Best litter for asthmatic cats

I tried searching but there is a lot of scattered info on this topic so I wanted to just ask straight out. If you have an asthmatic cat, what litter do you prefer and why? I have a newly diagnosed cat and I'm trying to figure out what our options are.

Thanks in advance!

The only safe litters are non particulate type litters. Like Yesterday's News, Tidy cat Breeze sytem, and the Smart Cat Box system. Well washed course sand may be another possibility, but it would be troublesome to make sure it was high quality, heavy, and a tracking nightmare.

I use a DIY set up of the Smart Cat Box, with safflower seeds. A creative person on here uses popcorn kernels. lol

Anything else, even a claimed dustless clay (can someone explain how you keep clayparticles from rubbing against each other and creating dust?) are just that - claims. You get to decide if you want to risk your cat's life for a company that's goal is to make money.

Grain based litters are allergens, wood has the possibility of irritating lungs, too.

Thanks strange_wings! That helps a lot, although it's a bit discouraging since my little one is VERY particular about her litter box and has used Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat most of her life. Transitioning is going to be difficult. Not to mention that my older cat already has a tendency to go outside of the box due to her own health issues.

There's the clumping non-pelleted newspaper litters. Nature's Miracle makes one. I do not know if it makes a paper dust.

There's another litter by the same brand you use, though it's still clay…

Whatever you switch to, try a slow switch.

I had to switch 7 over with one that pees outside of the box when very stressed. I haven't had any problems. This set up makes for daily washing of litter boxes, so it takes more work. But I have one of my three that has bronchitis so badly that I'll do anything not to have to hear his coughing.


I hope spring isn't too hard on your kitty. We can work on the house allergens and irritants all we want and then spring comes along…
A tip for you since you're new to this: instead of lay person sites (which absolutely frustrate me) look up info in online medical text. It's so much better. To understand more about the disease look up "feline lower airway disease". It's the name for group of diseases that asthma belongs to.

I don't have an asthmatic cat, but - if I may, I'd suggest, further - if you have a covered litter pan - to take off the cover so that any dust-like particles will be released into the air, and not into her lungs because the dust particles she's kicking up stay inside the litter pan.

Also, another consideration might be (if you're feeding dry kibble) to change to a grain-free canned food - like Wellness. (?) just a thought ??

http://www.felineasthma.org/triggers/index.htm

Hope you find relief for both your babies.

^My girls may live a somewhat normal lifespan, but I have no hope of that with Blann. Asthma would be preferable. I know his bronchitis is very likely to progress and eventually cause his death.
For this reason I want people to make 100% certain their cats really do have asthma and it's not another lower airway disease that's less reversible. From my reseach bronchitis is just as common, if not a little more so, as asthma. Yet I'm the only one on here with 3 bronchitis kitties?


Tamgirl - did diagnosed kitty have tritric before?

I've seen, but not used, Dr. Elsey's new respiratory relief litter - there's both crystal and clay. I swear by Cat Attract by Dr. Elsey, but if mine had breathing issues, I'd be very willing to try the new Elsey litter.

Riley has asthma and we have had the most success with Dr. Elsey Precious cat litter. It is the only one that doesn't make him cough or wheeze when scratching in the litter pan. He was diagnosed almost 2 years ago and we have been using it ever since.

IMO since most litters are clay there is a lot of dust. I would work on using the pellet litters (wood) as that is just about 100% dust free.

My Dexter kitty, gets severe (life threatening) asthma from something in clay litter, including the premium litters such as Dr Isley. It could be the dust or an additive but regardless of why....
he can't be near clay litter.

We switched to Worlds Best (corn) original, several years ago.
So far, no asthma attack.
WBCL is very dusty but it works for us.

Good luck finding something that works for your sweetie pie.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO since most litters are clay there is a lot of dust. I would work on using the pellet litters (wood) as that is just about 100% dust free.

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Except their use is contradicted in literature concerning lower airway disease (medical texts, not just websites) just like grain based and clay litters are. I've explained why in other threads, at least 2-3 times now.

The Dr. Elsey's litter was the last clay litter I tried years ago (2007). It poured out dustier than Wal-mart's special kitty (I've since then read it was just a bad batch… but it's not something I'd waste money on again) clumping. It still greatly bothered Tomas (no asthma in him, he's just sensitive to all dust).

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Except their use is contradicted in literature concerning lower airway disease (medical texts, not just websites) just like grain based and clay litters are. I've explained why in other threads, at least 2-3 times now.

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Would you post links to the medical texts or to your previous threads you referenced in this reply?
Thanks

The threads I talked about the problem with wood is in this section, I think they were threads about dustless litters.
In case anyone wonders why I don't search and post the threads, search+my phone just doesn't work. Something about it either refuses to search altogether or it crashes my browsers.

The medical texts and studies are pdfs and copied paged from previews on Google Books. I don't book mark links to things already saved on my computer. But anyone can find a lot of great info by looking things up. The terms I used were "feline chronic progressive inflammatory bronchitis" and variations of that. "Inflammatory feline lower airway disease", etc. Mine don't have asthma, thus I don't look up asthma as a search term and can get passed laymen sites that only focus on that. (For example, has anyone just getting their info from such sites found much on emphysema and COPD?)

The fabcats site already linked to in this thread is hit and miss, my main problem with it being that in one part they acknowledge bronchitis as it's own disease, but in another claim it's asthma. Regardless of that their list of triggers is correct and wood is on there. So are grains, as litter and food. You have but to look at all the cats allergic to grains in their food to realize it's a serious potential allergen.

strange_wings said:

The only safe litters are non particulate type litters. Like Yesterday's News, Tidy cat Breeze sytem, and the Smart Cat Box system. Well washed course sand may be another possibility, but it would be troublesome to make sure it was high quality, heavy, and a tracking nightmare.


I use a DIY set up of the Smart Cat Box, with safflower seeds. A creative person on here uses popcorn kernels. lol


Anything else, even a claimed dustless clay (can someone explain how you keep clayparticles from rubbing against each other and creating dust?) are just that - claims. You get to decide if you want to risk your cat's life for a company that's goal is to make money.


Grain based litters are allergens, wood has the possibility of irritating lungs, too.

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Hi, Strange Wings, what do you mean by a DIY set-up of the Smart Cat Box; is that a cat box you bought?

Hmm..  This thread is a little old.  I'm not sure if Strange_Wings has been on in a while.  You could try sending a private message to see if they respond to that. 

I've also been wondering about the same thing as to what cat litter to use for an Asthma kitty.  He was diagnosed will clogged bronchial tubes since he was 5 weeks old.  He was on steroids as a kitten, but I weaned him off the meds at 6 months old.  He's now 8.  I've been using corn litters all these years and recently heard that corn litters can cause problems with cats with breathing problems.  So I tried the Dr. Elsey's Respiratory Relief and use it in some of my litter boxes.  So half with corn and half with Dr. Elsey's.  Some of my cats prefer the clay over the corn but it depends.  Hard to say which one is better.  I wish I knew.  I only want the best for my asthma cat, he's the best cat I ever had.  He also has to have dental work done soon and I'm scared to death over the anesthesia.  If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.  THANKS!

I have a cat with severe lung disease. Everyday I give her meds so I had to find a way to eliminate any type of allergen in the air. No cover on the litter box, Air filter in the room, no glade, no febreeze, no scents of any kind, I used  Dr Elsey's, now I use Tidy cat 24/7 - no dust no issues. I am thinking of trying the breath easy Tidy Cat, but corn is usually the best. No silica litter either. There are so many kinds out there it will make your head spin. But I was shocked with I tried the Tidy cat and no dust and she is fine with it. Also, you have to clean it often because the ammonia in the urine is damaging to their lungs also,.

Does anyone have experience or thoughts about using the ScoopFree system ? My 13 year-old girl is newly diagnosed with asthma and hyperthyroidism and ScoopFree is all I've ever used.

Does the Tidy Cats 24/7 really work? My cat is asthmatic, might need to try another litter.