October 30, 2009

Review: New York Times Tests 5 Clay-Free Cat Litters

What's the best cat litter for you and your cat? Primarily, one that your cat likes and will use. To help figure out which litter that is, Stephen Treffinger recently did a spot in the The New York Times evaluating five clay-free litters. His criteria: "how well it controlled odor, first and foremost, and for how well it clumped, how easy it was to scoop and how much the cats tracked it through their homes." Here's a snippet of his results:

Swheat Scoop is made from naturally processed wheat. Verdict: great at absorbing smells, but crumbly clumps. Can be flushed.

Yesterday's News is made primarily from recycled newspaper. Verdict: Poor odor control.

Katgo is a cedar wood litter. Verdict: cheaper, controlled odor, clumps are easy to remove, but gets trapped in cat fur and is tracked "everywhere". Can be flushed.

Feline Pine is made of compressed pine sawdust reclaimed from lumberyards. Verdict: "definite favorite" and good at controlling odors, but had to be stirred daily and became bloated and heavy over time.

World's Best Cat Litter is made from whole-kernel corn. Verdict: easy clump removal, but tracked dust around the house. Can be flushed.

Get the whole scoop plus an excellent comparison graphic.