Looking for a cat litter that doesn't smell? That is a hard request to grant, considering you can't avoid the odor when your cat does his business in his toilet but how or what can you do to keep it smelling fresh in between scoopings?
After trying all kinds of cat litter sands, all natural, clumping, clay, you name it I've tried it... I finally found a practical easy odor free type. It has it's pros and cons. Let's start with the advantages.
If you have an indoor cat and a normal plastic litter box, the light and dark blue crystals pep up the cat toilet area's appearance. They present a bright and cheery array of colors in contrast to the normal boring gray beige litter. The silica gel crystals are lightweight and the 4lb bag is easy to carry.
Silicone has the super capability to absorb liquid so that pro I don't even need to delineate. The crystals are pretty much transparent and they don't roll or carry over the floor as much as normal sand and even if a few fall next to the litter box, you can barely see them (just hear them when vacuuming).
When attending to the box consistently, it will be hard to smell that there is a cat anywhere in your house, not to say sharing it. The truth is, sorry if insulting, you and "the people you live with" will probably outsmell the cat by a longshot. And last but not least the price of $4.17 for Brand "MIMI"(manufactured by Makall in China, can read more about at www.silica-gel.com) at Wal-Mart is not too bad.
Now let's turn our attention to the cons of this mysterious blue crystal cat sand, the location plays a big role in the success of using this cat litter. Because silica absorbs water it naturally also absorbs moisture, which means a bathroom where people are taking showers or baths is not a good place to have this litter. The key is to keep it in a dry cool place where the air circulates well, like in a hallway or in airy room near an open or cracked window (or door).
The solid waste is easy to scoop out with a normal cat litter shovel, it doesn't stick and has a fluffy blue crystal coating. Most of the crystals return cleanly to the box while slowly removing. The cat urine is completely absorbed in the crystals but it has to be stirred thouroughly in order for the crystals to be exposed to enough oxygen to do their job. This way the crystals stay highly absorbant.
I've read about cases online where the urine hits the floor of the pan and even forms little pools... can imagine this happens when it's kept in a very high humidity area like a shower area or when it's not being stirred long enough (more the length.. 1-2 minutes of stirring.. than the frequency). But on the otherhand, also read in a few reviews that it lasts a whole month and stays dry and oder-free when properly attended to once or twice a day.
The urine doesn't really clump, it just kinda sticks together in one area, but if you really want to keep it exceptionally clean (kinda kills the whole idea of the silica) there is also a method to remove it. I tried it in the beginning when I didn't quite understand or believe that all that urine from my cat would really disappear in the crystals through stirring. The trick is getting the dark yellowish absorbed crystals out without sacrificing too many of the good clear clean crystals and do not stir.
For my little, but growing extremely fast, kitty I decided to use an old spoon. You just see a little circle, so you have to go in carefully from the side and a little deep because the urine runs toward the bottom of the pan but gets absorbed halfway there, and try to catch it in the spoon without it caving in. I think this is where the normal busy person says, "forget it, just mix it in with the rest"... which is the right thing to do and why this sand is so popular. Scooping the urine out is only for maybe show cat owner's, workaholics, or the perfectionists out there! And definitely not for someone wanting to save some cash because with this method the litter holds only half as long before you have to go out and buy the next bag.
So again for this litter to be efficient stir the crystals frequently, everytime you discard waste out of the pan or see the cat was in it, take the shovel and mix it through, and don't forget to level them out at the end for the cat's next visit. The package states lasts 20 to 30 days, about a month... this is true, at least according to my experience (only holds about 14 days if you choose to remove the urine crystals).
Either way there's just a thin layer left - (crystals will be much heavier because they have absorbed the urine over the whole period of time) it's time to throw out all the crystals completely, wash the box and put in new litter crystals.
Ok so it is maybe a little expensive compared to other litter types, but don't forget... you know... that smell? Ya the smell is gone, vanished, doesn't come back unless you change back to normal litter again...
Speaking of which, "changing" from one kind of litter to another can also be a problem. At first our kitten had a tiny accident, I think he had searched for it for awhile but couldn't find it because it didn't "stink", so it might take some extra encouragement for your cat to acknowledge his/her new luxury.
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