unscented/natural and effective cat litter

October 5, 2022 11:49 AM

Hi all, I am looking for suggestions for cat litter that ideally is unscented, and hopefully as natural as possible, that is also effective for covering smells. ALSO, that doesn't easily track all over the house. (I have one cat who is good with using the litter box)
posted by bearette to Pets & Animals (18 answers total)

I love the walnut-based "Naturally Fresh." Check all your boxes. I even had a cat sitter convert to it after dealing with my litter box while I was away.

(Pro tip though: If you cat sit for me, you score more points for telling me how great my cat is, not for praising my kitty litter!)
posted by mark k at 11:54 AM on October 5, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: thanks, mark k! I actually had been getting that litter, and I found it to be good for everything except tracking... but I would get it again if nothing else ideal pops up.
posted by bearette at 11:58 AM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

We like Feline Pine. The pieces are large enough that they don't easily get picked up and tracked around, and the parts that break down into sawdust after being peed on naturally sink below the larger, intact pieces, so they don't get tracked either. Smells like... pine, because it's pine. Very pleasant!

Also, I hear that if you are near suitable stores, you can get the same stuff much more cheaply as horse bedding, but I haven't tried that.
posted by redfoxtail at 12:06 PM on October 5, 2022 [4 favorites]

I've been using World's Best (which I understand is pretty much the same thing as chicken feed). It does track in the vicinity of the litter box but doesn't make it outside of the room the box is in. They've got scented and unscented versions.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:08 PM on October 5, 2022 [5 favorites]

Okocat. My favorite litter, hands down.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:17 PM on October 5, 2022 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: coincidentally I also tried Feline Pine and found it to be better for tracking but not as good for covering scents. I should have mentioned what I tried in the question!
posted by bearette at 12:20 PM on October 5, 2022

I recently started using Arm and Hammer Platinum and as far as smells go it is life changing! I can barely smell it when scooping the box. It tracks a little bit, enough that I need to shake out the doormat I have by my boxes weekly, but isn’t any worse than anything else I have used.
posted by sacrifix at 12:35 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Maybe give Pioneer Pet a try -- I love it, but it does track some. Clumping litter made from grasses.

It's infinitely better than Swheat for dust, though. Swheat covers the entire area in dust IME.
posted by humbug at 1:01 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

I struggled with all those things for a long time and finally settled on sWheat scoop. Doesn't track as much as others, have yet to find one that doesn't track at all. I use the orange/yellow bag. Can't for the life of me remember why but I know I tried all the colors and that was the one I liked best
posted by danapiper at 1:03 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

We use the Trader Joe's pine pellets, and have also tried the pine pellets sold at a feed store (made for horse bedding). We find that it does track in the area of the box, but not beyond. And it's great for the scent issue. The TJ's version holds up a bit better than the horse pellets.

Also, if smell is an issue, try using less litter in the box + changing the box more frequently. That makes a world of difference.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:04 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

we use pine stove pellets in a sifting tray. The pine seems to neutralize the urine scent really well, though poops stink worse than before - we clean them up right away with a litter locker. Tracking is way better, though kitties still kick pellets out, but they're easy to sweep up. I have a dedicated dustpan and little broom next to the litter locker, so you quickly scoop and poop and do a sweep and dump those into the locker too.

We also had the tidy cats zirconium system with the pee pads under the litterbox for a long time, and I think it was great, but one of my cats hated it so we gave up, even though it was really good as far as smell goes.

The number one thing for cat pee smell in my house (we have three cats and a small house) has been to get a good dehumidifier. At 35 humidity, no cat pee smell. At 50? smelly smelly smelly.
posted by euphoria066 at 2:48 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

I asked a question about litter boxes years ago, and since then I keep the litterbox in the tub and it nearly eliminates tracking. If there are smells, there's an extractor fan to clear them out quickly. Not a litter rec, but it really works for me.
posted by momus_window at 2:59 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

We also use Oko (the pink labeled one) and have been really happy with it. When the store is out, we get the Arm and Hammer Naturals, it's good too. We also use something like this to help with tracking (it isn't perfect, but it definitely helps).
posted by solotoro at 3:35 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

I just switched from Swheat which was good but very dusty to Okocat which has little dust and tracks less. Still come small amount of tracking, but the pieces are smaller and softer, which is nice if you go barefoot in the house.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 3:51 PM on October 5, 2022

I use Naturally Fresh walnut shell litter and a top-entry litter box and now have basically zero tracking, AND my friends say "I'd never know [by smell] that you have a cat!"
posted by cyndigo at 4:27 PM on October 5, 2022

You can pretty much solve the tracking issue with Feline Pine by getting a sifting cat litter box.
posted by brookeb at 5:25 PM on October 5, 2022

Pine pellets (the kind sold as horse bedding is much cheaper than the same thing sold as cat litter) are an ideal and environmentally friendly replacement for clay cat litter. There are several YouTube videos on it.
posted by AlSweigart at 9:03 PM on October 6, 2022

Response by poster: Update: I bought Okocat and it's great! Hits all thr points I was looking for. Thanks to mygothlaundry for the recommendation!
posted by bearette at 10:43 AM on November 1, 2022 [1 favorite]