I have always took my cats out of bark as soon as possible and put them in hydrotron and water as usual ....but lol for me that is a lot and they do wonderfull like this and if I want to later the move on to full s/h is easy as can be....I tried some of the small grade leca from the pet store this summer since I was out of the larger size and it worked great too and it stays a little wetter than the larger grade for me.