If you want no dust then some kind of pellet litter would be best, like corn or pine pellets. My cats hate that texture though, so we had to find one with a similar texture to clay litter. I worked at a pet supply/food store for a couple years and tried a bunch of litters, nothing with a granular texture is truly dust-free, and I found clay litter claims of being “low dust” to be complete bullshit. I settled on Sustainably Yours Large Grain litter, it’s corn based. The large grain really reduces the dust, I get a little bit when emptying the bag but the large grain doesn’t throw dust when they dig around in it. It also clumps pretty well.
I have an auto litter box so it has to work with that too, sorry, should have provided that. Im sure they all mostly do
The large grain litter I mentioned should be fine enough for an auto litter box to sift. Definitely not pellets though.
No it wouldn’t. The self cleaning sifter boxes need clumping litter.
The litter I recommended does clump.
So the crystals don’t clump right?
The litter I recommended does clump, not sure about crystal litter.
Where do you buy it?
My local pet store, but you can find it online. It’s definitely more expensive than clay cat litter, absolutely nothing will be as cheap as clay. My cats have special medical needs though, the dust from even “low dust” litter gives them horrible coughing attacks, so we just have to budget for the more expensive litter.
If its a step in resolving her struggle its really not at i$$ue :)
I hope you find something that helps your kitty, good luck!
I am a fan of Dr. Elsey’s Ultra Unscented Clumping Clay Cat Litter.
How much is it/weight?
I have it with chewy at $21 for 40 lbs. I have two cats. I think I go through a bag every 4 weeks?
Im seeing like $60 on Amazon. Let me check Chewy
There is a discount for auto ship. I just checked. I do 1 bag every 3 weeks.
Ah k, thanks!
I also have an auto-litter bot and use this brand. It’s been the best bang for my buck from what I can tell.
I have a severe fragrance allergy and I second this recommendation. Also two of my cats need inhalers and this doesn’t bother them either.
World’s Best clumps and is unscented. It’s corn, so there’s no clay or silica dust, but it does make its own kind of corn dust, which my previous cat tracked everywhere after thoroughly digging and burying. My present cat just tiptoes in, pees, poos, and tiptoes away, leaving the poo perched proud. It gets my attention to scoop it! But at least no dust gets tracked.
It’s also fully flushable, since it’s just corn. I can’t stress how amazingly convenient that is. I scoop and toss the solids and clumps straight into the toilet, add my own waste if necessary, and flush. No heavy garbage bags filled with gross stinky clay. Never had an issue with plumbing since the clumps break up straight away on contact with the water. I’ve been using it for about a decade. Imo this is one product that lives up to its stupid name.
I’m afraid I need to contradict you. It is technically flushable. Certainly better than anything else out there! But depending where one lives, it can cause problems and one can’t just blithely flush it all down.
For instance, I’m in an apartment building built in 1970, in a state with low-flush toilets and low-flow fixtures. The drains were built for more water and less stuff. And if they clog it’s not only my problem, it can affect everyone in the stack. Learned this the hard way, although there was probably more than the litter to blame.
So I do flush the poo, with the litter coating it. But I scoop the pee clumps into those little green bags and put them in the trash. The bags and litter might be compostable but I’m not sure about the pee, and we don’t have compost collection set up yet anyway. At least being able to flush the poo is a lifesaver!
I’m also not 100% sure about old septic systems.
I’m happy for you that it works fine for you! You’re living the dream, dude! And with cats!
It’s just that others’ mileage may vary.
Ah that’s useful info, thanks! I’ve lived in the same apartment for as long as I’ve been using the litter, so it’s totally possible that I’ve just gotten lucky with my particular plumbing. Now that I know there could be problems for my neighbors, I’ll ask my landlord to see if he’s noticed any issues over the years.
I live on the first of 7 floors (my floor is the concrete slab over the garage) so mostly it’s me who gets the backup if there’s trouble in my stack.
Just got through Thanksgiving without calling a plumber this year because I posted a note in the mailroom reminding folks to please put their vegetable peels and food scraps in the garbage can, not down the sink!
And they make a low track version, basically bigger grains. Our cat drags out considerably less litter now, though some cats might not like the texture on their paws.
I bought that one time and my cat wouldn’t stop eating it.
Oh, not for you, then!
I think, as with anything involving cats, individual situations vary a lot, so different solutions are required.
Some cats may have allergies to it though so watch your cat closely after switching. You also need to stay on top of scooping it as it has a higher propensity to mold.
We used World’s Best for years. At one point we had a cat who was exhibiting some potty-related behavioral issues, and in desperation I brought in some clay litter (BoxieCat). 3 cats, 6 litterboxes¹: I replaced one litterbox with clay, and they all immediately stopped using the ones filled with World’s Best. I reduced it down to a single box of WB and they still wouldn’t use it.
I have no idea why, but it solved the potty problem.
¹: My first attempt to address the issue was to keep adding litterboxes so they had choice.
“Sustainably Yours” is the best I’ve tried. It’s even endorsed by Jackson Galaxy.
I love that guy!
The Cat Daddy!
That show is one of the few that makes me cry, all the time
I’ve had great luck with pine- and corn-based cat litters for low/no scent and low/no dust. Only problem is that they usually don’t clump, though they do make ones which do. Oh, and they’re all much lighter than the normal stuff. I’d say give one of those a try.
Non-clumping pine pellets are great because all the pee soaked pellets turn to sawdust and you can sift it out.
Pretty Litter. Its exceptional.
We stopped using pretty litter because it didn’t absorb as much smell as pine chips, smells bad itself, tracked everywhere, and the pH changing thing sounds cool but just wasn’t necessary. It’s also needlessly expensive.
The crows loved their cat food though.
I actually cant stand it, it doesnt make any visible dust but whenever I had cleaned out the litter box (or even someone else doing it in a completely different room of the house) it felt like it was desiccating my lungs and airways. It was horrible.
Agreed!
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wood pellet. if you buy it packaged for horse stall bedding instead of cat litter you can get 40 lb for $6. requires a special litter box because it’s different from the clump and scoop type.
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if you don’t want to change your litter box, you want Naturally Fresh Walnut shell Quick Clumping. please remember not to use clumping litter with small kittens
Since this horse bedding is made from wood fibers, it’s relatively safe for cats. But keep a couple of things in mind to ensure your cat’s health:
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Check if the type of wood pellets contains any harmful additives. You want 100 percent natural wood, preferably pine, cedar, or oak.
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Ask if the equine pellets are kiln-dried to remove phenols. Phenols are dangerous for cats since their livers can’t break them down. In large amounts, they can be deadly.
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Ensure that the wood is not treated with any chemical additives.
(E: personally, though in the UK, I buy Cat’s Best pellets. Probably more expensive than horse pellets, but they come in smaller packages I can manage, and are 100% safe for cats so I don’t have to worry)
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I treat 'em like kittens but all adults ;)
Pine pellet for horse stalls is definitely the correct answer. It’s the most effective, easiest litter AND it’s monstrously cheaper.
I’ve tried maybe 5 or 6 different litters, nothing absorbs as much smell as pine pellets. You can ignore it for a couple of days without issue. It doesn’t track or clump. You don’t have to scoop pee, although you should give it a quick stir or sift daily. That’s easy enough to do when you scoop any poop.
You can also get pine pellets for cheap by going after wood stove fuel but you need to thoroughly research whether the brand uses accelerants or not.
I’m actually super pissed off that the pellets marketed as litter have such an insane mark up given that other pellets usually just have additives… you’re paying a premium for them to not do extra work.
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I like feline pine litter
Cant use, have an automatic litterbox. Needs to be able to sift or whatever
Purina had a good one that was pellets made from recycled paper. Think it was called yesterday’s news. I haven’t seen it in my local stores in a while though.
Has to be like compatible with auto-litterbox
When I tried that arm and hammer slide litter, it was bizarre how little to no dust there was, when id pour it out.
My cats didn’t care for the texture though. It’s very fine, and they’d kick it out of the litterbox.
We use this stuff, and it meets your requirements. I like it more than anything else we have used
https://www.kroger.com/p/abound-natural-clumping-cat-litter/0001111080010
Im intrigued, thanks for this lead!
Good luck on your quest!
If I might be so cutesy, if its grass how come the cat wouldn’t want to eat it? Dumb question aha
If I might be so cutesy, if its grass how come the cat wouldn’t want to eat it? Dumb question aha
It’s the grass seed hulls only. It’s basically gravel made from plants
If I might be so cutesy, if its grass how come the cat wouldn’t want to eat it? Dumb question aha
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I’ve literally taken her twice and somehow I always leave only with like a recco to buy their mineral hairball shit or some other inane, yeah. I dunno what the heck happened. I wasn’t really with it till as of late :(
When I go to the vet (my cats have issues), I write up a little document. It varies in structure and order depending on what’s going on, but there’s a section that lists her food and medications (inc. strength and frequency), any changes or questions to ongoing medical issues, and anything new that’s happening that I have questions or concerns about, plus either section for general questions. Between visits, if I have a thought or question, I’ll write it on a sticky and put it on the last update.
When it’s time to see the vet, I go through the last version and make any changes, then add in the stuff from the post-its. I then reorganize it so that the most important things are listed first so we don’t accidentally spend the entire visit discussing nail clipping and run out of time to discuss her heart murmur. And I print off two copies, one for me and one for the doctor.
During the visit, I take lots of notes as we go through the document and the exam. I make sure I ask all my questions. When they tell me something, I repeat it back to them with slightly different words: that helps me understand it, and gives them the opportunity to correct, clarify, or expand on the information. When we’re almost done, I go over the document with them once again - it only takes about a minute, but I briefly repeat the question or concern as well as what they told me. When I get to the end, I ask, “Am I understanding this okay?” And the final question is always, “Is there anything else you can think of that I should know about, be doing for her, or keeping an eye out for?”
It does take about half an hour to write and organize the document, but it helps me keep everything straight in my brain, before, during and after the visit, and it makes sure I don’t overlook anything. Maybe not something quite as thorough as that but maybe something written and organized would help?
This is good advice for one’s own doctor visits too. The stress of being there can drive all thoughts out of your head.
After many many years of forgetting to ask questions or bring up an issue with my doctor’s, I do make a similar document for my doctor’s visits as well. It also gives me a reference point on how things are changing over time, which has been really useful a couple times :)
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It has to be compatible with an auto litterbox. I’ve several good leads so no worries :) Lots to check out
Petco carries a “sofresh” litter that you can refill. Its unscented and does just fine keeping smells down. If i smell anything then i probably forgot to empty it.
Not particularly low dust but also not any worse than purina or others i’ve used. And its cheap due to refilling. I have a few petcos that i pass weekly regardless so its pretty convenient for me, at least.
Thanks, but ya its gotta be low dust. Potentially (pretty sure) I got an asthmatic one
Blaine’s farm and fleet brand. Cheapest clumping litter I ever found, dust free and unscented. It worked great.
Saddly I moved and now it isn’t convient to buy.
Currently have Purina TidyCats Free & Clean Unscented
In my experience this type of litter is the best (clay clumping pellets) with the automatic litterbox. I usually go for one of the super turbo ultra types instead of unscented. I have 5 cats on it, it works the best for us even when the robot is out for cleaning and they’re going in the box again.
Pretty litter is good but marginally less useful the more cats are going in it, and the dust it kicks up is invisible but still irritating and clumps kinda badly. I only use it if I really need to diagnose a UTI but it’s been over half a year now since I bought a bag.
Ya def need unscented and dust-free cuz one I believe has asthma
