Best Cat Litter To Use

Probably the number one question for new cat owners is "How many litter types are there?" Most people, when they think of cat litter, just think of the clay clumping litter. They don't realize that there is also Crystal litter, pine litter, paper litter, sand and corn-based litters, you can even use wood shavings! There are many different types of cat litter, and what you choose really comes down to your preferences and the strengths of each.

Clay litter is usually someone's first stop when they get a cat and realize it needs a place to poop. Clay litters have quite a few advantages, but most people find that their disadvantages outweigh them.

The Good

Clay litters are extremely easy to clean. The urine is immediately absorbed by the clay litter and bonds together in a sort of ball - this is known as "clumping". There is no loose or wet urine in the box, instead your left with an easy to remove clay ball. The same thing happens with solid waste, with the clay clinging to the outside. This allows you to clean the litter box fairly easily using a regular litter scoop or sifting liner.

Clay litters are also generally very inexpensive and most cats find them easy and comfortable to use, requiring little-to-no training.

The Not So Good

Clay litters are very dust heavy, even the ones that say they aren't. The dust levels vary from litter to litter, and the ones that are truly low dust can be very expensive. If the dust is bad for you, six feet in the air and ten feet away, imagine what it must be like for your kitty who is sitting in it!

Clay litters also don't do much for odors produced by cat waste, which can result in your home smelling like "cat". Some come packed with baking soda and other attempted wizardry to reduce the cat smell, but the only thing that really gets rid of cat odors in a home is frequent litter cleaning.

Another problem with clay litters is that they are like little tiny boxes of the beach, except inside your home. The clay will absolutely, without a doubt, get everywhere, and there is nothing you can do about it. You can get litter mats, and try all sorts of other magic, but the only cure is frequent vacuuming.

Bonded pine litter is amazing! It is made from actual pine that has been shaved down into saw-dust and then pressed together into small pellets. The pellets themselves are very large and easy to deal with. If the cat tracks them out of the box it is absolutely no problem whatsoever to simply pick them up and toss them back into the litter.

The litter itself smells like pine wood. It smells so good, in fact, that it will mask just about any odor that would normally come from the cat box. Mix it with a litter freshener and your house will no longer have that cat smell The litter is a non-clumping litter so it doesn't stick to feces and is also able to be flushed down a toilet. You will need to clean your cat's litter box daily to make sure there is no solid waste in the box.

When it comes to urine, the pellets simply absorb the liquid and break down into saw dust. Once every few days you can sift out the clean pellets and simply toss the saw dust into the trash. You will need to make sure to clean the saw dust out frequently as well to help remove odor and prevent infection in your cat.

Because of how different it is from a traditional litter or the soil that cats are instinctively used to, you may need to slowly transition your cat onto the litter over the course of a couple of weeks. This is easily done by mixing it half with clay litter and half with pine litter.