Best Cat Litter From Our Tests
We evaluated 13 products, including Fresh Step, PrettyLitter, Tidy Cats, and World's Best Cat Litter. Plus, is flushable cat litter actually safe to flush?
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My cat, Frank, and I have tried a huge number of cat litter brands over the two years we’ve been together. We want different things from our litter. My gut says he’s looking for something that is gentle on his paws and that he can dig through while making the most amount of noise possible in the middle of the night. I look for a litter that won’t track around my apartment, doesn’t get stuck to the bottom of his litter box after a few days of use, masks the smell of his waste, and is easy to store in a small apartment.
When you’re a cat parent, even the smallest decisions can be difficult to make because you want the best for them, but it’s not like they can actually tell you what they want.
Further complicating the decisions is the online info that says that fragranced litter, clumping litter, or dusty litter will undoubtedly lead to my cat’s untimely demise (we asked some experts about this), and choosing the right litter feels like an impossible task.
- Cat Litter We Tested: Arm & Hammer Clump & Seal Arm & Hammer Feline Pine Arm & Hammer HardBall Catalyst Dr. Elsey's ExquisiCat Fresh Step Frisco by Chewy Naturally Fresh PrettyLitter Purina Tidy Cats Tuft + Paw World's Best Cat Litter
- More on Cat Litter: What Is Toxoplasmosis? Cat Litters to Avoid Which Type Is Best? When to Replace the Litter How We Tested How to Introduce New Cat Litter to Your Cat
Cat Litter Lab Tests
Handling Cat Litter and Toxoplasmosis
All but one of the cat litters we tested had a warning about toxoplasmosis on the label. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a parasite found in cat feces. Most people who pick up the parasite can live their entire lives not showing any symptoms and never know they’re living with it. But for immunocompromised or pregnant individuals, the parasite can be life-threatening.
The best way to avoid picking up this parasite is by scooping cat poop daily, disposing of it and all used litter in a garbage can, and washing your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap afterward.
You shouldn’t dispose of cat feces or used cat litter by flushing it down the toilet or pouring it down gutters or storm drains because that can contaminate water sources with the parasite. In California, cat litter labels must include a statement discouraging the flushing of litter in order to be sold in the state.
Introducing New Cat Litter to Your Cat
We didn’t use any cats in our evaluation because they’re generally not fans of change.
Most companies that make cat litter recommend introducing cats to a new product slowly because frequent changes can stress out cats and cause them to go outside of their litter box—a mess that’s way less pleasant to clean up than loose litter. There are different ways to do this. You can set up a second litter box with the new litter and let your cat choose which one to use for a few weeks. Another way is by topping off the old litter with the new brand every time you scoop up clumps from the litter box. One final recommendation is to fill a freshly cleaned litter box with the new litter, then pour a layer of the old litter over the top. Don’t mix them! Your cat will do this on its own as it visits its box.
To save Frank and the other resident CR cats and cat parents the hassle of a messy at-home evaluation, we developed a set of lab tests that assessed each litter’s ability to mask odors, its ease of pouring and scooping, and more. Watch the video below and learn about our full methodology.
Read on to see which cat litters we recommend.
Your Guide to the Best Pet Products
