How to Use Small Pebbles for Cat Litter

The natural instinct of cats is to bury their urine and feces, which is why placing a litter box inside the home gives feline companions a convenient location in which to relieve themselves. The most common product used to fill litter boxes is commercially available cat litter. Litter, however, can be an expensive ongoing purchase while also requiring constant renewal. Replacing everyday cat litter with small pebbles or gravel will help reduce the cost of pet care while also reducing the amount of garbage created by your cat's bathroom use.

Things You'll Need

  • Small gravel
  • Mesh screen
  • 1 cat litter pans
  • 2 sifting cat litter pans
  • Newspaper
  • Baking soda
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Instructions

    • 1

      Line a standard cat litter pan with newspaper sprinkled with baking soda. Stack a cat litter pan that is intended for sifting litter on top of the standard cat pan. If a commercially produced sifting pan is not available, use a drill with a small bit to drill a series of holes throughout a standard cat litter pan to create your own sifting pan.

    • 2

      Line the bottom of the sifting pan with a fine mesh screen material. Stack a second sifting pan on top of the mesh screening and fill the bottom of the second sifting pan with a layer of small pebbles, such as pea gravel or aquarium gravel, approximately 3/4- to 1-inch deep.

    • 3

      Place the newly constructed cat litter box in the place where the cat is used to defecating. Watch the cat to ensure that is comfortable using the new medium in which to relieve itself. Cats often will develop preferences as to the types of litter they will use. If the cat will not use the small pebbles in the litter box, try mixing the pebbles with the cat's normal litter and slowly tapering the amount of litter in the box to make a complete transition to pebbles.

    • 4

      Clean the litter as needed by scooping out solid waste and lifting the sifting pans while gently shaking them in order to help drain out any liquid waste. Set the sifting pans aside and dispose of the urine-soaked newspaper. Clean the bottom litter box by filling it with a mixture of water and ammonia. Dip the sifting boxes with the pebbles inside of them in and out of the ammonia mixture to clean the pebbles along with the cat litter boxes. Rinse the pebbles and litter boxes with clean, running water.

    • 5

      Dry the litter boxes with a towel and allow the pebbles to air dry. Line the bottom box with fresh newspaper and baking soda before re-assembling the litter box and placing it back in the designated spot. Replace the pebbles as they become difficult to clean or retain odors.