Table of Contents
To cut through the marketing claims, we asked experts — including veterinarians, animal-shelter workers, and cat behavioralists who’ve worked with hundreds of felines over the years — what litter they recommend and which ones they actually use with their own pets. Ahead, you’ll find nine cat litters (plus a litter-box system and a deodorizer) recommended by our panel of experts that should satisfy even the pickiest of feline friends. Or you can jump to whatever type of cat litter you’re looking for below.
Litter boxes, on the other hand, have their own set of issues, ranging from odour to cleanup to picky cats. Not all litters are acceptable to all cats, and picking the wrong one is no laughing matter. We set out to locate the best cat litters to gratify both cat and guardian. We visited four veterinarians to understand more about cats’ litter preferences and toileting needs. We investigated various litters, including clay, paper, silica gel, wood, grass, and maize substrates, based on their recommendations.
Here is the list of Best Cat Litters
World’s Best Cat litter
Easily one of the best Cat Litters available on the market, the Bosley and Kerrie McKeon, resident cat expert at the animal-welfare and adoption group Bideawee, endorse World’s Best as a litter that ticks all the boxes and should work for most cat-owning households. It’s clumping, it’s natural, and we have asthma and allergies, so it doesn’t bother us.
A bag lasts a long time if you scoop it every morning and night. It’s a natural choice made from maize kernels that’s also septic-safe, so you can effortlessly flush away both liquid and solid waste. Bosley notes that this litter cuts down on the scents the greatest of all the litters her shelter has tried.
SPECIAL KITTY Fresh Scent Scoopable Cat Litter
If you want to save money and don’t mind sweeping around the box to pick up a few tracked grains, this litter is easily half the price of most others. It quickly absorbs trash and forms tight clumps, reducing odour and scooping time.
Because it is intensely scented, it is best suited to cats who are less sensitive to odours. Many online reviewers have multiple cats and must clean constantly, which makes this light-on-the-wallet brand more enticing. The term “independent” refers to a person who does not work for the government.
Purina Tidy Cats Low Dust Clumping Cat Litter
Because she has three litter boxes at home, Angie Krause, a holistic veterinarian and consultant for we and Love and You pet food, truly loves that this litter provides good odour control and is lightweight and simple to handle. While her cats one in renal failure and another with irritable bowel disease use the litter box more than most, this litter is just as good for owners of healthier cats who just don’t want to haul around huge bags of litter.
This also delivers the best odour management of a lightweight litter, according to Krause. Tidy Cats litter is a favourite of veterinarian Elizabeth Bales, and Bosley likes it’s odourless and won’t disturb cats with allergies. Despite the lack of aroma, the litter contains activated charcoal to naturally absorb odours. Still, it is one of the best Cat Litters that you can consider.
Feline Pine Original Cat Litter
Pellet-style litters are popular among cat owners because they track less than finer granules and since natural litters do not emit silica dust. The term “electronic commerce” refers to the sale of electronic goods. This litter is available in 7lb, 20lb, and 40lb bags. This is a clay-free, non-clumping product derived from 100% pure pine.
Pine fibres are extremely absorbent, and the new and enhanced composition absorbs liquid twice as fast as the original. Feline Pine contains no chemical additives or synthetic aroma, yet it does have a natural pine scent. When wet, some customers claim it produces a bad odour, therefore it may need to be scooped and replenished frequently.
Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Ultra Cat Litter
Dr. Elsey’s Ultra cat litter exceeds the competition in terms of solid odour management, scoopability, and reduced dust profile, all at an affordable price. It’s the only cat litter we discovered that completely absorbs simulated cat faeces scents. And its neutral odour is easier to tolerate than the fruity smells of certain litters, which conflict with litter box odours. Dr. Elsey’s granules are of medium size, so cats are less prone to track litter throughout the house.
This litter also clumps fast when moist, and the clumps keep their shape better while scooping than most other litters. Dr. Elsey’s also produces less dust than half of the products we evaluated, and the dust won’t get in your way when you’re putting fresh litter into the pan or scooping out a day’s worth of cat waste. However, this garbage is offered in a large plastic bag that is difficult to hold and pour from. Dr. Elsey’s granules. Overall, it is one of the best Cat Litters that you can buy.
Arm & Hammer Cloud Control Clumping Litter
No litter is so effective at odour control that it can substitute regular scooping and careful box placement. However, if you are really sensitive to litter smells or dislike continuously dusting surfaces around the litter box, Arm & Hammer Cloud Control Clumping Litter should be considered. It performs an excellent job of retaining odours, and it smells more neutral, not fruity like some other litters we tested, so it’s gentler on the nose at scooping time.
This litter features small, sand-like litter granules that create compact clumps and won’t stick to the bottom of a dirty litter pan, however, those fine granules trail more litter about the house than our top recommendation. Because of the reduced dust profile of this cat litter, you won’t cough uncontrollably when pouring, scooping, or deep-cleaning the litter box.
Fresh Step Outstretch Concentrated Clumping Litter
It’s especially crucial if your litter box is in a high-traffic area that your litter can keep odours at bay. We home-tested this with a litter box that sits in the family’s hallway and the nice aroma made litter-box care an odor-free chore. It even smells excellent to stir up the litter as you shovel!
This new Outstretch recipe contains concentrated clay and claims to last 50% longer, which means you can go a few days without scooping and a month and a half without changing out the entire litter box. The litter readily spills out of a hole in the box’s side. Currently, this is one of the best Cat Litters that you can buy right now.
Sustainably Yours Multi-Cat Plus Cat Litter
While clay cat litter is considered natural, many cat owners choose plant-based or biodegradable cat litter. Our best option in this category is Sustainably Yours Multi-Cat Plus Cat Litter. This is a fine-grained corn and cassava cat litter. It made a little dust when we poured it into the litter box, but it worked fairly well overall. This litter makes really firm, cohesive clumps that are easy to scoop, and the odour control was fairly effective.
While the odour control of this litter isn’t as good as that of some of the clay litters on this list, it is significantly stronger than some of the other plant-based litters we’ve tested. The main disadvantage of this litter is how much it tracks—it has exceedingly small grains that can stick to your cat’s paws and find their way out of the litter box and onto your floor.
Final Words
The best cat litters keeps your home clean and your cat content. It combines great odour control, easy cleaning, low tracking, and minimal dust generation. After researching the litter business, examining over a dozen of the major brands on the market, and completing in-box testing on more than items, we’ve identified the following litters as the finest cat litter you can buy.