The new "Breeze" system by Tidy Cats really can work! Over the summer, we acquired 3 new kittens - So we now have 6 cats! Before you start thinking I'm some kind of crazy cat lady...let me assure you we are DONE - There will be no further additions to our CAT family! : )
What triggered this "baby boom" was a stray cat who had a whole litter in our back yard! We caught the mom, took her to get spayed and released her. Then, when the kittens were about 8 weeks old, we caught a couple of them and took them to our local shelter. That's when the trouble began. The shelter was so full there was no room!!! On top of that, I was the only one that Coco and his brother would let feed them or hold them. They were deathly afraid of everyone at the shelter. Long story short, I ending up adopting one of the cats brought in, but 2 from the shelter so they could make room for more cats! Coco's brother was able to share a cage with other kittens and I'm happy to say was adopted almost immediately cuz he was SOOO cute!
The photo here is of our little Lola Love, she was and still is completely irrestistable! Here are more photos of all the new kitties I uploaded to Facebook. (They make it so easy to upload photos I can't believe it!)
Along with the new cats, came a need to rethink how I manage and litterboxes and organize to keep them clean! Over the past 30 years of having cats, I have tried nearly every litter box under the sun that promised "no tracking" or "reduced odor". And with 6 cats trust me...odor can be an issue! We had to buy more litter boxes to accomodate all the cats (You should have at least one per cat.)
That's how we discovered the Breeze system. I am so happy with it I wrote a review of the system on Amazon and thought I'd share it with you here because it contains some neat tips for helping your cats make the transition AND for keeping the odors at bay.
I'd love to hear about any tips you may have for keeping odor at bay in your home!
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The Breeze system is the first that truly delivered on it's promise to reduce tracking of litter around the house. We still get a few pellets outside the boxes but they are easy to pick up with our hand vacuum. We actually have much less litter tracking now with 6 cats than we did with only 3 cats! I would not go back to regular litter for all the money in the world!
How It Works
BREEZE Litter System uses specially-designed, cat-friendly Litter Pellets that are 99.9% dust free and anti-tracking. BREEZE Litter Pellets allow urine to pass through to an odor controlling BREEZE Cat Pad in a protective tray. The urine is quickly absorbed leaving solid waste on top for quick, easy removal.
We've been using the Breeze system for 4 months now and here are some tricks we found to make it work.
1. Odor Control
Even though the system does reduce odor, it wasn't good enough for my sensitive nose. I HATE to smell the cat box! So, right after they go number 2, we sprinkle Arm & Hammer's "Pet Fresh" or Cat Litter Deodorizer with Baking Soda on it to stop the odor immediately. Pet Fresh is made by Arm & Hammer. It is made to sprinkle on carpets before you vacuum and is a BIG help in keeping the odors under control. It's really cheap too. Much more effective than Febreeze. )
2. Dealing with Loose Stools. This can be a real mess trying to get them out with a scoop. The scoop works best after they have had a chance to dry out some. Sometimes I can't wait for that though. I really hate the smell, so I found that using paper towels or toilet paper to pick them up is the easiest and cleanest way to get them out.
3. Dealing with the Urine Smell. After a while, the plastic pan that holds the pee pee pads starts to retain the smell of urine - no matter how much you clean it, it's there. Solution: Sprinkle Cat Litter Deodorizer with Baking Soda on the pan, then place the pee pee pad in the pan. This helps a LOT! We also sprinkle Cat Litter Deodorizer with Baking Soda on the pellets.
Another less messy way to keep the odor down is Febreeze Spray for pets. We have found you can spray the pellets directly!
Our most favorite addition: The Diaper Genie it is AWESOME. You can scoop the poop into a paper towel, or toilet paper (if you wrap it well), or a bag, wrap and put it in just like a diaper. And there is no more smell! We also save packaging that would be thrown away anyway to wrap the poops as well. Since we scoop at least 1 or more times a day, we do our best not to create more trash than necessary.
4. Problem: The poop gets stuck to the scoop and to the litter boxes between cleanings. Solution: We keep paper towels and spray cleaner in a container near the litter boxes. That way we can wipe the box and scoop whenever needed.
5. Keeping the expense down. The pellets and pads can be costly. We have found that if we look out for coupons and sales we can get a 4 pak of pads for about 4 - 5$ (with 6 litter boxes that can add up...so we do look for sales) The worst place to buy the pellets and pads is Petco - they are triple the price. Best place for us has been Target and Stop & Shop - we stock up when they are on sale. If you scoop often and add pellets as needed, you can sometimes go 6 - 8 weeks before completely replacing all the pellets. We used to change the litter every week and went through so much that we have found this system to actually be cheaper. UPDATE 2009 - We now use Amazon's autoship to buy in bulk! Our local grocery stores all stopped carrying them!
6. Transitioning: It took us almost a month to transition our older cats. What we did was add pellets to their clay litter. Every time we scooped the old litter we added more pellets until eventually it was almost all pellets. We had the Breeze set up right next to the old litter box. By the time the old litter was transitioned to mostly pellets, all the cats were using the Breezes so we donated the old litter boxes to the Bloomfield Animal Shelter. We did have a couple times where they went outside the box, but that was it. They finally gave in and we have not had an issue for 5 months now.
It wasn't easy to change, but to not have litter tracked all over the house and to not have to scoop pee pee out of the litter is such a god send that it was well worth the trouble. My greatest fear is that they might stop making the refills! I was glad to read that someone said you could use the system without with the pads if you dump the urine every day. That would be not be my first choice, but it's nice to know it works. I was also thinking you could use doggie pee pads if necessary. As for the pellets, I'm going to try "Yesterdays' News" pellets and see if they would work.
Washable pellets you don't have to replace would be awesome for the environment. Trouble is they won't get to make as money off them so I doubt that Tidy Cats will ever make them - but I"m going to be on the look out for something reusable that works!
SEE PHOTOS OF ALL OUR CATS ON FACEBOOK HERE
SEE ALL MY POST ABOUT ORGANIZING YOUR PETS HERE
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