Talk to me about Cat Litter!

[hunterprincez]

We recently adopted a wonderful Kitty named Marlon form the local ASPCA. I feel like I should know the answer to this question but I am at a loss!!! We live in a one bedroom apartment and the options for litter box placement are rather limited. My boyfriend is in the process of building a litter box hiding piece of furniture. My big question is what type of litter do you prefer?

I tried to search for a previous thread and the results were daunting with nothing really answering my question. Growing up my mom took care of the litter buying and even though I am an RVT and work in a vet hospital we only get the cheap stuff here. HELP!!

[oliverreed]

Personally, I am a fan of Feline Pine - the clumping variety. I have 4 cats.

[RolyPolyPony]

Up until she decided she hated it, we liked Feline Pine for our cat - it looks like light rabbit food, and there’s NO smell. It’s lovely.

Then the cat decided she hated it and we’re using Cat’s Pride (I think?) Fresh & Light Unscented clay - she loves it. It’s not as dusty as I feared, but I miss the Feline Pine!

We tried her on World’s Best, but she tried to eat it…!

[Frivian]

World’s Best natural fibers (not corn cob). It has been the best at hitting all of my requirements: low dust, low tracking, good clumping, good odor control. It is definitely not perfect but the best I have found.

A close second would be the Blue Buffalo black walnut litter.

[clint]

Overall, cats prefer a fine sand. I have adopted out kittens/cats who have refused anything but that, so be careful if you decide to try pine, corn, crystals…anything out of the norm. I tried the Blue Buffalo black walnut, and I didn’t especially like it. Clearly litter is a personal choice. I like Arm and Hammer. For odor control, you can add baking soda to whatever litter you like and it does a good job.

[rockonxox]

I’ve finally found a solution for me. Low to no odor, dust at a minimum, very little tracking, and easy to clean. I use a mix of crystal litter and Swheat Scoop. It absorbs the urine but also clumps the poo and makes for easy cleaning. I don’t even have to clean my litter box every day if I forget or something. It also lasts quite a while so is cost effective. Only note is that if you use crystals with Swheat scoop it is no longer flushable like plain swheat scoop is. I use a litter genie so cleanup without flushing is very easy.

[Mango20]

When I pet sit for my neighbors, I’ve found that Tidy Cats is VERY dusty. Really creeps me out to be breathing all that in when I’m cleaning the box. They’ve had Fresh Step, which was much nicer and clumped better.

[sk_pacer]

Yesterday’s News - non tracking, no odour, super absorbent and can be composted so they say. It may be hard to find, and if you want clumping litter or your cat is fussy about texture, this is not for you, although even my fussiest cats happily dig in the soft pellets.

[Justmyluck]

Fresh Step is excellent at odor control! I bought Tidy Cats because it was on sale and welp I have 3 cats so I went with that. Tidy Cats has a very purfumy odor I dont like it.

[Jhein12]

I currently use the Blue Buffalo litter for my two cats. I can flush it, it takes care of odor, and clumps well. Previously I used World’s Best which I also flushed fine but it wasn’t as good on odor and I think it may cost more per pound.

[Anne_FS]

The one, the only, Scoop Away. I buy the Unscented because I cannot stand the added scents put in litters, and after trying just about every single brand out there this is the one that stays cleanest & freshest, and when you clean your box every day or every other day it lasts a long time, since the waste is nicely localized.

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

Arm and Hammer Double Duty – even my slightly OCD and germophobic SO doesn’t mind cleaning the litter box with it. It has no odor, even with 2 cats who pee a lot, and it clumps really well. We literally tip the box from side to side to shake the clumps to the surface, then just scoop them out.

[hanoverianlover]

Hands down I choose FreshStep…

[Anne_FS]

I’ve tried both Fresh Step and Arm & Hammer. Neither IMO are as good as Scoop Away, but I’m dealing with multiple cats. For one cat it probably wouldn’t matter as much.

[bubxjade]

I like World’s Best and the Arm and Hammer Essentials natural type litter. I can’t comment too much on smell because my cat’s box is in the basement but I have a pretty sensitive nose and the box is close to the stairs and we never smell the cat box smell. If you’re building a piece of furniture to put the box in, you should make something where the entrance to the box is at the back and faces a wall or corner. My cat has a covered box but still likes to throw her litter out the door sometimes and I’ve battled this by facing the door to box towards the wall, that way the litter only goes so far, it helps with tracking litter too.

[Beaver_Breeze]

My favorite is Yesterdays News, but it isn’t cheap and trying to scoop it without getting clean litter is a pain. World’s Best clumps better than Blue Buffalo Walnut, but it will get moldy if your house is really humid in the summer. Beyond those three, I don’t like the options. My cats are willing to use any of the above. If I had infinite resources, I’d go Yesterdays News all the way.

[hunterprincez]

Well, after all your helpful suggestions I went with the Yesterday’s News. I am on the fence. My cat has no trouble tracking the little pellets out all over the place after he leaves the box. He must have wide feet that grab on to the pellets! I have not noticed any odor after he uses the bathroom but as someone above mentioned it is hard to get the wet litter out without taking some of the dry with it. We are in the process of turning a little chest we have into a litterbox hiding piece of furniture. Once the box is stored in there the flinging of the litter wont be such an issue.
For those of you that use Yesterday’s News how often do you find yourself putting new litter in the box? I make sure to scoop 1x day to get what I can see but I feel this will have to be completely changed at least weekly. Any suggestions?

[clint]

I used Yesterday’s News for a season with a bunch of kittens because our rescue got quite a few donations. It worked for some of them, but not all of them recognized it as litter. It did a decent job of controlling odor, but I thought it was difficult to clean and had I been buying it, not terribly economical because it does have to be changed out fairly often.

I use a chest to hide a litter box and the cats still manage to track litter in and out, although they can’t fling it out.

[yellowbritches]

I have been VERY happy with World’s Best. I have two cats, one litter box, because, like you, I live in a tiny place with very limited litter box placement (it helps that the boys go outside and, if the weather is to their liking, will ask to go out instead of use their box). You can’t smell the box, even though it is in the living room and they track VERY little. Basically, the litter stops at the rug I have for them outside the box.

We’re moving in a few weeks, and while the new place doesn’t have much better litter box accommodations, there is just enough more useful space that I can put up a little room divider screen somewhere so you can’t see the box. Heaven!

[Louise]

What works for me is the cheap clumping litter. I can’t afford the expensive stuff. I use Wegmans brand, but it’s really nothing special. I have five cats, and five litter boxes, not the “one more than the number of cats” that is recommended. Though, the boxes are all larger than standard. I clean twice daily, without fail.

I pick out every single broken off bit of clumped litter I can find, and there will be some, either from a cat scraping a previous clump by accident, or nailing one yourself by accident with the scoop. If I don’t know if it’s a piece of dirty litter or not, I pick it out anyways. That’s the same reason I don’t shake off every bit of dry litter that you pick out with the clump. Shaking too much can leave to bits breaking off. This routine enables me to go for two weeks per box without completely dumping and washing. I do add more litter if it gets low.

The boxes aren’t hidden away in the basement, or in out of the way spots. There are no out of the way spots in this house. You can’t smell a thing, even when you’re right next to the box. And, that’s not just me saying that. I have grilled friends who can be trusted to tell me the truth about it, just to make double sure. I know being this picky makes a difference, because, though I have a very good cat sitter who comes in twice a day when I’m gone, if I’m away for more than a few days, I can smell the boxes when I get home.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t sweat the brand that much. Just keep the box clean and you shouldn’t have a problem. And, you know what? It doesn’t take all that long.