Walnut litter vs wood pellet litter

Luvyna

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Has anyone used both types of litter and what are your opinions on which is better?

My 5-month old kitten, Zephyr, is currently using walnut litter and unfortunately I am finding it very dusty - sometimes Zephyr will come out of the litter box with dust on his fur and face, and I am choking on dust every time I pour litter or scoop it, even when wearing a mask. I will even find dust inside the mask after taking it off!

I found the method of litter box management below on YouTube and it looks easier to clean (and less expensive!) than what I'm doing currently - however, I've heard that wood pellet litter doesn't do a good job of covering poop smells and I find poop can be pretty bad even when fully covered with walnut litter + scooping 1-2 times a day. I'm also not sure about how to transition a cat to wood pellet litter, I imagine it's less intuitive than walnut litter which feels more like sand and is easier to dig through - anyone have experience with transitioning a cat to wood pellets from a more "sand-like" litter like clay or walnut?

 

GoldyCat

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It really depends on your cat I think. I have friends who use the pine pellets without any problems. My attempt to switch to the pine pellets was a total failure. My cats won't touch it, and end up peeing and pooping in inappropriate places.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi
Are you using Litter Maid's walnut? It isn't dusty, I use it in conjunction with clumping clay.
 
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Luvyna

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Hi
Are you using Litter Maid's walnut? It isn't dusty, I use it in conjunction with clumping clay.
I'm using another brand called Naturally Fresh - I Googled LitterMaid but it doesn't seem to be easy to find in Canada. Good to know there are some less dusty varieties of walnut litter out there though! Maybe it's just the brand I'm using. The main other issue is the amount of walnut litter that tracks all over the house even with litter mats. I'm not sure if this would be better with wood pellet litter or if tracking is just inevitable haha.
 

Robyn5678

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I use naturally fresh and the dust is awful. It makes me cough every time I scoop the box. I also have top entry and the inside is just covered in brown dust. It does hide the odor nicely but sometimes the clumps fall apart
 

Margot Lane

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My cat vetoed walnuts and pellets. I think he didn’t like the feel or the smell. And I vetoed them b/c it’s hard to see what’s going on in there…couldn’t keep track of his offerings b/c the pellets and walnuts either over-clumped or obfuscated the contents. It’s sand or clay for us, esp as some TCSers have been warning me about mites in some corn type litters. Actually have a second experimental litter box of just fresh dirt, as he was until recently outdoor/indoor.…there are some pellets made out of yesterday’s news you could try!
 

GoldyCat

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I use naturally fresh and the dust is awful. It makes me cough every time I scoop the box. I also have top entry and the inside is just covered in brown dust. It does hide the odor nicely but sometimes the clumps fall apart
Are you using the regular version or multicat? I accidentally got the regular stuff one time and it was ground so fine it was nothing but dust. The multicat is much better.

Hi
Are you using Litter Maid's walnut? It isn't dusty, I use it in conjunction with clumping clay.
I've done the same. Mixing the walnut and clay litter seems to cut the dust from both.
 
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Luvyna

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I use naturally fresh and the dust is awful. It makes me cough every time I scoop the box. I also have top entry and the inside is just covered in brown dust. It does hide the odor nicely but sometimes the clumps fall apart
I have the exact same experience! It's a huge pain.

Are you using the regular version or multicat? I accidentally got the regular stuff one time and it was ground so fine it was nothing but dust. The multicat is much better.


I've done the same. Mixing the walnut and clay litter seems to cut the dust from both.
I'm using the multi-cat and it's still super dusty, it's interesting that adding clay litter helps though!
 

Robyn5678

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Are you using the regular version or multicat? I accidentally got the regular stuff one time and it was ground so fine it was nothing but dust. The multicat is much better.
I have the multicat.
 

metropical

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we had no problem switching to horse bedding pine rolls from Agway type places. $6/40lbs. O is mostly an outdoor, so he's not a big user indoors unless we're away the day or he need a pee in the night. Bin last 4 to 8 wks and is very bio-degradable. YMMD.
It is nothing like sand unless you wet it a bit for transition. We did not. He could care less as long as he has a place to go.
It's by far the least smelly, pretty much none at all, unless he was dining al fresco. Then it's stinks, but nowhere near as long or as bad as every other litter method we tried over the years.
 
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Luvyna

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we had no problem switching to horse bedding pine rolls from Agway type places. $6/40lbs. O is mostly an outdoor, so he's not a big user indoors unless we're away the day or he need a pee in the night. Bin last 4 to 8 wks and is very bio-degradable. YMMD.
It is nothing like sand unless you wet it a bit for transition. We did not. He could care less as long as he has a place to go.
It's by far the least smelly, pretty much none at all, unless he was dining al fresco. Then it's stinks, but nowhere near as long or as bad as every other litter method we tried over the years.
This is great to hear, thanks! I might try mixing some wood pellet litter into the walnut litter to see how things go.
 

Robyn5678

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Are you using the regular version or multicat? I accidentally got the regular stuff one time and it was ground so fine it was nothing but dust. The multicat is much better.


I've done the same. Mixing the walnut and clay litter seems to cut the dust from both.
I mixed mine with clay litter and it’s not as dusty. I also like the combo of the clay and walnut better than any litter I’ve tried. It contains orders very good and clumps good. I’m going to try Litter Maid walnut next.
 
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