Note: the Fresh Step® Lightweight Extreme Litter was given to me free of charge; all opinions in this post are completely honest and mine alone.
I was given the chance to review the new Fresh Step® Lightweight Extreme Litter, and I jumped at it. As much litter as I sling around here on a regular basis, 40 pounds at a time, I figured that my back would thank me if I lightened the load a little. Fresh Step used to be my go-to litter until fairly recently (about a year ago, I think), when they apparently changed the formula, and the amount of dust that floated up every time a litter box was used or scooped sent me searching for a better solution.
I received the litter in a box with a feather boa and a feather cat teaser – both of which were hits with the cats, but while I managed to get a picture of the box of litter, the boa has been dragged under the couch by Alice, and the feather teaser is probably under there as well, so you’ll have to use your imagination.
First thing up: the video of me pouring the litter into a clean litter box.
To compare, this is the video I did about a year ago, which compared Fresh Step Odor Shield (non-lightweight) litter to Tidy Cat Lightweight, and Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract.
So, it’s a really dusty litter. I had hoped that once the dust settled from the initial pour, that careful scooping would keep the dust from coming up in a cloud like that. But this is REALLY dusty litter, and no matter how careful I was, I was always enveloped in a cloud of dust. And this litter is perfumed, so I’d walk around all day smelling like the litter fragrance, and it wasn’t really a smell I cared for (though better than smelling like cat poop, I suppose!)
I put the litter in a litter box in the laundry room, one that gets regular use by the cats. The 15.4 pound box holds enough litter to fill one of my litter boxes, and it usually takes 20 pounds of Precious Cat litter to do that, so that’s a definite up side to the lightweight litter.
The cats used the litter box with no problem at all – I’m VERY lucky that the cats will usually use whatever I put in the litter boxes – and it didn’t get any more or less use than it usually did with Precious Cat litter in it. I never noticed any smell of urine or feces from that litter box, and it’s entirely possible that it did a better job of holding down the smell after Sugarbutt had used it than our regular litter does.
However, I could only stand the dust and the fragrance for so long, so after a week and a half of use, I dumped the litter and refilled the box with my usual litter. It’s entirely possible that this litter will work for someone else who has fewer litter boxes and more of a tolerance for the dust and the fragrance, but for me it’s definitely a no-go.
The information:
Fresh Step® Lightweight Extreme Litter is 30 lighter weight.
It comes in four sizes:
15.4 lb (equivalent to 22 lbs of regular clay), around $11.49
20.8 lb (29 lb equivalency), around $14.79
23.4 lb (33 lb equivalency), around $14.99
25.8 lb (36 lb equivalency), didn’t get a price on this size
It’ll be available in grocery, pet specialty, mass merchandise and drug stores nationwide starting this month. For more info, visit the Fresh Step website.
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Jake has no sense of personal space, and lucky for him most of the other cats put up with his getting all up in their space. Corbie will put up with this sort of thing from Jake, but NO ONE ELSE would be allowed to get that close to him.
Alice, Corbie, Jake and Stefan, hanging out in the front room. Since Fred and I got recliners in January, the couch has become pretty much the property of the cats. I mean, not that it wasn’t their property before, we just don’t try to make them share it with humans any more.
Stefan in the chair, Newt in the KatKabin.
Kara just, I don’t know. Not a fan of the Stefan.
::fume:: “I HATE THAT GUY.”
“What’d I do?!”
Kara was rolling around in the sun, and Stefan was all “Oh! That looks like a good idea!” and threw himself down to roll around, too. You can see by the look on Kara’s face that she just realized he was there.
::GLARE::
“HATE THAT GUY.”
Please ignore the part of the picture where Tommy is rudely sniffing Stefan’s behind, and instead look at the way Stefan and Jake are pressing the tops of their heads together. Jake does this a lot, especially when he thinks he’s about to get some kind of food, and we refer to it as the Jake Mind Meld. In the mornings, while I’m preparing their morning snack, Jake and Kara do this a LOT.
Jake and Alice on the platforms, Stefan in the hut, and Corbie over there to the right, on the window bed.
Tommy, Corbie and Jake, hanging out in Box City.
Stinkerbelle, Tommy and Newt, in Box City. The thing about Box City is that it never looks the same two days in a row.
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Previously
2013: And it seems that Tommy had had JUST ABOUT ENOUGH.
2012: To Polly, Tony Rocky Horror Pickle said “Poke.”
2011: Molly reacts to Jake’s intrusion into her territory.
2010: He’s kind of like Godzilla, all flailing around growling while tiny Martin and Dodger and Melodie and Moxie go running for their lives.
2009: “Dear lord, please let me catch the laser light, it’s all I want in this world, thank you. Amen.”
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.