Choosing the right cat litter for your pet can be overwhelming - there are literally hundreds of items available, all marketed very cleverly, making the whole thing confusing! Fear not - the Bombadillo kittens are on hand, trying and testing all the essential cat products!  These cat litter reviews are entirely independent, unsponsored and we have no links to any of the producers.

We have composed cat litter reviews of Catsan hygiene cat litter, Pets at Home wood pellet cat litter, Tesco economy clumping cat litter, Pets at Home clay and Breeder Celect newspaper cat litter.

Factors to consider

We have adult cats and young kittens under 13 weeks of age, and these groups have different cat litter requirements.

• All of our cats have their own litter trays and we change all of our litter trays and disinfect them daily.  This means that, for us, longevity and smell reduction are not really factors that we have taken into consideration. Litter trays changed daily rarely ever smell, and the cat litter does not need to be able to last for more than 24 hours. If you have a different litter tray hygiene routine, then this may affect your litter preferences. Please bear this in mind when reading our cat litter reviews. You can read more about cat litter tray hygiene here. 
• Young kittens, under around 3-4 months old, always need a natural, non-clumping cat litter. This is because there is a greater risk that they might eat the litter accidentally, or out of curiosity. Clumping litter can clump inside the kitten, which can cause a serious blockage. Anything that is not natural can also cause problems for their small bodies
• Adult cats can generally use any type of cat litter safely
• Remember that not all cats will choose to use all litters - some cats can be very fussy! If you are having problems with your cat not using his litter tray, read this article.

Fussy cat habits

• some cats are very choosy about what litter they like. If you have a choosy cat, work with him rather than against him. It is not a battle you will win!
• if a cat is standing on the edge of the tray all the time, they probably do not like the litter and are trying not to touch it
• if a cat is not using the litter tray, it may be because they do not like the litter - try putting down 3 or 4 trays with different litters in for a few days to see if they prefer another one 
• some cats will only use very clean litter trays - so keep on top of the litter tray hygiene - it is also much better for your cat to have a clean litter tray, and it is vital to keep infectious conditions like feline coronavirus and FIP at bay.

Cat litter reviews

Breeder Celect Newspaper Cat Litter

• Small tubular pieces of recycled newspaper, shredded and compacted to form the shape. Free from chemicals and additives. It is also relatively dust free, which is a real selling point given the emerging data about dust and respiratory issues. If you have respiratory issues or young children make sure you choose a low dust option. 
• Non clumping
• Price around 40p per litre
• This is perfect for small kittens because it is non-clumping, natural, free from chemicals and additives and the pellets are small, causing less of a danger if swallowed.
• This is our litter of choice for young kittens
• Cat litter reviews rating:  4/5 ideal for young kittens, although we would like the pellets to be even smaller, also good for adult cats and we love the low dust-factor which is an important health consideration not just for cats but also for the humans who live with them. 
• Buy it on Amazon here (#affiliatelink)

Catsan hygiene litter 

• a white, chalk and quartz cat litter - it is natural, but we have never used this for kittens as its large hard grains look like they could cause problems if ingested
• non-clumping
• Price: around 40p per litre
• Despite what their advertising says, this litter is slightly dusty, and the white grains seem to get everywhere! 
• Overall a reasonable litter. This was our litter of choice for some time, but then we discovered a good wood pellet litter that pipped it to the post
• The white colour of this litter is very good if you are monitoring a cat with a urinary tract infection, or bowel condition, as it allows you to instantly and easily check that the tray is from any blood or anything that shouldn't be there
• Cat litter reviews rating 3.5/5
• Buy it on Amazon here (#affiliatelink)

Pets at Home ultra performance clay cat litter 

• Fine granules of clay that clump when they come into contact with moisture, natural but not suitable for kittens because it is clumping litter
• Price: 85p per litre
• Excellent clumping qualities mean that anything in the litter tray gets completely encased in clay very quickly. This is great for locking in odours and makes scooping the litter tray very easy, arguably also making the litter last longer before requiring a full change, although we change ours daily anyway.
• All of our cats have always loved the fine grains of a good quality clay litter, and even the fussiest of our cats was happy with it.
• Downsides are that when the cats walk in the clay, they get clay on their paws and you get little clay litter-tray foot prints everywhere! Also, the clay sticks to the bottom of the litter tray and then requires some serious cleaning to get the tray completely immaculate.
• A good litter, but because we change our litter trays daily, the odour prevention is not such a selling point for us, nor is the easy-to-scoop quality, and the clay sticking to the bottom of the tray is a nuisance when doing a daily clean. If you don’t change the litter so regularly though, this litter has some real plus points that make it worth trying. If ever we get a new cat that is a fusspot, or one of ours decides to be fussy for a while, this is my go-to litter of choice. But for day to day needs, it does not suit our routine.
• Cat litter reviews rating: 4 / 5 - a good litter, just not suited to our particular daily needs

Pets at Home Wood Pellet Cat Litter

• Medium sized wood pellets that turn to powder once used
• Non clumping, but the pellets turning to dust has a very mild clumping effect
• Price: around 19p per litre
• This litter has a lovely natural wood smell, and of course wood is naturally antibacterial which is an added bonus. It is also a reasonably economical cat litter. Not so good for kittens because the pellets are quite large and their little paws are better suited to a smaller pellet, but this litter is a fantastic all-rounder for older kittens and all cats. This is currently our litter of choice for our adult cats.
• Fussy cats may not like the initial size of the pellets, before they turn to dust
• Cat litter reviews rating: 4.5/5 - a good litter for our daily needs. 

Tesco Value lightweight cat litter

• A basic clay litter, with moderately large clay clumps
• Clumping
• Price around 16p per litre
• Not suitable for small kittens because it is a clumping litter
• This is a very economical cat litter, but we found it to be quite dusty and a bit of a nuisance because when it clumps it sticks to the litter tray so that you have to scrub the litter tray clean. Also, because the clay pellets are not very fine, it's clumping ability on fecal matter is not so good, so it is less effective at containing odours than the finer clay litters
• Being a clay litter, it is dusty and you might find little clay-litter paw prints on your floors!
• Cat litter rating: 2/5 a good value litter, but not very convenient

If you found this helpful, try some of our other reviews:

• wet cat food reviews
• dry cat food reviews
• the Pets at Home Columbus Grand Climber
• the Pets at Home Hilary High Sleeper 
• do I need to give my cat taurine?

You can also read about what goes in to making a Bombadillo kitten so unique, and see if we have any kittens available.