I Need Some Cat Litter Opinions

[She's a witch]

I can always use candles to deal with any odor and I can always vacuum the bits that get out of the box. The odor control for So Phresh is fine. I can't smell pee at all and it's only when my boys drop a turd that I smell anything at all. In which case I light a pet odor eliminating candle (you can find these on chewy.com) and scoop it out.

I’m sorry for off topic, but candles can also be dangerous to a cat; it’s a little smoke for humans, but cats are smaller and it can be enough to cause some respiratory issues if exposed regularly (my cat has asthma so I’m rather paranoid about that ). Also, when she was a kitten and we boarded her with our friends, she burnt her whiskers when going too close to the candle...

As for litter, I’m using SmartCat and SoPhresh grass seed interchangeably; it’s little difference between the two to me imo. But I noticed that SoPhresh is better when bought online, they pack it in a tight box, whereas when I was picking it up from Petco, it happened to me that it was more dusty then usual. But I live in a city and it doesn’t have to travel a lot, it’s delivered from the same place so I guess transport doesn’t affect it a lot, it can be different if it would need spend days in a truck I think.

I also tested almost every non clay litter on the market and settled with grass seed - it’s not perfect, especially it’s tracking is annoying, but it’s best when it comes to dust and it’s most important to me. Clay litters scare me to my bones and I’d never try them on my cats.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

I’m sorry for off topic, but candles can also be dangerous to a cat; it’s a little smoke for humans, but cats are smaller and it can be enough to cause some respiratory issues if exposed regularly (my cat has asthma so I’m rather paranoid about that ). Also, when she was a kitten and we boarded her with our friends, she burnt her whiskers when going too close to the candle...

As for litter, I’m using SmartCat and SoPhresh grass seed interchangeably; it’s little difference between the two to me imo. But I noticed that SoPhresh is better when bought online, they pack it in a tight box, whereas when I was picking it up from Petco, it happened to me that it was more dusty then usual. But I live in a city and it doesn’t have to travel a lot, it’s delivered from the same place so I guess transport doesn’t affect it a lot, it can be different if it would need spend days in a truck I think.

I also tested almost every non clay litter on the market and settled with grass seed - it’s not perfect, especially it’s tracking is annoying, but it’s best when it comes to dust and it’s most important to me. Clay litters scare me to my bones and I’d never try them on my cats.

Good to know. I only light it when they drop a really smelly one (new food tends to do that), and burn it for about an hour or so before blowing it out. I could go weeks without using it. I also have it up high and the window open. If you have any suggestions for odor elimination that is safer, please do share!

Every non-clay litter I've tried tracked bad, but I'd take that over my cats breathing in clay dust. I don't blame you for never wanting to use clay. Thinking about what my cats were breathing in every time they scratched made me uneasy myself.

 

[She's a witch]

I was using charcoal air purifying bags, hang close to the litter box; but now I use the best odor control there is, namely they are fed mostly raw food and their poos are almost odorless

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

I was using charcoal air purifying bags, hang close to the litter box; but now I use the best odor control there is, namely they are fed mostly raw food and their poos are almost odorless

Interesting, never heard of those. Both of my litter boxes came with charcoal filters but they didn't do much but trap the odor inside, so I took them out. I'll have to look into the bags. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[darg]

I didn't read the entire thread but I bought Tidy Cat Unscented when it was buy one get one free a little while back. I hadn't used any Tidy Cat product for a long time. I just cleaned and changed his box over the weekend. I was really surpised how little dust there was from the Tidy Cat. In fact, I didn't notice any when I poured it into his litter box. I added some store brand that I usually buy to the top of the new litter just in case there was any acclimation period but by now, the store brand is all mixed in. I used to use Cat's Pride unscented until it went lightweight. That litter wasn't terribly dusty but did have some dust as does the store brand I was using. But the Tidy Cat was very low dust, at least to the point that I didn't see any dust, and I don't think it's even marketed as "dust free".

Point being, if you end up having to stay with a clay litter for whatever reason, maybe give the Tidy Cat a try. The type I bought was unscented, full weight and has little, black charcoal beads sprinkled through it. I think I'm going to stick with it from now on because of the lower dust.

 

[sunflower7]

I use clay litter and kittypoo. Personally I found tidycat stuck to the box too much, after they urinated and it was harder to clean.

 

[Furballsmom]

I'll have to look for kittypoo...

 

[Tobermory]

I'll have to look for kittypoo...

Just check your litter box.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh lordy

 

[Glitterizer]

Pine pellets work amazing over here. No smell, easy clean-up (with a "sieve bottom" litter box), doesn't get tracked too easily (though sometimes Lana likes to play with the handful of pellets that get kicked out of the box, I wish I had one with higher walls).

 

[laureen227]

Pine pellets work amazing over here. No smell, easy clean-up (with a "sieve bottom" litter box), doesn't get tracked too easily (though sometimes Lana likes to play with the handful of pellets that get kicked out of the box, I wish I had one with higher walls).

I got this one & it works amazingly well! Nature's miracle high sided corner litter box.
corner litter box

 

[raina21]

I switched my cats to pine pellet litter (well it's actually marketed as horse pellet bedding but it is exactly the same as the pine pellet cat litter the sell in pet stores for way more money). Its only around $6 for a 40 pound bag at Tractor Supply or Rural King. Its biodegradable, is not dusty, has no odor except for smelling like wood, and when used with a sifting litter box, one 40lb bag can last 6 months or more (with 2 cats).

It is non-clumping but when the cats pee on it, the pellets break down into sawdust, which easily falls through the slats in a sifting litterbox as you scoop the poos out daily, leaving the clean pellets up top. All you really have to do is mix the litter around a little bit until all the sawdust falls down the slats and dump the box underneath that catches the sawdust maybe once a month (or you could dump it every time but I'm just lazy like that, plus as I mentioned before, it doesn't stink so I let it go a while).

Also, I have asthma and this litter is the only litter I have ever had that does not iritate my lungs.