The Necessary Evil

If you have cats, you have cat litter. You can use shredded newspaper, clumping or non-clumping clay, pellets, sand...basically, whatever your cat is comfortable with. And we all know, it's not about what you can afford or are comfortable with. If the cat ain't happy with his toilet accommodations, ain't nobody gonna be happy. I've always been lucky in that my cats are quite content to use clumping clay based litters. The beauty of clay is it clumps solid and stays that way no matter how many times the cat walks on or digs it up. The downside of clay is the layer of cat litter dust residing over every inch of the room the litter boxes occupy. Dust free is a lie, believe me. Every single clay litter kicks up a certain amount of dust when kitty scratches it or you are scooping it. I've also found even the ones that are supposed to absorb odor only do about a 50/50 job. My husband is considerably less tolerant to the negatives of clay, so one day he came home with a bag of World's Best Cat Litter. I've seen other cat litters that are supposed to be environmentally friendly but the cost has always discouraged me from trying them. World's Best bills itself as the only cat litter made from all-natural, whole-kernel corn. Because of this, the litter is more environmentally friendly because it is more biodegradable. World's Best is also supposed to be better for people and cats because it has no added chemicals, it's long lasting, strong clumping, and odor controlling. So I'm giving it a try. I've been slowing adding it to the existing litter so as not to create mutiny in case someone doesn't care much for corn. Right now, only about half the litter box is made up of World's Best, so I can't comment on it's lack of dust or odor control abilities because a large amount of clay still fills the box. I am finding, however, that while it clumps very well, it's not as firm as clay and breaks apart more easily. The kernels are slightly larger and lighter than their clay counterparts and don't sift quite as nicely through the kitty poo scoop. As I work my way to a completely clay free litter box, I'll let you know how it goes. If any of you have tried it, post your comments - I'd love to hear them!