Buffalo Blue (walnut shell) Litter- has anyone tried?

Draco

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I came across Buffalo Blue's Litter, made from Walnut shells.

Has anyone tried this brand before? How did it fare? details! it's a few bucks cheaper than World's Best and I am looking more into it
 

wcalvertfc

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Yes!  My cat is pretty picky and he liked it, it clumps well and the smell of the litter itself isn't offensive, plus there is always a coupon for it - BUT it produced a lot of dust and it did not control the odor very well.  I like the idea that it's not clay, but I ended up switching back to (the more expensive) wheat litter.  
 
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Draco

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I was reading amazon reviews and seems that's a common complaint.. the clumping and brown dust.
 

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I've been using the litter for a couple of years and have not had problems with dust or odor, but I use the Multi-cat formula exclusively.

I accidentally got a bag of their regular clumping litter once, and it was awful. It's ground much finer and comes out of the bag looking like fine dry dust, which of course flies around and coats everything in the house. Urine spreads out over the top of the litter instead of soaking in, so you end up with "pancake" type clumps that crumble easily. The odor control is just so-so.

The multi-cat litter is coarser and doesn't track as far from the litter box. I do get some dust if I pour it into the boxes too quickly, but see very little when I'm scooping or kitties are digging in it. You do have to follow the directions and wait for at least 15 minutes for the clumps to set up hard before scooping. They don't set as hard as clay litter, but I don't have any problem with them breaking up. Any little brown paw prints I find on my piano are easy to brush off. Much better than the clay paw prints that actually stick to the varnish.
 

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I like that brand and use that litter often. I sometimes switch to pine because it is easier to find, but would use walnut over any other litter.

K.
 

shoshanna

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I can promise that if you or your cat like a litter that clumps very quickly and has a smell of a forest glade or new cut wood, you will love this stuff.  I did not even do the breaking in period just switched right over and both cats took to it immediately.  

It also has the added value of being very maintenance free.  Basically if you do just as it says and put 3 inches of the stuff in a clean litter box and then make sure you scoop at least one time daily, (I did scoop about 3 to 4 times a day at least) it will last a good 30 days without a full litter change and pan cleaning.

You need to just add to the litter to maintain a 3 inch approximate amount and other than that it is very little maintenance.

I am a fiend and so is one of my cats about litter odor and I will say that the house does not smell of any cat smells.  Even when they have used the litter unless I hear them digging in it, I cannot tell they have done anything by the smell.  There is not any bad smell.

It is a little more expensive than the grocery store brands, but it does not have the perfume smell of some of the scented litters, nor does it make you try to dig out mini clumps that have not held together.  It clumps very well and is very quick about it.  (usually about 3 to 5 minutes)

We will be users in my home for as long as it is available to us, I have not found any brand that works as well or is as easy to handle.
 

penwright1029

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What do I have to say about Blue walnut cat litter? Don't get me started. Just kidding.

We have not found anything that works as well as Blue Fresh Multi-Cat litter. We live in an extremely small house so finding a place to keep litter without it permeating our home was a battle.

At first, I was using World's Best and Blue combined due to moisture in the bottom of the pans. I figured out our second youngest is allergic to corn. I realized, due to his allergies and for health reasons, we would have to find a different litter. We were in a pet store looking to buy food when we noticed that they had this litter. It just so happens a representative was in the aisle at the same time we were. I had seen commercials about Blue and read reviews so I asked him about it. He gave us a $2 coupon off of a $6 bag! Yeah. I'll try litter for $4! We grabbed it up right away.

When I got it home, I dumped the junk we had been using. Our whole house stunk and scooping it was like trying to get concrete out of a trough. My hand and arm was constantly in pain because of that stuff (for use of not so nice a word.) I cleaned the pans and poured it in. I could not get over how fresh it smelled. No perfumes and it wasn't dusty. Now for the ultimate test. At this time, we had 5 cats since we were fostering until we found homes for two. They all took to it right away. As a matter of fact, Kohl jumped in before I could finish pouring it. What used to take me a half hour, or more, when scooping, now only takes me around 5 minutes. And my hand and arm's pain cleared up in no time!

Other features I like about Blue is that it doesn't track all over nor stick to my cats paws or fur, our furniture, or the pans and it lasts a super long time. As for the moisture at the bottom of the pans, I figured out a little trick. I just add baking soda when I completely change out their litter, usually once a month. It also clumps really well.

Blue is saving me money over the initial cost. I buy the largest bag available and I always have some left over before replenishing.

As far as any other type besides the Muliti Cat, I can't say much as I don't use it.

We have a walnut tree that drops green ones like crazy. I have seen how they turn brown then black and, finally, disintegrate. If only I could figure out how to process them for use. I would save money and still have my favorite cat litter. I might look on-line to see if anyone has figured out how to do that. If I do, I will share it with you.
 

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I mostly use Tidy Cat Breeze boxes which have plastic looking pellets and pads. However my cats get upset if they don't have one box with "real" litter (even though they use the other ones). My cats have really bad allergies, and Blue is one of the only ones that did not cause an allergy reaction. I use the multiple cat formula. Many other types of litter we tried caused them to get sores on their feet and skin reactions, etc... Out of the few their allergies were ok with this was the best as far as clumping/quality of the litter and has good odor control.
The one thing I dislike is it does track some and stick to their paws. In fact the box with this litter is on a different floor from my bedroom, yet I find bits of the litter in my bed! One of my cats likes to dig a lot in the box and I think that's part of the problem. I like it a lot besides the tracking. It's a bit dusty but not too horrible and the dust doesn't seem to upset my cats allergies.
 

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Blue Buffalo litter:  MY CAT would not use it!   It was dangerous!..............As soon as I removed it - she used her cat box!   Don't know what it is -- the smell, the texture -- but, I'm glad I figured out what it was before it was too late and she may have gotten sick!!
 

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I was using PetCo's refillable clumping litter for a while now and wanted to try the Walnut after an employee suggested it. I replaced both litter boxes with the new litter - mainly because my two kitties are open to change. The female used the litter almost immediately while the boy whined whenever he had to use the litter box. I read over the packaging and put a layer of our old litter on top of the walnut to 'trick' the male into using it. After a week or so, the male started using the walnut only box without whining!

I will say it is fairly pricey at times to get the walnut litter but the smell makes up for it. My tiny apartment can't handle smelly kitty business!

CON: Sometimes their pee doesn't clump as well, it often breaks up into smaller pieces or gets 'muddy'. This *COULD* be due to the mixing of litters or because I don't have exactly 3inches of litter in the boxes.
 

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I must say I don't understand the reviews & claims that this little has low dust & low tracking.  I've found the exact opposite!  There was red/brown walnut dust all over every surface within 20 feet of the litter box, and the stuff tracks like crazy.  My cats are long-haired enthusiastic diggers, true, but it was comparatively far worse than clay litters.  So, epic fail for me.

On the plus side, it is good at controlling odor, was well accepted by the cats, and is obviously a safer choice than silica dust-laden clay litters or GMO grain products.  It's also quite economical compared to clay, as long as you don't insist on frequent litter changes. 
 

anjayenunciates

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I must say I don't understand the reviews & claims that this little has low dust & low tracking.  I've found the exact opposite!  There was red/brown walnut dust all over every surface within 20 feet of the litter box, and the stuff tracks like crazy.  My cats are long-haired enthusiastic diggers, true, but it was comparatively far worse than clay litters.  So, epic fail for me.

On the plus side, it is good at controlling odor, was well accepted by the cats, and is obviously a safer choice than silica dust-laden clay litters or GMO grain products.  It's also quite economical compared to clay, as long as you don't insist on frequent litter changes. 
I agree--it is dusty, and my kitten has tracked it everywhere.  Also, the litter has a very odd smell--almost yeast-like.  My kitten has GI issues and, unfortunately, rather smelly poos to begin with, but the combination of the yeasty-smelling litter with his stinky poos was just WAY too much.  After a week of using this litter, the smell was too much for me; we changed our litter to something less smelly.
 

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I didn't like this litter at all! My cat didn't mind it but I couldn't stand the odor. It didn't matter how many times I would scoop, the smell made me feel sick to my stomach. This was the Blue Buffalo Naturally Fresh Multi Cat formula. 

I've had better success with Maxx Scoop Small Spaces clumping litter but I'm trying to get away from clay litter, so I recently switched to Exquisicat Naturals Pine Litter and I LOVE it. My kitten is currently using it, and nothing gets tracked around the house. I'm slowly trying to transition my other cat into using it but we're going to finish up the Maxx Scoop before we completely switch over. 

I've also tried Arm & Hammer litter, and Maxx Scoop 24/7 and I am not a fan of those either. 
 

anjayenunciates

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I didn't like this litter at all! My cat didn't mind it but I couldn't stand the odor. It didn't matter how many times I would scoop, the smell made me feel sick to my stomach. This was the Blue Buffalo Naturally Fresh Multi Cat formula. 

I've had better success with Maxx Scoop Small Spaces clumping litter but I'm trying to get away from clay litter, so I recently switched to Exquisicat Naturals Pine Litter and I LOVE it. My kitten is currently using it, and nothing gets tracked around the house. I'm slowly trying to transition my other cat into using it but we're going to finish up the Maxx Scoop before we completely switch over. 

I've also tried Arm & Hammer litter, and Maxx Scoop 24/7 and I am not a fan of those either. 
Yes--I feel the exact same way about the smell.  It was just so odd and unpleasant!
 

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My 2 cats don't like Blue Buffalo litter  very much.

I bought 2 big bags and there is still plenty left, so I have it in one litter box (mixed with WB) and the World's Best on the other. Needless to say, they prefer to do their business on the cat litter with WB. 

As for me, I hate  Blue Buffalo because it does leave traces of dust. This cat litter is placed in a bathroom, so I can see it's brown trace very clearly on the white bathtub and it is a pain to clean.
 

artiemom

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My 2 cats don't like Blue Buffalo litter  very much.

I bought 2 big bags and there is still plenty left, so I have it in one litter box (mixed with WB) and the World's Best on the other. Needless to say, they prefer to do their business on the cat litter with WB. 

As for me, I hate  Blue Buffalo because it does leave traces of dust. This cat litter is placed in a bathroom, so I can see it's brown trace very clearly on the white bathtub and it is a pain to clean.
Just told their sales rep, at Petco, the exact same thing on Saturday. I even showed it to her, as an example. I cursed a tiny bit between my fingers.. my fingers turned brown.. My guys white paws were turning brown when I did try it. 
 

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I called Blue Buffalo directly and was told that this litter is absolutely toxin free. Walnuts are not toxic to cats, but they are toxic to dogs and horses. Specifically just black walnuts (and only when they are moldy) contain a toxin that causes seizures in dogs and horses. Blue Buffalo's walnut based litter is not made of black walnuts, they are English walnuts. Furthermore, the protein that causes allergies has been removed. It is 100% safe.

In addition to the walnut information, the Blue Buffalo representative told me the clumping agent is guar gum.

I like this cat litter very much. It does not leave that nasty clay dust in the air and smells quite pleasant. I actually use it for my litter trained Pomeranian. 
 

Obie-n-Mallie

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I agree... so. much. dust. I have tries the low-dust (dusty) and the Multi-cat (more dusty). Maybe it's because both my girls are black and I can see the layer of brown dust after they come back from excavating at the dig site (i'm sure they are digging for kings in that box!), but the dust is terrible. I sneeze all the way through scooping out the boxes almost every time. Only one of them does any sneezing, and it doesn't seem to be any relation to the litter... fortunately.

I find that the litter clumps well enough, but doesn't usually stay clumped while scooping. So, there is fall-out in the box that is usually to small to be scooped, so it must be mixed in to the box. I'm not particularly fond of this.

The odor control is better the newer the litter in the box is, of course. They ALWAYS poop when I have company, even if it isn't their usual time to poop. Is that normal? It's like they are showing of their pooping skills... Look what I can do! Sorry, back to the odor. I use Fresh Wave, it's a gel type substance that helps with odor. I love the scent. It also comes in a spray.

Because they are Feline Archaeologists (heavy diggers), they tend to track the litter and I find pieces everywhere. I have hardwood floors and this litter is not kind to them.

I found a YouTube video for an interesting "system" using pine pellets. The video is a little lengthy, but I'm liking this idea a lot. Does anyone have any thoughts on pine pellets? I haven't tried it out yet, but I think it might be a good option for our home. I don't think my cats really like the litter we are using.

 

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I also found the blue litter to be dusty, and the red dust stayed on cat feet, and my furniture. I tried several of theirs and the one in the green bag, the quick clumping seemed to be the least dusty. I also found the smaller bags to be less dusty than the big bags, maybe they dont get as ruffed up? If you will scoop easy its better too, i found it got really dusty with rough scooping.

I did just try, and am still using a walnut litter i found at walmart the other day. Litter maid. It is finer than blue, more of a sand texture. I dont find it tracks as much, surprisingly, and there is way less dust. I can run my hand through the clean litter and no red dust. odor control is good, the clumping is good too, maybe not like clay, but those of us who use non clay litters are use to this. :)
 
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