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.
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.
“Sustainably Yours” is the best I’ve tried. It’s even endorsed by Jackson Galaxy.
I love that guy!
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.
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.
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.
Pretty Litter. Its exceptional.
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!
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 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
Just get the crystal litter from Walmart. They are 10 a small bag 14 for big. I also have an automated cat litter. Only dust when I dump the whole thing out and that’s minimal.
Is it typically recommended for asthmatic cats?
Edit: also, i thought it had to be clumping to work?
It’s not good for their lungs, the silica dust.
Also, when it’s full of liquid, that’s it, it’s full, any more urine just sits there. I’ve tried it before, and the above person may have a decent experience with it in an automated box, but I have not and also I like run on sentences.
Ya I honestly hate that stuff. It looks gross too the moment the cat pisses :(
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
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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’m sure you’ve looked into this, but doesn’t your cat’s vet have a recommendation?
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 :(
I’m guessing that by “buy their mineral hairball shit” you mean they’re trying to sell you something they make money off of? What does that even have to do with asthma?
Try calling some other vets in your area and just ask about the litter. I bet someone has a recommendation for you that isn’t part of a for-profit plan. Alternately I found a bunch of recommended litters online searching for “asthma litter box”, though I won’t link any here because I can’t recommend anything I don’t have experience with.
What I was trying to find for you isn’t a special litter though. I was wondering if there was a litter box itself that had an air filter built in. Failing that you might try getting a small air purifier like the Honeywell QuietClean (which I do have; it’s just okay) and placing it next to the litter box.
It has to be compatible with an auto litterbox. I’ve several good leads so no worries :) Lots to check out
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 :)
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
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.
I use arm and hammer “slide” which is basically sand. It won’t have that clay dust, but there are bound to be a few particles. The clay stuff bothered my nose, but this did not. So, maybe it would work for you
I find it much to perfumed :(
