Plant-Fibre Clumping Litter

Clay litter works and it is cheap, and it also weighs a great deal, produces a fine silica dust and comes out of an open-cast mine. This is cassava and pea fibre: it clumps as hard as a mid-range clumping clay, weighs about a third as much for the same tray volume, and is close to dust free, which matters if anyone in the house is asthmatic.

The clump sets in under a minute and lifts in one piece rather than crumbling, which is the actual test of a litter. Scoop daily and top up; a full change every three weeks is enough for one cat in a well-scooped tray, against weekly for most clays.

Do not flush it. It is plant-based and the bag will tell you it is biodegradable, both of which are true and neither of which means your drains or a municipal treatment works want it. Bag the clumps and bin them. Cat waste can carry toxoplasma, which is exactly what you do not want going into a waterway.

Cats are conservative about substrate. Change over gradually, a quarter new for a week and then half, rather than swapping the tray wholesale, or you may find the answer expressed on a rug. If your cat starts avoiding a tray it previously used happily, rule out a urinary problem with your vet before blaming the litter.