# Litter not clumping



## V-paw (Mar 30, 2013)

We have 3 cats, 3 litter boxes. When I clean them I see the normal clumping that urine causes and then I also see a soggy patch that breaks easily with movement and scatters around the rest of the box, falls through the holes. I suspect one cat is making this strange pee. 
Does anyone know what this could be? Or how to fix it?
We use clumping clay litter and it is cleaned regularly.

We feed wet food in the morning and free feed dry.

Our cats:

Maple: mostly indoor but can go through the doggy door and lounge outside if she wants, has a limp from a dog attack, friendly and pretty adventurous. 6 years old. Tortoiseshell







Nala: loves to hunt and spends a lot of time outside, good appetite and most recent addition. She lived outside until my friend found her and then had kittens so I got all of that, and now she is fixed. Very playful, very friendly. Maybe around 4 years old. DLH







Akira: very rarely goes outside, never goes far. Huge eyes, usually in my brother's room, door likely closed most of the time. Likes wet food. Doesn't know how to act like a cat. Overweight somewhat. Almost 2 years old. DSH


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## UnwillingDonor (Jun 2, 2015)

Im not sure, this is just a guess but maybe its just a fresh pee. My kitty likes to jump in and pee while im cleaning it and i always scoop the pee she takes, its a bit more fragile than the others and sometimes falls through the holes in the scoop and makes a mess.


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## V-paw (Mar 30, 2013)

That would make sense except it is ALWAYS there, everyday.... And in several boxes at a time. Also I noticed Nala, will sometimes come on my bed and I'll pet her and she'll lay down for a while and then there's a wet spot left.... Hmm...


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## UnwillingDonor (Jun 2, 2015)

Hmm, i cant think of a reason for the litter not to clump though, any liquid should clump it. Possibly she, or one of the other cats, is taking large pees which is too much liquid for the litter to have a clumping effect, which you should talk to the vet about. another possibility is maybe a defective box of litter, though i doubt it.
As for Nala and the wet spots thats another thing that i would talk to the vet about, and possibly Nalas wet spots and the weird pee in the litter box are one in the same problem.


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

If I clean the box and it's within a short time, like less than 20 minutes, since they've used it, it will not be fully clumped. Especially if they don't cover it.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

You mention that the litter is "cleaned regularly". What do you mean by that? I scoop my clumping litter morning and evening. Sometimes it only partially clumps if I don't have quite enough litter in the box and the cat pushes litter away to the very bottom of the box. Then the pee tends to stick on the bottom, even tho it's clumped on the top.


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## V-paw (Mar 30, 2013)

I don't think the litter is defective since it clumps in the other places. Yes it's strange about Nala I'll have to give my vet a call. 

They do seem to pee a lot, there's always a ton of pee clumps in there and they are large, not sure why that started happening, I mean it's pretty hot where I live so maybe that?

I usually clean them every 1-2 days but I haven't had a problem yet, we used to only have 2 litter boxes so now that I convinced my mom to let me get at least a third it's been better.


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## Mandy and Ellie (Oct 22, 2013)

It could be the litter you're using. I had the same problem with Tidy Cats "Glade" clumping litter. At first I thought it was because I didn't scoop enough (once daily), so I started scooping twice a day... regardless, it didn't matter, the pee clumps would almost always just fall apart and made the litter stink terribly!

I then tried the Tidy Cats 24/7 clumping and had a similar experience. I read reviews online and other people were having the same problems with it not clumping properly. 

I switched to Tractor Supply's litter called "Paws and Claws", and NO problems at all since. The clumping power is insane! It's only $5 for 25 pounds, too... seriously can't beat it.

I don't know if large pees are an indication of a health issue... unless you have a cat who drinks a_ ton_ and pees unusually often (usually symptoms of diabetes), then big pees are usually just an indication of a well-hydrated cat. My mom's cat, Cuddles, pees a lot at a time and the vet said she is extremely healthy and is just a.) a big cat and b.) eats wet food and drinks water, so she's well hydrated!

If you are only scooping once every two days, big clumps could also just be multiple pees stuck together.


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## V-paw (Mar 30, 2013)

Hmm I'll have to look at reviews for my litter then, it's litter purrfect multicat from Costco, it clumps most of the time so it's odd how it's only sometimes. I guess it could be two pees that make the larger clumps since they probably like to pee in the same place sometimes.


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## V-paw (Mar 30, 2013)

Okay I looked up some reviews on my litter brand and it seems as though they recently had a formula change and no one is happy about it, and their litter does what mine does, so I guess I'll try a different brand  and Nala has an appointment for Tuesday so we can make sure she's all good, or if not treat it.


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## Pokey (Feb 23, 2012)

Whenever I've had issues like yours, I dump the entire contents of the litter box, scrub it clean and let dry, then replace with all new litter. That's always solved the problem. Heat and humidity does exacerbate the problem.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Don't scoop so often. I know this sounds strange, but it's like Nebraska Cat said, if you don't wait long enough the clump has not hardened and it will break apart quickly and scatter all over the other litter. Personally, I just ignore the broken stuff and don't sweat the small stuff. No pun intended.


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## V-paw (Mar 30, 2013)

How often would you recommend to scoop?


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## Artiesmom1 (Jan 28, 2014)

Let the poop/pee sit for 15 minutes, then scoop it out. It will clump really good.


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## Jenny bf (Jul 13, 2013)

I think the problem might be only scooping every 1 or 2 days. With 3 cats going that's a lot of pee clumps and so the already soaked litter may be getting hit more than once or even that when the cats go in and dig they are breaking the clumps. I clean both my boxes at least once if not twice a day and use big boxes and deep litter. I do still have occasional lumps break but as others said these are fresh. I don't worry about the little bits and they quite often sort of dry and disintegrate anyway.


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## V-paw (Mar 30, 2013)

The vet said Nala has some crystals in her urine when they took a sample. 

I'm cleaning the boxes right now and a lot of it looks fresh and crumples, almost all of them... Now this is getting weird :/


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