Best Litter For Kittens and Young Cats: Our Top 4 Picks

If you’re the proud and excited owner of a new kitten, one of the first things you’ll need to sort out is their litter tray.

Which begs the question, ‘What’s the best litter for kittens?’

There are a few things to consider when choosing kitten litter. It’s not a case of grabbing the first bag you see off the shelf.

The right kitten litter will;

• Make litter training easier, and
• Keep your kitten safe while they learn

The Best Kitten Litter: Our 4 Top Picks

If all you want is a quick list of the products we recommend, have a look at the table below.

To check the price, click the button, if you want to know more about a product, click the ‘Read Our Review’ link.

Catsan Hygiene: The Best Clay Litter For Kittens

4.0 out of 5.0 stars4.0 (4.1)

Catsan Hygiene does everything well. Kittens were willing to use it, it’s absorbent, traps odours and it’s easy to scoop. Plus, it’s well-priced.

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Or Read Our Review

CJ’s Kitten Friendly Wood Cat Litter: Made Especially For Kittens

4.1 out of 5.0 stars4.1 (4.1)

CJ’s milled wood pellet cat litter is designed with kittens in mind. It’s dust-free, soft on paws and absorbs liquids and odours. And it’s cheap too.

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Or Read Our Review

Premium Tofu Litter: Best For Kittens Who Eat Their Litter

4.5 out of 5.0 stars4.5 (4.5)

Premium tofu cat litter is safe to eat, even for humans. If your kitten has a habit of eating their litter, this will keep them safe.

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Breeder Celect Paper Cat Litter: Soft On Kittens’ Paws

4.0 out of 5.0 stars4.0 (4.0)

Breeder Celect Recycled paper cat litter is soft on kittens’ feet. Kittens who struggled with other types of litter loved this.

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Or Read Our Review

Why Should You Trust Our Recommendations?

At Pet Checkers, cats are the second most popular pets we look after (dogs are the most popular).

We spend every day looking after cats.

One of the most important jobs we do is scooping and cleaning litter boxes.

Every year, we get a new influx of kitten owners asking for our services. And one of the most common questions they ask is, ‘Which kitten litter is best?’

We also work with a local cat charity called Lincoln Cat Care who spends a lot of time rescuing kittens. And part of rescuing kittens is giving them a safe place to toilet. We worked with one of their cat fosterers, Louise.

This gives us a unique insight into which cat litters are best for kittens. It also provides us with a place to test different types.

So rest assured, we base our recommendations on real research, testing and experience.

How We Picked

When choosing which kitten litters to test, we did a few things;

• We leaned on our own experiences as professional pet carers
• Talked with customers to get their thoughts and experiences
• Consulted with a local cat rescue charity to get their experiences
• Looked at reviews on shopping sites like Amazon, Pets at Home, Zooplus, etc

And as we’re looking for the best cat litter for kittens, only certain types of litter will do. It had to be;

Non-Clumping (Apart From Tofu Litter)

Even the best clumping cat litter can be a danger to kittens, especially clay.

As part of their curiosity, some kittens might try to eat their litter.

Clumping cat litter can expand up to fifteen times in contact with moisture. If your kitten swallows it, it can cause all kinds of problems. From intestinal blockages, to, in the worst cases, it can be fatal.

The exception to this is tofu cat litter. Which, believe it or not, is safe for your kitten to eat.

So only non-clumping cat litter will do, unless it’s Tofu.

Unscented

The smell of perfumes and chemicals can put kittens off using the litter tray. This makes litter training harder than it needs to be.

The last thing you want is to put your kitten off using their litter tray.

Low Dust

Dusty cat litter isn’t good for your kittens’ lungs.

You don’t want them breathing in dust while they dig in their litter or cover up their business.

This gave us a range of litters to test.

How We Tested

We tested our chosen cat litters in 3 ways;

In Our Lab at Pet Checkers HQ

We took sever litter trays and poured 3 inches of cat litter into each one. Then, we graded each one on;

• Cost per kilo – we calculated the average cost per kilo of buying each product online.
• How dusty it was – we took note of how much dust there was when pouring it into the litter tray.
• How well it absorbed liquid – we syringed 200ml of water into each litter tray and left it for 15 minutes.

In a ‘Live’ Environment With Our Customers’ Kittens

We chose a few of our customers with new kittens. We bought the litter and agreed to come and scoop their litter boxes twice a day for 4 weeks.

We then graded each product on;

• Absorbancy (again) – testing with water is one thing. We wanted to know how well it did with actual cat pee.
• How well it masked odours – each time we changed a litter tray we had a whiff to see how it smelled. You might think we’re gross but you can’t say we’re not thorough!
• How much it tracked – we also wanted to see how litter our kittens walked around the house as they left their litter boxes.

In a Foster Home With Lots of Kittens

Chances are, you don’t want to foster lots of kittens (if you do, we salute you).

That said, it gave us the chance to see how well each product faired in a multi-kitten environment.

Kitten Litter Reviews: A Closer Look At Our Top Picks

After testing 12 different kitten litters over 4 weeks, here are our four top picks.

Let’s have closer look at why they’re the best.

Catsan Hygiene Non-Clumping Clay Cat Litter: An Excellent Clay Litter For Kittens

Catsan Hygiene is one of the UK’s most popular non-clumping cat litters.

It’s made from quartz and chalk which makes it pretty much dust-free. Its porous nature makes it very good at absorbing liquids and holding onto smells.

Scooping out the mess is easy, especially solid waste. And because it’s white rather than grey like other clay litters, it always looks clean and fresh.

It does track a bit. Not all over the place, but bits would find their way onto the floor as our kittens hopped out of their litter boxes.

Our cat foster parent, Louise, liked Catsan best of all the litters we tested.

“Catsan Hygiene did everything pretty well. The kittens like to use it, scooping was easy and there were no nasty smells. It’s not so expensive either, which is important when you’ve got a house full…”

Premium Tofu Cat Litter: Best For Kittens Who Eat Their Litter

If your kitten has a tendency to eat their litter, Premium Tofu cat litter is the safest of the lot.

Even humans can eat it.

It’s a pellet-style litter so not only is it pretty much dust-free, it doesn’t track everywhere.

All the kittens we tested this litter with were happy to use it and it soaked up urine very well. When it gets wet, it forms a spongy clump which makes it easy to scoop.

It’s brilliant at locking in odours too. Even when we stuck our heads in the tray and had a whiff, there was no real smell.

And when it’s time to dispose of it, you can bin it, or compost it. The pack also says you can flush it.

The only downside is the cost. At around £3.23 per kilo, it’s super expensive compared to other types of litter.

CJ’s Kitten Friendly: A Non-Clumping Wood Litter Especially Designed for Kittens

CJ’s Kitten Friendly is an excellent wood-based litter, designed especially for kittens.

There was almost no dust when pouring it into the litter box and all our kittens seemed happy to use it.

It did a good job of absorbing kitty pee and with regular scooping, which was pretty easy. It really didn’t smell at all, even with several kittens using the litter box.

We did find some kitties tracked the litter a bit when hopping out of their litter boxes. The individual grains are very light so it’s bound to happen a bit.

That said, we found it happened more often with longer-haired kittens. It could get caught in their furry paws and carried around the house.

It wasn’t a major problem so it’s not a deal-breaker, after all, a lot of litter tracks. Still, it’s worth mentioning.

And because CJ’s Kitten Friendy is a wood-based litter, it’s biodegradable. This means if you want to compost used cat litter you can. Or you can dispose of it in your green waste bin.

Breeders Celect Recycled Paper Cat Litter: Soft on Kittens Sensitive Paws

The pellets of Breeders Celect paper cat litter are super soft on kittens’ little feet.

As part of that test, we found kittens who struggled using other types of litter, and were happy to use this. So it’s clear that kittens like it.

Because this litter is pellet-based, there’s no dust at all and it doesn’t track all over the house.

When one cat uses a litter tray, the paper pellets are very absorbent and do a good job of containing the smell. That said, if several cats use the litter box without scooping, the pellets can become like mush.

Scooping was easy but still, if you have kittens that share a litter box, it might be best to choose another litter.

That said, for a single kitten, or when kittens use their own litter boxes, Breeder’s Celect is very good.

And because it’s made from recycled paper and biodegradable, you’ll be doing your bit for the environment.

In Conclusion

Choosing litter for your kitten is more important than you might think. The best kitten litter will;

1. Make litter training easier, and
2. Keep your kittens safe while they’re learning

Get it wrong and litter training will not only be more difficult, it could also be dangerous for your kitten.

Our recommendations should set you on the right track to easy, stress-free toileting. For both you and your new furbaby.