Swheat Scoop- it's natural and it doesn't smell.
http://swheatscoop.com/
As for the tracking- I just keep a little dustpan and broom near the box...

We're a two kitty household as well and have had the same dilemna for the past few years two. I know that the silica-based litters are bad on several levels but there just isn't a good alternative. If there was, I'd use it! I do use biodegradable bags for cleaning out the litter (meant for doggies but work for kitties too :)

Another problem I have is finding a good place for the litter. We're moving in a few weeks and there really is no good place for the box. Hmm...

Wish I could say that I found one of the alterna-litters to be a good choice. But my finicky cat (who is a twin to your russian blue) goes outside the box with anything other than EverClean. It too has past the "I cannot smell your animals" test with friends and family. Unfortunately the cost is high but worth it.

I use the World's Best Cat Litter, which is the corn-based stuff, but I'm actually looking to switch because of the dust and tracking. So no insights from.

But could you share where you got that cat litter box from?

Tracking: I keep a hand vacuum (Dirt Devil KONE) nearby and use it every time i clean out the litter box.

Odor: Our litter box is kept in coat closet and we hang a moisture absorber (DampRid) in there that works like a charm!

I still swear by Scoopaway unscented (I cannot abide scented litter). Nothing else clumps as well, and getting out all the soiled litter is the key to odor control. I do have to vacuum around the litter box daily, though.

I tried one of the corn based litters, and it combined with the urine gave off a distinctly barnyard like odor.

I decided that my cats must prefer the super fine clay litter because when we went to visit my parents, they always made a beeline for my parents' clay-filled boxes and ignored the alternatives I offered.

Eames and Eero! Lol! (how handsome!)

Well, we have a 2 cat household, and always used the newspaper pellets because it is the only one without tracking.

However, we have a house, so smell was no longer an issue for us, until we put the litter box into one of the bathrooms, and suddenly it was...

Anyways, these days we use the crystals because in our part of the world there is no choice -- it is pretty much all that is available -- no newspaper pellets. (jeez it's expensive here in Switzerland!) It is a huge problem with tracking though -- the litter boxes are in the garage, and the cats manage to track those crystals through the garage, part of the family room, and on the stair landing... ugh.

Have you tried using one of those anti-tracking pads outside the box?

I like the crystals but if one gets out and you step on it, OUCH!

I like to clean the litterbox 2-3 times a day to avoid that "cat smell", so I use a clumping, flush-able litter.

As far as tracking goes, I'm fairly certain my cat plays a game to see how far he can throw litter outside of his box. I just keep a dustbuster around the litterbox and use it once a day. I think routine maintenance makes cleaning the litterbox seem like less of a chore. Also, frequent cleaning means if I miss a day due to work or travel, my cat wont be uncomfortable because I don't let things build up.

Ahh the dreaded tracking. I too keep a small broom and dustpan right next to the box to quickly sweep up every morning before I leave for work and again when I get home. I have tried the feline pine as well with my cat and it ended very badly- as in she was peeing anywhere but in the box. The minute after I switched back to regular old Tidy Cats cat litter, I swear not 15 minutes later she was in there using the bathroom. As much as I would like to try the crystals, I'm afraid of another pee ramage in my bathroom everywhere but in the box itself. Good to know its an eco friendly option though :)

I am interested to know if others have had luck with that crystal-type litter. I just tried World's Best Kitty Litter but found its smell was too ... organic, or something. I switched back to Arm & Hammer litter, which is OK and does not have odor problems (I find), but does have "tracking" and dust problems.

I really wanted to use swheat scoop, but our finicky cat hated it and would poo anywhere BUT the litterbox. (She happily went back to the box when we brought back the crystals).

As for tracking, we bought a big storage bin (http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/product/product.jhtml?prodId=HPProd2940118), cut a hole for a door in one end, and put the litterbox inside it. There's a fair amount of space between the litterbox itself and the entry to the container, so any tracked litter ends up inside the rubbermaid and not on our floor. Bonus - we can also store the scooper inside the bin and out of sight.

I put a very plush, cheap, shag bathmat from Ikea in front of the litterbox. It catches most of the crystals.... life was miserable before that, those little suckers are like tiny shards of glass!

It's been a few years since I've had a cat, but I always bought clumping litter, forget which brand. Not scented. As long as it clumps well, that's basically how to combat odor - cleaning out the clumps daily. I had a long-hair cat with fuzzy feet, but she was very fastidious and would wipe her feet for quite a while on the side of the box entrance before leaving the litter box. Maybe tracking could be helped by putting a scratchy rug around the box that they basically have to wipe their feet on, if they're not naturally inclined to do so.

We're a 2 cat household also, and we use the crystals because of superior odor control. We tried regular clay (and they tracked it everywhere), and then we tried the sawdust pellets that break up when wet, but they just thought those were a fun toy. Then we tried the wheat stuff, but I couldn't abide by the smell or dust everywhere. So we're also back to the crystals.

I keep telling the kitties to go out and get a job to support themselves, but they just don't listen.

regarding placement: we were so lucky to have moved into a house w/a doggie door too small for our dog to use... so we rigged a platform system and lined up our cat box & tent w/the hole, so our cats use the bathroom outside without really being outside (they're declawed)

regarding litter: we use tidy cats multiples which mixes clay and crystals... found that crystals alone really didn't absorb their urine and the smell was atrocious

I love the crystal litter - it still gets tracked everywhere, and it's a PAIN to step on (so sharp!), but it can't be beat for low maintenance and odor control. I tried several of the wheat and pine and newspaper litters, and there was simply no way to keep the whole house from smelling like a turd all the time. I scooped as often as I could (several times a day), but each fresh deposit just kept sending out stink rays. The crystal stuff dehydrates the poo so it stops stinking quick.

I keep carpet tiles around the litter box, and that does catch some of the spillover, and I try to sweep it up daily, but there are still tiny crystals in all sorts of exciting places.

Also, I don't think the crystal stuff comes out more expensive - I can leave one jug's worth in the two litter boxes for a month before there is any pee smell, instead of changing it every week (or more).

I have 4 cats, and use crystal/clumping litter combination. I still have a little tracking, but I like the rubbery, ridged mats that are available (I got mine at Target) for that problem. It goes around the litter box, and also catches other kitty problems.

I also bought two litter boxes at Target that are quite different. They're big and scooped out with high ends. For cats that tend to back up and pee, the shape helps contain it. They were about $10 each.

michelle123- Has your cat always used a covered cat box? If not, did she adjust to it quickly?

I would love to eventually get a hidden cat box, but I don't know if it would be comfortable for the cat.

I've had no luck either with more environmentally friendly litters. So I use Tidy Scoop in the clear jugs since we can recycle them in our curbside box.

Soylent Green is Kitties! Haha!

Okay, I just have one comment and that is DON'T FLUSH YOUR DIRTY LITTER!!!

I suck it up and accept that I will have tracking that requires multiple daily sweeps with the minibroom, and I don't have many problems with smell as I only have one cat and his litter box is in the bathroom with plenty of ventilation.

The only thing I can't abide is flushing of litter. ESPECIALLY if you live anywhere near a coast or a major water way. Toxoplasmosis from cat feces is killing wildlife around storm drains and runoff. Its especially detrimental to sea otters. Plus, plumbing systems are usually not set up to handle litter so basically its just not healthy for anything involved. Toss it out with the trash. Atleast then the high heat of landfills has a chance of killing off some of the ickies that live in poop before it goes through our water supply.

I use Dr Elsey's Precious cat litter for my two cats. We clean the box two times a day to keep odors away. It does track a bit, but one of my cats is extremely nitpicky about the litter box. This is the only litter that he's been using without problems. And I'll take some tracking any day to soiling the carpet :( I would highly recommend this litter for cats with litter box problems.

dudeascending: it's a Booda Dome available for $25.

We use Feline Pine which is compostable. The pine also combines with the chemical composition of cat pee, so there is practically no cat urine smell around the litterbox. We used to be a 'crystal' household.

First, thanks for the Booda Dome link because for the life of me I haven't been able to find one in white. Er, Pearl. Once again, Amazon saves the day.

I've had the best luck with the silica crystal litter too. I've only got one cat but live in a tiny place, so odor control is pretty critical. It seems to make my kitty sneeze, though, so I do wonder how safe the stuff is. He doesn't seem to mind, but still.

I'm kind of wondering if one problem is the Booda Dome itself. Yes I know it is awfully nice looking for a litter box, but if the entry is so low that litter can be thrown out that seems like a design flaw. I find those strange looking top entry boxes (like Clevercat) do a good job to prevent stray litter - but if your cat is elderly or arthritic it might not work. There's also the Booda Dome with the little stair case designed to trap any stray litter - has anyone tried it?

As for the odor, every time I go in the bathroom I check for any "new items." I mostly work from home so it's not so inconvenient and I feel better using the eco-friendly stuff even if it's a bit high maintenance.

I have a particularly stinky cat and I've tried a lot of things--the wheat was the worst. Clumping clay, crystals, etc. Right now we're on corn, and it's okay.

The thing that is great is her sisal mat. She's got a Booda Dome, with a small sisal mat in front, and she scratches on that when she comes out, getting it all out of her paws! The mat definitely gets covered in litter, but it's easy to pick off and dump in the bag when I clean, and easy to vacuum when it needs a little more help. Plus, an extra safe place for her to get scratching out of her system!

Brooklynb - no, she did not have a covered litterbox until we tried this set-up. She is almost 6 years old and adjusted without a problem, even though she has been picky about her litterbox in other ways (hates the anti-tracking pads and would jump over them, only likes tidy cats multiple cats litter, etc).

The only problem is that we started with a rubbermaid container that was too short for her; she ended up getting litter stuck to her butt and tracking that around the house. Our current container, which she seems very happy with, is 36" long (litterbox inside is 22" long), 18" wide (litterbox is about 17.5" wide), and 19" tall. Also, she's a huge cat - about 15 pounds.

We've got a two cat house and we pick up solid "gifts" as soon as they are expressed and the other stuff once a day. We also sweep and dust mop every day. It really keeps the smells and litter down. My boyfriend uses a sisal doormat as a tracking mat for his cat's box. I tried the more environmentally friendly litter but switched back to clumping/unscented after we were treated to a 3 month period of peeing outside the box. A friend's cat hated his new litter (think it was Swheat scoop) so much that he would go into the litter box, hang his butt outside the box, poop all over the box entry, and then leave poop prints all over her carpet. She switched back pretty fast.

@Szig, we happen to have the Booda Dome Cleanstep (the one with the little staircase). The steps do help in cutting down on the tracking but I would say that a fair amount of litter still gets out. We have one of those litter box mats that looks kind of like astroturf to catch what else is left. But, sometimes I wonder if the cats aren't leaping that mat, too. :D

We're a two-cat household as well. We're in a house and the two litter boxes (one is not a booda dome) are in the basement. The other litter box has an old rug in front of it to catch some of the litter. But, I still find myself sweeping up a fair amount of litter off the floor when I clean the litter boxes and we still find litter tracked all the way up to the ground floor of our house!

We use Scoop Away Multi-Cat. Over a decade ago, my wife almost had to get rid of the cats because they wouldn't use the litter boxes. I think she had tried other litters but nothing was successful until someone suggested the Scoop Away brand.

We use Feline Pine, but after reading this post I'm tempted to switch to crystals! I also have a Russian Blue and a Booda Dome, but my kitty wouldn't go in it until I got rid of the dome part. Feline Pine is good for about six days, but by the seventh day must be changed. I used to feel good that at least it was biodegradable, but then I realized I was using plastic box liners and throwing it away in plastic trash bags, so I don't think it really matters.

We have a Bengal kitten, and the 'World's Best Cat Litter' (even the extra strength version) does nothing to mask the odor- even though we scoop it religiously every single day. He also tracks it everywhere.

I hate clay litters, but they seem to be the only kind with reliable odor control.

2 cats also, and lucky enough to have a small yard with a dry sheltered area at one end.

I have dispensed with litter. For the urine, I use plastic 'storage' boxes, one inside the other and the top one has holes drilled in the base so the urine drains through. I line the bottom with nice smooth pebbles so it looks nice. They have one each. I empty the bottom compartment once a week.

For the solids, I give them the freedom of using the concrete floor space around the urine boxes and swoop down there with toilet tissue (not kitchen roll which would cause blockage) so that it can be picked up and flushed or otherwise disposed of.

We use Feline Pine or Yesterdays News and just sprinkle baking soda to the box. The smell is only evident if we've slacked at cleaning for a few days.

Right now I've got a world's best cat litter vs. crystal contest going on. We've traditionally used crystals, but I wanted to try something compostable since we got our outdoor bin.

Feline Pine was all right, but I found it really annoying to scoop because the soaked pieces dissolve into dust, so when you sift the poos, you keep the unused pellets and lose the wet, used litter. It also tracked like crazy and smelled when I was too lazy to scoop. So I switched one box back to silica and am trying this corn business. So far so good.

Has anyone used the the rolling litter box where you take the clumps out with a tray after rolling it on its side? I'm curious and it has great amazon reviews, but it is so gigantic.

I have 4 (I don't recommend it though, it's like having 16), and they use a giant tupperware container as a litter box (one in each bathroom). It's about 12 inches high and 24 inches long. I've tried so many litter brands and the clumping just works best. I would love to be eco friendly about my litter choice, but I use Tidy Cats. Having 4-6 poops and about 10 -12 pees a day is just too much for any of the eco friendly litter brands.

I make up for the eco nastiness of the litter by recycling/reusing/reducing like CRAZY in all other facets of home and work life :)

Mine manages to track crystals outside the booda dome too. I think perhaps switching to the larger model with the staircase would help that but I really don't have the room...

As for other litters, I haven't had any luck beyond crystals either.

We have tried multiple brands and types of litter also for our two indoor cats. I would not recommend Swheat Scoop: when wet, it hardened to the bottom of the litter box so bad I could not get it scraped off and had to buy a new box! Now we use Fresh Step clumping, odor free. There's definitely less waste than emptying out the entire box every week (which we had to do with the non-clumping kind) and there is little odor and not much tracking either.

* That should be Fresh Step perfume free

This may sound odd...and I can't believe I seem to be the first posting regarding this...but I have always kept my litter-box in the bathtub.

I find the deep sides of a bathtub perfect for not getting any granules outside it.

The con, of course, is that you have to remove it every time you shower.

But I can put up with that for less mess!

A mix of shreaded paper and kitty litter made from recycled paper. I keep the litter box outside the laundry.

My one cat uses the "World's Best Kitty Litter" -- I keep it in my office, so I notice when he's used it, and I give it a little time to firm up to be scooped, and then I scoop and flush. It doesn't smell at all. His box is tall, and while he does kick a bit of it out of the box, it doesn't get all over the house, it's about a three-foot radius from the box and that's it.
I highly recommend this kind of litter, but when you want to clean out the box, do NOT decide to just dump the whole thing down the toilet since it's flushable anyway --- big mistake there.....

My fab five (3 males/2 females) and I have one litter box (a roll and dump from Petsmart) and use Tidy Cat Small Spaces. It's the best I've ever found for odor control and the litter box is "dumped" twice a day. As for tracking . . . I have to deal with it. A laminate floor and a Roomba have helped, but it's still irritating at times.

We're almost to the end of a big bag of Swheat Scoop, and I am about ready to throw in the towel. It just doesn't control odor as well as the clay stuff, which is really a shame for several reasons: I can't believe the clay isn't worse for my cats, the clay we used to use comes packaged in plastic-coated cardboard, AND the actual digging up of the clay is worse for the environment, IIRC. Bah.

On the lighter side, I've at least gotten a couple of good laughs from the comments thread. ("Pee rampage" and "stink rays," LMAO.)

I married into a beautiful cat system. I handle input, he handles output. Sorry, he's spoken for. We get our litter from the organic petfood place where the owner knows our names and displays pictures of our kitties. She wrote down what worked and what didn't, and I trust her. It's something organic, septic system friend, and in a yellow bag.

caligulala - I had the rolling litter box for about 1.5 years and had the smaller one for 2 cats (when they were still kittens). It was hard to clean. At the time I had access to a garden hose and the only time I felt I got the grate area totally clean was when I hosed it off. At times litter would get stuck in the crack between the lids so litter would get everywhere when I rolled it. If you have access to an easy cleaning area then it is worth it; otherwise it is a pain.

I've tried to switch from the pine pellets, but my cat will not have it.

I also sweep up after my kitty, and have been desperately trying to figure out what to do about the tracking. Maybe I'll try this sisal mat, sounds like a good idea...

I use a biodegradable flush-able, unscented cat litter made by my local grocery store brand (President's Choice- Canadian grocery chains) and I find it really wonderful. The tracking does occur of course, but I only own one kitty and find it rather simple to just sweep the floor in that room daily. I clean it often enough that I never notice a smell.

The one thing that I find most amazing about a litter you can flush is that you never open up your garbage to find it smelling of kitty poo if you haven't had a chance to take it out yet. Flush it down and you don't have to smell it again! And I also never have to use plastic bags, so it's all-around earth friendly. I'd rather leave a smaller footprint on the planet than have a litter that smells like roses and doesn't track just for my convenience.

The wheat stuff is a dust nightmare. The pine stuff seems to have, like, absolutely no odor control properties.

I just use Tidy Cat or Arm and Hammer, and I sweep up daily (even with tracking mats).

We have 1 cat and 4 kittens and use Swheat Scoop. It doesn't track much, it clumps, and it's flushable. It doesn't cover the smell as well as some litters, but it still does a pretty good job. You might think there's 1 cat here, but certainly not 5.

I have one cat and use pine litter (used Feline Pine for a while, then found a cheaper generic that was the same thing). I tried the clumping pine first and that was a disaster--tracked EVERYWHERE. I switched to the regular pine right after. It's louder, harder to scoop, but much cleaner around the box. I just keep a broom on hand to with the tracking and the stuff he flings out in a digging fit. It seems to control odor very well (I can definitely tell right after he poos...but I have a studio apartment so it's an unfortunate downside to living in a confined space and even then the odor gets absorbed pretty quickly). My family always used "standard" clay litter with the cats we had when I was growing up and I definitely prefer the pine stuff.

I don't think there's any way to completely eliminate tracking, but having any type of textured mat outside the box helps a lot.

I gave World's Best Cat Little a try after reading many positive comments on various posts here, and I haven't gone back. I have only one cat, but it takes me at least a month to get through one small bag! As long as you scoop often enough, the base litter that hasn't clumped stays quite clean and I just add some more to make up for what came out. I also find it hides the infamous cat urine odor quite well (it clumps pretty solidly) and is easy to scoop. It doesn't stick to the bottom of my littler box at all and I don't use a liner. There is a little bit that ends up just outside the box, but I think that's mostly from my cat kicking it out-- I haven't found it elsewhere in the house. More importantly, I don't worry about my cat cleaning her paws and ingesting it. I don't mind a little around the litter box sweeping and haven't noticed much dust (just a tad in the very immediate area). It's supposedly really flushable, but I still don't risk it in my plumbing-prone building. I also really don't miss the chemical small of Tidy Cats!

I use the non-clumping Feline Pine. My cat doesn't like it, but she's a good girl and does as she's told! (I also bribed her for awhile by only feeding her after she'd done her business. Cats may act stupid, but when it comes to getting fed they're little Einsteins.)

The Feline Pine does a great job controlling urine odors, provided you empty every week. It tracks, but not a lot, and it's usually only the clean pellets that track, which I can handle.

I have a small cat and a small litterbox box. One trick I learned years ago is to buy two identical boxes. Put one tall kitchen garbage bag inside of another - you'll need double thickness to withstand kitty claws. Then put the box inside of the two garbage bags, so that one of the garbage bags' sides is on top of the inside of the box. Now fill the depression with litter, smoosh all the remaining air out from around the edges, wrap the edges of the bag around the rim of the box and place the whole thing inside of the other litter box to hold your handiwork in place. Much cheaper than litterbox liners, and if you use the new more durable garbage bags, a lot stronger, too. Now you'll never have to clean a dirty litterbox again - just turn the bags inside out and discard.

Don't use baking soda in your litter box. It'll stick to their paws and is high in sodium, which is bad for your cat. It also tastes awful, and can cause cats to break litter training.

I personally can't stand the volume of stinky trash that the clay litters generate, so I've always used the biodegradable flushable kind. I started with Swheat Scoop but it really generated a LOT of fine dust and didn't always clump so well. Now I've been using the corn-based World's Best Cat Litter and I really like it! I have two open-faced litter boxes in a spare half-bathroom that's for the cats only, surrounded by a few of those fake-grass cat mats that catches most of the stray litter. There's still a bit of tracking outside the bathroom, but nothing that my Dyson Root handheld vac can't get. (I also love the Dyson for sucking up flies and wasps, but that's another story.) I can keep the smell mostly under control by scooping often, and using one of those plug-in air fresheners that comes with a fan to air out the cat bathroom (just don't put in any fragrance, or else you get flowers poo).

Two sets of friends use the crystals, but I don't like it much. I agree that they feel like shards of glass! And it's creepy how much pee it absorbs -- I feel cleaner throwing out my clumps of litter on a regular basis.

Just an FYI on the Swheat stuff: In addition to not controlling odor very well, I had a cat who thought it was extremely tasty (since it is wheat-based). He busted into the bag and chowed down. This is not the first I've heard of this.

We have four cats and have yet to find anything better than Tidy Cat Scoop as far as their willingness to use it, ease of cleaning, and the smell camouflaging.

We have three cats and use two litter boxes full of World's Best. I actually enjoy the "organic" smell and the best part is that my kitties no longer smell like nasty fake perfume all the time. I also don't have have to worry that while cleaning themselves they will injest clay and silica dust and mine don't track it too far out of the bathroom. I keep a dustpan near the box and clean up every day or so. I also love that is flushable. If our septic system can handle human poop, it can handle cat poop. It's way better than sitting in a landfill somewhere.

As someone else posted earlier, please, please don't flush your cats' used litter. Even if your plumbing can handle it, even if the box says it's flushable, don't do it! Cats carry an organism called toxoplasmosis that gets into the water supply and kills mammals such as otters when you flush cat litter.

I have two cats in a studio apt and use PetPride Multi-cat Scented Litter (21lbs) you can get at Ralphs or Vons. I find the dust is on the very low side. I scoop everyday and have to vaccum around the litter box as well. Can't get around it. It comes with having cats. If you had a dog, you'd have to walk it everyday. The litter box is in the bathroom, so on Saturday I purchased one of those non-motorized rolling sweepers from Bissel at Big Lots for $12. Love it! I just whiz that thing in front of the box a few times each morning when I get up. 15-30secs and the floor is clean. Before, I was getting on hands and knees with a dustpan and brush. No more. So far, very little tracking around the rest of the apt.

If I can't get to the store to pick up new litter right away, in a pinch I layer baking soda into the litter to help with the smell.

We have 3 cats, but 2 have begun spending a significant amount of time outside -- definitely a good way to cut down on litter! Ha. Best litter I have found after trying almost everything out there is Tidy Cat Small Spaces. It's harder to find than the other Tidy Cat litters, but it clumps better and seems to control odors better than anything else.

I have one cat and I always buy Feline Pine. It's a little expensive but one bag usually lasts about three weeks. I remove his poo once it hardens and every Sunday I sift through the box and remove the pellets that are still intact with a scooper. I dump the sawdust and refill with pellets.

We use Feline Pine pellets. Odor isn't a problem, but tracking can be when the pellets break down. One of our cats and one of our dogs shed like crazy, though, so we are on constant vacuum and dusting patrol anyway. We use the Buddha Dome, but my heart is set on this. I think top-side litter boxes can probably help a lot with tracking.

I highly recommend checking out the Modern Cat blog. Kate has tons of information about the various types of environmentally-friendly litters available (she's has a multi-cat household and has tested pretty much everything out there), as well as info on litter box advancements. She talks about the problems of clay litter here.

I use a clumping litter sold at Costco called Litter Purrrfect. Ingredients are "100% natural" clay, baking soda, and lemongrass "essence." It's inexpensive, clumps hard, doesn't smell too perfumey, and provides decent odor control. Alas, it is not environmentally friendly or flushable, and like any clay litter it does track.

I tried Feline Pine - cats didn't like it, but they tolerated it. The pellets didn't track much, but the (urine soaked) sawdust sometimes did so it was important to remove wast as often as possible. Odor control was good.

SWheat - cats hated it so much they went outside the box. Too bad because it's natural and cheap.

Have not tried World's Best - I'll have to look for it.

I used to use crystals, but I didn't like all the yellow (just seemed unsanitary) so I kept scooping it out every day and it's too expensive for that.

I have the exact same Booda dome pictured. It's a little on the small side, but even my big boy uses it (he just keeps his big head outside ;)). The only problem is my older cat (almost 20) sometimes turns around and pees outside the entrance. I use a tracking mat, but my cats walk around it so I started putting a bathmat underneath the box mat and that helps somewhat.

I have only used Petco Gold Clumping litter. My 2 cats revolted the few times I tried something else. I scoop daily, odor is minimal (except sometimes immediately after using -- one cat is old and feeb and doesn't always successfully bury things. Her fault, not the litter. I dispose of the scooped clumps in the landfill trash, where it helps generate methane which is part of the local power grid...

With no suitable space on the ground floor for litter boxes, we bought an unfinished trunk (about 5' long, 18 inches deep front to back, and maybe 2 feet tall...or thereabouts) and cut a cat flap into it. I lift the lid to scoop or air it out, and it looks like a window seat when closed. Works great for us and for the cats.

we use a clumping clay litter. I know bad me but money is tight! My cat uses an enclosed litter box so there is very little litter around the box.

Note to cat people:

Suddenly changing anything in a cats life will stress them out. To change litter (or food for that matter) should be a gradual affair. Mix the old with the new for a week or so. Its no wonder your cats are going outside the box!

I have two cats. I've tried every alternative litter ever. seriously... like 10 different types of litter. I use to use Papurr litter. it worked great, less smell, the cats loved it, but they went out of business and stopped selling. I now use The Worlds Best Cat Litter. I think its great.

Tracking is a big problem for me. So I'm building a cat box enclosure with a $20 cabinet I found on craigslist. With a little paint and some creativity, I'm hoping it won't be a problem anymore. If it is... I'm teaching the cats to use the toilet!

What sweet and beautiful kitties!

After trying all the environmental friendly kinds, I'm going back to try the unscented clumping clay litter. sad. The feline pine was so dusty, and now I have heard that the silica dust is bad from the crystals. I have a studio apartment.
Also please DON"T USE CLUMPING CLAY litter if you have young KITTENS. They eat the litter that sticks to their paws, this gets stuck in their tummies, then they die. We found this out the hard way when I worked at a shelter. Very sad.
And about the flushable litter & toxoplasmosis - you can get your cat tested for it(as pregnant ladies do), and as long as your cat stays indoors they can't catch it. Although I would verify this info w/ your vet.

Replying to the question earlier about the rolling litter boxes: We have 2 of them and they work pretty well; you just have to keep the litter refilled, otherwise there might be presents stuck to the bottom of the box. We refill them regularly, scoop daily, and dump/clean each box out monthly or so and have been pleased. They really help to contain dust, too. They do look huge, but don't take up much more room than large size open boxes would.

I'm with misshoxie - S'wheat scoop was the best litter ever for my kitty. It neutralized the urine smell on contact. I scoop the poop out of litter boxes on a daily basis, too.

For tracking, I used a little paw-shaped mat right outside the litter box entrance/exit that had little nubs on it to catch the litter on kitty's paws. It wasn't perfect, but it helped.

I'm a big believer of keeping the kitty's potty in the potty room, so it was easy to sweep up the litter that escaped the mat pretty quickly with a hand broom/dust pan combo that hung on the wall near her litter box.

I cat sit for someone who uses Swheat, and I hate it. Even cleaning it twice a day, it tracks like crazy and stinks to high heavens. It also, as someone else mentioned, sticks like cement to the bottom of the box.

I have two cats and have been using Arm & Hammer Essentials, made from corn. I scoop every time I'm in the bathroom, so the smell is not an issue. It does track like crazy, though, even after switching the girls' litterbox to a tall Rubbermaid container. (One cat is a dedicated digger, and I got tired of finding half the litter in a pile outside the box.)

I'm considering going back to Feline Pine pellets, because they are less tracky (and probably will be significantly less so with the new, taller litterbox). The downside is that they aren't as easy to scoop, but if it means less mess outside the box, I'm willing to deal with it. I'm sick and tired of trying to sweep tracked litter off my 1/2 inch ceramic floor tiles multiple times a day. (Whoever dreamed up tiny floor tiles was an evil sadist.)

An update on our crystals vs. world's best cat litter contest - the verdict is in and the cats LOVE the world's best. Which is great because they've stopped using the litter box in our second bedroom that we've wanted to phase out for months.

It doesn't smell and clumps fairly well. My cats love to go #1 in the same corner over and over, so it sticks a bit to the bottom of the box, but that's more a function of my cat's location predilection than the litter.

We use the crystal litter as well. Started using it when we purchased our ScoopFree box -- was told that the box would help with odor (and between the crystals absorbing the urine and the box self-cleaning with a rake, we agree. Which is good, considering how small our apartment is - I cant afford odor with a litterbox that sits in the dining room.)

regarding tracking litter - we have a scoopfree mat that lies just outside the box, so the little bit of crystal litter that the cats track ends up landing in the mat for the most part (minus the occasional odd crystal here or there).

So, throw me in the camp of crystal litter users. Once you go crystal, you never go back. ;) And ScoopFree has a subscription service for their crystal litter trays, so I dont have to go to the store for it anymore! www.scoopfree.com -- but if you want some special deals on their subscription service right now (like, free shipping and $10 or $20 off your first purchase), you have to call in 888.726.MEOW (6369) -- dont worry, they told me that they plan on making these perks avail on the website by the end of the week, too.

We use worlds best cat litter and it is by far the best, 100% corn, smells good naturally and hides odors. We use it in the modkat litter box.

Tracking has FINALLY been solved in my house by putting a jute placemat in front of the bathroom vanity (the litter box is inside).

http://www.examiner.com/x-23517-Manhattan-Cats-Examiner

Oh I second mamomo's comment for http://www.moderncat.net/. She did a litter comparison series that was fairly helpful in saving some time/money experimenting.

I have five cats and seven litter boxes I empty once a day or more. I swore by worlds best but didn't really like the smell or comments from the barnyard scent so was planning to switch.

Hastening my switch, well, I can confirm any stories people have posted elsewhere on flies laying eggs in the worlds best. Heinously disgusting experience. Trust me, nuff said. So I have to say I don't recommend worlds best anymore. (Sorry, WBCL)

I am using Feline Fresh right now which my cats really seem to like and doesn't track overly much - especially if you have the litter pad from Target that sort of looks like colorful plastic padded shower mats.

The Feline Fresh litter is somewhat heavy and seems like it's mashed pellets and because there are usually some pellets floating around in the soft litter but not enough for my pellet hating pets to protest. I don't really register the smell as much as worlds best.

Just to pass on, I've heard from modern cat comments that the pellets from feed stores for barnyard animals are the same thing but cheaper. (and of course in pellet form).

Good luck, all!

Your cats are so gorgeous!! I've been using the greentea litter, which smells like greentea and I love it! http://www.puuttypower.com/servlet/the-108/Next-Generation-Pet-Green/Detail As for tracking, I leave a small broom next to the litter.