What's the best cat litter?

<<wow, is it painful to step on that stuff when they track it out of the box onto a nice hard floor>>

Yes, yes it can be! The cats don't seem to mind (I was worried it might hurt their feet too) but I've never had a problem with them not using the box. In fact, they often keep playing in the boxes when their done - digging around and pulling the entire contents of crystals to cover their "deposits". LOL.

For the human comfort level, though, I keep a small dust pan and brush in the bathrooms to clean up the stray bits that they kick out.

I really like ARM & HAMMER Multi-Cat Strength Clumping Litter. Even though I only have one cat, she pees like a race horse so its like haveing 2 or 3 in the house. I found it not to be to dusty, helped with oder control because of the arm & hammer baking soda factor and she really liked it. The cost is not horrable either. The only draw back was it seemed to get dragged around the house. We just put a small bath mat infrount of the box and that seemed to help. We live in a small apartment and no one even thinks we have a cat. I do scoop every time I see something in it though.

Originally Posted by jasminesmom

We use Feline Pine and LOVE it! Jasmine is a digger and she can dig forever in the Feline Pine. I really like it becasue there is no dust and I can just scoop her poop right into the toilet. It is very inexpensive and it is friendly to the enviroment. It was a little weird at first becasue you don't scoop the urine, just the poop. The urine soaks into the pellets and turns into unscented sawdust. No urine smell AT ALL and hardly any tracking! Its the best letter I have ever used!

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AHH... so that's what THAT is!!!

I am in the process of switching my kitty to the Feline Pine, and the other day while scooping I saw a big ol pile of sawdust in his box - I thought perhaps it was just remnants from the bottom of the Feline Pine bag. It's nice to know what is going on in there.

He hasn't completely converted yet - probably another week before we make the full switch, but my kitty doesn't seem to mind the Feline Pine that much - as long as he has a place to poop, he is happy

I've heard using wood stove pellets are pretty much identical to feline pine and a lot cheaper. I haven't used it but might be worth checking into.

Hands down Arm & Hammer!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by jasminesmom

We use Feline Pine and LOVE it! Jasmine is a digger and she can dig forever in the Feline Pine. I really like it becasue there is no dust and I can just scoop her poop right into the toilet. It is very inexpensive and it is friendly to the enviroment. It was a little weird at first becasue you don't scoop the urine, just the poop. The urine soaks into the pellets and turns into unscented sawdust. No urine smell AT ALL and hardly any tracking! Its the best letter I have ever used!

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I loved it too but I have to mail order it and it takes so long so I ended up going back to Fresh step for now but when we return to the states, we will be using this one again.

where do they sell the exquisite pine? thanks

Just a note for anyone using Feline Pine. I have found it the cheapest at Target. Walmart might be about the same, but I don't go there too often. Petsmatrt and Petco have it also, but it is more expensive than Target. Just thought someone might be interested!

I used Feline Pine for a couple of years until one of my cats developed struvite crystals. My vet told me then that I should change to a clumpable litter... suggesed Tidy Cat Multiple Cat formula (I have two kitties). He said that the feline pine "holds on" to the urine odor and that cats don't like that - especially picky cats, and the cat may associate the painful urination with the odor and the box, thus they find an odorless carpeted corner to use. I felt like I was doing the environmentally and healthy thing by using Feline Pine - it's made from an organic material so it shouldn't hurt the cats when they clean themselves after using the box. I don't particularly like using the scoopable litter - it keeps me very busy doing the scooping - but if it keeps the cats happier and more inclined to use the box instead of the carpet, then I'm all for it.

I use Coshida brand Arena para Gatos, very absorbent clay granules, Bella loves it.

And just to remind you folks we don´t all live in the US. There is life and proprietary brands in other places.

Originally Posted by Belissima

I use Coshida brand Arena para Gatos, very absorbent clay granules, Bella loves it.

And just to remind you folks we don´t all live in the US. There is life and proprietary brands in other places.

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People will respond with what they know. As the majority of the posters here are in the US, the products they know will likely be American.

Originally Posted by Belissima

And just to remind you folks we don´t all live in the US. There is life and proprietary brands in other places.

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I believe the original poster of this thread was posting from within the US (Philadelphia), so responses to the original request for a good non-dusty litter would naturally be suggestions for litters that are likely to be available where the original poster lives.

I'm sure you could start a thread for opinions about litters in your area, or worldwide, and you'd get all sorts of great feedback.

I posted a few entries back about the tidy cats crystals, but I found something else last week that works great too. It's called Feline Fresh and it's made of pine. You can get it in either the pellets - like feline pine - or in a shaved type consistancy that is scoopable. I had tried feline pine in the past, which my cats didn't like, so I tried the scoopable formula of this kind and they love it. I think it's probably easier on their paws than the crystals were, though they did use the crystals without fuss. Anyway, you can read about the different types of litter from this company here - http://www.planetwiseproducts.com/

Originally Posted by reddicequeen

where do they sell the exquisite pine? thanks

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You can get it at Petsmart. Exquisite is a Petsmart brand.

I love Feline Pine! Well not so much me, as my kitties do, lol

I've been noticing recently that the litter I use might be a little dusty...

I use the standard Fresh Step scoopable, and it SAYS 99.9% dust-free, but when I pour it it doesn't seem very dust-free at all. I like it other than that though, and so does Zissou, and she is so unpicky about her box with it that I don't want to change anything...

If that stuff isn't dust, what the heck is it?

Tidy Cats crystals blend seems to come in TWO formats! ONe is identical to fresh step, has small particles and IS dusty. The OTHER is bigger particles and not dusty. UNFORTUNATELY guess which one MY kids prefer?!

When I buy it I unscrew the lid and make sure I get the one with the larger granuals and THEN get ONE with smaller and pour IT over the other. THAT way my kids think they are using IT and not the better one.

Chicken Layer crumbles are supposed to be the best. You have to make sure they are not medicated though. They are like WBC only a LOT cheaper and do scoop.

ONCE I get my 4 onto the good Tidy cat I want to switch to the chicken layer crumbles!

I'm using Feline Pine now as well and I really like it. The only negative side is that our kitten tries to get my attention by playing with the pellets, but other than that, it's been pretty good.

Since our new kitten came into the house, last November, we've used:

Tidy Cats -- Pretty standard stuff, but not very flushable and the clumping litters always worry me with young cats. Plenty of tracking and it would definitely smell after awhile.

Yesterday's News -- I liked the concept, but the kitten would play with it more than anything, and I didn't like the thought of her eating old newspapers if she had the inclination or felt playful.

The World's Best Cat Litter (corn) -- Clumped hard. I like that it was flushable and natural (non-toxic if she ate it), but she got it everywhere. I initially THOUGHT I liked it. Had to vaccuum almost every day because of tracking...half of the litter was in our vacuum before long. The smell was moderate -- bad if you let it go a few days with 3 cats and 2 boxes.

A bunch of wheat-based litters -- Similar to The World's Best Cat Litter. Some wheat litters are better than others. I also liked the fact that these were natural, but some of them didn't clump very hard and urine became like soggy cereal. Trying to clean it was like smearing mud.

Granular Pine litter -- Before getting Feline Pine, we tried a granular pine litter (small grains instead of large pellets, can't remember the brand name). This turned into sawdust pretty quick and got tracked everywhere within a few days. The smell out of the box was nice, but it reminded me of something you'd use for ferrets -- not cats.

Feline Pine -- The difference between Feline Pine and the granular pine litter is that the litter comes in much bigger pellets. Therefore, the sawdust falls THROUGH the big pieces to the bottom of the pan (shaking helps). The cats then stand on top of the pellets, rather than on the sawdust. This makes a BIG difference in tracking. We have a litter mat and there's virtually no dust. Unlike clumping litters, poop often sits on top of the litter, so you want to clean the poop each day. I haven't noticed any urine smell after using it with (3) cats and two boxes. It's awkward to scoop because of the size of the pellets, but it doesn't take much effort to separate the pellets from the poop.

Our cats adjust pretty quick to new litter, but I realize that changing litters doesn't work for all cats. Feline Pine wins our award....

---- Very little tracking
---- Little or no smell
---- Flushable
---- Not particularly expensive
---- Natural