Clay Litter:

My vet is highly adamant about using clay litter. Actually he suggested clay litter is indistinguishable from clay-based oil absorbent (used to clean oil spills); the latter being far less expensive.
ok, I went to Sam's club and bought a 40# bag of the oil absorbent stuff for less than $5.00.
40# of dead weight is heavy, but I ventured on optimistically.

Pro: It does have very light 'clumping' tendencies for large quantities of urine (multi cats) The cats seemed content with just a few scratches covering to their satisfaction. It didn't seem to bother their feet. I could remove the solids and stir. After all it IS MENT to absorb liquids, but this was only good for a day with multi cats. (I tend my litter boxes morning and evenings)

Cons: Heavy, bag it up, dispose of it "in accordance with the laws of the spill aborbed" (I took it to the dump) a bit dusty but not really bad. Maybe the stuff "for cat litter" is a bit finer and dustier?

If your into masking scents this does not have any. I smelled the poop, scooped it out, stirred the liquid and was good to go for the day. I got home from work and did not smell urine (it is made for liquids)

Clumping litters:

I have tried various name brand of scoopable litters:
Fresh Step
Scoopaway
Arm & Hammer
Store Brands


Pro: Scoopable (sort of), odor control nicely

Con: They all clumped so hard they stuck to the bottom and sides of the pan. I actually snapped a plastic scooper trying to get the stuff off. I went out and bought a deep fryer metal scoop from the kitchen department.
What turned me away from clumping litter: I saw my cats licking their paws. I had read articles of clumping litters getting into cats (especially kittens) stomachs and 'clumping' causing blockage and even death. I could not figure HOW it would get in their stomaches - naive me: they lick their paws! I knew I did not even want to risk that with my precious baby kittens AND I was tired of the battle to get it off the litter box!!

Crystal litters:

This is the silica/crystal stuff. I have tried Target brand, WalMart brand and a few name brands.

Pro: light weight, the cats took to them readily but seemed unhappy about how it covered poop, they would scratch longer. Controlled urine smell, even for my intact male.

Con: Price, it does not last as long as the containers indicate, didn't control poop smell at all, must be stirred daily (if I'm going to stir it then I want to clean it), rough on cat's feet.

NOTE: These are silica crystals. I have read pro's and con's about silica. One article stated silica was no more than "sand in a different form and is non-toxic". Another (the encyclopedia) states: "a porous granular form of sodium silicate" (a form which contains carbon dioxide) and I quote "Sodium silicate is stable in neutral and alkaline solutions. In acidic solutions, the silicate ion reacts with hydrogen ions to form silicic acid"
I'm not a chemist but that all just doesn't sound healthy.

Wikipedia states "Clumping litter also usually contains quartz or diatomaceous earth (sometimes called diatomaceous silica, which causes it to be mistakenly confused with silica gel litter)"

Natural/Flusable litters:

NOTE: flushable litters state they are not suggested flushable if you have a septic tank.

P-POD is just that: ground up Pea Pods with a fresh minty scent added. I love the scent!

Pros: very light weight, light clumping, flushable, smells great

Cons: all cats were reluctant of the smell (what are they crazy?) They chose the open litter pans over the covered pans. I did notice some of the cats sneezing often. This is very fine, almost dust consistency.

When I used this I had a litter of kittens. At their 8 week vet check the vet commented on irritated nasal passages.

WORLDS BEST CAT LITTER: Ground corn

Pros: light weight, nice clumping, flushable, not a bad smell dry

Cons: expensive in comparison, I found once 'wet' the smell was rather sour

SWEAT SCOOP: ground wheat

Pros: light weight, flushable, smell not offensive even wet, light clumping

Cons: I got a bag that had cocoon type webs in it. My source said they got a contaminated load, as it's a wheat product it can be prone to bugs if not stored properly. (I won't stock up on that one) I went home with my 'exchange' bag (no bugs) - it didn't clump as well as I had hoped, when I lifted it, it fell apart. Didn't do anything for smells. At the end of the day some of the wet clumps were sticking to the pan, but I didn't need a chisel to remove them.



CEDAR-RIFIC: cedar shavings

Pro: light weight, nice smell to me and the cats didn't seem to mind it either. I flushed the solids (no septic tank here)

Cons: OHHH was my vet upset with me: "cedar shavings can be toxic to cats" ok, so why do they sell it - "because they CAN, there are a lot of things on the market for cats that should not be, but wood shavings of any kind can be fatal for cats."

In his favor I have to admit I had one cat that really went into a sneezing fit each time she stopped out of the box. Her eye rims were red and her nose was runny. She is apparently having a reaction to it so IT'S OUTAHERE!

Doesn't clump at all, comes out as it went in, loose.

Therefore I am not even going to venture to try Feline Pine just because it's a wood product.

Other Suggestions:

I recently read an article about alternatives to corn type litters. Chicken layer granules: it's corn, it comes in a ground consistency. Plus I have yet to try the newspaper litters.
I'll keep you posted.