Picking the Best Cat Litter

Picking the right cat litter can be easily overlooked, but finding a good litter is one of the most important aspects of having a cat. And, buying the wrong cat litter can create a nasty mess and foul smells to clean up. Nikki and I have exprerimented with cat litter that we payed more for than we though we would ever spend on litter, the absolute cheapes kitty litter you can find, and even corn based cat litter. We have found that the type and brand of cat litter does matter.

If you're a new cat owner you will quickly learn that cat litter is probably one of the most important aspects of proper cat hygiene. However, we also found that this doesn't necessarily mean that the most expensive litter is the best. Hopefully, our "experiments" in the science of maintaining a clean, odor free (or almost) cat box can provide some guidance for you.

I think the most important aspects in selecting a cat litter are probably odor prevention and clumping ability. Other important concerns are litter dust and the cost, of course, and these will also be discussed. I'll first run through some of these more important kitty litter characteristics, along with our impressions of how different types and brands of litter relate to these characteristics, and then I'll conclude with a brief summary of the best litters we've found.

The importance of odor control in a cat litter is obvious. Some litters offer no odor control, others mask foul odors, and other cat litters absorb and simply control the odor. The cheapest cat litter we've used was the typical generic brand that basic consists of a bag of gravel. This is not recommended. The smell of ammonia will soon be emitting from the cat box and you'll be running to the store for another bag of litter. I think we've had the most luck with the odor control types of cat litter with our favorite being Arm & Hammer's litter with baking soda.

The clumping ability of a cat litter has a lot to do with the amount of odor emitted. One of the primary reasons I don't recommend the generic litter is because it does not clump and cat urine will remain in the box. This is not good! Get litter that clumps. There are a lot of brands that clump and as long as this claim is made on the box you should be fine. We haven't had any brands that didn't clump that were supposed to. Arm and Hammer litter does a good job here as well.

There are also types of litter that create a lot of dust, are tracked outside the box easily, or, even worse, the litter gets stuck on your cat's paws. The generic cat litter does create a lot of dust and you'll be sweeping cat litter often. Plus, your cats will have to dig in the litter that hasn't clumped. Again, not a good situation. Another type of litter that we had dust problems with was corn based cat litter. Here, Arm & Hammer's version did not work well for us. The corn based litter was too small and light and became stuck in the cat's fur and drifted about the floor outside the cat box.

Its worth stating a few extra opinions about the corn based kitty litter. It is great if you want to use a biodegradable cat litter from a renewable source, however get the right kind. We've tried World's Best Cat Litter and Arm & Hammer's brand of corn litter with World's Best Cat Litter the hands down favorite. Principally due to the fact that it didn't have the dust problems and get stuck in the cat's fur. However, it does come at a price. While World's Best Cat Litter is more expensive it has staying power and will last longer than regular litter.

In general, we're very pleased with Arm & Hammer's odor control type of cat litter and if you decide to use the corn based litter, pay the extra price.