Dr. Elsey's Cat Ultra Premium Clumping Cat Litter

Did a 25 day test w/ World's Best Cat Litter Clumping Litter Formula, Nature's Miracle Just for Cats Corn Cob Litter, and Just the Crystals Premium Crystal Cat Litter. I've also previously used Dr. Elsy's Precious Cat Ultra Premium Cat Litter and can offer a comparison with it as well. (#1) World's Best: Clumps very well and doesn't track much at all. There is a small amount of dust, but the dust appears to have a large particle size and doesn't stay airborne, so it settles quickly back into the box instead of getting all over everything. There is a slight odor to the litter which is a little unusual, but it doesn't smell bad, and it seems to control the cat odor well. It's also light weight, which makes it easy to scoop. My four cats had no problem w/ World's Best. Of the four litters, this is the one I'll probably end up going back to. Some people look at the cost per pound and say it is too expensive, but it is less dense than the clay litters, and as a result it takes less poundage to fill a litter box. While I didn't measure this precisely, I'd tend to say the 28 lbs bag of World's Best goes at least as far as a 40 lbs bag of Precious Cat (or other fine clay litter), which makes the costs a lot more comparable (just don't overpay for the litter - some of the Amazon marketplace resellers gouge on the price). (#2 - tie) Just the Crystals: I tried this litter based on the excellent reviews here on Amazon. It doesn't track very much at all (and given the large granules, it is easy to vacuum up when it does). It is easier to scoop than the others, as you just scoop out the poop and then stir it - you don't need to remove the urine. While that sounds a bit gross, it really doesn't appear to get wet, smelly, or dirty any quicker than the others. I was also really impressed with the manufacturer, who definitely seems to stand behind their brand. All of that said, while Just the Crystals is much less dusty than the clay litters, it did create a small amount of airborne dust while scooping. It wasn't particularly objectionable, but was more than either Nature's Miracle (which had none) or World's Best (which settled before getting very airborne). My cats also used this box less than the others, though they've never used a crystal litter before and likely just aren't used to it, which I can't hold against Just the Crystals. The verdict? I probably won't continue with Just the Crystals myself, but if I used an automatic litter box this would probably be my litter of choice. Price does seem a little bit more than other premium litters when measured by volume (not weight), but because you don't throw out the peed up litter, you still have just as much litter in the box after 3 weeks as you had when you filled it initially (versus the other litters where you're steadily throwing away litter as it gets peed up), which balances things out a bit. (#2 - tie) Nature's Miracle: Basically zero dust, very lightweight (so it is really easy to scoop), and it also smells great coming out of the package. It does track a bit more than the others, though that's only a minor annoyance to me (could be worse depending on where the box is). The real problem though is that it doesn't clump well, and since the clumps fall apart, small pieces of old, peed up litter gradually build up in the box, which means it starts smelling bad faster. While I used Nature's Miracle for years, this is eventually what pushed me away from it. If they could fix the clumping issue, this would probably be my favorite litter because of the non-existent dust and light weight. The clumping issue is a fairly big deal to me though, and World's Best gets me most of the advantages without that major disadvantage. Per unit of volume this seems comparable to other premium litters - perhaps a bit less than World's Best or Just the Crystals - but you might need to change it more often to keep it from smelling bad, which could make it less cost effective. (#3) Dr. Elsy's Precious Cat: Clumps extremely well and controls odor quite well. When I had a stray cat and her kittens, this is the litter I picked once they were of age to use a litter box (rather, I used the kitten version of it) because it seemed to control the odor the best for the longest period of time. It does track a bit more than the litters with larger granules (like World's Best or Just the Crystals), and it's fairly heavy, which makes it harder to scoop and change. The worst part is the dust though. As the litter ages, the granules seem to break down into smaller pieces that go airborne and make absolutely awful dust. The older it got, the worse it became. Scooping it would set off the smoke alarm in the room, and I had to wipe down everything in the room with a wet rag to remove the thick coating of litter dust. With one box in the past (prior to this test), it eventually got bad enough I felt like I had to cover my mouth while scooping it. I've tried their Respiratory Relief version as well, and that wasn't any better. I've also tried mixing it with a less dusty litter like Nature's Miracle, but that made little difference. Price per unit volume seems a bit less than World's Best or Just the Crystal's (more comparable to Nature's Miracle - maybe a little less than it too), but I wouldn't use it anymore even if it were free - can't stand the dust. As for test methodology... All of the boxes were changed the same day. They were also washed before changing them using fragrance free detergent (I use fragrance free laundry detergent to do the boxes - it's mild, leaves no odor, and I'm sure won't irritate my cats). The litter boxes are converted from large Rubbermaid totes (I needed something with high sides as I have one cat that sometimes doesn't squat and pees over the sides of regular litter boxes). I scoop them once daily at night. While all of the boxes are pretty large (again, they're Rubbermaid storage totes), one is about 50% larger than the others. Historically, my cats have preferred that box, perhaps because of the extra room. In this test, that box had World's Best, and, true to form, they used that box more than the others. That said, the box size may factor into that. Also, I did not actually measure volume for the price comparisons. Those are very loose estimates based on how much it felt like I needed to dump into the boxes to fill them. At the end of the day, the price differences between them weren't so significant as to be the major differentiator between them.