Clay Clumping Litter - ExquisiCat

Edit 11/27/2009: This comparison was done for our own use as we searched for a different cat litter. All products were purchased by us and no compensation was received for this review. Please see our Disclaimers and Disclosures for details.

Of course, as part of our clumping cat litter comparison, we also looked at regular clay clumping litter. We used ExquisiCat from Petsmart due to cost and convenience.A 40-pound container of ExquisiCat Clumping Litter is about $12-$13, making it the cheapest of all the clumping litter tested. The clay clumping litter also out-performs the others in the clumping category. But its infamous dust clouds (and potential effect on pets' respiratory system as well as our own) are major drawbacks. Plus, unless fragrance or chemical was added to the litter, it has poor odor neutralizing ability.

One of the reason we moved from the clay clumping litter was the weight. When we transitioned to larger litter containers, it was very difficult to tilt the heavy container to scoop. Plus the dust clouds when we scoop or fill the containers sent all of us (cats and humans) into coughing fits. There are "dust-free" clay litter but it still is very heavy compared to the other clumping litter.

In the four months that we've used Swheat Scoop and WBCL, we realize that we restocked those litter a lot less than when we used ExquisiCat Clumping Litter. Perhaps, those perfect hard urine clumps use a lot more clay litter than the non-clay litter, so the clay litter needs more frequent refills. I am sure ExquisiCat still comes out cheapest on a per pound basis.

ExquisiCat pluses: excellent hard clumps, cheap, easily available.
ExquisiCat minuses: very dusty, potential health/respiratory issues, too heavy, poor odor neutralizing / control, not biodegradable, non-renewable.

We've kept our clumping cat litter comparison focused on the following categories: dust, cost, clumping power, and odor control. Although not considered in this comparison, the following issues are worth mentioning --- and perhaps will be subjects of later reports:
* Clumping vs. non-clumping (to give you an idea of the debate)
* Silica gel litter (crystals)
* Health concerns with clay clumping litter (to be safe, don't use for kittens less than 3 months old)
* Is organic clumping litter really more environmentally friendly than clay litter? It would seem so on the surface and based on the marketing of the organic litter. But we couldn't help but wonder about the (de)forests and cropland needed for these natural resources. Then you have to compare that to the effect of strip mining that is used to produce clay litter. What are the environmental effects of the different processing / manufacturing procedures? Who's to say that if organic litter becomes popular and outsells clay litter, companies won't end up exploiting / destroying these "renewable resources" to meet the demand? And everytime I scoop the corn- wheat- litter, I can't help but wonder if those corn and wheat would be better off as a food source instead of litter for our cats' toilet :)

That's about it for the different clumping cat litter in our comparison. Our next and final post on this comparison will go over why the perfect cat litter for us may not necessarily be the one for you and your cat(s), and vice versa.