Which cat litter brand is the best?

Natuska

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Hi, I have a problem with the smell of my cats' litterbox. I scoop it out daily and change the litter regularly but it starts smelling of cat pee very quickly. I changed 3-4 litter brands and thankfully my cats were fine with all of these, but none of these brands were good. I am looking for a litter that minimises the pee smell. If possible, I am also trying to find a brand that it not distributed around the house very easily. Those of you who are happy with the litter you use, can you please share the brands you've had good experience with? Thanks :)
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! I have been using a mix of Tidy Cats Free and Clean plus Littermaid corncob or walnut, or Cats Pride also. I'm not noticing an odor even if I don't get to it until later in the day.
 
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Natuska

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Hi! I have been using a mix of Tidy Cats Free and Clean plus Littermaid corncob or walnut, or Cats Pride also. I'm not noticing an odor even if I don't get to it until later in the day.
Thanks so much for your reply, I will check it out.
 

kat003

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I use silica based litter and it works well. We have 3 cats and it works great for them, we have 2 litter boxes. I've used pet safe(only problem is the tracking with the crystals, i have a mat in front of the boxes that seems to help.) and many other brands. You can get it almost anywhere. The crystals soak up the pee very well and only need to be changed once a month unless you have 2 cats then about ever 2 weeks. As for poo, it could be better.
 

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I switched from tidy cats to arm&hammer. Using a rug in front of the box. I like it better. I like the paper packaging vs the plastic bins tidy cats comes in.
I found that the plastic litter boxes never ever come quite clean again... I suspect they hold some odor. I use liners (which I hate because I hate all things plastic). I’m looking into stainless steel boxes for this very reason. I’m eyeballing that non-porous surface thinking that might just be cleaner.
 

crouton

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I switched from tidy cats to arm&hammer. Using a rug in front of the box. I like it better. I like the paper packaging vs the plastic bins tidy cats comes in.
I found that the plastic litter boxes never ever come quite clean again... I suspect they hold some odor. I use liners (which I hate because I hate all things plastic). I’m looking into stainless steel boxes for this very reason. I’m eyeballing that non-porous surface thinking that might just be cleaner.
You can get big catering pans from restaurant supply instead of paying for the litter pan if cost is an issue
 

crouton

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There is no best just best for you. Worlds best is worlds worst for us. I’ve tried every single style and brand available to us. We stick with Dr Elseys, not great but best for us. I can’t stand the tidy cats or arm and hammer. Fresh step is ok but dusty. My cats hate all kinds of natural or silica litter.
 

klunick

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I use Fresh Step with Febreeze (non-clumping). I don't have a sense of smell but the boys/men in the house do and have never complained about the smell with 4 litter boxes in the house. Unlike crouton crouton , I haven't noticed that much dust emitted from Fresh Step whether pouring it in or when the cats use the boxes.
 

T.O.

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You can get big catering pans from restaurant supply instead of paying for the litter pan if cost is an issue
Ooh....🤔 I was hoping to find a box with a lid. But they don’t make that.
 

crouton

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I use Fresh Step with Febreeze (non-clumping). I don't have a sense of smell but the boys/men in the house do and have never complained about the smell with 4 litter boxes in the house. Unlike crouton crouton , I haven't noticed that much dust emitted from Fresh Step whether pouring it in or when the cats use the boxes.
Its not that it's emitted for you to see, I use a lot of boxes and some are light colored and some are dark colored. The fresh step doesn't show as much dust in the light colored boxes but in a dark box whoo boy. After one use the whole box is coated in dust and taking a damp towel or wipe to the box shows a huge collection of dust. Also i observed my cats feet after using each litter and we tried fresh step clean paws, simply unscented, ultra unscented and some kind of other unscented i could only find online and every single one of them had this large amount of dust. I also note that fresh step unscented is not unscented. After cleaning these boxes i can smell the scent of the litter in my nostrils for quite some time, its especially prevalent if you blow your nose right after which I have to do due to allergies.

The areas that had the fresh step boxes were also coated in a fine dust after a short period of time. Fixtures, furniture, hard flooring. Dr Elsey's does this too but the fresh step has more dust in my experience.
 

arr

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We use Tidy Cats 24/7 for multiple cats - it’s the bin with the red lid. I feel that the fragrance is barely noticeable but weve also used the fragrance free one or mix them. We have three cats and four litter boxes that we scoop twice a day. Once a week I take one of the boxes and dump the litter into the other three and wash it with antibacterial dish soap, then add fresh litter. So they all get washed once a month. There is no odor problem.

To be honest, I see a lot of threads about litter box odor and I don’t get it. If the poop and clumps of pee are scooped out daily, then where is the odor coming from? Do some cats have super strong smelling pee or something?

As far as dust and tracking, this litter claims to be low dust but I still see a lot of dust. And it tracks just like any clay litter does. I don’t think there exists a clay litter that is low dust and low tracking. We sweep daily.
 
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Beholder

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There is no best just best for you. Worlds best is worlds worst for us. I’ve tried every single style and brand available to us. We stick with Dr Elseys, not great but best for us. I can’t stand the tidy cats or arm and hammer. Fresh step is ok but dusty. My cats hate all kinds of natural or silica litter.
I hate World's Best! It amazes me that it's one of the most highly recommended litters. I gave my bag away to my dad to use for oil in the driveway, it was so bad. It did nothing to cover up the urine smell (actually exacerbated it) and didn't even clump properly. I feel like I could have found a better litter at the dollar store. :rolleyes:

I also use Dr. Elsey's, which isn't perfect, but sufficient for us.
 

T.O.

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We use Tidy Cats 24/7 for multiple cats - it’s the bin with the red lid. I feel that the fragrance is barely noticeable but weve also used the fragrance free one or mix them. We have three cats and four litter boxes that we scoop twice a day. Once a week I take one of the boxes and dump the litter into the other three and wash it with antibacterial dish soap, then add fresh litter. So they all get washed once a month. There is no odor problem.

To be honest, I see a lot of threads about litter box odor and I don’t get it. If the poop and clumps of pee are scooped out daily, then where is the odor coming from? Do some cats have super strong smelling pee or something?

As far as dust and tracking, this litter claims to be low dust but I still see a lot of dust. And it tracks just like any clay litter does. I don’t think there exists a clay litter that is low dust and low tracking. We sweep daily.
Yes. Some cats can clear out a room. I think also, maybe, some people are only scooping. Even if it’s a clumping litter my vet recommends emptying the entire box once a week because the smell accumulates despite scooping.
I’m convinced that the better cat foods also contribute to a healthier aroma. By healthier, I mean that turd will clear out a house.
 

crouton

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Yes. Some cats can clear out a room. I think also, maybe, some people are only scooping. Even if it’s a clumping litter my vet recommends emptying the entire box once a week because the smell accumulates despite scooping.
I’m convinced that the better cat foods also contribute to a healthier aroma. By healthier, I mean that turd will clear out a house.
One of my kittens has a foul aroma and nothing wrong with him or what he eats, have tried probiotics but he's sensitive to some. No stomach issues or stool consistency issues but a small turd of his could clear out a small village. It definitely spreads through our 3 level home as if the turd were following you around wrapping you in it's aroma. We find that Dr Elseys works best for his stinky poops, at first it's smelly but the smell dissipates faster using Dr. Elseys than other litters. Sometimes I can't scoop immediately but I scoop all boxes 3-4 times a day

I can't use the 24/7 tidy cats because it smells terrible. Even just opening the container it made my whole house reek of potpourri smell. We also tried the free unscented which indeed didn't have a scent but i found it to be lacking in clumping, odor control, and tracking/stuck to feet. It cemented to my cats feet all the time even if they didn't walk in urine or anything. Also the charcoal in it made them leave black footprints on the white tiled floor and it stained their white paws black.
 
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