Main feature of sifting litter boxes is their sifting pan, which has holes in the bottom of it, which allows the smaller, clean litter granules to fall through them, but detain wastes and clumps that are larger. Thus, makes it easier separating dirty litter from the clean one.
How do sifting pans work? There are two bottom pans for the clean litter. When you pick up the sifting pan and shake it a bit (or more, depending on the litter type), clean litter falls in one of the bottom pans, but the wastes remain in the sifting pan, and are easy to dispose. Next, you must take the second bottom pan (empty one) and place the sifting pan into it, and pour the clean litter from the first bottom pan, into the sifting pan. Next you can place the spare litter pan in the bottom of both of them, so there’s no questions of storage.
In this article, we are going to discuss few of the advantages and disadvantages of sifting cat litter boxes.
- Ease of usage? Sifting litter boxes are intended to be easier to clean. However, it’s individual for every cat owner. We think it’s not easier, it’s different. Of course, the granny we saw in TV shopping commercial could benefit from sifting box. She was so afraid to touch the dirty scoop, tried to keep her nose shut with one hand, and operate the scoop with the other, so she spilled a large amount of the litter on the floor.
- Time saving. If you do clean your box every other day, then yes, the sifting box saves time, and, if your can agree with your cat, that scooping every other day is acceptable, congratulations. However, most cats require litter box cleaning twice daily, and there are ones who demand it after every use. Now, imagine, if you have to clean the box after every use, and you have to do all the sifting, disposing, pan replacing process just to remove one waste or one clump, then it’s not time saving. However, if you have to remove several solid wastes and a ton of clumps, then yes, sifting litter box can save you time.
- Makes dusty litter even more dusty. When the instruction says you have to shake the pan with litter in it, it already creates an alarm. In our experience, even litter who are labelled “dust free” usually have some amount of dust, besides that, clumping litter, which is usually the best choice for sifting boxes, is the dustiest litter of all.
- Limited litter choice. First, it has to have granules that are small enough to fall through the sifting pan. Second, if you want the urine to be removed as well, you need clumping litter. Other litter types would lose the benefit why you’d want a sifting box. Losing the ability to choose what litter type should you use, makes it harder if your cat dislikes a specific litter type. Luckily, most cats do not mind clumping litter.
That’s it about sifting boxes, at least from the sifting point of view. Of course, there are also covered, non covered sifting boxes. Some have shield, some are larger, others are smaller, but those are comparisons of those features, not that of sifting boxes themselves. If you ask us, cats love open boxes that are large enough. That’s it, they really do not care if they are sifting or not.
But should you choose a sifting box? Well, we guess, if the scooping bothers you a lot, if you already use the clumping litter anyway, and you are very curious, you might try yourself and see whether it is easier and/or saves time for you. Sifting boxes are not that expensive at all.
This article is a part of series about different types of cat litter boxes.