I'm always interested in learning about new cat litter products. What's the best type of cat litter you've tried so far?
I've tried 2 - my friend recommended Swheat Scoop when I first got my cat. Clumping, wheat and corn based litter. It did a good job with smell if my cat actually buried her poop (which isn't always the case), the clumping was good, but OMG I would find it EVERYWHERE (ie: it tracked a lot). I was literally vacuuming around the liter box daily to try and keep it under control. I switched to Skoon recently and I like it better. Pros: minimal tracking since it's larger pieces, automatically delivery to my house is nice, good odor control and natural stuff. Cons: hard to tell how much cats are peeing since it absorbs moisture REALLY quickly (though I can hear my cat when she's using it so I have a rough idea), pricier than others.
@aparnajayaraman I really love SMART CAT grass litter. .... Also, much friendlier to the environment when you do have to throw some out.
@aparnajayaraman Aparna, Skoon is pretty interesting, isn't it!? I agree that instant absorption is a downside, and I also found it to be extremely dusty. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Is solutely love Smart Cat. It’s natural grass and it still clumps. I’ve been using it for at least 3 years. It’s the best.
@Lynn, I love SmartCat, too. 🙂
I use white wood pellets, used usually for horse stalls. Get them at any farm supply store. About $6 for a three month supply for one cat, a huge bag of 50 lbs. Easy to scoop, pellets break down as cat urinates
@Pama009 Do your wood pellets have pine smell? My cat hated feline pine but I'm not sure if it's a scent thing or a texture thing.
I'm a newbie so I was using dollar store clay litter. Did some research and switched to World's Best Cat Litter Unscented. Made from corn. No issues with it but it does leave a bit of tracking but I don't care. My robo vacuum cleans it all up anyway. lol :p
We use wood pellets. They don’t track and they’re dust free. They’re are also healthy for the environment and cats.
@pama009 Hi! I’m curious what wood pellets you use that are dust free? I use wood pellets for my horse and miniature donkey but they have a lot of dust and are a known carcinogen plus harmful to reproductive health if breathed.
Well, I guess I'm late knowing about this, but my favorite cat litter is no longer available, so I've managed to buy enough to get me to around November. Paper shortages, etc. The clumping version was absolutely wonderful. Now, what to do. More "sifting" thru what's left on the market, I guess. What a disappointment.
https://www.ky3.com/2022/04/20/cat-litter-plant-springfield-announces-closing/
@rodstasick I used Ultra for a while until it became extremely dusty. Clouds of dust when being added to the litter box and dust being kicked up by my cat when it was used. That was that. (I also used Dr. Elsey's dry food for a while, until the color and kibble size changed and it got more crumbly, and gave my cat diarrhea -- not sure what's going on at Dr. Elsey's.)
I have since been using Boxicat Extra Strength Scent Free. Virtually no dust, cat took right to it. No odor from the litter box, good clumping.
@agirlhasnoname Thanks for the recommendation. I’m trying both Okocat and Elsey’s Ultra in two different boxes with a transition of 75% of my old favorite, Yesterday’s News Clumping. So far, the Ultra is being used more often, but, my god, does it ever track - and what’s tracking is even tinier bits, so it’s kind of a pain. One of the cats, especially, will jump up in his favorite chair - wrap his tail around the front of his body for his nap and I come around the corner and see that his tail is just full of the Ultra. I’m reserving full judgement until each box is 100% what’s intended. I’m thinking that my choice will be tied to whether I get absorbency, but lots of tracking (Ultra) vs low tracking but not much absorbency (Okocat). To ask for both might be asking for too much. Thanks again. Oko seems to be easily available here, so we’ll see how things go the next few weeks.
@rodstasick I've been looking through natural litters online recently, and I remember seeing a paper pellet one by okocat, I think it was called. Maybe that will be a good alternative. Now for me to get back to my search 😉
I like Cats Pride in the lime green bottle. It is cheap and works as well as the more expensive brNds.
Really Great Cat Litter. Im trying this now. Virtually NO dust OR Odor Free delivery based on your needs.
Its spendy though so might not stick with it. But I LOVE it so far. Its flushable too
used Dr Elseys for YEARS. Im so over the dust i hope the new litter works for you. My new one is spendy so may have to look for something else
thanks
@colleenleahgmailcom Good to hear that. So far, the Oko is winning.
The Elsey is a real mess - it’s showing up on bedding and blankets and
other coverings as well as on the tails and body of two of the cats.
That stops today when we change out the boxes. I think we’re trying
“Original” in one box and “Less Mess” in the other while sprinkling in
some of what’s left of our supply of the wonderful, clumping version
of the late, dearly departed “Yesterday’s News.”
Thanks! if something costs twice as much, but lasts three times longer, it would seem to be a good deal in the end.
It's unfortunate that All About cats still recommends Dr. Elsey's Ultra and mentions nothing about the increased dust.
@mitchellregenbogen Hey there, good point. I did recommend Dr. Elsey's in a recent piece (our piece on budget essentials for cats), and it's bugged me a bit—I recommended it kind of "by default" because it's been a top pick for so long, but you're right that there's been a significant enough decline that it shouldn't be there anymore. From both personal experience and others' observations, I know there's been a quality decline. Besides being dusty, it's a bit sticky as well, and that makes it hard to clean.
Anyway, we won't be recommending it as a number one option in any updates, but I'm still trying to find the best alternative. For now, I'd consider Tidy Cats' Free & Clean as a lower-priced option or, of course, my favorite Ever Clean Extra Strength Unscented, for those who are willing to spend more for a great clumping clay litter.
Also, @Rod Stasick, thanks for being generous and patient. It's true that not everything gets updated instantly, and it really does bug me to know that we are sometimes giving out outdated information or recommendations that I no longer agree with. Anyway, hope this clarifies, and I'll do what I can to get everything updated and corrected as soon as we can.
Thanks for all the feedback!
@mitchellregenbogen Well, I think Mallory has her hands full with all kinds of informative future reviews and it’s possible that either the quality of the litter has gone down since the last review or,
just like all of us with our differing kiddos, the problems that we’ve had aren’t ones that others have.
I know that people have all kinds of negative reviews of products - and when you look closer, you find that their approaches may be wildly different than what you or I may experience simply because our needs and desires are different.
I’m reminded of a review I saw on YouTube where the woman was complaining about tracking everywhere throughout her house. If you kept watching, you’d discover that she would go WEEKS (!) without scooping her litter box. By the end of the video, I wanted to go rescue those poor critters from this woman!
So, just like “Yesterday’s News” got a bad rap in reviews (and I think a not very good one here), it worked great for us. You are just looking at which has a larger consensus in the end.
Haha true. Mallory does excellent and comprehensive reviews, and she is one of my primary sources of information. There's probably little time for updates on previously reviewed products.
I contacted Dr. Elsey's when I became dissatisfied with the litter, and they did "admit" that they changed the formulation.
World's best multicat. very good at preventing odors (I scoop twice a day) no dust and minimal tracking. I also like the fact that it's corn and I can flush it.
Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like Okocat is winning,
but I can't give a definitive until I am using it all alone and
not with a small layer of what's left of our bags of Yesterday's News.
Also, I would never flush kitty litter, ever. It's really bad for all kinds
of reasons:
I have tried every cat litter out there. All of them are dusty with the exception of Pidan Tofu litter. I have yet to try the other Tofu cat litters, but I will. I have six boy cats, all kickers. 100% no dust and minimal tracking. Tofu litter is the best I have found on all fronts except for….price. Odor control, dust and tracking are 10/10, but on price it gets dinged. It does last a long time so that helps. If I had 3 cats or less I would use nothing else.
I also have Oko original at home and it’s horrible in my opinion. One of the dustiest litters out there. I even returned a box of it.
Right now I have the Pidan tofu mixed with the Worlds best “low tracking” and it seems a good compromise between that and 100% tofu.
I have dug as deep as trying to manufacture my own Tofu litter…maybe one day.
I wholeheartedly recommend Pidan.
@rodstasick Nice! Have you used any other wood pellet litter before? Do you think this Okocat Less Mess litter tracks/scatters less than other similar products?
@jakedouglas Funny, for me, that this topic is coming up today, because I was going to update after cleaning house today. This is the first week after we finished all of the last batch of “Yesterday’s News” and the first week where we’ve used nothing but the Okocat “Less Mess” and we are still amazed by the reduction of dust and scatter all over the house. It is easily 95% better than what we thought was the best before (Y.N.) and we’re both astounded and very grateful that we will find, at most, 4 to 6 little pellets/day in the house instead of having to go thru with a dry mop a couple times a day.
The Okokat “Original” uses small crushed pellets, so that may be why you were getting excess dust.
Again, the “Less Mess” version are full pellets and they’ve been really wonderful. Usually, I have to completely empty the big litter boxes every Wednesday, but with this stuff, I only have to keep to my regular daily scooping and just top it off when needed. I’m anticipating that I will be doing a complete box cleaning once a month instead of weekly. It’s been an enormous difference for us. We’ve even removed those looped scatter pads that you put at the entrance to the box and they’re now in the garbage outside. We have nothing at the entrance anymore and it’s not a problem - maybe a pellet or two from the three cats.
I have a small bag of tofu litter from a company called “Frisco” that’s been sitting in the closet for months because I’ve been in the experiment stage of testing litter and, yes, it was hella expensive.
Maybe I’ll lightly integrate it into the Oko just to get rid of it (either that, or I may donate it since it hasn’t been opened yet).
@jakedouglas Tofu litter is really interesting—thanks for sharing your experience!