The tarot says, "these crystals are great!"
Written: Nov 12 '00 (Updated Nov 12 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great odor control
Cons: Expensive and hard to sift
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| BunnyJav's Full Review: Fresh Step Crystals |
I am a bad mom. I fully admit it. After all, if you knew a mother who did not change her baby’s diaper when it was filthy, wouldn’t you call her a bad mom? Well, fortunately for my future kids, my laziness has only been inflicted on my two cats.
I work very long hours, and even when I am not working, I am exhausted thinking about work! As a result, I have become absolutely terrible about cleaning my cats’ litter boxes. My mom is a great mom; she cleans her cat’s litterbox every day. I, however, use the “sniff-test” theory of litterbox maintenance: if I can’t smell it, it doesn’t need to be cleaned. I say this, hanging my head in shame, but bear with me…
I have tried just about every single kitty litter on the market, and I have yet to find one that surpasses Fresh Step Super Clump. However, I was finding that my cats’ ability to use the litter box was far exceeding my will to clean it. Unfortunately, as much as I approve of Fresh Step Super Clump, it does not allow much room for laziness when it comes to cleaning the litterbox. Fresh Step Super Clump allowed me two days’ reprieve in cleaning the litterboxes, but then it always begins to fail the “sniff test” with flying colors. The good news is, the litter that remains in the box stays relatively fresh for a very, very long time. The failure to do so is why I panned the Tidy Cats Scoop Antibacterial litter. Thus, my search for the “Ultimate Litter” continued…
Two months ago, I found a new Fresh Step product on the market: Fresh Step Crystals. I was excited by the prospect of a new way to be lazy without inflicting olfactory pain on my housemates and my poor, defenseless babies. How did it work? I’ll tell you:
The Product
The crystals are made of a silica gel that is designed to absorb liquids on contact. The package – and the price – concerned me at first, because I was used to paying $7.99 for a 21-pound box of Fresh Step Super Clump. This new product only comes in one size – four pounds – and costs approximately $10.99. Let me get this straight. They drop the size by 81 percent, but raise the price by 38 percent? Was this an MBA case-study in effective marketing? Feeling quite the fool, I read the back of the package. The Clorox Pet Products Company assures us that “4 Lbs. Can Last As Long As 30 Lbs. Of Regular Litter” (based on lab tests). Oooookaaaay. Looking around for the hidden camera, I dropped a bag into my shopping cart, glancing around to make sure that no one noticed that I, someone who works in finance, had made such a stupid purchasing decision.
The Fresh Step Crystals are small, polygonal-shaped crystals that are about the size of a small pea. I had read other Epinions about other new crystal-based litters, and one complaint was that their round shape caused them to roll around a lot on the floor outside the litterbox. In my warped head, the polygonal shape of Fresh Step would mean less rolling.
The Introduction
The back of the bag gives very detailed instructions about how to use the litter. No ripping the bag open and pouring the crystals right in for this product! There was a process that had to be followed. The instructions are as follows for first-time users:
1) Pour Fresh Step Crystals in the bottom of a clean litterbox, filling to about half of what you would normally use. On top, fill the rest of your box to its normal level with your regular litter, mixing as you add.
2) Be sure to give your cat time to adjust.
3) Once your cat has adjusted (allow one week), empty the box completely into trash and refill with Fresh Step Crystals.
My cats were not amused.
I wish that I had had a video camera the first time my one, poor, high-strung cat used the litterbox. He went in to do his normal business and stopped about halfway in the opening. Since the crystals were mixed in with his regular litter, he knew that something was up, but couldn’t figure it out. After swiping at the litter a few times, making sure it wouldn’t attack him, he entered and did his business. However, when he started to kick the litter back to bury his new deposit, the crystals flew up and ricocheted against the back of the plastic litterbox, making a loud sound. He freaked out and ran right out the front of the litterbox, only to get smacked in the face by his brother who had wandered over to see what all the commotion was about. I felt bad, but it was very funny.
It really did take them about a week to get used to the new litter. Seven urinations on the soft couch later, I figured they were ready for the big time….
The Big Time
My cats were now ready for a full box of the crystals. The instructions for filling the box are as follows:
1) Fill your clean litter box with approximately 1 ½ inches of Fresh Step Crystals.
2) Regularly remove solid waste and rake crystals to maintain freshness. Dispose of solid waste in the trash. Do not flush.
3) For more than one cat, shorten the usage cycle rather than filling the box with more litter than recommended. Dispose of used litter in trash only.
The recommended litter replacement times are 20-30 days for one cat; 10-15 days for two cats; and 7-10 days for three cats.
After one week of just using the crystals, I was very impressed. In fact, the timing of this new litter coincided with the deadline for my graduate school applications, so I was even worse than usual in maintaining the litterbox. This was ok, however, because one week after I had first filled the box with just the crystals, I had not yet cleaned out the litterbox, and I couldn’t smell a thing!! My God! I am going to have to write a review about this, I thought.
This product could not be better for negligent mothers like me who hate to clean the litterbox frequently. The silica gel absorbs the liquids, and the litter does an excellent job of keeping smells to a bare minimum.
So How Did It All Turn Out?
Well, pleased as punch with the litter-that-allows-me-to-be-lazy, I finally got around to cleaning it a week after I had first filled the box.
UGGGGHHH!!!!
All of a sudden, Mommy Dearest flashed in my head. Although the litter had prevented odors from escaping and affecting our human noses, the litterbox itself smelled like a primate house at the zoo!! It turns out that the silica gel is reasonably effective at absorbing urine, but not totally. The crystals very rapidly become saturated, which is why, I presume, they recommend frequent raking. Your cats will not be stirring the crystals up as much as they would normal litter because it is significantly heavier. So it is up to you to make sure that non-saturated crystals remain on top, ready to absorb everything that it needs to.
I felt awful. Even though it had passed my “sniff-test” all week, the litterbox smelled terrible inside once I stuck my nose into it. The crystals, which had started out a clear-ish white, were now a dingy yellow and disgusting. It was not supposed to be time to change the crystals, but I quickly found that ten days was pretty much the limit for my two cats.
As for the crystals’ “roll-ability” outside the litterbox, I was partially right. There was much less mess than had been reported with other crystal brands, however, due to Fresh Step Crystals’ odd shape, they were twice as painful when you step on them with bare feet.
I haven’t completely gotten over the fact that I am only supposed to use 1.5 inches per litterbox. It really does not seem like enough, and I think I might slightly increase it next time. When the cats dig to bury their feces, the small amount of crystals in the box allows divots to form that cause pools of unabsorbed urine at the bottom of the litterbox; not very pleasant to discuss, but an important fact to mention nonetheless.
My one major complaint with the crystals – which is why I docked it one star – is that the crystals are almost too big to fit through the slots of the regular litter-scooper. Sifting out the solid wastes is now a very time-consuming process, because it takes a while to convince the crystals to fall through the slots. I don’t want to just scoop and dump, because at $10.99 per bag, the stuff is too expensive to waste! That, and the lack of fragrance is a bit troublesome, but nothing that a good odor-controlling sprinkle can't handle.
In Conclusion
The cats seem to have forgiven me for replacing their comfy litter with sharp crystals. However, they still don’t seem thrilled with the loud noise it creates when they kick it up. As for product effectiveness, it seems to be the most effective litter yet in terms of odor control (at least as far as us humans are concerned). On the other hand, I haven’t yet sat down to figure out if four pounds per bad is as effective as 30 pounds of regular litter. One bag is barely enough for my two litterboxes, and I have yet to do a cost-benefit analysis to see which Fresh Step is more economical.
However, in terms of laziness factor, Fresh Step Crystals can’t be beat!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
BunnyJav
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Location: Minneapolos, MN
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 59 members
About Me:
"You're the true Lord of the Dance, no matter what those idiots at work say"
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