Best Kitty Litter by Price and Features

heyrosered on 02/07/2018 - 21:32
Last edited 02/07/2018 - 21:32

Hello fellow cat and bargain lovers! I would like your litter opinions

I live in a studio so currently use the crystal kind to keep smell and the tracking of litter to a minimum. I tried the paper pellets before but they went everywhere, and I've heard anecdotally that the fine sandy litters are the worst for this. That said, I'd like to minimise the amount I'm spending on litter.

I used to find Kmart crystal litter the cheapest per kilo but they've become unreliable with stock, I'd love to find a good alternative or even try another kind of litter if it's highly recommended!

Keeping in mind a priority for scent and tracking control, what are the best litters by per kilo price?

Pets

Comments

  • holoz0r on 02/07/2018 - 21:50
    +2

    Big W does 6kg boxes. Similar to Kmarts. Cheap.

  • fantombloo on 02/07/2018 - 22:00
    +1

    I use Kmart crystals but add a few cm layer of cheap paper pellets on top. IME the crystals last longer without getting saturated at the bottom. Plus I find less crystals outside the box.

    • heyrosered on 02/07/2018 - 23:27

      That does sound like a good method, but I found she used to track the paper pellets all over the place when I used them. She'd also pick single pellets out of her tray and bat them around the floor lol

      • HighAndDry on 03/07/2018 - 09:52
        +1

        She'd also pick single pellets out of her tray and bat them around the floor lol

        Saving you money on cat toys!

  • Sheila Dealer on 02/07/2018 - 22:12
    +1

    I buy the crystals from The Reject Shop but the best thing I’ve found for keeping things tidy are their covered litter boxes. I bought mine about a year ago for $20 and it’s much tidier. I’m not sure whether they are a regular stocked item or not but I have seen them there again several times. I don’t carry it by the handle as the lid doesn’t fit that securely but kitty and I are both happy with the “shithouse”!

    • heyrosered on 02/07/2018 - 23:31

      Oooh I didn't know they had crystals, do you recall the price? She has two covered boxes and one uncovered but still gets crystals out of the box. I did look at this fancy one that had stairs that got rave reviews for preventing tracking, but even on sale it was $65 and I couldn't justify it. Kmart has these litter mats that are pretty handy though!

      • Sheila Dealer on 03/07/2018 - 12:06
        +1

        It’s $9 per 10 litre bag. A few crystals do get outside the enclosed litter box but on the whole it’s much better.

        • nocure on 03/07/2018 - 12:12
          +1

          Until you step on one…

        • heyrosered on 03/07/2018 - 21:29

          That's a great price, thanks!

  • Quantumcat on 02/07/2018 - 22:31
    +1

    The best kind is the one that comes in a purple bag, and is flushable. Keep the cat litter in the bathroom and scoop every time there's something there. Very easy when all you have to do is dump it on the toilet and flush. Never any smell. And economical - if you have to change the whole thing every time, it costs more in litter. Plus changing a whole cat litter tray is gross. With this method, you only need to change the whole thing once a month or less (really only when your cat misses a little and hits the side and you need to empty out to scrub it.)

    • heyrosered on 02/07/2018 - 23:37

      Oh that's interesting! I've never seen that in store before but a google took me to WonderWheat litter, is that the one? Their pitch makes it sound like a pretty solid product, have you been using it long? I'm cautious about the effect it might have on the plumbing

        • Geekomatic on 03/07/2018 - 15:21

          They sell that at Cole's online (not sure in-store?).

        • Quantumcat on 04/07/2018 - 07:59

          @Geekomatic: probably, have a look?

      • Placebo on 03/07/2018 - 10:22
        +1

        I am a big, big fan of Wonder Wheat. I've been using it for around 10 years, initially with one cat and now with two. I think the main complaint about Wonder Wheat is the tracking and it does track badly on our tiles. It is excellent with smell though and clumps well so you don't go through so much of it.

        I've tried a few litters over the years, but never crystals so I can't comment on how anything compares to them.

        For the last while I've been buying Wonder Wheat online however recently the price increased significantly and it looked as though they were winding up the business, although I have since noted it is still available in some stores. When I was concerned about its availability I spoke with a woman at my local City Farmers who told me chicken crumbles are very similar to Wonder Wheat and lots of people use those.

        I've since bought an enormous bag of vegetarian chicken crumbles (which are dirt cheap) and am using them at about half/half with Wonder Wheat. The crumbles are not quite so good on odor control, but that is only really noticeable when I'm actively cleaning the tray, otherwise there is no change. I clean their tray (they only have one tray) daily and have flushed Wonder Wheat for many, many years, however I no longer flush due to my increasing concern about the environmental impact of doing so.

        Chicken crumbles similar to what I'm using are here: https://www.petstock.com.au/product/chicken/coprice-lucky-la…

        • heyrosered on 03/07/2018 - 21:32
          +1

          Thanks so much, I appreciate the comprehensive review!

  • [Deactivated] on 02/07/2018 - 23:59

    We use a paper based one.

    It turns blue on contact with urine, clumps up nicely and flushable. You can see every piece that's got urine on it, so easy to keep it super clean and smell free.

    It's a bit pricey but totally worth it.

    Only seen it in the one pet store we go to (in Malaysia), its made in Singapore.

    Edit: Here it is http://www.petloverscentre.com.my/Forms/Products.aspx?ID=179…
    About $15 for 8L/2.4Kg

  • Islund on 03/07/2018 - 07:45

    Max's pet litter. Around $33 for 10L at Petbarn

    • Geekomatic on 03/07/2018 - 15:23

      Cole's has that one, too— and cheaper.

  • burtie on 03/07/2018 - 07:58
    +1

    If it's any help, I noticed Target has started selling kitty litter for the same price as Kmart. I'm presuming it's the same stuff but in different packaging?
    My new cats hate change. When I adopted them, they had been using Crystals in their foster home. I tried to change to a pellet one which I can buy cheap but one of them started peeing all over my lounge room mat in protest!

    • heyrosered on 03/07/2018 - 21:40
      +1

      My cat is a protest pee-er as well! Which makes me hesitant to change her litter, but it's costing so much. Sadly my local Target doesn't have a pet section, but there's some interesting food for thought in this thread

  • GHKC on 03/07/2018 - 11:54

    Not sure if you are keen or able to do this, but the best thing we have done with the two large cats is to toilet train them.
    Used the toilet training kits and took about 3 months to train them as 6 mo old kittens; but haven't looked back (they are close to 4 now).
    My cats routinely do two wees (they drink a lot) and a poop a day; it meant changing litter and cleaning litter boxes basically every single day before they were toilet trained.
    Now it is simply a flush of the toilet, no mess and smells around the small house.

    • heyrosered on 03/07/2018 - 21:35

      I have considered it, but my girl is pretty timid, not the kind to even get in cardboard boxes! Plus I've had some pretty hectic issues before with her peeing inappropriately, I'm concerned that removing all her options so she could be trained would exacerbate those issues. It would save me a lot of hassle though!

    • ShortyX on 04/07/2018 - 11:50

      Which kit did you use? And is it too late for a 2.5 year old cat?

    • Prince K on 09/09/2018 - 20:07

      Hi GHKC,
      I have tried to toilet train my kitties last year, I got the CitiKitty but it was just a cheap piece of plastic and a couple time my cat fell in the toilet so I eventually gave up. The first few days were fine but after that they continuously had accidents.

      I have recently gotten the Little Kwitter, which is made with much better qualities. I would love to give them another try. Any tips you could give from experience to prevent accidents (peeing/pooing outside the toilet)?

      I use Kitter Litter which is flushable in small amounts. Not sure if this helps.

      Thanks in advance!

  • Geekomatic on 03/07/2018 - 15:21
    +1

    Cole's plain clay cat litter, large bag (10k, $4.70)— mixed with their own clumping, small bag (4.5k, $2.64). Pretty cheap compared to the rest.

    I also found a seller of large bags of baking soda and I toss a handful into the litter box every few days which completely eradicates odor. FYI

    • heyrosered on 03/07/2018 - 21:37

      Awesome thanks. I currently put tea leaves in to mediate the smell, but maybe baking soda would work better

  • Bad Wolf on 03/07/2018 - 16:41
    +1

    Currently using wood pellets with a sieve tray.
    When wet the pellets break down into small particles but there’s no tracking issues. Pine scented.

    Daily scoop the poop and where you can see a spot has been peed in just run the scoop backwards and forwards twice to help it fall through (or just shake the tray)
    We are lining the bottom tray with a puppy training pad and twice a week give the whole tray a quick shake then lift and and bin the puppy pad and all the used up bits.

    Sieve tray was $25-$30
    Puppy pads 50 pack about $15 from ebay every 6 months
    Litter 15kg bag $16-$20 bag lasts 2 cats 3-4 months
    $16 nettopet
    usually $20 at house when there’s a free shipping code
    Other then the initial price of the tray approx $100pa for 2 furballs

    Our cats don’t eat dry food so I believe they pee more then cats on dry. Before changing to wood pellets we went through 4kg crystals in under 2 weeks.

    • heyrosered on 03/07/2018 - 21:37

      That does sound like a pretty good option, how do you find the scent in an enclosed space?

      • Bad Wolf on 04/07/2018 - 13:29
        +1

        Sorry can’t really comment on an enclosed space, our tray is in a 10m square room near a door that’s mostly part open

        Better than I remember crystals smelling.

  • ManWithTwoCats on 10/07/2018 - 00:07

    Am I only one using Aldi one???
    Pretty cheap and good performance for that price, 10kg for 6 dollars, but trace.

  • SirFlibbled on 06/08/2018 - 14:07

    Sorry a little late on the reply but I've recently started using Applelaw's biodegradeable clumping litter. The stuff is a little exxy ($28 for 6kg) but it's pretty good. It doesn't smell if you clean it out every couple of days and I'm finding it lasts a lot longer than crystals over time.

    The smell is a little better too as it's made from walnut shells, it's almost a wooden smell to it.

    The downside is that it's VERY light, so I've had to change the tray to a fully enclosed tray to stop the daily need to sweep the bathrooms.

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