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Carefresh Beware Stinky Carefresh

mufasa

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I normally buy the bleached Carefresh but caught a really good sale on the unbleached natural stuff. While cleaning the girls' cage, I noticed an awful odor and thought perhaps the dog was farting up a storm (even though he was in the hallway) or that one of the cats had left a hidden "deposit" somewhere. Finally realized that it was the Carefresh. It smelled awful! A quick check on their Facebook page revealed others with the same complaint. I've never had this issue before, so hopefully it's just a bad batch. They were very responsive to the complaint and asked for a sample, although I think hubby already returned it to the store. Beware of buying the unbleached natural type; hopefully this is temporary, but ugh!! It was downright nasty. Back to the bleached version for me.
 

LucidCavies

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When I had a hamster I used the natural stuff once and never returned! (the cardboard colored stuff, right)

Sometime natural isn't always the best to be honest. It just doesn't have the stuff in it that helped mask the odor. I also realized that it stayed moist instead of wicking away urine like all other carefresh products did for me.

Needless, to say, I am happy that we have grown as a community and I won't ever have to look at that stuff again. Thank the Lord for fleece lol
 

Lily the Cavy

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We only buy the natural and both my hamster and my guinea pigs have loved it so more
 

Pinny Gig

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@mufasa

Hey! By any chance was it the "new" formula? The old natural Carefresh is fine but the new one (called Natural Complete) has baking soda in it. It smells from the get-go and it's horrible! I don't know why on earth they changed it and I hope it doesn't stick around. Why fix something if it ain't broke?
 

miniver

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I use a combination of the natural Carefresh and Yesterday's News in thier litter box. I've never had a problem with the smell, even if I skip the cat litter.
I've had problems with Kaytee bedding. I've tried it because it costs less but I've always gone back.

I don't like the white stuff. I found the poop really stands out against a white background. :sick:
 

miniver

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@mufasa

Hey! By any chance was it the "new" formula? The old natural Carefresh is fine but the new one (called Natural Complete) has baking soda in it. It smells from the get-go and it's horrible! I don't know why on earth they changed it and I hope it doesn't stick around. Why fix something if it ain't broke?


Oh no. I hate "new formulas".
 

mufasa

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Yes yes yes! Just talked to my husband, who did indeed return it while he was out, and he said that all the information he found online implicated the new baking soda formula. That's all they had, so he bought Kaytee instead. Sure hope Carefresh changes the formula soon. I prefer its consistency to the light Kaytee stuff that flies around, but there's no way I can subject my poor girls to that smell. He said the store took it back (even the partially used bag) with no complaint, especially when one of the cashiers took a sniff.

@mufasa

Hey! By any chance was it the "new" formula? The old natural Carefresh is fine but the new one (called Natural Complete) has baking soda in it. It smells from the get-go and it's horrible! I don't know why on earth they changed it and I hope it doesn't stick around. Why fix something if it ain't broke?
 

pinky

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I use Fresh News Cat Litter and I love it. It's really absorbent and never smells. It's less expensive than Fresh News for Small Pets but the only difference is the pellets are slightly larger. I don't care for Carefresh.
 

mufasa

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I'll have to look into the cat litters. I go through a lot of bedding because I remove all the soiled bedding every day (it's on top of a thick layer of newspaper). My girls pee up a storm, so that's a lot of bedding that goes out and in each day.
 

lunarminx

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Oh no. I hate "new formulas".
Or new and improved. Remember new coke....

I use to use carefresh naturals, i will be very care if I go back to it.
 

ClemmyOddieIndy

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I quit using Carefresh, it smells like chemicals. At first I thought something must've been spilled on it at the store, but the past few times I've been there it's smelled awful. Every bag smells like chemicals. I've been using Oxbow while I wait for my mom to finish washing my fleece (she said she'd wash it at her house since it falls apart in my washing machine, and she's planning to get a new one soon anyway so if it destroys the machine oh well) that's been soaking in the barn for the past month.
 

mtk2000

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I used to be a big fan of carefresh but it would go "bad" so quickly I switched to Yesterday's News Cat Litter. It has worked out well for me but I don't care for the sound it makes when the girls move around in it. Other than that I think it's a great choice is bedding.
 

aqh88

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I use pellets, pine or paper, because it is so much more absorbent. For our horse stalls we used to actually add water beyond the urine they put out and mix it all together so the stalls would be bedded down sooner and still with absorbent bedding. I also do that for my hedgehogs. They can't walk on the pellets well so I dissolve half of them to fill in the gaps and make a solid floor while still practically desiccating their poop in to nothing.
 

barbaramudge

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The new smell reminds me of tempra paint. Like pre-school.
 

miniver

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I used to be a big fan of carefresh but it would go "bad" so quickly I switched to Yesterday's News Cat Litter. It has worked out well for me but I don't care for the sound it makes when the girls move around in it. Other than that I think it's a great choice is bedding.

Me too. I don't like the noise and it moves around alot when they hop in and out of the kitchen. I use a thin layer of carefresh on top of the litter. It holds things in place (mostly) and muffles the sound.
 

ClemmyOddieIndy

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I tried Yesterdays News once, and as soon as I put it in the cage the piggies thought they were in pellet heaven they started chowing down on the pellets.
 

CavieGuy

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I've tried Carefresh before, but didn't like how soggy it got when my girls would urinate.
 
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