Low Tracking Litter for cat?

[rockonxox]

I am very lucky because my cat is not bothered by my continually changing his cat litter. I just can not find one that works for me. My cat has a “closed” litter box… hole for him to enter & exit is on top. He is terrible about playing in his litter so if I don’t use this type of litter box half the litter ends up on my carpet.

Issues I have had with litters I have tried:

Tidy Cats & other clay based clump litters
Lots of tracking, very dusty, urine sticks to the box

Arm & Hammer® Natural Double-Duty Clumping Cat Litter, Feline Pine, Exquisicat Corn Litter
Lots of tracking, not great at controlling odors

Blue Natural
Pretty happy with this walnut based litter but it is so bad with the tracking issue

Pelleted litter
Will never do again because when they get kicked out of the box it hurts when you step on the pellets

I am currently trying a crystal cat litter. At first I was very hesitant to try this out but since nothing else is up to par I figured why not. I was disappointed that when I poured the bag into the litter box it was dusty to the point that it caused me to cough. I’m really wanting to get away from dusty.

Other options I’m considering (your input and/or other suggestions greatly appreciated):
Nature’s Miracle Odor Control Clumping Cat Litter
ExquisiCat® Naturals Fragrance Free Paper Cat Litter
World’s Best Cat Litter™ Clumping Formula (seen very mixed reviews on this)
Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Ultra Scoopable Litter
Grreat Choice™ Cedar Scent Lightweight Clay Cat Litter

[candico]

No great answer here, but would love to find the “perfect” kitty litter. I do find that some of the crystal kind can be dusty, but sometimes not. I feel like it is a bit of the luck of the draw, but as they come in clear containers I try to see if it looks like a dusty batch. I have one auto-box, but only one cat uses it. The other is terrified. I could not get either to use the top hole box. Wish I had the patience to teach them to go in the toilet, but I imagine if they miss, that would be ultra gross. Anyway, I hate the tracking problem!

[Jhein12]

I use the Blue one. I previously used World’s Best and the Blue is much better with less dust and tracking, so I wouldn’t try World’s Best if you aren’t happy with Blue. I think Dr. Elsey’s uses clay. I would like to know the perfect clay free non dust clumping litter that is “natural” so far Blue is the best for us, not perfect, but better than the rest I’ve tried.

[Hippolyta]

I also think Dr Elsey’s tracks less than others. When I had just one cat, I LOVED the pine pellets (you can use the horse version), but now that I have a herd, I gave those up.

I have doormats that are advertised as able to trap some huge amount of dirt (lbs) in front of my boxes. They look like a bit like astroturf, with stiff little plastic things sticking up. They are from Walmart & were cheap. They do trap quite a bit.

[Peggy]

I tried the walnut one (Blue Natural) and Sweet Scoop (it’s spelled cuter than I just did) and have gone back to World’s Best. Choosing between the first and the last may be a matter of what color your nearby floor surfaces are, though I think the walnut one is dustier. But they are pretty comparable. The Sweet Scoop turned into something resembling wet adobe clay and glommed on to the bottom of the litter box with urine. Seriously, I couldn’t scrape it out. There was also a strange odor.

[Muffin]

The Arm and Hammer Clump and Seal is on sale at Target for $7.99, and comes with a $3 off coupon. I bought two because, well, “On sale” and $3 off.

I have been sweeping, brushing and lint rolling the sand off my floor, bed, and sofa for days now. The cats track it everywhere! Sure, it’s good on odor control, but the second box is going to the shelter today. There is an excessive amount of tracking with it.

It’s a good price and lasts a long time, and at that price I’ll pick up one each time I go to the store, but to donate – not use in my home.

[Blondie22]

I use World’s Best. I like it, it clumps very hard and quickly. It isn’t dusty pouring it into the box, but will create some dust (which is really corn starch) if the cat likes to kick it around, as mine does.

From my experience, you will be hard pressed to find something that does not track. It’s just not possible. I’ve tried a LOT of different litter and everything seems to be pretty much the same!

[Bogie]

Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Ultra Scoopable Litter is what I used, mixing in some “Cat Attract”. We have three cats and the amount of tracking is minimal.

[MEP]

I’ve been using the Arm & Hammer ‘Essentials - Natural Clumping.’

It is corn based and strongly scented (which they say is natural). It is not dusty and while it does get tracked, it’s not hideous. When I say hideous, I really mean: I hate clay litter, it’s dust and tracking, and will use pretty much anything to avoid clay litter.

For a while I used the Feline Pine clumping version which is hard to find now and I don’t know if they’re even making it anymore. I liked the way it smelled when you first poured it into the box, but it didn’t clump very strongly and when I had a Litter-Maid box, I found it sort of fell apart when it got scooped and it didn’t control odors very well.

At some point I also tried the ‘Swheat Scoop’ mentioned by Peggy above and didn’t like it much – again, not great odor control if I remember correctly.

The Arm & Hammer ‘Essentials’ comes in a bag. It smells kind of like really strong toothpaste which is okay as it calms down after a while when exposed to the air. It doesn’t clump very hard, but I’m not having a problem with that since I’m no longer using the litter-maid. I think it does control odors pretty well, much better than the other brands I’ve tried. As I said before, it does track some, but it’s not as bad as others. It is also not dusty.

I’m always looking for better litter choices, but this one isn’t too bad, and I’ve been using it for a while now. It’s moderately expensive (10 lbs for $8.75 +/-), but it seems to last pretty well. I only have one cat, so can’t comment how it would work for multiple cats.

I’ve always eyed the newspaper pellets and the crystals with curiosity, but never tried them because I always figured some would get knocked out of the box and I didn’t want to step on such big chunks.

You would think someone would come up with a better litter, but I guess it’s a tough problem!

[Frivian]

I have switched back and forth between the Blue Buffalo black walnut litter and World’s Best. I hate the smell of the original World’s Best, but IMO Blue Buffalo is dustier. HOWEVER, World’s Best is trying out some new formulas - not just corn. I’m currently using a “plant fiber” litter, which has much better odor control that the corn one. It tracks about the same, though. I think they also have a new pine litter coming out.

If your cat will tolerate it, I’d recommend the Stikitty litter mat: http://www.cleanicity.com/Stikitty_p/stik.htm I had to put up barricades around it so that my cat would actually step on it (she really doesn’t like it) but it really does help with the tracking a LOT. My cat is tolerant enough to still use the litter box even though she hates stepping on the mat.

I also use an air filter in the room with the litter box to help cut down on the dust. I like to think that it helps.

[Marshfield]

Blue Buffalo’s walnut based litter is the best of the ones I’ve tried. I liked World’s Best as well, but the dogs liked it too much (even just fresh in the box and clean)

[MunchingonHay]

[QUOTE=Bogie;7382882]
Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Ultra Scoopable Litter is what I used, mixing in some “Cat Attract”. We have three cats and the amount of tracking is minimal.[/QUOTE]

I use this too. I have two cats that like to make fists with their paws, then LEAP out of the box scattering the litter as they fly through the air!! WWHHEEEE!!!

I also have a ‘fake grass’ doormat and I can actually go two days without having to sweep.

[rockonxox]

Just an update on the Crystals. No no no no no! It doesn’t track much but what cat kicked out of the box is a killer to step on. I can’t imagine it feels good to his paws either. It did not block out the poo smell at all. Urine, yes I think it soaked that up pretty well… however the urine isn’t scoopable from what I can tell.

I have 3 large mats around the litter box. The box is in my closet right off the bathroom so the litter tracking gets onto the tile and the stinker opens my shower door so tracks it in the shower too.

I might just go back to the corn based stuff because at least it blends in with the carpet I am definitely going to look into the Stikitty mat. I think Sampson would be okay with it… he’s gotten into some of the “sticky” spider traps and proudly parades with them sticking on him. With my luck he’d roll on the stikitty but hey, free grooming I guess.

If anyone finds a better litter I’d love to hear about it. Sounds like we’re all in the same boat. I love my cat but litter is such a pain.

[VaqueroToro]

I’ve been using Scoop Away lately and I find it works rather nicely. I’ve got one cat that drinks like a fish and fills the box to prove it. Despite having two boxes, both cats use one all the time (with intermittent use of the other by just one cat). I need something that will take that kind of abuse throughout the day.

It’s a bit dusty when you first pour it in and on any top offs, but after that, its good. I have open litter pans (one with a short rim) and the tracking is minimal – with a closed box, it would probably be more. And bonus is that even if both cats pee in the same spot multiple times, the litter doesn’t stick to the plastic if the moisture hits the sides/bottom – it forms nearly an immediate hard clump.

[Frivian]

[QUOTE=rockonxox;7383768]

I might just go back to the corn based stuff because at least it blends in with the carpet I am definitely going to look into the Stikitty mat. I think Sampson would be okay with it… he’s gotten into some of the “sticky” spider traps and proudly parades with them sticking on him. With my luck he’d roll on the stikitty but hey, free grooming I guess. .[/QUOTE]

If you do buy the Stikitty mat, definitely get the larger size. They can just jump over the smaller one!

I find I have to peel a layer off once every other week or so. If you wait too long to peel it, then it stops working quite so well!