Garfield Cat Litter Ultimate Clump

-------Added Review -------Feel obliged to add that this litter seems to have been discontinued BUT in fact, it is renamed & sold here as 'Sustainably Yours' in 13lb bags by the same mfg. There are 2 varieties avail - same as this, but it seems (at least for the Plus/ multi-cat) it is an even finer texture, even more resembling sand than the 'tiny' version of the orig Garfield litter.It is still my fav litter & I still do mix it w my grass seed litter - which stretches both out, as well as performing even better - as stated in my orig review.As for comments as to cassava being poisonous - while it may sound concerning, to me it is not an issue as the mfg uses the human grade cassava that everyone EATS, bc it's refined version is TAPIOCA... as in Tapioca pudding & Tapioca starch used in way too many human food products as a thickening agent.... I highly doubt PetFive wants to risk everything they own by killing your cat with an unprocessed/ unfit for human consumption product (though I can understand any initial concern).As for comments of people having 'flushing issues'... if you read the back of the bag, you are supposed to let it sit in the bowl until it dissolves the clump enough to be flushed easily - as you would your own, (more solid) waste. If you flush automatically wout letting it soften & dissolve 1st, common sense just screams to me that you would have problems in clogging your pipes. Just read the bag section on back that explains this...While I don't work for or have anything to do with this company, I am a huge fan of this stuff & have been using it for YEARS - after literally trying every litter out there on the market... so I just really love this litter - which really doesn't compare. Just don't think its fair to trash it for something that it's not... that's how rumors get started, no?Just sayin'....-------Original Review ------After taking in 3 strays (over a short period of time), and keeping them as permanently indoor cats - it was especially important to have a good litter... NOT any type of that clay junk! I initially got this brand at a local Fry's, who had it at a pretty discounted price, before I then read the lablel & was intrigued, as I added several bags to my cart. Boy, was this the BEST decision I ever made for my kitties, and even they were absolutely happy to have such a nice soft, almost fluffy litter under their feet (esp compared to that crystal stuff)!This litter is a breeze! Pee clumps up into a perfect ball w/out falling apart, no ammonia smell if I don't clean the box right away & I DON'T have to DUMP the ENTIRE BOX out when I clean it bc waste is so compacted w/out falling apart - that it really stretches its use out (& in turn, cheaper in the long run - despite it's higher price directly frm the mfg here). THEN it was discontinued locally, and eventually Chewy followed suit for some unknown reason, before I finally found it again - ONLY ON AMAZON! For a time, I had to go without it before it dawned on me that Amazon might have it, & in the interim tried almost every other type of newer litters out there. Finally found, settled on grass SEED litter, which I just love (despite the earthy smell), but when I found this brand again, didn't want to chance losing it again! So NOW I use this fantastic (flushable) litter mixed into my grass seed litter - which makes an unbelievablely light, fluffy, easy to clean litter that addresses just about every potential litter issue, except for some minor tracking. The light color also helps tremendously to keep track of your cat's urinary health, the grass seed actually dries out poo even more & this cassava blend makes pee ball up instantly - so cleaning is a breeze!.. and again, NEVER any smells if I don't get to the box for cleaning right away. What could possibly be better?!!!

The Garfield corn & cassava litters are as close to perfect as litter box filler can get. Early this year I decided to do away with using clay litter of any sort. The decision was predicated on recent studies showing possible health issues in cats from long-term use of clay litters, including lung, sinus, and eye ailments. Over the first half of the year, we tried just about every litter box filler we could find. Since we foster feral litters every year and have several permanent feline residents, there was ample opportunity for side-by-side comparisons. Garfield (and Petfive's other line, Sustainably Yours--same product) won out by a large margin.The Garfield litter has no real scent which is a plus with some cats who will avoid scented litters. Admittedly, the smell of a fresh, solid deposit left unburied will take several minutes to fade as the desicant action of the litter quickly smothers the odor. This is an issue with any litter, although few can so quickly dry out unburied feces like this stuff. Urine is absorbed so quickly and completely as to not have a chance to offend nasal passages. The quick absorption means waste is encapsulated tightly which prevents clumps from sticking to the litter pan, making scooping a breeze and keeping box surface cleaner. We did experience a little stick in a couple older litter boxes that had been thoroughly scratched up prior to switching to this litter.Seriously, this is the EASIEST litter to scoop. So much so that my other half declared this the only litter for eternity. I can dig in at one end of a jumbo box, filled 2"-4", and dredge with the scoop all the way to the other end and the "clean" litter pours through like water before I can raise the scoop more than a couple inches while fouled clumps remain to be tossed. We never realized how much effort clay, sand, and wood litters took to scoop until we started experimenting with other types. Even the finer, clumping wood-based litters are heavier in the scoop with more resistance. And when I say Garfield clumps tight, I mean it. Urine deposits come out like rock hard sculptures that do not break up when tossed in the waste pail. More out of curiosity, I added a few days worth of urine sculptures to my long-term compost bin. The urine sculptures were almost completely broken up within a week. Composting any pet waste takes a bit of knowledge and is not legal or advisable in some locations, but it is nice to know this litter is compostable. Flushing any litter is always a plumbing risk but more important is possibly spreading toxoplasmosis into local water supplies and as such isforbidden in some areas. Because it clumps so tightly and quickly, we found we go through less litter with the Garfield over all. Must be due to less litter being dirtied to achieve the clumping effect. Just the lighter weight of the waste pail after scooping half a dozen boxes is welcome.The biggest boon to this switch was the elimination of clay dust. A couple of our furbabies with chronic drippy eyes have been clear-eyed since about 3 weeks after completely eliminating clay. My chronic dry-eye trouble vanished as did my other half's snoring. The real eye opener was how much cleaner our home is without a constant cloud of clay. I thought daily dusting was a trade-off for my enjoyment of open windows. I can dust most surfaces now once a week and find less dirt than when dusting daily while using clay. Not going to lie, there is some scatter if not using an enclosed litter box and some sort of mat. A couple of our cats seemed so excited by this litter the first couple weeks they went a little overboard digging in it. We like the honeycomb mats in front of litter boxes to catch any scatter. Our tile floors are also cleaner after a couple extra-thorough cleanings to get clay dust out of the grout lines.The hardest thing to determine was cost as weight is useless when considering different litter mediums. Wood pellets, the kind that break down when wet rather than clump, when used with a siftable litterbox cleaned daily, is THE cheapest litter, but not all cats take to it. We still use this type for a box in a room with carpet as the occasional stray pellet is easiest to clean up. The various pellet and chunk litters that clump tend to be frustrating to scoop leading to tossing a lot of "unused" litter with the used. All of those varieties were significantly more expensive when dealing with multiple cats. The brand with the umlaut in their name makes fine, clumping litter that is not bad although takes a light hand to sift the scoop. That brand's chunkier wood litters have been banned from our household due to how frustrated they made the other kitty janitor, in part because of the unavoidable waste trying to scoop out dirty from, "Is that dirty?" If we had to go with our second choice, it would be Boxiecat Air although each variety has a scent vaguely reminiscent of baked goods. It scoops almost as well but is just second place to the Garfield in all areas for us. We determined we were going through one 35lb pail of scoopable clay litter for every 10lb bag of Garfield litter which means we break even on cost but with healthier cats and humans, a cleaner home, and a less tedious chore.