Arm & Hammer 42036 Large Sifting Return Pan

Q: Anyone find a hood or method for keeping the cats from kicking litter out? I love the sifting but now I have to deal with litter outside the box.

I upcycle those wonderful Amazon boxes. Since my cats love those boxes anyway, I set one on it's side and slide the litter box into the open box. That way, I have sides and a top and the litter stays in the box. It also keeps mine from scratching walls near their litter box - mine love scratching cardboard. When I empty the litter box, I pour the spilled litter back into the clean box. By the way, the Amazon boxes are sturdy enough to spray paint if you need to color coordinate. The best thing is that if they destroy the covering box, I know I will have another Amazon delivery coming!

Q: How much litter do you add? How do I get the sifter back under the litter after emptying it?

Usually 3-4 inches of litter will suffice. Step 1.Lift the sifting tray and shake from side to side. clean litter will fall through sifting tray into bottom pan. Step 2.Clumped litter will remain on top of sifting tray. Discard clumps in a trash receptacle and then clean the tray. Step 3. Reassemble litter pan using empty bottom pan. Step 4. Pour sifted litter from original pan onto sifting tray. Add more clean litter if needed. Clean original pan and place under assembled litter pan for storage.

Q: Can this be used with non-clumping pine litter?

Yes, it can. I prefer it to the litter box meant for feline pine litter. You use this one differently, however. The litter is used in a solid bottom pan. I scoop the poop regularly and shake the pan to make the saw dust go to the bottom of that pan. After about a week, I empty the litter into the shifting pan and shakes the sawdust through to into the second pan. Toss out the saw dust and pour the remaining pine litter back into the original pan. It is fast and easy. The pans are easy to wipe clean.

Q: Has anyone tried using this with pine/cedar/walnut pellets? The pellets would need to stay in the top pan and the sawdust fall through.

The holes are too big to use pellet litter. The pellets fall through. You need the holes to be smaller so that the "sawdust" (pellets broken down from pee) falls through the holes to be dumped out, so you can save the whole pellets and put them back in the litter pan to be used.