Clay cat litter’s no friend of the environment, so many environmentalists go for non-clay, biodegradable litters — a growing market with a slew of products all made with different ingredients and boasting different scents — and more importantly, varying efficacy.
I don’t have litter-related worries since I don’t own a cat, but my friends Summer and Matt do, and have become my litter reviewers. Unfortunately, the first batch of litter I gave them — the Arm & Hammer Essentials Clumping Cat Litter — didn’t work out too well.
This time around, they tried a more promising-sounding product, proudly named World’s Best Cat Litter. Made of U.S.-grown whole-kernel corn, the biodegradable litter promised odor-free cleanliness without synthetic chemicals, clays, or perfumes. The clay litter’s flushable too (for more deets on the litter-flushing debate — as well as other litter-related debates that obsess many cat owners, read my last cat litter post).
Did it work? “I give it very high marks,” said Matt, who’s become the lone litter-handler in the household since Summer’s pregnant. Says he:
When I first dumped the bag into our litter box, I got a slight whiff of corn, and kinda thought “uh oh…we’re gonna have a corn-field smelling bathroom.” However, that disappeared right away, never to be smelled from again. It wasn’t like that other stuff you had us try out where it smelled like we might have a glade plug-in or something.
Speaking of smell, it did a remarkable job of absorbing (or covering up? how the hell does this stuff work anyway!) the cat’s business. I just really didn’t smell it at all.
That is, until just yesterday, and it smelled pretty bad…however, it was waaaaaay overdue to be changed, so this isn’t the litter’s fault. As a studied engineer, we’d call this a “stress test”…meaning, I tested it to the point of failure…and it lasted remarkably long.
The last think I look for in litters is clumpability , and it seemed just fine in that regard too. I guess I’m officially recommending it.
Grist has a slightly less enthusiastic review of World’s Best Cat Litter; Sarah van Schagen found the litter was more odorous and less poop-covering than Matt found. These different findings are strangely interesting to me — Most Amazon reviews of the product, for example, are very positive — yet there are always those one-star reviews that say the exact opposite of what all the other reviewers said. Why is that?
World’s Best Cat Litter can be found at a store near you, including Ralph’s, Petco, and many pet stores — as well as online on Amazon.
Image via World’s Best Cat Litter
I like Nature’s Miracle cat litter. It has enzymes that break down the smell. It also has a smell of its own, but I don’t find it offensive.
Great post, thanks for the info. I’m glad I found your blog. I’m new to the blogging world and just started one myself. I’m collecting beach trash for a year. Check it out if you want. www,thedailyocean.blogspot.com
thanks!
Sara
Sara Bayles’s last blog post..Day 12 – May 4, 2009
Comment by Sara Bayles — May 20, 2009 @ 10:34 am
I like World’s Best but had to stop using it because my rabbits thought it was a tasty food and would jump in the dirty cat box to eat the litter. It did seem work the best of all of the non-clay cat litters that I have tried.
I switched over to Yesterday’s News which works okay. I mostly use it because I can get it at my Safeway which is one block from my house (I am car-free). I can’t use the Scwheat because I have celiac. I used a different kind that was made of cellulose and seemed to cover the smell better, but I gave up because the shipping costs were killing me.
Comment by Erica — May 20, 2009 @ 11:41 am
There are other reasons not to flush litter – primarily, those that you would flush are clumping litters, which can build up on your pipes at certain junctions, and cause much chaos. If you’re in an apartment, definitely avoid flushing. Your landlord probably won’t cover any side effects of that.
Personally, I’m really surprised that in all of the reviews I only saw one recycled newspaper litter – and from what I remember, that works better as cage bedding, since it is a soft recycled newspaper. I like Yesterday’s News – hard pellets of recycled newspaper. It isn’t a clumping litter, but I have two boycats and one girlcat – I’d be cleaning solid litter boxes every day. Instead it absorbs the odors without being perfume-y, and it doesn’t track or spread away from the litter box like other litters. It can be composted in areas that accept newspaper in the compost.
Comment by Cassandra — May 20, 2009 @ 11:44 am
I switched to using this stuff several months ago after having used Swheat Scoop for a few years. The sweaheat scoop was good-ish, but the odor fighting abilities were only moderate, it stuck to the bottom of the box rather than clumping and it tracked EVERYWHERE. The upside was that it came in paper packaging, which world’s best DOES NOT. In fact, the plastic packaging is the only thing I don’t like about World’s Best. I’ve written them asking them to considering changing their package and got a somewhat generic reply about looking into it.
It clumps great, does a more than adequate job of covering poop and smells more than reasonably (until I’ve let it go too long), my cats like it, it doesn’t track all over my house and comes in a at reasonable price for a green litter (albeit it, WAY more expensive than non-green litters.)
My guess as to why some people get different results when trying the same product would be that it has to do with all the external variables (i.e. not directly litter related.) How much litter do they put in the box? How many cats do they have? How many boxes do they use for more than 2 cats? How big are the cats? Why kind of diet does the cat have? Does that cat have a bigger/smaller/more smelly/less smelly urine/feces output than other cats as a result of genetics and/or diet? Those sort of things.
Anyway. This stuff is great. I definitely recommend it. I just wish they would change their packaging.
Kim’s last blog post..
Comment by Kim — May 20, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
this stuff actually is really good. I’ve been using it the last few months and the first thing that struck me (last the earlier commenter) was the sudden smell of crops, but for me, I thought of wheat and rice. It literally smells like a fresh bag of rice when you open it. I too gave it a “stress test” and pushed it to it’s limits and the dreaded day of scooping came. There was some pungent sting, but not as bad as it could have been. I definitely recommend it; overall, a slightly better green conscience, and a much relieved nose.
Comment by jeannie — May 20, 2009 @ 10:14 pm
We have tried all of the eco choices in litter as we weren’t wild about diverting corn from the food chain to use for litter – but ultimately kept coming back to this as it works the best. It is more costly but we use much less so the cost balances out. We have been flushing it for probably 2 years now with no problem. And the odor control is so much better.
Comment by Sherri — May 21, 2009 @ 6:55 am
GREEN TEA LEAVES LITTER. Seriously. I tried all of these that are mentioned here and more – Swheat Scoop, World’s Best, Yesterday’s News, Nature’s Miracle, Feline Pine…some were better than others, but the Green Tea Leaves blew them out of the water with its own light natural scent (no barnyard smell!) and its ability to cover the cat smells. It’s light-weight too and effectively clumps. It does track somewhat, but it isn’t any worse than the other natural litters in that respect. It does come packaged in plastic, unfortunately…but in general it is surprisingly effective, IMHO.
Comment by Sempervirens — May 21, 2009 @ 10:03 am
Funny, my sis and her son said their cats really like the Arm & Hammer Essentials brand….those felines can be so finicky:)
maureen’s last blog post..hemp dog carrier
Comment by maureen — May 22, 2009 @ 8:33 am
It seems litter issues seem to be a common source of trouble for cat owners, judging from the popularity of cat litter posts in general. From a non cat owner’s perspective, it’s surprising to see this many people interested in discussing the nitty gritties of pee odor….
Comment by Siel — May 22, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
We’ve just recently made the switch to natural cat litter, and I’ll never go back! What a difference! There is virtually no smell, it clumps well, even the cats’ fur smells normal now. We’ll be trying Worlds Best Cat Litter next. We’re lucky, though, that our cats don’t seem to mind our switching suddenly. They just “go with the flow!” I’m so glad to have that odorous clay stuff gone forever!
Carrie @ Maine Coon Cat Nation´s last blog ..Apr 1, Feline Pine Cat Litter, Our Review
Comment by Carrie @ Maine Coon Cat Nation — April 1, 2010 @ 1:39 pm
i’ve been using CAT’S PRIDE for more than one year and i’m very happy with it … it clumps, has no scent, but it’s not cheap … i’m looking for a less expensive product that does the same job … i have three cats and clean the litter 3X each and every day … i’m surprised to know that a number of people admitted that they don’t even clean the litter once a day … how would you like to keep relieving yourself without flushing each time?
Comment by patidee — July 27, 2010 @ 9:37 am