Cat litter altneratives?

Question

Hi,
I want to find alternative litter besides clay. I notice that whenever my cat starts digging, he's sniffing in the dust and his nose gets this black things that I have to finger out every time he's sleeping.

I want litter that does the same job as clay but much safer and friendly on his nostrils.

Thanks :)

Answer 1

I would first try switching the brand of litter you are using. I'm a huge fan of Tidy Cat (hopefully not the one you are already using), and Exquisicat (Petsmart brand). I've found that Freshstep is the dustiest of the ones I've come in contact with. If that doesn't work, you could try Swheat scoop, yesterday's news (I use this for my bird and it works GREAT at absorbing and keeping odors down), feline pine or papuur (paper based scooping litter).
One thing to remember though. If you switch to one of those litters, you need to do it SLOWLY. There is going to be a huge difference in texture and you don't want your cat to avoid the litterbox. Mixing the new and old litters is a good way to go.

Answer 2

actually clay litter is the best to have. The problem is not the type of litter, but probably the brand. I recently started using tidy cats and i found that it does not have as much dust as the other brands. i definaltey do not recommend using the crystal like litter because it does not soak up the pee, it just sink to the bottom of the litter box leaving a horrible smell! so like i said, just experiment with different brands. Good Luck!

Answer 3

There's clumping but even that is dusty. Don't get any kind with crystals. My friend's cat didn't like it; she didn't like stepping on the crystals. There's many products out there. Swheat Litter (sold at Pet Supplies Plus for sure), Yesterday's News (which is newspaper pellets. especially good for cats who were recently declawed). There's different textures of it. I believe there's a corn litter. I'm blanking on the name. If I find out more I'll let you know. Try looking on Petsmart.com. They don't have all the litter I mentioned above but you still might be able to get ideas. OH-try doing a search for Swheat Litter or Yesterday's News. It should tell you about it.

Good luck! I've used the Swheat Litter (actually wheat in there) for the kittens I've raised. If they take a few bites for some reason (like kittens like to do sometimes) it won't bind up in their systems.

Answer 4

It looks like you've already got plenty of suggestions on what type of litter to use. I just wanted to jump in and say that if you switch litters it's important to mix the litters for at least one week before completely switching to the new litter. Cats are creatures of habit and a sudden change in litter type can result in cats not using their litter box as they should. Some cats do just fine with sudden litter changes but it's better safe than sorry.

Answer 5

I can't tell you the brand but we tried a litter made of shredded news paper. Got it at Petsmart or Petco. Our cats used it, but weren't too happy with it. We were given 3 litter boxes, so we try 3 diff litters at the same time and see which is the most "popular" with the kits. FYI ours also did not like the crystals.

Answer 6

Hi, I might actually have a solution.

A few weeks ago I went to Petsmart to get some kitty food and there was a guy doing demonstration of all natural kitty litter. It was made of corn and 100% natural. You could even flush it down the toilet (unless you're in cali). You use half the amount of regular kitty litter and it soaks in the smell.

There's also wheat litter. Good Luck!!

Answer 7

If you do not need a clumping cat litter I would use Yesterdays News. I would not recommend Swheat Litter, I tried it once and it practically glued itself to the litter box. Yesterdys news is great a controlling odors. My cats love it. If you need clumping, try Tidy Cats, I use it also in the other litter box and do not notice any dust.

Answer 8

Feline pine works really well, but it has a unique odor. Other kinds of litter include pellets, which break down as your cat urinates on them. The only downside to pellets is that the cats can sometimes not cover everything as well.

Answer 9

Feline Pine. It is pellets of pine Very absorbant, smells good and keeps odor down. That is ithe onlything my mom uses because they are allergic to the dust that clay litter puts off. Feline pine is dust free!
I like Fresh step Crystals. It is just absorbing crystals no dust what so ever and the best odor absorber you could ever find!

Answer 10

There is an all natural cat litter called "World's Best Cat Litter." You can buy it at your veterinarian's.

Here's a link to it:
http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/