For our Chewy product review this month, we are reviewing the Frisco Multi-Cat Clumping Litter. The promise of fast-clumping,low-dust litter always catches my attention, so I was very interested to give this a try.
I decided to use the litter in the foster room because I had four (soon to be five) little pooping machines in there, and the best way to test a litter is to put it in a heavily used litter box.
First of all – and pretty important to me – how dusty is it? I made a video when I filled the litter box in the kitten room.
Dust factor: not bad. Not dust-free (but then, you’re not going to find a clumping clay litter that’s completely dust-free, no matter what they say), and once the box was filled, the dust settled pretty quickly. Dustier than my usual litter, but certainly something I could live with.
Secondly: how well does it clump?
Nice hard clumps that hold together well under intensive digging from the kittens, and scooping by me.
Chesnee approved the durability of these clumps.
Obviously, the kittens were willing to use it, which is always important. They seemed to prefer it a bit more than the other litter box, but that could be because the box with the Frisco litter was deeper, and thus the level of litter was deeper, too.
The odor control? Well, this is kind of where it fell apart. The day after I started using the Frisco litter in the foster room, Charlotte came home with me. And I have no idea what she’d been eating while she was living in the woods, but she was loaded with roundworms, and my good lord almighty did she have some stinky poops. The next morning, I walked upstairs and the ENTIRE upstairs smelled awful (“heinous,” according to Fred, and when he notices, you know it’s gotta be bad.)
I pretty quickly added a scoop of activated charcoal to the box – I use it with my regular litter, too – and after that, and after the kittens were dewormed, the smell improved quite a bit. I would love to be able to tell you that it was one or the other (the activated charcoal or the deworming), but the smell was so overwhelming that I couldn’t wait to do something to make it go away.
I’ll add that I really appreciate that the litter isn’t perfumed. I really dislike perfumed litter.
So my overall impression is that it’s not a bad litter, and you could certainly do much worse. At this point in time, a 40 pound bag is $13.15 from Chewy (or $12.49 if you sign up to have it auto-shipped), and that’s a good price.
The litter was provided to us free of charge, and the opinion was mine, with some help from the kittens. Thank you to Chewy and Frisco for giving us the chance to try out this litter!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2015: Stefan and the terrible, horrible, no-good, very rough life.
2014: Ralph, practicing his Crazy Eyes.
2013: “I don’t NEED to be tutored, because I am already the smartest boy ever!”
2012: You wish you had my glamorous life.
2011: No entry.
2010:I love the way Reacher and Corbett are basically the same pattern, in different colors.
2009: My poor babies.
2008: And if not, I can always buy their love with a plate of chicken baby food.
2007: Best. Picture. EVER.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
I’ve never seen this litter before but it sounds like my Precious Cat litter still wins. And I’m with you on scented litters! Whew! If they smell obnoxiously strong to us what must the cats think??
I haaate the way perfumed litter makes the cats smell like the litter!
What do you and your peeps think about this lightweight clumping litter? I’m semi handicapped and it’s getting harder for me to lift those 14-20# bags. Is it more tractable and/or dusting? I’d appreciate your feedback. Thanks!
Cheryl, in my experience lightweight litter is dustier and tracks more, but it’s kind of a trade-off. Regular clumping litter is realllllly heavy, and if you can’t lift it, then you might be willing to put up with sweeping more often. I will say that the ones I’ve tried clump really well! I’ve been considering switching to lightweight litter in the foster room because carrying litter upstairs is starting to be hard for me.
Now that I’ve said that, I’m remembering that people have recommended crystal litter to me in the past. I’ve never tried it because I don’t want to chance kittens eating it, but it’s something to consider.
the lightweight litters I tried were a disaster. The cat steps on the side of the box on the way out and tips the whole thing right over.
I tried it, and it did track more, but quite honestly, if I was unable to lift the regular litter, I’d be going to the lightweight stuff no matter how much it tracked. (Also, I think I need to get one of those chenille rugs Robyn’s posted about). I don’t remember that it was any dustier than any other litter though.
Thanks Robyn – I will probably give this a try, but it will have to be something to move me from Precious Cat Litter…I had not heard of using activated charcoal before – any guidance or suggestions there as to brand / amount?
I buy my activated charcoal off eBay – just make sure you get granular rather than powdered. I add about 1/2 c to litter boxes when I change the litter, and then more if I think it needs it.
On second thought, it’s probably closer to 1 cup – I don’t actually measure, I just eyeball it.
Thanks, Robyn! Will give both the litter and charcoal a try!
That litter seems comparable to mine (Companion Scoopable Fragrance Free). The dust is bothersome but I like the way it clumps and is lightweight. The price is right too!
Me too on the activated charcoal — how much and how often per box?
And especially the perfumes. I have an older cat who likes to roll in the litter in the winter (thank goodness only after the box has been scooped) and take ‘dust baths’ so even if I could stand it I wouldn’t want her eating it.
Finally, where’d you find that awesome litter scoop? I’m always looking for metal scoops that are somewhat ergonomic (I do not like the really popular shovel-type one that is a best-seller on Amazon — murder on shoulder joints).
Thanks for sharing. These reviews are really helpful!
That is a KKat Innovations It’s the scoop litter scoop (Amazon link provided for reference, you can probably find it cheaper elsewhere). It’s my favorite, and I highly recommend it. Fred thinks it’s awesome too, and that’s not usually something he’d notice.
I previously said that I use about 1/2 cup of the activated charcoal, but it’s probably more like 1 cup – I don’t actually measure, just eyeball it. I add it when I scrub and refill the boxes, and then add more after a couple of weeks if I feel it needs it.