I used to use Carefresh and now I'm never going back to it (unless I suppose I run out of wood pellets before the local hardware store starts stocking it again). I'm not sure how your litter box is set up, but mine is a corner pan with a grate on it and Mocha always only ever pees in the corner. He pees a lot more in the summer-- sometimes he would soak almost all of it just because of all the water he's drinking and getting from his veggies. I changed out his litter every single day and I would dump them into a mini close-lidded metal trash can-- you know, the sort you use in the bathroom for womanly stuff
So in the summer, that mini trash can could easily be filled after 2-3 days and I would have to change it all out, clean his litter box with vinegar/water, etc.
But the amount of pee started decreasing again once the weather started getting cooler, and before I switched over to wood pellets he would soak maybe 1/3 of the litter each day, causing me to completely empty out/clean his litter box every 4 days or so-- and this is despite me only scooping out the soiled parts of the litter. I think you're in California where the weather is still pretty warm (compared to Canada, anyway-- right now it's 21F but feels like 10F with wind chill!) so that could be a reason why she's peeing so much. If you're not so much alarmed at the amount of litter she soaks through and more so about the fact that the pee soaks right through to the bottom of the pan, that's normal with Carefresh so no worries there!
I find that wood stove pellets are definitely more absorbent, and I also use up so much less than I do with Carefresh. I used to go through a giant 50L bag of Carefresh every month and a half to two months-- it's been a month since I switched to wood pellets and the difference is staggering! I have a giant tub of the pellets in my garage and filled up a... maybe 1-1.5L storage bin I got from the dollar store? to the brim with pellets to keep in my room for easy access. That small storage bin is still about half full of pellets at almost 4 lb so it was probably 8 lb when it was full. 4 lb for one month when the entire bag weighed 40 lb will work out to half a year at the very
least, even after factoring the extra litter that Mocha needs during the summer months into the equation!
And of course, the odor control is fantastic with wood pellets... I find that Carefresh definitely still leaves an odor and it used to smell so bad every time I changed his litter, not just because of the old litter sitting in the trash can (the lid helps load in keeping the smell down but when it's up? Phew!) but also when I'm scooping out the freshly soiled stuff. Nowadays with wood pellets it just smells like sawdust no matter how long ago I last dumped out all the old litter from the little trash can. I have to say, though, that the smell is more of a personal preference because some people may hate the smell or are sensitive to it-- I personally never had a problem though, and I found it such a welcome change from the smell of soiled Carefresh litter.
Anyway, I hope that's of any help to you!
