My experiences with cat litter...and trying out some new ones!

Hey guys,

I'm going to be writing this like a journal/review of different cat litters that I have used and some that I am currently trying out. I recently started doing some research on cat litter and decided I would like to try an all natural approach to litter. When trying to figure out what ones to start with I found the best information came from personal stories of using the litter. So I hope this can help some people out with their litter considerations. If anyone would like to share comments/stories or opinions on any of these litters or similar ones, I would love to hear it!

Although my cat has been deemed perfectly healthy, he does occasionally have a stuffy nose and minor sneezing. After a lot of thought and research I have realized that it is most likely allergies/environmental irritation. So my ultimate goal with this litter project is to find a little to no dust litter that will not be irritating to my boy's respiratory system.

Also my cat is not very sensitive or picky about litter, so if anyone would like me to try out a litter and report on it let me know and I will consider it. It may take me a while to get to that litter but i'll do my best.  I know many cats are very sensitive about litter changes so I probably have a bit more wiggle room than others to try different litters.

So my background experience with litter. I have always used basic clay litters for cats, for the longest time I didn't realize there were other litters. I have always used clumping litter because i like to scoop out the mess right away and get long term use from one bag/box.

I live in Canada and we used to have an amazing litter called Maxx scoop. This was my favorite litter. It had very little dust, clumped amazing and you never smelled a thing. It was great. While i was using this litter I never questioned it or had thoughts of trying other litters. Now I have no idea why but this litter was discontinued. Even though it was the best one out there. It was discontinued and replaced with Tidy cats litter. (I am not very fond of tidy cats but more on that later.) So since maxx scoop disappeared I have just been purchasing grocery store/ no name litters. Wherever I was grocery shopping that's where I grabbed my litter. Always grabbing a clumping, non scented litter. Not much to report on those, just that they did their job fine, but were very dusty.

In between grocery store litters I dabbled a bit with tidy cats. I do not like tidy cats one bit. Mainly because of the smell. I would always buy containers that didn't say scented. I couldn't find any marked as non-scented, but in my opinion if it doesn't give a warning about being scented then it shouldn't be scented. Every type of tidy cats that I tried had a very strong perfume odor to it. Not even a nice scent, just a really gross perfume scent. So strong that it irritates my nose, so it can't be good for a cat. Over time that perfume scent stays strong but smells more and more like urine. So I cant stand tidy cats because there is no such thing as non scented litter when it comes to tidy cats. Also another big issue, Tidy cats is also very very dusty. That's another respiratory irritant. It's super dusty and WAY more dusty than maxx scoop ever was. Sometimes more dusty than grocery store litter. As far as performance it works fine but sometimes the litter clumps  can crumble and leave soiled litter in the box, unable to scoop. I do not intend to offend anyone that likes tidy cats this is just my opinion and experience.

Also for about half a second I had considered trying some of these new light weight litters but after a small bit of research it seems they are the WORST for respiratory problems and potentially dangerous. I am actually not sure how they work or what makes them different/light so if anyone could share some info on that I would greatly appreciate it.

As far as other clay litters my parents have used arm and hammer which I don't like due to strong scents, and special kitty which works well but is very dusty.

So due to a lack of a decent clay litter I started looking into alternative litters and stumbled across the idea of all natural litters. I like the idea of all natural because it is better for the environment and healthier for the cat. So right now I am trying out two new all natural litters. I decided to try a pine pellets litter and an all natural clumping litter. The two that I have chosen are exquisicat pine pellets, and worlds best original corn clumping.  I figured those would be a good place to start. It has only been a couple days so right now I can only comment on first  impressions and update as time goes on.

Worlds Best: I like the idea of the worlds best cat litter because it is like a regular clumping litter made out of natural materials. In this case corn. I have heard that with these kinds of litters you have to be careful of storage because it is food based it can attract insects. So I bought a small bag and put all of it in the litter box, so as not to worry about storage. So first impression on opening the bag. It is actually yellow in collar just like corn. It does have a different smell to it. It smells like corn but not human corn, like dirty farm corn with a hint of sweetness. The smell is not overwhelming, you have to go sniffing to smell it. The smell doesn't bother me because it is not strong and it's a natural smell. However this litter is quite dusty. I put my hand in the litter for a second and then it was covered in dust, when wiped on my jeans it left thick yellow streaks. So far it is just as dusty and maybe even more dusty then clay litter. But i would think that natural corn dust is safer than clay dust? (Any thoughts on that?) Then pouring it into the box I did not actually see clouds of dust, so maybe it is a heavy dust that's not easily airborne. (feel free to jump in with thoughts or experiences on worlds best dust). So I filled the box and placed it. At first my cat took one look at both new litters and then ran downstairs and used my roommates cats box, which is clay. He didn't seem bothered by it I think he was just confused that its yellow and smells like food. So when he was watching I sprinkled a tiny bit of clay litter on top (not enough to affect the function of worlds best) and then right away he went in and took a pee. He has peed in it twice now that he knows he's supposed to. It forms nice clumps and I don't notice any smells when I scoop them.  I will update on performance as time goes by.

Exquisicat pine pellets: This one is different for me because its not clumping. Supposedly you scoop out the poo, stir the rest and then on occasion sift out the dust after the wet pellets break down. I like the idea of wood pellets and I have heard its quite cost effective so i had to give it a try. Opening the bag there is nothing overwhelming to be noticed. The smell is stronger than worlds best but not unbearable. It is a strange smell, to me it doesn't smell like pine the way you would expect (like a christmas tree or air freshener) it almost smells like clay but closer to wood. It's hard to explain. it actually smells a lot like yesterdays news even though its wood not paper. Anyway pouring it in the box not much to notice. It is quite noisy though. It is a little dusty but not bad at all and the dust quickly sinks to the bottom of the box. So far my cat has not used this litter. He is very interested in it but i don't think he understands that its meant to be a washroom. I don't know if the smell offends him or if he is just confused. I might have to put some normal litter on top because i would really like him to give it a try. I will update how this goes.

So far Maddie has used the world's best a couple of time, only for pee. I did notice that the urine clump smelled strongly of urine. That's not a huge issue for me as I always scoop it right away.
He was refusing to use the pine pellets, so I put some clay litter on top. He peed in it after that.i wonder if that's because the clay litter helped him realize that it's a washroom, or because he really wanted to use clay litter. I suspect it's the second option. Also his next pee after the pine was in world's best. So I'll leave it out but I don't think the pellets are going to be a big hit.
Also all of his poops he has done in my roommates cats box which is clay litter.

My two use the President's Choice Green litter without any fuss. It's a corn cob based product, has little to no dust, clumps well and I don't notice any smell. A couple of bags are enough for a largish litter box for about a months (I have a box for each of my two).

http://m.presidentschoice.ca/en_CA/...-twice-as-absorbent-clumping-cat-litter-.html

I did try and get them to use a pellet litter, but with zero success.

TrickyTree said:

My two use the President's Choice Green litter without any fuss. It's a corn cob based product, has little to no dust, clumps well and I don't notice any small. A couple of bags are enough for a largish litter box for about a months (I have a box for each of my two).

http://m.presidentschoice.ca/en_CA/...-twice-as-absorbent-clumping-cat-litter-.html

I did try and get them to use a pellet litter, but with zero success.

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Thanks for sharing! It sounds like good stuff. I will have to give it a try when I get the chance. Being a pc product I would imagine it's less expensive then world's best?

Here in BC, it costs about $7.50 per 7lb bag. It is less expensive than World's Best.

TrickyTree said:

Here in BC, it costs about $7.50 per 7lb bag. It is less expensive than World's Best.

Click to expand...

Sounds great!

I use the Breeze litter system, pellets and pads. Honestly, if I'd not gone to someone's home whom uses these, 4 cats, no smell, I wouldn't have adopted Mr Sparks. I can't stand the smell of litter boxes. It's expensive to use but well worth the cost to me. I have two boxes for one cat. He let's me know when he poo's and the solids are immediately picked up, bagged and put into a container outdoors for trash day. I change out the pads every 5 days, wash the trays each time before putting in the new pads. Every 10 days, I dump the pellets into a clean bucket, wash the box and tray, dry and reassemble. Pellets are replaced every 6 weeks. This is more than the directions call for but my home has no cat smell. Worried that might become nose blind, I ask close non animal owning friends when they visit if there is any odor.

Everything I've read sings the praises of clumping litter and that the pellets are not sanitary. Honestly, I don't see how any litter box can be sanitary. The huge benefit I see to this, besides the lack of odor, is there isn't any litter being carried around on feet and fur. Mr Sparky like his toilet area, he is happy with the accommodation and so is this neat freak servant.

UPDATE:
It has been a month or so now that I have been trying these litters. And I even gave the pc litter a try. So here is my experience with them.

World's best original:
This litter works really well. I like it because it acts as a regular clumping litter and it's all natural. It clumps well and is very easy to scoop. It seems to use very small amounts of litter to form the clumps, which is great. I filled a medium - large sized litter tray with one small bag and it lasted a month. There's not much to report as far as odor. It doesn't super control odors very well. Feces smell very strongly and urine smells but then fades. This isn't a problem for me because I scoop the box as soon as it's used. The litter itself does not have a strong fragrance which is great. The one downside is that despite it's claims it does have a lot of dust. And it's yellow so it noticeably tracks. I can always tell when my cat has used the box because there will be yellow paw prints all over the sheets. However the dust seems heavy so I don't think it goes airborne like clay dust does.

Exquisicat pine pellets:
It took a long time for my cat to adjust to the pellets, but I was glad when he finally did. They work really well. And they are definitely a great choice if you need a low cost litter protocol. You can buy a large bag for cheap and they last for a very long time. This particular brand works exactly as it's supposed to. Anything wet brakes down into dust and then you just sift out the dust and reuse the pellets. The sifting can be quite time consuming especially if you like to sift after each pee. But it's defintely worth it. There is pretty much no airborne dust and no strong fragrances. However that does mean no real odor control. I could see how this might not be the ideal option for some but if it works for you and your cat then it's a great option! One thing I would reccomended is to pick a time frame where you dump all the pellets and put all fresh in. Sometimes a pellet won't completely break down so if the box is frequently used urine traces could build up.

Presidents choice green: This is similar to world's best as it is a natural clumping litter made of corn.it does have much larger granules than world's best but that brings the benefit that I have not noticed much dust with this litter. It does have a soapy fragrance but it is not overwhelming. So the best parts: low dust, natural and inexpensive. However it's function is not the best. It does clump but they are loose clumps, so touched the wrong way and pieces break off. And the litter seems to fly around everywhere. So it's a little harder to deal with then world's best. Either way it's still better than any clay litter.

I have noticed that my cat will still jump at the chance to use clay litter. So one day I might try out Dr. Elsy's clay litter. It's not natural but it seems like the safest clay option. For my main preference I think I will be using world's best and then pc green on budget days. I will use up the pellets I have, not sure if I will invest in more. Although after this experiment my cat Is now used to having multiple litter boxes and I don't think I'll be able to take any away.