Litter dust no more!

[jmorrellbellai]

Hi friends,
I've noticed over the past several months a real decline in the quality of clumping clay litters. Even my favourite brands of high quality clay litter that claim to be 99% dust free were creating dust clouds galore! Fed up with the dust, I finally discovered an alternative grass seed litter! Honestly, it has been the best thing ever and the kitties took to it right away. It has a feel similar to clay litter, clumps beautifully, and has virtually zero dust. I'm not affiliated with the company at all but it's called Fresh4Life Eco Grass for anyone who wants to try it.
Only downside I can think of is if you or your cat has a grass allergy...but there are other alternatives as well.
1. Anyone else notice a decline in litter quality recently?
2. Any litter alternatives you have had a good experience with?
I mostly just wanted to share this exciting discovery and hopefully help some of you and your fur babies out
Cheers,
Jasmine

 

[maggie101]

Hi friends,
I've noticed over the past several months a real decline in the quality of clumping clay litters. Even my favourite brands of high quality clay litter that claim to be 99% dust free were creating dust clouds galore! Fed up with the dust, I finally discovered an alternative grass seed litter! Honestly, it has been the best thing ever and the kitties took to it right away. It has a feel similar to clay litter, clumps beautifully, and has virtually zero dust. I'm not affiliated with the company at all but it's called Fresh4Life Eco Grass for anyone who wants to try it.
Only downside I can think of is if you or your cat has a grass allergy...but there are other alternatives as well.
1. Anyone else notice a decline in litter quality recently?
2. Any litter alternatives you have had a good experience with?
I mostly just wanted to share this exciting discovery and hopefully help some of you and your fur babies out
Cheers,
Jasmine

That sounds great! Does it smell? I am happy with what I use but like to try new things

 

[jmorrellbellai]

That sounds great! Does it smell? I am happy with what I use but like to try new things

We haven't noticed any smell but we have multiple litter boxes and scoop at least 2x/day so smell has never been an issue

 

[Mighty Orange]

Hi friends,
I've noticed over the past several months a real decline in the quality of clumping clay litters. Even my favourite brands of high quality clay litter that claim to be 99% dust free were creating dust clouds galore! Fed up with the dust, I finally discovered an alternative grass seed litter! Honestly, it has been the best thing ever and the kitties took to it right away. It has a feel similar to clay litter, clumps beautifully, and has virtually zero dust. I'm not affiliated with the company at all but it's called Fresh4Life Eco Grass for anyone who wants to try it.
Only downside I can think of is if you or your cat has a grass allergy...but there are other alternatives as well.
1. Anyone else notice a decline in litter quality recently?
2. Any litter alternatives you have had a good experience with?
I mostly just wanted to share this exciting discovery and hopefully help some of you and your fur babies out
Cheers,
Jasmine

Do you have a name for the litter. You are right 99% dust free only in the manufacture's dreams.

 

[FrazzledMumbly]

Can't do grass litters no matter how good the reviews get because I'd be in trouble as soon as winter's over. Ants love the stuff and I live in a very old house that gets invaders if you tempt them. I'm still using original Okocat these days. It has a fair amount of wood dust after a couple weeks as it breaks down but it's not a super airborne sort- it sticks to the sides of the litterbox without making clouds.

And yea, definitely noticed the dustiness go up with clay. I used to use a Dr Elsey litter for my old cat on and off and there was barely any dust at that time. Tried it with Max and I got smacked by a dust cloud no matter how gently I poured. It powdered his paws, left prints on my wood floor, and turned to cement when he tried to groom. So gross and nothing like it used to be.

 

[jmorrellbellai]

Do you have a name for the litter. You are right 99% dust free only in the manufacture's dreams.

Fresh4Life Eco Grass

 

[Alldara]

I did find everything super dusty. We switched to Okocat paper litter when it came out. It has a smell to it, but if it airs out then it's okay. We just leave the box in the basement. No dust though.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I used Woolworths clumping litter for about three years, never had any problems (the dust didn’t really bother me) until last year. It went from being a fairly fine clay litter to something more like gravel! It was so coarse it wouldn’t even fall through the scoop. Don’t know if they’d changed suppliers or what. I tried other sorts - paper (useless, stank within days, and I scoop multiple times per day) tofu (better, but still not great odour control) and now Enzyme activated litter. It’s pea fibre, activated charcoal and baking soda. Expensive - AU$27 for a 4kg bag - but that bag lasts three weeks, so it’s a bit less painful! It’s very good for odour control (only noticeable after someone’s had a shower and the bathroom is hot and a bit steamy) and doesn’t have any dust worth mentioning. It does track, of course. Phoebe walks around with fistfuls of litter, I swear. But it’s much easier to clean than clay litter, whether vacuuming or washing out of the tray.

 

[Cat.mama]

Can't do grass litters no matter how good the reviews get because I'd be in trouble as soon as winter's over. Ants love the stuff and I live in a very old house that gets invaders if you tempt them. I'm still using original Okocat these days. It has a fair amount of wood dust after a couple weeks as it breaks down but it's not a super airborne sort- it sticks to the sides of the litterbox without making clouds.

And yea, definitely noticed the dustiness go up with clay. I used to use a Dr Elsey litter for my old cat on and off and there was barely any dust at that time. Tried it with Max and I got smacked by a dust cloud no matter how gently I poured. It powdered his paws, left prints on my wood floor, and turned to cement when he tried to groom. So gross and nothing like it used to be.

You mentioned about grooming. How did you get the litter dust from the fur?

 

[Meowmee]

Hi friends,
I've noticed over the past several months a real decline in the quality of clumping clay litters. Even my favourite brands of high quality clay litter that claim to be 99% dust free were creating dust clouds galore! Fed up with the dust, I finally discovered an alternative grass seed litter! Honestly, it has been the best thing ever and the kitties took to it right away. It has a feel similar to clay litter, clumps beautifully, and has virtually zero dust. I'm not affiliated with the company at all but it's called Fresh4Life Eco Grass for anyone who wants to try it.
Only downside I can think of is if you or your cat has a grass allergy...but there are other alternatives as well.
1. Anyone else notice a decline in litter quality recently?
2. Any litter alternatives you have had a good experience with?
I mostly just wanted to share this exciting discovery and hopefully help some of you and your fur babies out
Cheers,
Jasmine

Unfortunately I’m allergic to grass so I don’t think I could use that. I do remember trying one of those years ago and it was so fine and it got tracked all over the place so I didn’t continue with it. I have been using worlds best cat litter for a few years now. It’s pretty good but I have noticed a decline in the quality and that it seems to break down very quickly and get more powdery and dusty and it absorbs moisture throughout especially in humid weather. For instance, I changed one of my large boxes about two weeks ago and it’s already broken down and a little bit soggy maybe. That was the extra large track free version too.
Back in December I was trying clay litters because I had taken in my last outdoor cat and they were really awful. I went through like three brands before I found one that was tolerable, which was the feather light when I had forgotten which company makes it now. But that was even more dusty animal urgent to clay too.
I was thinking about the Crystal Litter’s but I don’t trust them. I’ve tried them in the past to my cats didn’t like them and they didn’t last well if you have a lot of cats urinating in them. But at least there was less dust. Plus they are very expensive and I would not be able to afford to fill all the boxes I have with that worlds best cat litter is not cheap either.
I think I will try just about everything out there. The best solution I had was when I had the cat genie running, which was like a toilet for cats. It ran from a pump from the garage into a sink in my studio. Unfortunately the line from the device to the sink got a leak in it and I had a mini flood in my studio when it started leaking. I haven’t managed to get anybody to fix it yet. Quinn was the one that use that and Wizard before him and Quinn stopped using it when I took Merlin and I had to put a regular box out, so we’re back to regular boxes now.
That one has plastic glitter, which can be changed out or attitude as needed. But basically just queens itself are used to scoop the poop out though, but it was great for the urine. Although sometimes I got clogged and I had to clean it out.

Next best would be to have them use the toilet. I have tried that, but I was failed at it in the past. I really would like to eliminate cat litter from my life completely if possible

 

[Alldara]

Next best would be to have them use the toilet. I have tried that, but I was failed at it in the past. I really would like to eliminate cat litter from my life completely if possible

Even if you train a cat to use the toilet, keep in mind it is only temporary.

Eventually, when they are older they will not be able to do that. That's a jump up on to a slippery surface, balancing on a slippery surface and then down again.

Did you try Natural Balance at all? It's made with walnut shells. My cats really liked it.

 

[Meowmee]

Even if you train a cat to use the toilet, keep in mind it is only temporary.

Eventually, when they are older they will not be able to do that. That's a jump up on to a slippery surface, balancing on a slippery surface and then down again.

Did you try Natural Balance at all? It's made with walnut shells. My cats really liked it.

Yes I tried that for my previous cats. It costs a fortune and it tracks all over, I can’t remember how it for now in terms of humidity and moisture. if I could get them to use the Cat Genie, which is like a toilet, that would be perfect. CLIN was using that alone after civil passed away. Once I got Merlin, we had to go back to regular box for him, and then Quinn refused to use the Cat Genie and I never trained Merlin to use it. Then I had a flood in my studio due to the tubing breaking on that and I can’t get anyone to repair it. I can’t afford to get another one. Now they cost a fortune. I think they improved some of the flaws now.

Even if they had to go back to a litter box eventually it would still be worth several years of not having to purchase litter and deal with all the dust in the mess and the waste, etc.

 

[Margot Lane]

Thanks for the tip! I’ll give it a shot. Am always looking for something more eco conscious. I have to wonder too how much having a cat contributes to climate change, but that’s just me.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Even if you train a cat to use the toilet, keep in mind it is only temporary.

Eventually, when they are older they will not be able to do that. That's a jump up on to a slippery surface, balancing on a slippery surface and then down again.

Did you try Natural Balance at all? It's made with walnut shells. My cats really liked it.

Plus from what I've read, using the toilet is bad for them - it goes directly against their instinct to cover their urine and feces.

 

[Alldara]

Yes I tried that for my previous cats. It costs a fortune and it tracks all over, I can’t remember how it for now in terms of humidity and moisture. if I could get them to use the Cat Genie, which is like a toilet, that would be perfect. CLIN was using that alone after civil passed away. Once I got Merlin, we had to go back to regular box for him, and then Quinn refused to use the Cat Genie and I never trained Merlin to use it. Then I had a flood in my studio due to the tubing breaking on that and I can’t get anyone to repair it. I can’t afford to get another one. Now they cost a fortune. I think they improved some of the flaws now.

Even if they had to go back to a litter box eventually it would still be worth several years of not having to purchase litter and deal with all the dust in the mess and the waste, etc.

I had trouble with Natural Balance and humidity. Though it is reasonably priced here.

I've never used a automatic litter or anything similar as I think it's important to be able to see their "output" for knowing how their health is.

Nobel played immediately before and after he had blood in his urine. If I hadn't been home and had a normal litter, it could have progressed to a blockage.

Perhaps others here will have different advice for you. My only advice is that there are many non-clumping litters which will be less dusty.

I would also never want to risk my cat getting the habit of going on something they shouldn't because of something like using a toilet or litter genie.

 

[Meowmee]

I had trouble with Natural Balance and humidity. Though it is reasonably priced here.

I've never used a automatic litter or anything similar as I think it's important to be able to see their "output" for knowing how their health is.

Nobel played immediately before and after he had blood in his urine. If I hadn't been home and had a normal litter, it could have progressed to a blockage.

Perhaps others here will have different advice for you. My only advice is that there are many non-clumping litters which will be less dusty.

I would also never want to risk my cat getting the habit of going on something they shouldn't because of something like using a toilet or litter genie.

Sybil had a pee problem her whole life, she always used regular litters/boxes for poop but someone before we adopted her trained her to pee on paper... anyway the point is they can get pee issues etc. no matter whether they use a box or not. Nothing I did made a difference. She actually may have liked using a toilet instead, but I never tried to train her. She did use the cat genie sometimes after I trained Quinn to it. This isn't my op, I was just adding my input here.

Sometimes you need to give yourself a break when you have multiple cats. I have health issues and first got the cat genie for Wizard because he peed so much I could not keep up with the scooping. It made no difference to his health. He lived to be 21 or so and left me after having lymphoma finally. I have 5 cats now and I am recovering from a spinal fracture and have multiple issues which make it hard to maintain 6 litter boxes! So any way things can be easier, less expensive etc. I will try it. I had a litter robot for a long time for Wizard, but it was messy with the litter getting stuck everywhere, in the end it was worse even without having to scoop etc. I think the new one is better now. With the cat genie, I still scooped the poop daily for Quinn. Sometimes it would get clogged and doing that helped avoid that, but for pee it was great. My cats who had blood in urine always peed outside the box, to let me know I suppose that something was wrong.

I know there are a gazillion litters, and I have tried most of them over the years. The first issue is will the cat use it for me, and how bad does my asthma get from it etc. WBCL is ok, but very expensive and still pretty dusty. I went back to clay for a while when Cinnamon came inside, just for him, and that was awful, truly awful, like cement and the dust was bad, I am allergic to clay but he peed all over the bathroom at first because he didn't like the sustainably yours. He does use wbcl now though, yay!

 

[Meowmee]

Thanks for the tip! I’ll give it a shot. Am always looking for something more eco conscious. I have to wonder too how much having a cat contributes to climate change, but that’s just me.

not as much as having human children