This post shares my take on the best litter box for an apartment or other small space like a townhouse. My Tidy Cats Breeze Litter System review will tell you everything you need to know about this awesome litter system from a totally unbiased user with about 7 years of real experience with the litter box! Affiliate links below; read more about those here.
My Tidy Cats Breeze Litter System Review
Alright, I know there are about a million litter box review posts out there. So hear me out about why you should listen to me. You should listen to me because I am obsessed with my cats and have used the Tidy Cats Breeze Litter System for about 7 years now. We’ve purchased three total—that includes buying a second when we adopted our second cat in 2014 and replacing the first one we got in 2013.
So I’m going to tell you why I think the Tidy Cats Breeze Litter System is the best litter box for an apartment or other small space. We’re pretty much experts on this topic because we lived in a 690 square foot apartment when we first got Henry, and now we live in a townhouse without a basement to hide the litter box in.
Having a great litter system is absolutely essential for cleanliness, odor control, and mess control. And I did a ton of research and am still totally happy with our choice. So let’s chat about why I initially chose the Breeze Litter System when we adopted Henry.
What is the Best Litter Box for Odor Control?
Odor control was obviously also one of our major concerns. There is no getting around things smelling when the cat poos. That’s just a fact of life. But after you scoop it, the Tidy Cats Breeze Litter System does an amazing job of controlling odors.
That’s because of all of the reasons I’ve outlined so far: First, the pellets themselves really don’t have much of a scent at all, unlike regular cat litter, which I think can have sometimes overly strong scents. Second, the real smell with cats is the pee. I don’t have to tell you it’s awful. And the pads do an awesome job of locking those odors in.
Then, there’s the fact that not much is getting tracking out of the box, which obviously helps how far litter and various odors are getting outside of the pan. The curved up sides of the breeze system help, too. I do have to pick up/vacuum up stray pellets, but it’s nothing near what I’d have to clean up with traditional litter.
Tidy Cats Breeze Litter System Review: How Does Pellet Litter Work?
One thing we absolutely didn’t want to deal with in a 690 square foot apartment was kitty tracking litter. Litter can be messy, both when kitty is burying its business and when they exit the litter pan. Litter pan mats can help catch a lot of this mess, but we’d planned to have our litter pan in our only small bathroom. So we wanted to choose the best litter system to minimize tracking. After researching for a while, we decided pellet litter was the best solution for us.
The Tidy Cats Breeze Litter System uses a pellet litter system that consists of two parts: pellets in the main litter pan and a pad for pee in an easily removable tray below. I’m just going to flat-out describe how this works. The pellets catch the poo, while the pee passes through into a little pad that sits the removable tray.
The pellets are larger, so they don’t track nearly as easily as regular cat litter does. They also don’t really have much of a scent at all. And the pads catch the urine (instead of it sitting and clumping in the cat litter). The pellets are good for about 1 month, while each pee pad is good for about 1 week. This obviously depends on how many cats you have, as well as whether your cat is a totally indoor cat or an indoor/outdoor cat.
When you scoop the cat poo, obviously a few pellets are going to stick to it. That’s ok. It won’t put much of a dent in the amount of pellets in your pan. And by the time you’ve really started depleting the number of pellets in your pan, you’re probably nearing the monthly deadline to change your pellets, anyway.
Like projects for cats? Check out my DIY cat tree made using real branches, my Ikea tables cat condo, my indoor cat house build plans, an easy DIY scratching post, and a roundup of awesome pet projects!
What are the Breeze Litter Pellets Ingredients?
The pellets are dehydrating and anti-tracking (Tidy Cats claims they are 99.9% dust free). And they allow liquids to pass through while helping to dehydrate solid waste (the poo) to facilitate quick scooping and odor control.
As for the actual ingredients of Tidy Cats Breeze Litter pellets, they include zeolite, silica gel, cement, and a moisture repellent polymer coating. If you don’t know what zeolites are, join the club—most people probably don’t. In short, they are naturally occurring (but also commercially produced) minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. It’s basically a deodorizer and odor fighter.
Tidy Cats Breeze Litter System Review: Can the Pellets Be Flushed?
Tidy Cats doesn’t recommend it. But, I’ll be honest. We’ve done it back in the day when there were just a few small pieces of the pellets attached to the poo. I’ll say this, though—get a litter genie. It’s been really helpful for us for odor control.
If you have a kid, it’s the same concept as a diaper genie. It helps trap the odor using a trap door system for the waste. Then you can just change out the bags when they are full. Highly recommend. Just hold your breath when changing the bags, whether baby or cat poo. 🙂
Why The Breeze System is the Best Litter Box for Multiple Cats
Since the pads only need changed roughly every week or so and the pellets every month or so, this litter system is fantastic for homes with multiple cats. Still, we have two since kitties tend to prefer having their own pan. We keep them in a closet (without the door) downstairs.
These boxes are also really great for large or messy cats. That’s because they have generous, roomy openings, and the pellets track less than traditional litter does.
Is there an alternative for the Tidy Cats Breeze Pellets or Pads?
Yes! I would recommend getting a full starter pack with a litter box, pellets, and pads. But you can venture into off-brand options. Let’s chat about some alternatives for the Tidy Cats pellets and pads. First, let’s chat alternatives to the Breeze pee pads, which we can speak to from firsthand experience.
The AmazonBasics Cat Litter Pads are pretty much interchangeable with the Tidy Cats brand. The purple-colored pad is made of PE film with an absorbent core and an effective moisture-lock area. They are also easily disposable with quick cleanup and have a fresh scent to help with odor control. Like a lot of off-brand items, they are so similar that you probably won’t notice any differences, so why not try them? Let’s just leave it at that.
As for the litter pellets, well…we haven’t gone off-brand yet. We buy the larger packs of pellets and pour out what we need. But I’ve done a bunch of research online about changing what we use to save a bit of cash. And here’s what I found.
Many reviewers say that pine platinum natural non-clumping litter with baking soda is an amazing solution. It’s much cheaper than the Tidy Cats solution, but I’m not sold yet. Here’s why. When the kitties wee on to the pellets, they do break down in to sawdust that falls down into the pads on the tray. Meh, sounds a bit messier than the Tidy Cats pellets.
Some also report a bit of a smell that they don’t love—but I feel like I might like the pine smell? I might muster up the courage to try it and update this post to let you guys know. For now, check out the reviews on Amazon and know that some people suggest just buying horse pellet bedding, which is even cheaper than the pine bedding and is the same thing!
What are the best ways to Clean a Litter Box in an Apartment?
One of the absolute best things about this litter system is that it is so easy to clean. It consists of four plastic parts: the scooper; the sides, which clip on to the main body; the main body; and the tray that slides in to the main body and holds the pee pads.
Once you remove the pad and litter pellets, it’s easy to take everything apart and clean it. When we lived in apartments, we just took everything apartment and cleaned it in the shower. (If small pieces of the pellets get stuck the grates on the main body of the pan, use something the size of a butter knife to knock them out.)
I’d spray it down with an enzyme cleaner specifically designed for cats. Then, after that sit for 10ish minutes, I’d rinse it off and clean everything off with scrubbing bubbles or some sort of similar cleaner. Then I’d let everything dry in the bathroom for an hour or so. Use a hair dryer if you need to speed up the drying before adding new pellets in. We use this method now in a townhouse when the weather is bad or cold.
How to transition cats to the breeze litter system
We started both of our kitties out on the system as rescue kittens, so they didn’t really have any trouble adapting. However, if your kitty is pickier, Tidy Cats recommends mixing the new litter pellets in to the regular litter so you cats can get used to them. You can also place the new litter box next to the old one to get them comfortable with their new digs.
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Brittany is a seasoned DIY home and garden expert, running a creative brand since 2014 that inspires others with approachable plant care guides, woodworking tutorials, and decor projects. She is a certified project manager and has completed extensive coursework in the art and science of growing your own plants. Her work has been recognized by major publications, and she routinely collaborates with fellow DIY industry leaders—but her favorite thing to do is inspire you! Learn more about her here.
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