Comments on: Natural Cat Litter Comparison – Part 2

By: simone

simone — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:31:19 +0000

Love the Green Tea Leaves clumping litter. No dust, no perfume, great odor control (for one cat for sure!) and easy to clean up. It doesn’t clump really well, but that doesn’t bother me as much as dust and perfume from clay litters. The one thing I don’t like about it, is that it is pricey.

By: jenny

jenny — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:49:53 +0000

i breed smoke persians and have automatic littermaid litter boxes — i lover the WBC for that purpose, but have heard that there is a petsmart knock off of that brand for a lot less money — is that true? is there a clumping Exquisicats corn litter? has anyone tried it? — i always switch to yesterday’s news before a queen is ready to deliver because i once had a baby born in clay clumping litter (fortunately i was just around the corner and was (with lots of trouble) able to wash off all the clumping litter from his wet little newborn body — but i was wondering if i could just leave the WBC in for the queens, it seems it wouldnt be too bad getting it off of wet babies if necessary… In the boxes, some of my cats prefer the clay so i have a few with clay litter — for me the best has been ever clean — fresh step was the worst…

By: Kitty Resq

Kitty Resq — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:38:54 +0000

I have tried nearly every litter out there looking for the best one. Feline Pine is nothing more than wood pellet stove fuel and you can buy a 40-pound bag at Lowe’s or Home Depot (or your local feed store) for less than $5. Don’t waste your money on the Feline Pine. Feline Pine (or wood stove pellets) disintegrates when peed on and turns into sawdust. The sawdust tracks everywhere. World’s Best is extremely dusty. The label says “99% dust free”, but if you read the fine print, it says “silica dust”. If a black cat goes into a box with this litter, its feet will be encased in dusty boots upon exiting the box. My favorite litter is Nature’s Miracle, and the Wal-Mart brand is identical. Not all stores carry it, but this link is for the product and you can input your zip code to find out if your local store carries it. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10450484

This litter has NO dust. It does track. The scent is a pleasant woodsy aroma, not some fake perfumey stuff. The clumps are not rock-hard, but I prefer this. It means my cats won’t have cement-like bits of litter stuck in their paws. Art and Hammer makes a similar litter, but it has a very obnoxious, heavy perfume. Cats don’t like perfume and this one gives me a headache!

Nature’s Miracle (and the Wal-Mart version) is more expensive than many litters, but if you scoop daily, one bag will last a month. Really. It ends up being less expensive than other “cheaper” types.

By: Jessica M

Jessica M — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:35:51 +0000

I am always looking to get a better, safer litter for my babies, I know the only one that I tried that they HATED was the feline pine (original pellets), I do not think they liked the feel of them under their little feet, I did try the feline pine clumping BUT the clumpimg was terrible it fell apart in the scoop and made a mess to deal with, so for right now we have gone back to Scoop Away,(not all natural but by far the best odor control & clumpimg. We occasionally use red tidy cat clumping but its only if Mom has a coupon for it!!!

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:30:40 +0000

Hi there! I’m sorry I’m so late with this comment – I completely missed litter week when it actually happened! I wanted to share what I do, which is a bit unconventional. But it works great.

I use a combination of World’s Best Multicat and Nature’s Miracle. I can’t take credit – I read about it on another blog a couple years ago. World’s Best clumps so well, but isn’t that great at masking the odor. Nature’s Miracle doesn’t clump as well, but is fabulous with odor! So we do a half and half mix, and it’s perfect. The cats even help me mix it – it’s their favorite part.

I do have a couple interesting stories about other natural litters I’ve tried. When I was living in hot, humid Houston, I used Swheat Scoop for a while. However, I developed a fruit fly problem, as they were apparently eating and reproducing in the litter. After a disturbing incident, I switched away from that one to World’s Best (no such issues with that one).

A few years ago, I wanted to experiment with better smelling litters. Clumping Feline Pine was one of the trials. I had just taken in a little kitten, who was about 5 weeks old at the time. I filled up her box, went upstairs to fill the other, and by the time I got back downstairs, the kitten had taken all of the litter out of her box and was playing in it! It was hilarious. But I had sawdust all over for weeks.

By: tj

tj — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:46:58 +0000

Found PaPurr’s website: http://papurr.com/index/?page_id=2

By: Tinny

Tinny — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:32:51 +0000

Was the method of introduction of new litter discussed? I learned to start with the old and sprinkle the new lightly on top. My cats get used to the feel of the new on their paws gradually. Then I sprinkle more and more of the new on top as the days go on and it mixes in. Very gradually. I have introduced at a faster pace and been sorry.
(Sorry if this was already mentioned. I didn’t read each and every line of this website.)

By: James

James — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:37:26 +0000

I love Feline Pine, but like most folks I hate the tracking from the saw dust as it breaks down. I have to vacuum my little apartment every other day when the sawdust starts to build up! I *LOVE* the idea of the Feline Pine ‘Self Cleaning’ (but we all know theres no such thing – everything needs some kind of human maintenance) Litterbox, but I wish they had a covered version. I would so buy one if they did. I just wrote them a little note asking if they ever have any plans to make a covered version and begging them to please make one.

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:13:43 +0000

Tina – I have been using WBCL corn litter for 6 years with my bunny and two cats. I have never had any allergy problems with it, even when I have caught them eating it. As for your cat’s bladder stone problem, I had a similar problem with one of my cats. She had repeated urinary tract infections with crystals that caused her pain to where she didn’t want to use the box either. I had her on antibiotics all the time from the vet, got special cat food from the vet, and even tried natural cranberry cures. None worked. I finally found a book called The Whole Pet Diet by Andi Brown and began making homeade stews for her food. This changed everything. She has been healthy and completely UTI free for 2 years. Andi Brown also owns a company called Halo that makes Spot’s Stew, all natural stews for cats and dogs. You can find it at Petco.

By: luscious loofa

luscious loofa — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:47:05 +0000

i use Close to Nature organic. I had to transition my cat by mixing clay litter with it but once I started to mix less clay, I found number of problems. First, when my kitty urinates, it turns into a blob of sticky gewy chunk that sticks to the bottom of the tray. Second, it tracks more than i would like it to even though it is probably less and Third, it is a bit dusty. i love the idea of “organic litter” but now my high maintenance cat won’t use it. i found poop and pees outside of her litter box. i am desperate to find a better solution and will try Fresh Pine (which is hard to find) and Papurr.

By: Leah

Leah — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:35:35 +0000

I use swheat scoop and have found that if I spray the bottom of the litter box and the sides up to where I will fill it with litter each time I change the box with cooking spray, the litter doesn’t stick to the box as much. I would be willing to bet that the cooking spray trick would work with any of the natural litters.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:31:10 +0000

I’ve been using World’s best extra strength for a year now, and it works great compared to the other natural litters. It’s slightly dusty (definitely less than clay) and odor control is subpar compared to clay, however, I sprinkle a little bit of baking soda everyday to keep the litter box fresh.

By: Betty

Betty — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:19:24 +0000

I used this when transitioning my 2 kitties to the Litter Robot and it was like a magnet – apparently it smells like dirt which they love(?) You do need to get the kind your Vet sells because the stuff in the Pet Stores just isn’t the same.

By: Tina

Tina — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:46:27 +0000

i’m pleased to see that people are still adding comments to this litter week article posted back in november 2008. it is really useful information. i’m reading through this again and reading all the comments, because my cat has bladder stones and doesn’t like to use the litter box any more. he associates pain with going to the bathroom in the box. so i’m constantly cleaning up after him. it is very tiresome to do this. have any of you heard of Precious Cat Litter Attractant? I’m curious if it has worked for cats to get to the use the box again. i also use shweat scoop and like it. i head about feline pine, but don’t like the pellets or haven’t learned how to scoop or clean it yet. but i mixed some of the feline pine clumpable with the swheat scoop and helps a lot with odor control. i also use to use WBCL but a pet behavior specialist told me that cat have a natural allergen to corn. Is that true?

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:52:50 +0000

I am having a really hard time finding some of these litters. WBCL was fantastic (but VERY DUSTY!), but I discovered that my cat is allergic to corn, so that rules out several I wanted to try. I have just tried Feline Pine and find that the clumping isn’t good, and the odor control is LOUSY. So frustrating!

By: Le Chat Noire

Le Chat Noire — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:12:02 +0000

Has anyone tried Pet Ecology’s perfectlitter?: http://www.petecology.com/www/ourproducts.php

It has an “alert” feature in which the litter turns pink if your cat has a urinary tract infection.

By: Daphne

Daphne — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:40:42 +0000

Has anyone heard of Litter Pearls? It’s made of silica sand that the company says is safe even if ingested. It also instantly absorbs all liquids eliminating odors. Sounds good, but I’m not sure if I trust it. Any thoughts?

By: Betty

Betty — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 12:23:32 +0000

I’ve started using the Close To Nature and it does a great at odor control, but the stuff turns to cement when wet. I am a scooping fanatic and keep the box really clean … this drives me nuts. I used to use WBCL and did have problems with odor and tracking (used it for years). CTN doesn’t track, has great odor control but the cement thing is not fun.

By: LuckyMonkey

LuckyMonkey — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:23:48 +0000

First we’ve tried WBCT and we just couldn’t deal with tracking: it was everywhere (granted, we live in a small apartment).

Next came Feline Pine and Cat’s County. Both create dust and cats love to get the pellets out of the box and chase the around.

So far, the perfect solution is not reached…

By: Betty

Betty — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 11:58:34 +0000

Hi, I have been using WBCL for a few years, but it wasn’t the best for odor control even though I scoop 2-3 times a day and it left my kitty with white paws with yellow paws. I’ve recently switched to Close to Nature and so far I love it. There is almost no tracking and no odor. It isn’t easy to find, but luckily I found a retailer who wasn’t too far from me. It really is cost prohibitive to have this stuff shipped. It seems that “we” are always in search of the perfect litter.

By: Mandy

Mandy — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:52:19 +0000

I’m joining this conversation late in the game, but just discovered Modern Cat (while searching for DIY cat furniture – great ideas, BTW), and wanted to contribute nonetheless.

We are very low tech – we use newspaper. One section goes in the bottom of the tray as a liner, then we shred a few pages to add texture to the box (to satisfy the need to bury/cover). We have a sphynx and he is very happy with this arrangement. We clean the box once a day, sometimes twice if he’s peeing a lot, and it’s the cleanest, most odor-free solution we’ve ever experienced (not to mention cheapest!)

I have to credit my grandmother with this solution – she uses newspaper for her two cats. There’s no tracking problem and no expensive litter costs!

By: Tina

Tina — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:11:41 +0000

I use a Better Way – Flushable. It’s got Cat Attractant in it and its biodegradable. When I used it in a litter box, there was dust issue, but my cats loved the litter a lot. Now that I’m training them to use the human toilet using Litter Kwitter, the Better Way is real handy. I’m debating using Precious Cat Attractant to persuade them to use it more instead of my floors :p

By: Nicole E

Nicole E — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:48:26 +0000

I buy the Disney Aristrocats Pine litter. It doesn’t dust and it is scoopable. Best of all I can’t smell the littler box through out the house. The only down side to it is that I can only find it at the local grocery store Jay C Store/ Krogers. I have tried walmart and Pet Smart but had no luck. If anyone knows of any other stores that might carry this product please let me know.

By: jenny

jenny — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:18:29 +0000

Right now I use the Arm & Hammer Essentials..I like the perfumey smell, mostly because my chubby cat leaves toddler sized poops..
I thought I had finally found a litter! Life was easy again!
Wrong.
Yesterday and about a week ago, my other cat pooped on my bed!
She sleeps there too..
She’s healthy. I know she hates my other cat..Why the poop on the bed? After doing some research and using my brain..I’ve come to the conclusion she hates the perfumey smell..
I’ve used Feline Pine and PaPurr..but when chubby was sick ( diabetes) I changed litters because I thought that was the problem..after the doctors diagnosis of diabetes I stuck with the Arm & Hammer..hmmm

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:14:53 +0000

instead of feline pine pellets, I buy animal bedding pellets at the hardware store. MUCH CHEAPER. But I need to find a scooper that will let the pellets fall through; mine seems to be too narrow.