About Two Cat Home
Two cats, one home, and a lot of gear research.
A small site about cat gear, written from a home with two cats.
Hi, I’m Frank. I share my home with two cats: an orange tabby who is a little over a year old, and a two-year-old Ragdoll. This site is where I write up the cat gear research I do for them.
It started because picking gear for two cats turned into a lot of trial and error: ten litters, two litter boxes running side by side, two feeders in two rooms. I wanted one place that says plainly what worked, what didn’t, and why, so you can skip some of the trial and error yourself.
Meet the cats
The orange tabby
A little over 1 year old
- The fast eater, and the one who raids the other bowl
- The bigger digger in the litter box
- Eats more than the Ragdoll
The Ragdoll
2 years old
- Long coat and blue eyes
- The slower, calmer eater
- Gets the fur between the toes trimmed
Both eat the same food, with no prescription diet. Neither has breathing problems, neither is microchipped, and both pull collars off. Those details matter when a product depends on tags, chips or dust.
What we use every day
This is the gear running in our home right now, not a wish list.
Self-cleaning litter box
Litter-Robot 4
About 6 months, filled with Boxiecat Premium. Both cats use it.
Pellet litter system
Tidy Cats Breeze (covered)
About 6 months on the balcony, running alongside the Litter-Robot.
Automatic feeders
Petlibro Granary + Polar
About a year, one in each of two rooms, roughly three meals a day.
Water fountain
PETLIBRO Dockstream RFID
Over a year in the living room, shared by both cats.
Dry food sits in the feeders all day. On top of that I cook fresh chicken breast or beef, and hand out freeze-dried treats or wet food after we play.
Litters we’ve been through
Litter is where most of our trial and error happened. Here’s the short version of each one: what it did well, and what made us move on.
| Litter | What worked | What didn’t |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract | Low dust; what we used when the cats first came home | Switched once they were settled in |
| World’s Best | Accepted right away, little dust | Soft clumps that crumble |
| Catalyst | Good odor control, low dust | Soft clumps, more tracking |
| Tuft & Paw (original, unscented) | Almost no tracking or dust | Pricey and goes quickly |
| Ökocat paper pellets | No dust, good odor control | Doesn’t clump, so cleanup is fiddly |
| Feline Pine | Good urine-odor control, barely tracks | Took a transition; messy without a sifting box |
| PrettyLitter | Odor control, light, easy to scoop | Too expensive at about a bag every 2 weeks |
| Fresh Step | Solid clumps, easy to find | Scented version too strong; noticeable dust |
| Tidy Cats Free & Clean | Decent all-rounder | We still preferred unscented Fresh Step |
| Boxiecat Premium | Flat, hard clumps that don’t stick | Costly for two cats, harder to find |
Our own experience with two cats, not lab results. Your cats may disagree, and cats often do.
How I choose and test
- Start with the evidence. Published tests and specs, plus guidance from veterinary sources on things like litter type, box count and scent.
- Use it at home. Where the cats have used a product, the guide says so, along with how long and how it went.
- Measure what can be measured. For litter that means dust, clumping, absorbency, ammonia test strips and a plain sniff test. Mats, scoops, boxes, trees and hammocks get the same hands-on checks.
- Say where every claim comes from. Hands-on results are labeled as ours. Brand claims are labeled as the brand’s. Anything I haven’t tried is sourced instead.
- Keep it current. Every guide shows when it was last updated, and I revise guides when products or prices change.
What two cats taught me
Teach the robot box slowly
I kept the Litter-Robot’s auto-clean off and showed the cats the box two or three times before switching it on. No drama after that.
Some litters need a transition
Most litters were accepted on day one. Feline Pine and PrettyLitter took a while, so a new litter deserves more than one day.
Scented isn’t better
Scented Fresh Step was simply too strong for our home. The unscented version does the same job.
Feed two cats separately
The tabby eats faster and goes after the Ragdoll’s bowl, so the two feeders live in different rooms.
Pellet systems still need daily scooping
The Breeze keeps urine odor down well, but poop odor is another story, so I scoop it every day.
Trimming paw fur didn’t stop tracking
I trim the fur between the Ragdoll’s toes. It didn’t change much; a mat by the box catches far more.
How this site makes money
Some links are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That never decides what gets recommended, and no brand pays for a spot in a ranking. See the affiliate disclosure for details.
Not veterinary advice
I’m a cat owner, not a vet. If your cat suddenly stops using the litter box, strains, or pees more or less than usual, call your vet first; those can be signs of a medical problem.
Corrections and questions
Spotted a mistake, or have a product you’d like me to look at? Email [email protected] or use the contact page. I read every message.