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Any cat caretaker (I first typed “owner,” but I think all of us cat lovers realize that’s really not the case) knows that choosing a good cat litter can be a difficult and frustrating task. Each litter has its pros and cons–and the cons often overshadow the pros–so we continue our quest to find the Holy Grail of cat litters.

The criteria I use to assess the quality of a litter are as follows: 

• How well do my kitties like the litter?
• How effective is the litter’s odor control properties?
• How much do my kitties track the litter?
• How much does the litter cost?

Pine Pellet Litter

Popular Brands of Pine Litter

• Feline Pine Cat Litter by Nature’s Earth Products
• ExquisiCat Enviro-Friendly Pine Cat Litter

My Cats’ Take on Pine Litter

I used pine pellet litter for nearly five years and liked it quite well. The downside of the litter is that it’s quite heavy, so my cats didn’t do well at covering up their waste (aka tootsie rolls). Towards the end of the years that I used the pine litter, one of my kitties developed a dislike of pine litter and started to paw at the carpet, though he never had an accident. I switched my kitties to clay litter at that point, and this particular kitty’s carpet-digging problem subsided. (More on this in the clay litter section.)

Odor Control Properties of Pine Litter

Pine litter has a pleasant, natural, outdoorsy smell. However, it doesn’t provide spectacular odor control once the kitties christen it. Some of this is due to the fact that kitties have a hard time covering their offerings with the pine pellets.

Tracking of Pine Litter

Pine litter is the heaviest litter available, so tracking is minimal. I absolutely love this about pine litter.

Cost of Pine Litter

Based on cost comparison with other litters, I’ve found the cost of pine litter to be in the low to mid-range.

My Take on Pine Litter

I personally like pine pellet litter the best of available litters, but my kitties weren’t as thrilled with it as I was since they can’t dig in it very well. I loved that the cats didn’t fling the pellets everywhere and didn’t track it outside of the box. In addition to my kitties’ dislike of pine litter, the other problem with this litter is that liquid waste dissolves the pine pellets. For this reason, I used a cup to scoop out the waste.

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Newspaper Pellet Litter

Popular Brands of Newspaper Litter

• Yesterday’s News Cat Litter

My Cats’ Take on Newspaper Litter

During the years that I was using the pine pellet litter, I would often also buy newspaper pellet litter when it was on sale. My cats liked the newspaper litter better than the pine litter because they had an easier time covering up their waste since the newspaper pellets are lighter weight. The Yesterday’s News brand also comes in two textures–regular and soft. The soft texture is lighter than the regular variety and thus easier for the kitties to paw through.

Odor Control Properties of Newspaper Litter

Odor control is quite good with newspaper litter, especially if you purchase the soft texture since kitties are better able to cover their waste.

Tracking of Newspaper Litter

Tracking is minimal with newspaper litter, though not quite as good as with pine litter since newspaper is quite a bit lighter.

Cost of Newspaper Litter

Based on cost comparison with other litters, I’ve found the cost of newspaper litter to be in the mid-range.

My Take on Newspaper Litter

I really like newspaper litter, and my cats liked it better than pine litter since they were able to dig in it better. One downside to newspaper, like with pine, is that it disintegrates when it gets wet, so you have to scoop with a cup. Another drawback is that it is dirtier than pine. The kitties sometimes get black smudgy stuff on their paws from it.

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Wheat Litter

Popular Brands of Wheat Litter

• Sweat Scoop: Natural Wheat Litter

My Cats’ Take on Wheat Litter

Wheat litter is very light and soft, so cats can easily paw through it. My cats seemed to like it.

Odor Control Properties of Wheat Litter

Surprisingly, I found the odor control properties of wheat litter to only be so so. I expected the odor control to be better, but a highly unappealing aroma is created when the wheat scent mixes with the putrid fragrance of cat waste.

Tracking of Wheat Litter

Tracking is horrible with wheat litter. I think my kitties managed to track more wheat litter out of the box than was in there to begin with.

Cost of Wheat Litter

Based on cost comparison with other litters, I’ve found the cost of wheat litter to be in the mid- to high range.

My Take on Wheat Litter

I only purchased wheat litter once because my experience with it was so bad. My cats completely covered the floor of the room with the cat boxes in it with the light and airy wheat litter. They also tracked it throughout the house because the wheat litter is almost weightless. Odor control also leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t think there is anything that is good about wheat litter, but I suppose some people do like it since it is available in stores.

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Clay Litter

Popular Brands of Clay Litter

• Tidy Cat
• Fresh Step
• Ever Clean
• Arm & Hammer

My Cats’ Take on Clay Litter

My cats prefer clay litter over all other litters. Clay litter is easy for them to paw through and cover up their waste. My theory is that clay litter is similar to the dirt cats use outdoors so this is probably why many cats like it so well.

Odor Control Properties of Clay Litter

The odor control properties of clay litters vary greatly. Everything depends on the brand of litter that you purchase. I’ve found that the cheapo clay litters are horrible at masking odors. Perfumed litters formulated for multi-cat households seem to be the best, though some people have some concern about whether perfume will have a detrimental effect on cats. (For that matter, some people worry that clay litter dust could get into kitties’ lungs and do harm, though there is no conclusive evidence that it does.)

Tracking of Clay Litter

Tracking is a problem with clay litter. The litter is made up of fine granules that easily stick to kitties’ paws and get caught in their fur and so are tracked throughout the house. Kitties also often inadvertently (or advertently) scoop the litter out of the litter box when they are pawing through it. I’ve also noticed that the dust around my house smells like the perfume in the cat litter, which is a bit gross.

Cost of Clay Litter

Based on cost comparison with other litters, I’ve found the cost of a quality clay litter to be in the mid-range. There are some very cheap clay litters, but you should avoid those at all costs since they don’t clump and don’t have odor control properties.

My Take on Clay Litter

I never liked clay litter much until a year or two ago because it is easily tracked throughout the house and because the varieties I tried didn’t have the best odor control properties. I started using clay litter, though, because my cats prefer it to the other varieties of litters. Be sure to purchase the clumping variety of clay litter. If you don’t, you’ll be scooping out big wet masses of urine-soaked mud from the bottom of the box.

If you have a kitty that has litter box issues, I highly recommend Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract Litter, which is formulated with herbs to attract kitties to it. It was a godsend when a couple of my kittens were peeing on the floor. The litter is a little pricey, but it has a money-back guarantee if you don’t see results. I have never had to purchase more than one bag of it to get my kitties back on track.

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Crystal Litter

Popular Brands of Crystal Litter

• Exquisicat Crystal Cat Litter
• PetCo Crystal Litter
• Pet Essentials Crystal Cat Litter (available at Target)

My Cats’ Take on Crystal Litter

My cats have done well on crystal litter as well and seem to like it almost as well as clay litter. One of my kitties has problems with the crystals getting stuck to his paws, but he just furiously shakes them and then the problem is solved. For some reason, my kitties sometimes don’t have as much success covering their waste with the crystal litter as they do with clay litter.

Odor Control Properties of Crystal Litter

I’ve found the odor control properties of crystal litter to be the best of any litter I’ve tried. I think this quality is the greatest benefit of this litter.

Tracking of Crystal Litter

Like clay litters, tracking is a problem with crystal litter. The crystals are quite light so cats easily track them out of the box.

Cost of Crystal Litter

Based on cost comparison with other litters, I’ve found the cost of crystal litter to be in the high range.

My Take on Crystal Litter

I love crystal cat litter, though it does have some downsides. It is the most expensive litter I’ve come across. However, it is formulated to last longer than other litters. Basically with crystal litter, you just scoop out solid waste, but you mix up the liquid waste. The crystals are super absorbent, so you just keep stirring up the liquid waste. Now, eww, that is quite disgusting, I agree, but it does seem to be effective.

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Tips and Tricks: Mixing Litters

There are definite pros and cons of various litters. I haven’t found the perfect one yet that satisfies all of the needs that I and my kitties have. I’m interested in a low-tracking, odor-control, reasonably priced litter. My kitties are basically just interested in a litter they can dig through easily. Currently, I am mixing a clay litter with a crystal litter–about two parts clay to one part crystal. This way my cats are happy with the mixed litter because they can dig through the litterbox like it’s a sandbox, and I’m happy with the mixed litter for the following reasons:

1. The odor control is very good (because of the crystals)
2. The clay litter allows for clumping (no continual stirring up of urine-laden crystals for me – the thought of that is just nasty)
3. The price is quite reasonable since I’m using mostly clay litter, which is economically price

The downside of this mixing strategy is that I still haven’t solved the tracking problem. Perhaps I’ll have to incorporate pine litter into the mix. (Hmm, now that might be a good idea I need to try!)

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