring well for you. For some odd reason, it has lost its ability to control odor in the litterbox my two use. I’ve been using it for YEARS and it went kaput on me. I’m going to give the Aspen a go and I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe somehow the formulation was changed or something. I’ve examined my two bunnies’ diet and it hasn’t changed either. Go figure.

[Gravehearted]

I use the carefresh ultra, i think it does more for odor control than woodstove pellets, regular carefresh or the yesterdays mews i tried – but it’s still not great.

[Scarlet_Rose]

I hear you Gravehearted, I am always searching, the challenge is something eco-friendly, bunny safe, lots of odor control and doesn’t hurt the wallet. I shall not give up. Of course there are the sparse plug-in air freshners I have in strategic places around the house. Thus far though the little air purifier that I got with an ionizer which also helps with odor seems to help out some. My Daffodil can’t take anything with perfume in it, she’s kind of sensitive to her environment and I have to be very careful, which makes it all that more of a challenge for me.

[osprey]

Floppy,

 

I am not sure where you are in the Bay Area, but are you anywhere near the South Bay (For Other Living Things in Sunnyvale is a great place), or near a Petfood Express store?  Petfood Express gives lots of support to rescues, and it is a corporate policy not to sell live animals.  Both of these are good alternatives to petsMart.

 

[Gravehearted]

I want to try the aspen pellets Osprey mentioned. Thanks for the pics, since it helps for finding it in the store 🙂
Viktor went nutso making a mess with the yesterdays news pellets last time, so we’ll see how it goes.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Gravehearted, I found them in the small animal bedding section and not the cat section. I saw the cat country (in the cat section LOL) but the pellets were a lot larger in size and I determined it would not be too friendly to my bunnies’ tootsies and so opted for the Aspen, which also had a great scent I love the woodsy stuff. OK I’m a mountain girl. LOL

[Gravehearted]

oo great, I’ll buy some and Viktor will be singing lumberjack songs… ha ha

[wendyzski]

I use Feline Pine – it’s a cat litter made from pine sawdust but it’s safe because all the phenols have been baked out of it.  I have one bunny and I change her litter box once a week!

[Scarlet_Rose]

LOL gravehearted! Oh that is funny! I’m going to be testing it out in the litterbox tonight. We’ll see how my two react. Gosh I feel like that “secret” Foldgers Crystals commercial from ages ago. We’re secretly replacing XYZ bunny litter with brand X, lets see if they can tell the difference? *chuckle* Speaking of lumber jacks, I need to go mow the lawn.

[RascalnBinks]

Ive tried a bunch of different litters on bunbun,starting with yesterdays news. That worked pretty well but expensive stuff lol! I never saw a store brand of it,or i mightve tried it. Then i tried feline pine (and petsmart brand of it) but he did not like it one bit, i think the smell was too strong. I then discovered Woody Pet which is a wood pellet i found at a local feed mill. He didnt really take to it, so i had to put a layer of aspen and hay on top for him to use it. With my current two buns,Woody Pet all the way! No probs at all,no stinky smell,its great. Plus good price for it,5 bucks for a 30lb bag! We also switched our cats to it as well and they did fine with the transition,no smells there either! So my vote is the wood pellets obviously lol.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Thanks Rascal! Well I mixed it with the YN for now because I have a little left over. I opened the bag to that woodsy waft of promises of a non-smelly litterbox. I look forawrd to giving my report on it! Wow $5 for a 30 lb bag! Man I wish there were a place like that here!

[Deleted User]

Yesterdays News, Care Fresh, Wood Stove Pellets … Nada get em here lol.

I use plain ol’ boring newspaper/flyers/shredded paper … hey my Luey does not stink!

Dawn xx

[Scarlet_Rose]

Well hey, whatever works Dawn!

[Scarlet_Rose]

OK everyone, I’ve spent a week with 1/2 Yn & 1/2 Aspen Supreme and I have to say that even with just 1/2 Aspen Supreme they rock with odor control! Thank you soooo much Osprey for recommending them!

[maghy7]

Is it safe to use yesterdays news for cats? the person at the store told me she uses that one because it’s a bigger bag and less money, I got it yesterday (first time) but wonder if it is safe, I got the unscented one, I was reading this and now I feel really worried.

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/yesterdaynews.html 

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hmm, very interesting. I have not seen the objects that are in the pictures in the bags I have bought so I cannot speak for “Susans” write up on it. Anyone else?

[osprey]

Someone came to one of our shows with some junk she found in Yesterday’s News.  It was plastic, probably stuff mixed in with the recycling bins that held the paper used for the litter.  What I saw I would not consider dangerous, unless a rabbit tried to eat and swallow it, there were no sharp edges.

[BinkyBunny]

I actually found once a strange wax like pellet (blue or red, can’t remember) But that was it. Very interesting article. I will be checking out the Aspen Supreme next time I am at the pet store

[Gravehearted]

I picked up some Aspen Supreme and so far no one is kicking it all over the place. I only changed them yesterday, so I can’t give a full report for a few more days.

[Scarlet_Rose]

That’s great! My two don’t kick it around either but were starting to with the YN. Hmm, that is very interesting. I am at about a 1/3 YN and 2/3 Aspen Supreme mix now and the odor control is even better. I wonder if my two were kicking it out because of the odor and to get to "fresh" litter?

[Deleted User]

I also just started the aspen supreme, we used wood shavings before. So far Coney is doing just fine and dandy. He isn’t nibbling on it like he was with the shavings, and no smell. I don’t have to change it everyday either, this is day two with the same box. Connor on the other hand won’t go in anything no matter what. He now won’t lay in the litter box like he did before with the shavings. I also put some hay in there because if he won’t go in it I figure at least he can eat out of it, because that is where he was spending most of his time.

[osprey]

Hey, I should demand a cut of the profits from Green Pet as a salesman!

Serious though, I am glad that you folks are liking the Aspen litter.  I kind of like the woody smell of it, reminds me of my departed Dad who was a woodworker.  His workshop at home always smelled like sawdust.  I find that I have to use more of it to cover the bottom of the box because the pellets are so small, but I can go 4 or 5 days between changes (with 3 rabbits!)

 

 

[wordmonkey]

Aspen shavings and a good spray/wipe down with dilluted vinegar. Make sure not to use too much vinegar cause instead of odor youll have a heavy vinegar smell.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Osprey I second that! Wow I am so glad you mentioned it, it has helped the happiness of humans here because the bunny smell is all but gone (I think it is because I am not on 100% Aspen yet).  What sweet memories you have of the aspen.  Living in Colorado, it reminds me of the fall and all the beautiful colors and the time I used to spend camping in the mountains. I noticed that the pellets are smaller too, but that just makes it softer on bunny paws.  One thing that I really noticed is that while it is a smaller bag, I do not toss out so much "used" litter.  A small amount of it absorbs all the liquid! I think that’s the secret with this stuff (not to mention the nice woodsy odor) as before with YN there would still be liquid under all the litter which I think was the cause of the smell because it would just sit there unabsorbed. I used to change it every other day and now I can wait one extra day without the worry of putting up with a smell.

[BinkyBunny]

well poop. My local Petco didn’t have it! I’ll have to try another Petco store. I also checked Pet Food Express. No luck. I’m so eager to try it! Bummer

[Scarlet_Rose]

Binky Bunny, did you look in the small animal section? I almost missed it myself because I was so focused on the cat litter section. I sure hope you can find some to try it! Maybe the manufacturers web site has a list of retailers that carry their product?

Here is the manufactureres web site:

http://www.greenpet.com/prodaspen.htm

They state that all PetCo’s carry their product, so maybe they were out?

http://www.greenpet.com/wheretobuy.htm

 

[osprey]

Also check in the bird section.  The local PetCo near here keeps the aspen stuff with the bird things for some reason.

 Also, be sure you are getting the Aspen product.  Green Pet also makes a corn cob litter, and the bags are very similar.  I think corn cob litter is a no no for bunnies, but I’m not sure.  I have never used it.

 

[Scarlet_Rose]

Corn cob litter is a definate no no, bunneis often consume it and it can cause an impaction and not to mention they ignore their hay, which is not good.

[BB Administrator]

YEP, no on cob llitter. I did look in the bird and small animal section too, no luck, but I will ask someone next time to point me in the right direction or ask if they were out. I remember being in a bit of a hurry at the time, so maybe i just missed it. I’ll check again tomorrow

Gosh darn it!  Everytime I add pictures the gallery, I always make the mistake of coming here, still in admin mode.  It’s me….BinkyBunny.  Grpft..

Helloworld!!

[MooBunnay]

Does anyone happen to know where I can get those wood pellets for the woodstove? I tried Home Depot, Walmart, Target, and Loews and can’t seem to find them (or anyonet= that knows what I am talking about!) Have you seen those commercials where people get lost in the Home Improvement warehouses and call 911 on their cell phones because they can’t get out? That was how I felt!

[osprey]

In Texas you may be better off trying to get the horse stall bedding product.  It may not get cold enough for pellet stoves to be prevalent.  Are there any feed stores you can go to?

 

[Sarita]

MooBunnay if you have a Tractor Supply near you – I’m pretty sure there is one in McKinney – here’s the address:

MC KINNEY #566
3350 N CENTRAL EXPY – MC KINNEY, TX 75071-2654
(972) 547-4900

They carry something called Lone Star Bedding which is a pelleted bedding and it’s $5.98 for a 40 pound bag. It’s hard to find the regular woodstove pellets in Texas because we just don’t get cold enough unless it’s further up north to Oklahoma or the panhandle. I was using Feline Pine which is $18.99 for a 40 pound bag and this is a much better price and they don’t sell anmals either (not usually anyway – at least the one in Denton doesn’t).

[MooBunnay]

Thanks for the help! I just researched a bunch of feed stores in McKinney/Allen and am going to start calling tomorrow to see who carries it. Another member mentioned Woody Pet – and I found out they have a warehouse in Dallas but unfortunately only sell by the pallet there (though, with 7 buns perhaps a pallet is more appropriate I could just line all of my flooring with it!) I will also try that Tractor Supply Store.

You know whats funny is a few people told me that Texas gets super cold so I was afraid of that but it seems that the experts (AKA the people that actually LIVE here) say it doesn’t get to cold. I am hoping to have at least a few days where I can make a fire in my fireplace!

[MooBunnay]

Sarita! Oh my goodness I just looked at your picture that you posted and realized we work together at NTRS! – hahaha did you know that already? Am I just very slow at picking up these things? Anyways – glad to see you joined the site I hope you are finding it enjoyable!

[Gravehearted]

ok – after a week’s trial – aspen supreme rocks! wow, it’s fantastic with odor absorption. It is a bit sawdusty when cleaning out the litterbox, but that’s my only gripe. I’m sold!

[Scarlet_Rose]

That’s great! Yep, I have the same problem with the sawdusty texture but it sure does the trick, doesn’t it? I can totally live with it cause I love the odor control and my bunnies haven’t objected to it either, in fact they haven’t thrown it out of the litterbox like they did the YN. I wonder if it is because it is better with odor control?

[Gravehearted]

my buns tossed the yesterday’s mews and the woodstove pellets, the aspen supreme is smaller – so maybe that’s part of it?

[BinkyBunny]

Well I too, am now a believer of Aspen supreme!  I do mix both Yesterday’s News and Aspen Supreme as it is a bit too potent for me, but even the half and half does an outstanding job with odor control!  

I really went in thinking it would just "mask" the odor because of the aspen scent, but I really don’t smell amonia AND aspen.  SO however, it works, I don’t care. It works!!

[osprey]

I read someplace that the aspen contains molecules that bind with the nitrogen in the pee, which prevents the formation of bacteria to make ammonia, blah blah blah.  Could have been just marketing hype, but it really does seem to work.  Like you folks, I tend to mix the aspen with something else, either Cat Country or wood stove pellets.  I also do not use it in the bunnies’ primary super huge litterbox, as it would take half a bag of those tiny pellets to fill it.  In the large litterbox I use something with a larger pellet size, and change it more often.  My three have 4 litterboxes right now, so I rotate which ones get changed.  They have decided that certain corners of their condo are ideal for peeing on the floor, so I put a couple of extra boxes there.

[BinkyBunny]

Well Binkies to you Osprey for letting us all know about it! I love it!

[osprey]

I  bought a 50 pound bag of Aspen Supreme at For Other Living Things today for $18.99.  Best price I have seen so far, but man, 50 pounds is a lot of litter.

 

[Scarlet_Rose]

Man I wish I could find a place that carried the big bags like that. I have a small trash can that I fill with litter and store in the garage and then scoop into a portable file box to keep inside the house by the cage when I clean. A 50 lb bag would fill it up. It’s great especially in winter when I don’t want to be out and about on the roads.

[Deleted User]

I use carefresh ultra. I have on tiny bun and one smallish bun. I havnt had much of a problem at all with smell and I dont change the litter that often (once every 4-5 days.) I’d be worried my buns (who adore anything wooden to chew on) would eat the aspen pellets, though i’d love to try them…

[Gravehearted]

wow only $18.99?? I bought the little size for about $9 from there, I think. Will have to go pick up the big one!

I have been mixing it with the carefresh ultra and it’s working out very well for us.

[Author]

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