# How do you scoop?



## saitenyo (Nov 28, 2010)

There's a dilemma I've been pondering over for a while, and I'm hoping someone here will have some good advice!

When I clean the cats' litterboxes, I usually use a plastic bag (like a leftover grocery bag) to scoop everything into, and then deposit that in the trash can.

This is less than ideal for 2 reasons: 1-I hate wasting so much plastic, and 2-On a sort of related note, we've been bringing our own reusable bags to the grocery store lately to cut down on plastic waste, and I have therefore run out of plastic bags to use.

So how do you guys scoop the litterbox? I feel like there must be some obvious solution to this that I'm missing.

Our boxes are fairly large (we use the covered hut kind) and I am fairly small, so carrying the boxes themselves to the trash would be difficult. And I prefer to dump their waste into our large covered can to minimize smell and keep them from dumping it over, so I can't really take the can to the boxes either, as it's somewhat heavy and unwieldy when full.

So how do I solve this little litter transport problem?


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

I dunno if you have these in Cali. I got to the dollar store and get a box of 48 biodegradable poop bags for a buck. Then I scoop a couple of sessions (be it poop or pee). After the bag ets a bit big, then I toss it in the composting bin.

When I have to do a total new batch of litter, I put it in a plastic grocery bag and throw it in the composting bin. I'm pretty small too so if it gets heavy, then I separate it in 2 bags.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I use the big gallon sized freezer bags that seal. Because I cook often and freeze things, I'm usually using used bags, so it's not so wasteful.


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## saitenyo (Nov 28, 2010)

Using freezer bags is an interesting idea...sadly I usually freeze stuff in tupperware though so I don't have many of those laying around.

I'll have to check the store for those poop bags, thank you! Hopefully PetCo or Target or something will have them.


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## kwarendorf (Oct 12, 2009)

I have my litter box in a 1/2 bathroom. I use non-clumping litter so I scoop the solid waste material and flush it away. I change out the whole box every 4 days give or take, for which i use tall kitchen garbage bags.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

The biodegradeable dollar store poop bags, shake it open and use it to line a large old butter tub (or old tupperware container). When full tie off and toss. Since it seals you won't smell anything (until you open it).

They also have these that work like a deaper genie: Litter Locker: Petmate Litter Locker Plus at PETCO

If you want that let me know, i can send you mine. It works great, it just isn't practical for me and i haven't used it in over a year.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I keep a medium sized plastic bowl with a lid...the type you buy in the grocery store for storing leftovers in the fridge. I carry it around from room to room and scoop the "droppings" into the bowl. I then empty the droppings into the trash, give the bowl a quick rinse, and put the lid on the plastic bowl until next time. I wash the bowl out thoroughly once a week when I clean the litter boxes. 

The plastic bowl doubles as a salad bowl when I'm entertaining people I don't particularly like. :cool


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

Well, for those poop bags, I just tie a loose knot so I can open it to use again. I use a bag for several sessions then I toss them. It usually doesn't have enough time to accumulate enough odor to stink and the knot seals in the smell pretty good. Plus thos things are scented. That helps. Haha. If you're really fanatic about the smell, just use once and toss.


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## Gloworm (Nov 19, 2010)

I use Oko Plus (I think thats the correct name, the Oko is right ) and it says you can just flush it down the loo, so down the loo it goes! i dont think I could deal with having to faff about with it in the bin.


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## raecarrow (Oct 27, 2009)

MowMow said:


> They also have these that work like a deaper genie: Litter Locker: Petmate Litter Locker Plus at PETCO
> 
> If you want that let me know, i can send you mine. It works great, it just isn't practical for me and i haven't used it in over a year.


It does work but it is a pain. I like the Biodegradable bag idea. I have been a user of Plastic grocery bags generally speaking.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Mow won't use the box once he's had more than one or two BMs in it. Even if it's scooped out promptly. He just yowls and does the peepee dance. So I buy the cheapest litter possible and put just enough in for him to use and cover. About two small coffee cans worth. 

Every morning i dump the whole thing out into the trash can and the pan gets soaked in the bathroom in hot water with bleach. After it's soaked a while i pour the bleachy water down the toilet. While that is soaking/drying I put fresh litter in the second litter pan I have and put it down.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I use leftover bags too. Well, for the cat that poops in the litterbox. The other one has a mystery location outside.  

We have a ton of plastic bags anyway... I realise we could use cloth bags in stores and sometimes we do... but we need those plastic bags sometimes, too. 

Depending on where you live there might be the option of tossing the litter clumps outside... or maybe flushing them down the toilet if the litter is advertised as being flushable, however that can backup the toilet if you aren't careful plus if you think about it, you're wasting water with all that flushing. Someone I know uses that "litter locker" ... I suppose it would cut down on how often you need to use a bag, I've never tried it.


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## muggyscugglemeyer (Dec 1, 2010)

We use clumping litter for the boxes in the basement. I buy the litter in the plastic buckets. We put a garbage bag in an empty litter bucket and use it to scoop into. Don't use a cheap type of bag, because it may rip when you go to remove it.


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

I use World's Best and am not completly emptying the box as much as I once did. As WB is biodegradable I'm planning to use it as an additive in the garden. This past year I've not been too well, so most of it is stored in the carless carport, but recently critters have decided to scatter it so it's going to be spread over the weeds soon.

I always scoop the solids and flush. Seems to work well. I scoop the clumps and put those into one of those fliptop cans with the removable liners. When changing the whole thing, I line a plastic waste basket with a grocery bag, lift the whole litterbox and tip it cornerwise into the bag. Works well for me.


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## saitenyo (Nov 28, 2010)

Seems like the poop bags is the way to go! Are they the same kind you use to pick up dog poo? The little blue baggies? If so I think my parents have a ton of those. I could try using some of theirs and see how it works.

And yeah, I use World's Best (which i love, so much easier and less gross than clay litter) which is flushable, but I still have the dilemma of getting the litter to the toilet. Our bathrooms are too small to keep the litterboxes in. We've got them in corners in the main room of the condo.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Replying before reading responses.

I use a plastic 'camping dish pan' to scoop waste into. However, I have a multi-cat home, currently with 9 cats and 2 kittens, so the dishpan works out very well to hold all that daily waste. I scoop into the dishpan and carry it to the garage where I keep a small-ish rubbermaid tote w/ lid. I line that with a plastic garbage can liner and dump the waste from the dishpan into it. At the end of the garbage-cycle week, I tie the top of the plastic liner and dump it into our large outdoor can for garbage pickup.

I feel my method would only work for homes who have a place to store these bins for waste OUT of their home. For a few-caat home ... maybe look into one of those baby diaper genie things? I think they 'twist' like sausage links and keep the waste contained and odor-free until you're ready to dump the entire collection_._

_For shopping, I've been using canvas shopping bags for almost 18yrs. The only time we get plastic bags are when we shop at places other than the grocery store, forget to bring the canvas bags or need to wrap meat or other cold/frozen/liquid or leak-able items before they go in my canvas bags._


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Susan said:


> I keep a medium sized plastic bowl with a lid...
> I carry it around from room to room and scoop the "droppings" into the bowl. I then empty the droppings into the trash, give the bowl a quick rinse, and put the lid on the plastic bowl until next time. I wash the bowl out thoroughly once a week when I clean the litter boxes.
> 
> The plastic bowl doubles as a salad bowl when I'm entertaining people I don't particularly like. :cool


Oh my! LOL!!!!!


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## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

I use regular clay litter and scoop into doubled plastic grocery bags. Four cats, five boxes, scoop three or four times a day. I fill one doubled bag a day, then take it out to my trash barrel.

I like the poop bag idea, if I can find them at the dollar store, as I often run out of the grocery bags, being only one person, though I do gather them from friends' houses too.

For those of you who put cat waste in compost and your gardens, that is really not a good idea. Cat waste is not plant friendly, especially food plants


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## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

Susan said:


> The plastic bowl doubles as a salad bowl when I'm entertaining people I don't particularly like. :cool


Hilarious!


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## NinjaCat (Oct 6, 2010)

I have mini-step trash cans next to litter boxes. I scoop the waste into them and sprinkle a little bit of deodorizer on top. I empty them every 7-10 days and wash them out.

Those who said they empty the waste in to a compost pile, this is NOT a good idea. Waste from non-herbivore animals is not supposed to be used as a fertilizer or in a compost pile.


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## russianxx (Nov 13, 2010)

I buy the 38 pound container of Tidy Cat's litter and then just scoop the "waste" into the empty container and take the container out on trash day.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

Murphy's litterbox is in a powder room, so I just use the flushable S*Wheat Scoop and scoop right into the toilet. It works like a charm.


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## Auntie Crazy (Dec 10, 2006)

I wish I could find a better way, but I'm currently scooping into double-bagged grocery bags, tying them off at about 25 pounds each, then storing them in my laundry room until I can make a trip to the dumpster of a friend who owns a pet store. 

It'd be so much easier if I could just have them taken away by the trash guy every week, but I live in a city with some irritating trash restrictions; I could work within those restrictions if I only had one or two cats, but, alas, I have eight.

AC


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## toonces33 (Apr 20, 2009)

Heidi n Q said:


> For a few-caat home ... maybe look into one of those baby diaper genie things? I think they 'twist' like sausage links and keep the waste contained and odor-free until you're ready to dump the entire collection_._


We have 3 cats, and the diaper genie together with clumping litter seems to be working well for us. We can scoop once or twice a day so the box is always fresh and there is no smell (they do put too much perfume in the clumping litter - that smell is present, of course). I empty the diaper genie maybe once a week or so. Before when we only had 1 cat, we would just use non-clumping litter, and then scoop daily.

The one we have doesn't really twist like sausage links, but the bag is basically one long continuous tube - kind of like a sausage casing, I guess. You start by tying it off on the bottom with a simple knot. When you change the thing, there is a cutter inside to cut the tube - you can then tie off both ends and you are ready to go again.

I also should say that we don't use the usual plastic trays that you get at the pet store for a litter box - the sides aren't high enough, so sometimes the cat will miss and get stuff on the floor. Instead I get a plastic storage tub like you would get at the container store or Home Depot, and then I cut a sort of a square notch in one side to make it easier for the cats to get in and out (the ones I get are about 12-16 inches tall, and while they come with lids, we never use them). That generally keeps the mess in the box where it belongs.


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