Best Litter for Multiple Cat Households

 Best Litter Multiple Cats Buying Guide 2022

This is the article you need to read if you're looking for the best litter for multiple cats in your household. Having more than one feline in your domicile means special considerations when it comes to choosing a good brand, how much to use, and what matierl to look for. And that's just the starting point.I know, it's no fun to deal with problems like tracking litter around the house, foul odors, and whatever else. By nature, cats are relatively clean creatures. But when guests come over and they smell the litter box before they even see your cats, that's kind of humiliating. Choosing th e best brands that do what you need for however many cats you have is how you gain a foothold.

Unless you are one of the lucky few who has managed to toilet train a cat (strange, but true), you need litter...There's a lot of brands out there, but they are not all created equal. Sometimes it's through trial and error. Luckily, it doesn't have to be. 

How I Picked the Best Litter Multiple Cats

Well, three words...first hand experience. My long career as a cat lady has meant that trying out different litters is second only to trying new foods. When I have been shopping for cat litter, I look at three major things...the price, the components, and the value for both. I've used brands that were downright awful and those that were excellent, and a few were in-between.

A Spotlight on Some of the Best Cat Litter Multiple Cats 2022

Purina Tidy Cats Clumping Litter For Multiple Cat Households

I thought we'd start off by talking about my favorite brand - TidyCats. We spotted this on one shopping excursion (Wal-mart) and it looked like a good deal. I couldn't pass up the container that doubles as a storage bucket - the carrying handle is so much easier to handle than those bulky cardboard cartons. It's a heavyweight at 35 pounds, but the ideal size for more than one cat. 

It does have a fragrance added, but it's mild and slowly dissipates over time and doesn't overpower me with "perfumy"-ness. It clumps great and there isn't much dust sifting through the air when being dispensed. If you just arrived at the door - you wouldn't even know I had cats right away - odor control is super.

What I like best: Produces tight clumps, very little residual dust, fragrance is subtle, little to no odor, storage bucket design

What I don't like: It's heavy, no big deal of course...Also special care needs to be taken when opening a new container.as some of the plastic edges are sharp.

Tidy Cats Lightweight Unscented

This one has always been my go-to fav...if I can get it, these days, it's kind of a crapshoot - sometimes I can't find the unscented adn will opt for the one with Glade in it. Thankfully, the Glade scent gradually evaporates but when I first open it up it's very potent. I love how much lighter it is, as it comes in a large jug with carrying handle on the side, I'll buy 2 at a time as it takes one to fill each box. It dos clump well, no complaints there. When I first pour it in the box a little residual dust sifts around a little, one small caveat is that becasue it is n't as dense, the cats track it out more easily, but since they "go" in a covered box most of it stays where it should adn whatever gets out I sweep up easily. 

What I like about it: It's less dense and easier to handle, 

no odor, clumps well

What I don't like as much: It produces a little more residual dust than the standard weight litter

Arm and Hammer

You can't go wrong with Arm and Hammer anything - it's a trusted brand that's been around for ages and never lets me down, so naturally I gravitate towards their brands of cat litters,. I bought the ***** when I just had Buddy and Cosmo. it comes in a large cardboard carton with carrying handle. 

I

t's 14 lbs, but the carrying handle makes it easier. ALthough A&H also makes a "Multi-Cat" variety too, I find this one very satisfactory, in that the fragrance, if any is very subtle, the litter pellets are compact, clumping takes place well, and my guys don't track it everywhere. Plus, the cardboard box is recyclable.

What I like about it: No overpowering fragrance, clumps firmly, little tracking, Box is biodegradable

What I don't like as much: Nothing really to knock on - I;m very pleased.

Arm & Hammer Slide

This is another brand I got not too long ago that I'm pleased with so far. It's a 14 pound box that is biodegradeable afterward. It is formulated to not stick as much as conventional brands. Out of the box, the fragrance, if any (box didn't say) was very subtle. It also didn't kick up dust either, which is great if changing the cat box makes you sneeze from all those loose particles' resisdue in the air floats around. . It was about an hour before I found it had been "christened" by one of my cats.  The lack of dust meant that when I scooped the poop, there were much less particles going out too. 

What I like about it: Scent is pleasant, clumps are very firm and less particles go out with them, no dust

What I don't like: So far, can't find anything yet.

World's Best Cat Litter

I know most of us are a little suspiscious of anything that claims to be the best of something, but I have to tell you you won't be disappointed in this one if you're looking for an alternative to clay. Instead of clay pellets, it's made from corncob fibers, and better yet - it's flushable. Yes, you heard that right. On those messy rainy days when you don't feel liek dragging one more thing out to the trash, these biodegradeable pellets will soon become your new best friend.

 So if you're seeking a great litter for two cats or more that will not stink to high heaven and clumps well, look no further.

What I like about it: Septic-safe, clumps, eco-friendly

What I don't like as much: Some people didn't like the odor, or that it wasn't compatible with their device (e.g LitterRobot)

Best Litter Multiple Cats Buyers Guide

Now that I've shared my favorite brands let's go over the most important factors when choosing good litter for multiple cat resuidences. 

Clumping vs Clay

When I got my first official ("debut") cat in 1991, I was introduced to "clumping" cat litter. It's formulated to solidify around their waste so you can easily take the pooper scooper adn dip it out. 

I have always despised clay litter, I got used to the kind that clumps around their, uh, business, and wuldn't have it any other way. How did we ever live without it? When your cat pes or poops the granules in the litter "stick" around it, making it easier to scoop. My ultimate favorite type of cat litter is the kind that clumps and the "lightweight" It really does live up to a name - it' weighs hal of what conventional litter does. Nice to not have to breeak a sweat lugging a heavy container to the car! The one downside of it, though, is it does seem to leave more dust. "Normal" weight litter, I don't notice this as much. 

Clay is the most common litter component, mainly bentonite, kaolite, and sepiolite. Or a combination of these, regardless of whether they are formulated to clump or not.  Some people are looking into natural ingredients like wheat, corn, pine, and sawdust. In some cases, cats too, like us, have allergies, and the less dust or fragrance present, the better. 

A crystalized synthetic silica is one of the newest ingredients that's come along. Some cats aren't picky about where they "go". Others are. case in point. Like most kids, I enjoyed playing in the sandbox. Much to my chagrin, the neighbor's cat had defiled it one day. Putting a cover on it put an end to the unwanted "night deposits".

There's a few instances in which non clumping cat litter would be preferable - such as post-op. Also, with cats that are diabetic or with kidney issues, as well as very young cats, when the granules could be a little rough on the incision, and it's a good idea to stay on top of the cats' urinary status. When my guys had been spayed and neutred, I was encouraged to use newspaper shredding.

How Much Litter Will You Need?

Experts always say you need one litter box per cat and then an extra. With that logic I'd need 4. A lot of this is becasue of the territorial nature of cats. When you have more than one cat it does mean having to be more on top of cleaning duties. 

You also have to have a certain depth, as cats love to dig. I have a covered litter box I made for my cats using one of those big 12-gallon totes that i cut a hole in the lid and they can come and go as they please instead of buying a conventional litter pan. It helps cut down on all that messy tracking, regardless of which brand of litter I usel. They also have more privacy too.

The typical litter pan is about 4" deep. I remember using these years ago and another thing i made use of was pan liners - It made doing complete changeouts much esaier.  Ideally, at least 3" of litter should be used. Depending on how many cats and litter pans are present WhenI fill/refill my litter "totes" I triy to get in the ballpark of 5" 

Also it's important to do a periodic change-out of the litter. Depending on how many cats you have, this could be every month or every eight weeks. Ammonia, which is present in cats' urine, can build up. The only way to manage this is a complete change over. I also start out, between changes, putting down a buffer - I do this by tracing a piec of cardboard around the bottom of the box and cutting it to size, to go in the bottom . One small problem with clay based litter is that some parts of it stick to the bottom. The cardboard buffer I make fits in the nooks and crannies of the tote box and catches all those wet clumps the "pooper scooper" may miss. Makes things easy. I'd encourage you to do this too.

Making "Scents"

Some litters that you find are scented. Personally, I don't like the scented type as much as it seems like the fragrance added makes it worse. It's like perfume...it doesn't negate the smell of cats' poop, sintead its like covering it up, the best deoderizer is always baking soda. I spreinkle a little in after I do a few "dips" adn it keeps odor under control way better than any of those fragrances. Sometimes the unscented kind I prefer is sold out and I have to grab one of those fragrant ones anyway. However, the use of baking soda in the box tends to help keep that part from being bothersome.It's not always that bad, though...when you are replacing litter and opening up a fresh container, the fragrance is at its highest peak, but it dos disappate over time.

Non-scented litters are sometimes equipped with baking soda adn charcoal, two of the best natural deodorizers - and no obnoxious perfume that will knock you over about as much as the smell of cat poop!

Which Material?

The variety of materials used in cat litter is more varied now than it used to be. Of course, results may vary. Most cat litter you see is made of. One time I was out at Ingles and a certain brand caught my eye becasue it was made with shredded corncob fibers. I think it did wel lin the deoderizing department, but I don't think my cats took to it well. It didn't clump well, either. At the end of the day the whole thing got damp. Some matierlas no matter how well are advertised, just don't bode well. The presence of paper fibers, since paper is highly porous, could mean that dampness adn moisture will set in easily, adn require more frequent changing. 

Conclusion

Well, I hope I have enlightened you well on the topic of litter - wow, didin't realize how much goes into perfecting the sandbox, am I right? You should also be better equipped to make a smart decision on picking the best litter for your multiple cat household.