Choosing the right cat litter can feel overwhelming with so many options out there — clay, crystal, paper, wood, corn, peas, and more. Each has its own pros and cons, and what works for one cat may not work for another. I personally tried every single cat litter and today we will discuss the pros and cons of each cat litter, and help you decide which type of litter might be best for you.

Types of Cat Litter

1. Clay Litter

Clay litter is made out of sodium bentonite, a type of clay that forms clumps when wet. It is one the oldest types of cat litter and was first introduced in 1947. The texture is soft and earthy, similar to natural soil, which many cats find especially appealing. 

The main advantages of clay litter are it is affordable, easy to clean because of its clumping nature, and soft on your cat’s paws. The downsides of clay litter are significant. A major concern is the presence of crystalline silica dust, which the CDC identifies as a known carcinogen when inhaled. This dust can lead to respiratory problems for both cats and humans. This leads to another drawback. Clay cat litter is notoriously dusty—especially when it’s poured into the litter box—making exposure almost unavoidable in everyday use.

I personally experienced the dust with my own cats. When my cats Teemo and Arya were young, I tried clay litter for a short time, but Teemo quickly developed a slight cough. The dust also gave me shortness of breath and irritated my lungs. That experience convinced me to stop using clay litter altogether.

Another concern with clay litter is the risk of your cat eating it. We all know cats and kittens can get a little too curious—and sometimes that means trying to eat the litter. Eating clay litter can lead to gastrointestinal blockages, especially if the litter forms hard clumps in the cat’s digestive tract. The clumps clay litter makes can be as hard as concrete. 

Clay litter also tracks heavily. You’ll find it scattered across your floor. Because it sticks to your cat’s paws, it easily gets carried throughout the house, which is why tracking is such a common issue with clay litter. If you like to keep your home clean, clay litter won’t make it easy.

Clay Litter Tracked Outside the Litter Box

Other downsides of clay litter are that it’s very heavy — since it takes a lot more clay to absorb the same amount of liquid compared to other cat litters. Lastly, it’s harmful to the environment because it requires strip mining and isn’t biodegradable.

2. Crystal Litter 

Crystal litter or silica litter is a cat litter made out of silica gel granules. When liquid is exposed to silica litter, a network of microscopic pores trap the moisture and any odors. As the water evaporates, the odor-causing compounds remain trapped in the crystals — which is what gives crystal litter its odor control. As a result, crystal litter is not a clumping litter.  

Silica cat litter begins with a chemical reaction where sodium silicate, also known as liquid glass, is combined with sulfuric acid to form a gel. This gel is the base material that’s processed into the crystals found in silica litter. Sulfuric acid is extremely dangerous on its own — highly corrosive and capable of causing severe burns — it is washed out during production. Even so, silica gel pellets still carry “do not eat” warnings.

Sulfuric Acid

Some of the pros of crystal litter include that it is low dust compared to clay, light weight, and it is soft on your cat’s paws.

In terms of cons, odor control isn’t great. For the first few times the cat goes to the bathroom, it’s fine, but if you go more than a week or two without fully cleaning out the box and replacing the litter, you’ll start to smell cat piss. And since you have to replace it so often, you’ll end up going through bags quickly — one bag just doesn’t last long enough.

Crystal Litter after 1-2 Weeks

Crystal litter is also expensive, not biodegradable, environmentally harmful due to mining, and tracks easily. Imagine going to the beach and bringing sand into your home every single time your cat leaves the litter box; that’s exactly what it feels like. 

Crystal Litter Tracked Outside the Litter Box

3. Pea-based Cat Litter

Pea-based Cat Litter by Cat Butler - Shop Here

The newest cat litter on the market, Pea-based Litter is growing in popularity and once you discover its features, it’s easy to see why.  Made from pea fibers that is a byproduct for processing gluten free foods. It is 100% natural and safe if accidentally eaten by curious cats. Due to its fiber structure it is naturally low in dust. Making it safer for both cats and their humans to breathe. 

It also clumps firmly, so scooping and cleaning are easy. While also being highly absorbent — about three times more absorbent than clay, meaning just 1 pound of pea litter can do the job of roughly 3 pounds of clay. As a result this cat litter lasts a long time. 

Pea-based Cat Litter Clump

The unique pellet shape also makes this litter low tracking, helping keep litter off your floors and furniture. In addition, because it’s made from peas, it’s eco-friendly and biodegradable.

Low Tracking due to Unique Pellet Shape 

The main drawback is the higher cost. Since the raw material peas are expensive, pea cat litter is typically priced above more common options like clay. After experimenting with the different litters, I found pea-based cat litter worked the best.

4. Walnut Litter

Walnut litter is a natural litter made from crushed walnut shells and they usually have a sand-like texture, similar to clay.

The only pro of walnut litter is that it's eco-friendly, biodegradable, a clumping litter, and non-toxic. Otherwise it has several drawbacks. Because it’s so light, litter gets stuck into your cat’s toe beans, so it tracks badly—getting into furniture, your bed, and all over the house—so it often feels like you’re constantly stepping on litter.

Walnut Litter Tracked Outside the Litter Box

It’s also quite dusty, as you can see here, which also turns your cat’s paws brown. Clumping is also inconsistent; urine clumps tend to break apart and track out, which makes cleaning more difficult.

Walnut Litter Clumps Break Easily

The clumps can also stick to the litter box and odor control is only average—if you don’t scoop daily, lingering urine smells become noticeable. And lastly, it's more expensive than clay litter. 

Walnut Litter Stuck to Litter Box

5. Paper Litter

Paper litter is a cat litter made out of recycled paper and usually comes in a large pellet form. 

On the plus side, paper litter is biodegradable, eco-friendly, and affordable, and its pellet form helps keep tracking to a minimum.

However, paper litter also has its drawbacks. It does not have good odor control because your cats are unable to cover up their poop as the pellets are too large. It also doesn’t neutralize the cat’s urine well. 

Lastly, it’s not easy to clean since the litter doesn’t clump—the paper pellets gradually break down when they absorb urine. The problem is that this process isn’t immediate; sometimes you’re left with soggy pellets that haven’t fully disintegrated yet, which makes scooping messy and inconsistent. 

Soggy Paper Pellets 

6. Pine Litter

Pine litter is made out of leftover wood shavings from lumber yards, which are dehydrated and formed into pellets. 

The pros of pine litter are its biodegradable, eco-friendly, affordable, low dust, and it is low tracking because of its pellet shape. The cons are it has bad odor control because like paper litter, your cats can’t cover up their poop because the pellets are too large. It is also not good with hiding urine smell either when you have multiple cats in the household. 

Large Pellets Prevent Cats from Burying their Poop

Some cats also dislike the large bulky shape of the cat litter and may refuse to use the litter box. On top of that cleaning can be inconvenient as pine litter turns into saw dust when it comes into contact with moisture. As a result this litter doesn’t clump and cleaning is only doable if you have a sifting litter box. 

7. Grass Litter

Grass litter is primarily made from natural grass seeds and it typically comes in small granules. 

The pros of grass litter are its biodegradable, eco-friendly, low in dust, and has good odor control. It clumps firmly, so scooping and cleaning are easy. The cons are that it is expensive, and it tracks like no other. Because it is light, it doesn’t just stay around the litter box. It ends up everywhere. I would constantly find pieces scattered across the floor, stuck in the sofa cushions, and even in my bed. 

Grass Litter Tracked Outside the Litter Box

Grass litter also tends to stick to the bottom of the litter box when its wet. 

Grass Litter Stuck to the Litter Box when Wet

8. Tofu Litter

Tofu litter is made from soybean pulp left over from making soy milk. This plant-based material is then dried and processed into pellets

The pros of this litter is that it is low tracking, easy to clean because of its clumping nature, low in dust, and eco friendly.

The cons of this litter is that it is expensive, has average odor control without adding chemicals or fragrances, and is susceptible to mold.

Most tofu litters don’t naturally block odors well, so many manufacturers add fragrances or chemicals to make them more appealing to humans. Cats have extremely sensitive noses and lungs, so strong scents can irritate them, trigger asthma, or even cause them to avoid the litter box altogether. Chemical additives meant to control odor are also not safe for cats to ingest.

9. Cassava Litter

Cassava litter is made from the starch of the cassava root.

The advantages of cassava litter include its excellent clumping ability, its biodegradable, low dust, excellent odor control and soft on your cat’s paws.

Cassava litter’s biggest drawback is tracking. The light granules stick to your cats’ paws and end up all over the house. It’s basically like sand — your home will feel like a beach after just one day. So if you like a clean home, this may not be for you. 

Cassava Litter Tracked Outside the Litter Box

10. Corn Litter

Corn Litter is made from whole corn kernels or corn cobs, which are processed into small, biodegradable granules that absorb moisture and trap odors.

Corn litter is biodegradable, eco-friendly, and low dust. It clumps firmly, so scooping and cleaning are easy.

However it comes with some cons. Odor control is only average and you can sometimes still smell urine. Corn litter does track as granules are small and can get stuck in your cat’s paws. It is also more prone to mold in humid conditions, one of these molds aflatoxin can lead to acute symptoms of liver damage and abdominal pain if the corn litter is ingested. 
Corn litter is also more expensive than clay litter. 

Corn Litter Tracked Outside the Litter Box

What is the Best Cat Litter Overall?

When it comes to choosing cat litter, there are a lot of factors to consider. Do you want a cat litter that is healthy and safe for your cat? Or do you want a cat litter that is clean for your home?

After trying just about every type of cat litter out there, I’ve found that Pea-based cat litter stands out as the best overall cat litter

Pea-based cat litter is 100% natural and delivers on cleanliness, health and safety, and overall performance. It is low-tracking, safe if ingested, easy to clean, dust free, flushable. 

While pea-based cat litter may seem more expensive upfront, its quality makes it last longer. Because it keeps the box cleaner for longer periods, you’ll end up deep cleaning the litter box and dumping out the cat litter less frequently. Therefore, a single bag stretches much further than traditional litters.

Because I found that peas worked so well, I formulated my own pea-based cat litter. My goal was to create a litter that was truly healthy — free from chemicals and artificial fragrances. I noticed that some ‘natural’ cat litters had secret formulas, and I could never be sure what was actually in them. By developing my own, I could guarantee a safe cat litter that performs with only three simple ingredients: peas, corn starch, and guar gum.  

Let me walk you through why it works so well and how it scores across the main factors of a good cat litter: health and safety, cleanliness, odor control, maintenance, and value.

Pea-based Cat Litter by Cat Butler - Shop Here

Factors to Consider when Buying Cat Litter

1. Healthy and Safety

Health and safety should always come first when choosing a cat litter. If a litter isn’t safe for your cat, then it really shouldn’t even be an option. 

Some of the most common safety concerns include:

• Respiratory issues from silica dust - Traditional clay litters contain crystalline silica dust. These fine particles can lodge deep in the lungs, where they cause irritation, inflammation, and long-term damage. For both cats and humans, this can mean coughing, breathing difficulties, or even the worsening of asthma symptoms.
• Chemical Additives - Often included to improve performance, but is toxic for your cat.
• Sodium Bentonite -  Sodium bentonite is added to help form solid clumps and expands when wet. But if ingested while grooming, it can expand in a cat’s digestive tract and cause blockages. 

In short, your cat’s health is the most important criteria when choosing litter. It’s best to avoid products that contain silica dust, chemical additives, or sodium bentonite. 

Our pea-based cat litter passes the test — it’s 100% natural, safe even if accidentally ingested, and completely free from chemicals.

2. Cleanliness

Cleanliness is another major factor when choosing a cat litter. A good litter should keep both your cat’s paws and your home as clean as possible. 

Low Tracking Cat Litter (Pea-based Litter and Pine Litter)

Rule of thumb: To reduce tracking, choose a litter with larger, pellet-shaped granules.
Smaller particles stick easily to your cat’s paws and fur, while larger pellets are less likely to scatter outside the litter box. Litter that are low tracking include, Pine, Paper, Tofu, and Pea-based cat litter. 

In addition to choosing the right litter, a top entry litter box paired with a litter mat can greatly cut down on tracking.

Our pea-based cat litter passes this test — its unique pellet shape is designed to stay in the litter box, keeping both your cat’s paws and your home cleaner.

3. Dust

Dust is one of the biggest concerns with cat litter, since it affects both you and your cat’s respiratory health. Certain materials, like clay, naturally produce more dust, while natural alternatives tend to produce less dust. Packaging also plays a role — during shipping and handling, loose litter granules rub against each other, breaking down into fine particles. That’s why vacuum-sealed packaging is important: it keeps the litter tightly packed and protected in transit, preventing friction and keeping dust levels to a minimum by the time it reaches your home. 

Our pea-based litter passes the dust test — pea fiber is naturally low-dust, and vacuum-sealed packaging keeps it even cleaner during transport.

4. Cleaning & Maintenance

When evaluating how easy a cat litter is to clean, clumping ability is one of the most important factors. A good clumping litter quickly absorbs liquid and forms solid clumps that stay intact when scooped, making daily cleaning faster and less messy. 

Pea-based Cat Litter Clump

Litters like pine or paper tend to break down when they get wet, which makes cleaning a hassle. Instead of simply removing soiled areas, you often have to dump the entire box and replace it with new litter, wasting usable litter in the process. Not only is this inefficient, but it also makes upkeep far more labor-intensive. 

Broken Down Paper Pellets

Our pea-based cat litter passes the cleaning and maintenance test. Its clumps are firm and don’t fall apart. That means it only takes about 3–10 seconds to clean the box.

5. Odor Control 

When it comes to odor control, quality matters. A high quality natural ingredient can trap odors without the need for chemicals or perfumes. Many cheaper litters rely on chemicals or artificial fragrances to mask unpleasant smells, which can be overwhelming for cats and even harmful over time. 

Cats have an incredibly strong sense of smell, so artificial fragrances that might seem pleasant to us can actually be overwhelming and stressful for them. When we tested a scented litter vs an unscented litter, cats consistently preferred unscented litter.

Our pea-based cat litter passes the test for odor control because peas are naturally effective at absorbing and locking in smells. 

6. Eco-Friendly

Eco-friendly cat litters are becoming more popular as people move away from traditional options. Clay-based litters made with sodium bentonite can expand dramatically when wet and take up massive space in landfills, while crystal litters made from silica don’t break down naturally and also contribute to long-term waste. For a greener choice, natural litters are biodegradable and safer for the planet.

Our pea-based cat litter is biodegradable. 

7. Cost

When you’ve weighed all the key factors and still find yourself choosing between a few options, price can be the final consideration.

Keep in mind, though, that cost isn’t just about the price tag on the bag—it’s also about how often you’ll need to replace it. Premium litters may seem pricier upfront, but because they stay fresher longer and require less frequent changes, they can actually save you money over time.

The takeaway: don’t be tempted by the cheapest option. Lower-quality litter often means more hassle, more frequent replacements, and ultimately higher costs—not to mention it may not be the healthiest choice for your cat.

Our pea-based cat litter may cost a bit more upfront, but it lasts significantly longer than conventional options.