Purr-fect! (Beauticat Woodbased Cat Litter)

Member Name: rune_tune

Product:	Beauticat Woodbased Cat Litter
Date:	09/10/08 (148 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent for absorbing odour and economical

Disadvantages: Some trails of dust at times, easily sorted.

Purr-fect!

Well an unoriginal title, but it is a great product.

~ Just what is Beauticat Cat Litter? ~

Its an ecofriendly cat litter, made from recycled sawdust, that has been compressed into pellets and can be composed.
Its claim is that it is up to 5 times more absorbent than standard cat litter, and it releases a pleasant and entirely natural pine fresh odour.

It is made by a company called Steetley Bentonite & Absorbents Ltd, and on googling the company name, I found out there are in Middlesborough.
Website address is: http://www.steetley.com/

~ So why did we begin using this product? ~

We've had a vast number of rescue cats over the years as a family (12 at any one time wasn't unusual a number to be found roaming around our house in Shropshire). And so we've always needed to supply some cat litter, because even with acres of space outside to go and do whatever they need to do...... you can bet your bottom dollar that we still needed a cat litter tray somewhere for a variety of reasons.

And so, over the years we've used a vast array of different cat litters, and then we first discovered a product called Fussy Puss. This is a product that is pretty much the same as Beauticat, and it was one we stuck with and began using on a regular basis.

When we moved, we found it harder to source the larger bags of Fussy Puss, so we looked for alternatives, and found Beauticat, and so we began using this instead, hence this review.

We use it simply because we've found it gives us the best value for money, best absorption rates and odour when compared to other cat litters.

~ So how does it do? ~

Well the first thing you notice as you tip it out of its bag is the smell of pine, which really is fragrant and doesn't seem to lose too much fragrance even after the bag has been opened a while. You also don't get smothered in dust many other standard cat litters can produce, which is a nice change.

We also don't need to put as much into the cat litter tray as we do other cat litters, because as it is used, it tends to become more of a sawdust consistency and so increases in size, making it more economical overall.

Basically when wet, the pellets begin to disintegrate, but also when solids are deposited in to the litter, even if freshly put down, pellets stick to it and cover it to some degree, and I found we were clearing the solids out no more than we had been previously. If anything, we found they could be left slightly longer, even with the pellets still holding their shape.
Odour control - This is something most people want as much as how well it absorbs the cat's mess, and quite honestly, I've yet to find anything that does it as well for the price.

As with all cat litters the best management is to keep cleaning the litter on a regular basis. This not only prolongs the life of the litter in the tray, but is also discourages the cats from finding alternative places to go to the loo!

~ How do cats (and us humans) get on with it? ~

We've found all our cats don't have any problems using wood pellet based cat litters, and this is no different. Of the 30 or so cats we've homed over the time we've begun using this cat litter, not once have we had a cat not using it.
We do always though begin with a mix of this product and the older grey bits that tend to serve as cat litter. As the days go on, you gradually increase the mix from roughly 65% wood upwards. Cats have always rapidly adapted to using it.

I would always advise using a covered cat litter tray. There are benefits to this for a number of reasons; not least most cats prefer privacy when going to the toilet. But it also does help stop any cat litter from getting thrown around the sides of the tray as its being used, and while this isn't too much of a problem with this litter, it can hurt when you tread on a pellet that has strayed from the tray by accident!

You do also get a slight trail of the finer dust as the litter begins to break down from the front of the tray - but we find just placing one sheet of folded newspaper under the front of the tray to weight it down works fine and tend to catch most of the spillage.
Certainly if you've used the standard grey dusty cat litter, that can leave terrible dust around the immediate area of the tray, more so than we've ever found with pellet based litter such as this.

Finally, if you want to, this is also decomposable, although we do find it can take a little time to fully break down.

~ Cost and availability ~

We get our bag from the local pet suppliers down the road. We always buy the largest bag available (30 litres, roughly 20 Kg in weight) and currently this costs us £8-50 (Oct 08). This has been the price we've paid since we moved up here over 3 years ago. There is also another local supplier (Our local coal merchant) with a price of £8-60.
We've seen this widely available elsewhere and it does have at least 3 sized bags, but not available in the main supermarket chains, although they all now seem to be supplying something similar.

~ Final thoughts ~

There are very few cat litters that are purr-fect, but this is as close as we can get for the price we pay. Having used this product now for as long as we have, I can't imagine using something different until something comes along that can not only compete in efficiency but also cost.

10 out of 10 of our cats certainly pre-furred it.

Summary: Just the best all round litter out there.