WBCL vs Chicken Crumbles Test - pic heavy

I use World's Best Cat Litter and really like it. But, it is freaking expensive. A few people in these forums have said they use "chicken crumbles" as a less
expensive but similar alternative to WBCL. I've wondering for some time about how these chicken crumbles would perform. With 4 cats I would love to find something that is as good or almost as good but that isn't so expensive.

I thought I'd do some testing and document my results to share with others who might be thinking of trying chicken crumbles.

Products tested:

World's Best Cat Litter (WBCL), $1.18 lb
Lone Star All Mash Crumbles (LS) $0.24 lb
Purina Layena Crumbles (PL) $0.24 lb

Note: Chicken crumbles are chicken feed pellets that have been smashed into "crumbles". Mash crumbles are crumbles that have been smashed into a finer texture.

Texture wise the LS and PL were both close to the texture of WBCL with the LS being a little closer in texture.

Both the LS and PL were both a little dustier than WBCL with the LS being a little bit more dusty.

The WBCL clumps much better, much faster than either the LS or PL. Performance wise it was the clear winner. After just 5 mins the WBCL clumps well enough that the clump can be easily removed in tact. Both the LS and the PL fell apart when I tried to scoop after 5 mins. This is important if you ever try to scoop soon after the box has been "utilized".

If allowed to dry for an hour the LS and PL clump pretty well with the PL clumping better. Both make larger clumps than the WBCL. That might just be because the clumps were more loosely bound than the WBCL clumps or it could be the larger clumps actually are composed of more litter.

I've been using a 50/50 mix of WBCL and LS for the last few days and it works well enough for me. Based on my tests I think a 50/50 mixture of WBCL with the PL will work a little better. The cost of a 50/50 mix of WBCL with either the LS or PL comes to $0.71 per lb or about 60% of the cost of WBCL by itself. I might use a bit more of this 50/50 mix though because of the larger clumps so my final cost might be a little more than $0.71 a lb.

Since I used tap water in the tests I can't offer an opinion on odor control.

I hope someone finds this useful.

Below are some pictures I took while testing with a bit more explanation of what I did. Sorry for the poop quality of some of the pictures. I was having trouble with my camera. The auto focus finally died. Also, I misspelled "Purina" on the name tags.

First, comparing the texture of all three:







I used 2 oz of tap water in each of the litters in each test and 2 inches of litter.



In the first test I added the water to each litter and waited for 5 mins. I then
dumped out the litter to see how well each clumped. I dumped each as gently as possible. The WBCL formed a clump that was suspended in the litter, i.e., didn't extend all the way to the bottom of the container, and that was held together quite well.

Both the LS and PL formed a very loose, easily broken clump that extended all the way to the bottom of the container. I tried to gently dislodge the wet litter at the bottom but it wasn't clumped well enough to stay together.





For the next test I used a mix of 50% WBCL and 50% of each of the LS and PL. I again dumped the litter after 5 mins. Each of these mixtures clumped better but still not as well as the WBCL alone.



Then I tested I let the LS and PL sit for 1 hour before dumping it.



For the last test I let the 50/50 mixtures set for 1 hr.

After sitting for how long? In my tests the crumbles clumps didn't come close to holding together after 5 mins but did much better if allowed to dry for an hour.

Also, the amount of liquid makes a difference. The 2 oz I used in my tests is probably on the upper end of the typical urine contribution range. Just this morning, Coco decided she needed to go while I was scooping out the boxes. I wasn't going to try to scoop it right then because I expected it would fall apart. I decided to go ahead a try anyway and was surprised that it held together. It was probably only about 1 oz of liquid though. Larger clumps don't hold together for me until they have dried quite a bit though.

"Chicken crumbles" are chicken feed and not just corn. It includes a bunch of nutritional stuff for the chickens. I can't say I know for sure but I imagine World's Best does contain some kind of clumping agent.

I'm currently experimenting with Wal-Mart Special Kitty litter. It clumps even better than World's Best and is less dusty. Great odor control also. It weights a lot more than World's Best though, almost twice as much as a like volume of World's Best. But is costs a lot less even when comparing cost by volume rather than by weight.

My only complaint with Special Kitty is that it is only available at Wal-Mart and I don't go there on a regular basis.

I'm going to try the Dr. Elsey's brand next. It costs a little more than Special Kitty but it is available at PetsMart and I go there on a regular basis so it would be more convenient for me. I've heard it clumps really well and that is important to me. I think the litter box stays a lot cleaner with a litter that clumps fast and hard.