LitterBoxes

What Litter is Right for Your Cat??

By Shauna Toller, Baylynx Pixie-Bobs Photo courtesy of Baylynx Pixie-Bobs
Submitted Fall 2007

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Since most of us aren't going to train our cat to use the toilet, we need to buy cat litter. Many different
types of cat litters are available. There are clumping clay litters, grit based litters, litters with silica
crystals, litter made from corn cobs, news paper, orange peels, pine trees, you name it, it’s out there.
Which kind will work best for your cat?

Cats can be picky about the type of litter they prefer. Some will decide to use a different place to take
care of business if the material doesn’t meet their needs. If your cat is a litter box connoisseur, don’t
be surprised if you end up trying several different types of litter before you find the one your cat likes.

There are several questions to take in to consideration when choosing kitty litter. How many cats are
you owned by? What are their ages? Do any have medical problems that require certain types of
material or allergies that make it necessary to avoid kitty litter with specific allergens?

If you cater to several kitties in your home there are brands made for multicat households. Those
particular types of litters have extra absorbency and odor control to help keep the litter box fresh
smelling and dry.

Remember, you are dealing with thousands of years of feline evolution. Cats by nature prefer to use
clean and dry areas. This is how they are hard-wired, there's no getting around it. Many outside cats
won’t go in the same place, they will usually pick a different spot each time. This is why it is also good
to have more than just one litter box around the house.

Feline toilet behavior connects back to wild ancestry. Cats in their natural habitats behave this way.
Since smaller wild cats are not just predators but prey as well, they use different places each time to
help conceal themselves from predators. They also do it to mark territory to other felines of the same
species.

If your litter doesn’t keep the smell down and stay fairly dry, even after one use, many cats won’t use
that litter box until things are freshened up. We have a cat that can clear the room with just one visit
and no other cat, in its right mind, will go in to that litter box until I’ve scooped out the offensive little
package. Smelly litter boxes can lead to unwanted habits, such as not using it. Even if a litter box is
freshly scooped, if it still smells your kitty may let you know by leaving you a little present other than
in the litter box. So keep those litter boxes clean, dry and fresh smelling.

The age of your cat will also dictate what types of litter you can buy. Kittens under 4 months of age
should not use clumping litter. This can cause impaction of the intestines, which can kill the kitten
quickly. I’ve seen this at vet offices and it is horrible. Even some grit litters can do this. As a rule I
use litters that easily break down if ingested such as pine-pellet litter, litters made from newspaper,
or corncobs.

Kittens are messy, just like human babies, and aren’t the greatest at cleaning themselves after a potty
break. They usually get litter sticking to their feet and rear end that they end up licking off. Kittens
are also like human babies in that they are oral in learning about their environment. This means all
kinds of stuff end up in their mouths and digestive tracts, including litter.

If you have an elderly cat or cat with a medical problem that makes it hard for them to keep
themselves clean, clumping litter may not be the best route to go for the same reasons as for kittens.

If you have a cat with an open injury you will want to use a litter such as the pelleted types mentioned
above. They are less likely to stick to the wound. If a piece or two does happen to stick, they are easy
to brush off. In contrast, sand, grit, and clay litters can easily get stuck to the area and are tough and
painful to your cat to clean out.

If you have a declawed cat, pelleted or even grit litter may not be the best to use. A cat’s foot is very
tender and a declawed cat’s foot can be extra sensitive or painful. If your cat is declawed and has bad
litter box habits, try changing to a more soft/sandy litter.

If you have a cat that gets frequent urinary tract infections, there are a few types of litters that will
alert you to a possible flare up. Consult your veterinarian. If your cat has allergies or is sensitive to
dust particles, find a litter that produces minimal to no dust when they are using the box.

Hair length is another consideration in litter selection. Clumping litter can easily stick to the hair of a
longhaired cat and make grooming a nightmare.

that you have considered all of the different aspects of your kitty and his/her litter needs, I hope it will
be fairly easy to tackle the great wall of litter at your nearest pet shop or grocery store. This should
increase the chances of your litter passing the criteria of even the most discriminating feline litter
connoisseurs.

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As part of this article, we will be updating it with different types of litter tested by our cats. We would
love to have you contribute to our litter review. Please send your litter information to Raven at
raven@shapeshifting.com answering the following questions:

Brand:

Type:

Age:

Dust Level (rank from 0-5, 0= no dust, 5= need a ventilation mask):

Degree of Tracking (rank from 0-5, 0= little to no tracking, 5= don’t need to be an expert tracker to
track my cat throughout the house):

Odor control: (0-5, 0= call hazmat, 5= I have a cat?):

Long Hair/Short Hair:

Breed/Mix:

Single/multicat household:

Comments:

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Here are some brands we’ve tried and ranked. See above questions for key to responses.

Brand: Best Pine
Type: Pine Pelleted Litter
Ages: All ages
Dust Level: 1
Degree of Tracking: 2
Odor control: 5
Long Hair/Short Hair: Short Hair
Breed/Mix: Pixie Bob
Single or Multicat Household: Multicat, breeder
Comments: I buy this litter at a feed store. It is made for horses. It comes in a 40lb bag and is about
$8.00 per bag. Great Price! This litter is highly absorbent and I hardly notice any smell, sometimes I
don’t notice it at all. It has a nice natural pine scent. Their coats don’t smell like cat litter or are grimy
feeling like they get when I use some grit type litters. The size of the pellets helps prevent tracking, it
doesn’t stick to the cats/kittens, they come out smelling pine fresh.

Brand: Feline Pine
Type: Pine Pelleted Litter
Age: All Ages
Dust Level: 1
Degree of Tracking: 2
Odor Control: 5
Long Hair/Short Hair: Short Hair
Breed/Mix: Pixie Bob
Single/Multicat Household: Multicat/breeder
Comments: It’s more pricy, around $8-11.00 for about a 20lb bag. You can find it at Pets Mart and most
any other place that carries litter. Not a bad litter, but I don’t like the smell of the actual litter itself. It
has a very pungent pine smell that, to me, has a sickeningly sweet pine odor to it after the cats
urinate on it. I know others who use it and don’t mind that smell, or don’t notice it at all so it’s an
individual thing. Other than that, it is much like the Equine Pine.

Brand: Johnny Cat
Type: Grit litter
Age: It says it’s for all ages, I wouldn’t give it to kittens younger than 4 months.
Dust Level: 5
Degree of tracking: 4
Odor Control: 0
Long Hair/Short Hair: Short Hair
Breed/Mix: Pixie Bob
Single/Multicat Household: Multicat/breeder
Comments: I have found this to be a fairly messy litter especially with kittens. It is dirt cheap and you
get a large amount of it but as soon as I walk in to our house I get hit with the smell of ammonia, and I
clean the boxes at least twice a day. I have to put a large amount of it in the box to make sure that it
doesn’t get too wet between cleanings. It’s not very absorbent and is extremely dusty. My cats’ coats
are dulled and fell grimy and stink like the litter box from the dust. And if their coats stink, that rubs
off on to any furniture/carpet they rest on. It also sticks a bit more but falls off fairly easy making it
very trackable. I’ve tried adding baking soda, even Arm and Hammers pet formula and it didn’t help
the smell much. It was a bit of an improvement though.

Brand: Exquisicat
Type: clumping
Age: Kittens over 4 months
Dust Level: 3
Degree of Tracking: 3
Odor control: 4
Long Hair/Short Hair: Short hair
Breed/Mix: Pixie Bob
Single/Multicat Household: Multicat/breeder
Comments: Pretty good clumping litter. I prefer it to most and is the brand I usually buy if I must get a
clumping litter. I can still smell the ammonia and a certain faint litter box odor but less than most. I may
just have a sensitive nose. I do notice a duller coat and sometimes have a litter box odor to the coat,
not much though.

Video: Cat Flushing Toilet

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