If you have cats, you have litter. I get asked a lot about kitty litter recommendations so I thought I would write a post sharing what we use for our foster kittens and for our resident cats. I will also share the litter boxes we use for foster kittens and for our own cats.
Table of Contents:
Kitty Litter Recommendations for Foster Kittens
It is vital to use a non-clumping litter with young kittens. Kittens are curious explorers who often investigate their surroundings with their mouths. When using clumping litter, there's a risk that curious kittens might ingest the litter, which can lead to intestinal blockages. Non-clumping litter eliminates this risk, ensuring your kitten's safety during their early and inquisitive stage.
While there are various non-clumping litter options available, pine pellet litter stands out as the choice for me. The price of pine pellet litter simply can't be beat. You can buy a 40 lb bag at Tractor Supply for around $7. It is safe and inexpensive, and it is also the litter the shelter I foster for. uses. This made it the clear choice for our foster kittens.
Kitty Litter for Our Resident Cats
You CAN use pine pellet litter during all stages of life, I just choose not to. We prefer traditional clumping litter and with 5 cats, it's important for me to like the litter we choose!
We Use Cat's Pride
After trying many different brands of cat litter, I landed on Cat's Pride and haven't looked back. I honestly can't even remember what we used right before or when we made the official switch. I can't even remember why I tried Cat's Pride in the first place. Since realizing we love it, I did some research on the brand and happily learned that they have a wonderful program that gives litter to shelters.
We started out with the Unscented Total Odor Control and then switched to Scented Bacterial Odor Control because I felt it helped with the odor more. I normally hate scented litters but this one is a scent I can tolerate and feel actually helps.
Litter Boxes
We can't have a post about kitty litter without some litter box recommendations! I have a few I love for our own cats and also smaller boxes I love for foster kittens.
Litter Boxes for Foster Kittens
When I am first litter training kittens, I love using plastic art/craft trays, specifically these. They are low entry, small, and come in a 6 pack so I can place many around the kitten enclosure easily. They are also easily sanitized.
When kittens are older I use the Breeze litter box system, but just the base part. We use it with pine pellets. I put these liners in the tray portion. I also have some small plastic litter boxes from Walmart that I use, but I prefer the Breeze boxes since they sift the sawdust portion out.
Litter Boxes for Our Resident Cats
We are blessed to own a Litter Robot. It was given to us as a gift a few years ago and is wonderful to have with 5 resident cats. They all use it and it works well. We own the Litter Robot 3, if you decide to buy one, you can get $50 off using my referral code! You can also get it on Amazon here.
We also use additional litter boxes around our home, specifically in bedrooms where certain kitties sleep. My daughter's cats, Pebbles and Mabel, sleep with her so she has one and my cat Fern sleeps with us so we have one in our bedroom. We chose these top entry boxes because our dogs like to pull "snacks" from the boxes. That's just gross, so these boxes prevent that!
Prior to the Litter Robot, we also used this box. For cats who don't like a top entry, this one is great since it has high sides.
Looking for more foster kitten supply ideas? Check out our post featuring all of our favorites here!
Thanks for using our affiliate links in the post, that helps support the kittens! See more ways to help here, see all of the kittens we have fostered here!
Thank you for sharing. Love trying different litters, especially with those mentioned to be low dust.