I have 6 cats. Two are FeLV+ and have to be separated and have their own boxes. For the 4 that have the run of the house, I have 4 large boxes and use unscented Exquisicat clumping litter. I ritually scoop morning, evening, before bedtime, and whenever in between.

My black and white cowgirl Debra will pee inappropriately at times, so I try to make sure whatever box she may choose is clean enough for her, or she will pee on the litter catcher outside at the box entrance. She will never cover her poops or pees, and she will also pee/spray down the inside of the box at times, so I have paper towels and Simple Solution to clean up after her.

With clumping litter, I never have felt it necessary to empty a box; I just add more as needed, and keep it quite deep, which is why those automatic litermaid boxes would never work for me and mine.

No cat odor in my house (except momentarily after Debra does her poop) and if any of my cats were sick with worms or something contagious, then I would feel the need to completely empty and sanitize the boxes.

Only problem I have is with the darned DUST!!!!!

The 99% Dust-Free claims of the litter manufacturers are total BS, for sure!

I used to use Scoop-Away unscented, until their "unscented" started having a fragrance. I complained to the company but they still insist on adding fragrance to their "unscented", which is false advertising. I have opened the plastic to stick my nose in the boxes, hoping I had just gotten a batch that got mixed up at the factory, but not so and I had to switch brands.

Does anyone know if only clay-based litters are clumping, or are there alternatives? I won't go back to any litter that is not clumping . . . wonderful invention . . . but I just can't stand the dust that lands on everything close by to the box. Maybe it is due to the natural breakdown of the litter, since I never actually change it completely, even though I am replacing it cupful by cupful . . . I'm stymied and want answers, because I have even tried to pour a brand new box of litter back and forth into buckets to try and rid it of as much dust as possible, but the nature of the beast must be that the dust only increases as the litter gets moved around . . . I don't know what the answer is !!!