Cat Litter Reviews

Somewhat surprisingly, there has not been a methodical, scientific, side-by-side comparison test of cat litter in nearly 20 years. In 1990, animal behaviorist Dr. Peter Borchelt compared 14 types of commercial kitty litter, along with topsoil mixed with clay litter and play box sand, in three ten-day tests. However, his investigation was aimed at determining which types of litter cats prefer, rather than identifying the best individual brands. Consumer Reports, which shines in so many other product categories, has never conducted a comparative roundup of cat litter.

Fortunately, there's no shortage of cat owners, cat experts and veterinarians who've compared and contrasted various brands and types of cat litter. We were especially impressed with a review at Gomestic.com that compares five different brands of cat litter. A similar review published in Slate.com covers four cat litter brands, using the author's cat, Izzy, as the guinea pig. We found similar reviews at The Lighthouse Online, Cat-Urine-Cleaner.com and Suite101.com, as well as SFGate.com, About.com and ShowCatsOnline.com. Because choosing the proper type of cat litter (clumping clay, biodegradable, crystal, etc.) is so important, we are also impressed by articles from Petfinder.com and Cats International where expert authors discuss (and sometimes debunk) beliefs about various cat litter formulations.

Over the past few years, one major issue has dominated considerations about cat litter -- the advantages of organic, biodegradable cat litters over fine-grained, clumping clay litters. Unlike clay kitty litters, biodegradable cat litter -- which can be made of everything from corn to pine wood to recycled newspapers -- can be flushed down the toilet or used as mulch or compost. Some owners also claim these litters do a better job of controlling odors. Their main attraction for environmentally conscious owners is that other options for disposing of or reusing cat litter exist besides merely throwing it in the garbage.

In comparative reviews, owners rave about Feline Pine's economy -- one 20-pound bag can last as long as 60 pounds of clay litter-- since you only have to put a small amount in the litter box. Owners also like its fresh scent and eco-friendliness. One added advantage of this organic cat litter is that it's safe for very young kittens (younger than three months), who should not use fine-grained clumping clay litter since they can accidentally ingest the particles. However, Feline Pine has two downsides: first, it doesn't clump, which can make the litter box harder to clean, and second (as mentioned above) many cats simply don't take to its large-grained texture.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

In the biodegradable category, cat experts and owners posting to user review sites on the web praise both Nature's Choice Feline Pine and World's Best Cat Litter. There are fewer top picks for clumping clay litter and crystal cat litter, probably because most of these kitty litters are made of the same ingredients and vary only by price and brand name.