Crystal Cat Litter vs. Clumping Cat Litter: Which Is Better For Your Feline Friend

There are two things you want from your cat litter: to keep your cat happy and your house smelling clean. With the many options available on the market today, it is not difficult to achieve that. What might be more difficult is to know what option to choose. The two most popular options are crystal cat litter and clumping cat litter, and each comes with different and unique particularities that you and your cat might end up either loving or hating.

In this article we are going to analyze the two options, point out the main differences and offer you all the information you need in order to make an informed decision.

What is Crystal Cat Litter?

Crystal cat litter is made of silica gel beads – yes, that’s correct, it’s made of those small balls you find in shoe boxes and ramen packs. What those packages do is absorb moisture and, while it is not healthy for you to you to eat them, you can definitely use them for other purposes.

You would need a lot of ramen packs and a huuuge number of shoe boxes to get enough silica gel to fit your cat’s litter but, luckily for you, scientists were quick to observe the extremely high properties of the silica gel to absorb and neutralize odour that they formulated it in such a way that you can now get it as crystal cat litter for your pet. 

Laugh all you want, but crystal cat litter is one of the most widely appreciated options of cat litter you can get for your cat. Don’t knock it till you try it! You might be impressed by how clean and nice-smelling your cat’s litter will be after using this litter.

Here are some key features:

• Not only does it absorb odour and moisture, but it does it quickly
• They are typically dust-free, meaning that you won’t inhale poop dust when you clean the litter
• They are long-lasting, as long as 30 days per cat which, if you ever owned a cat (and one would assume you did, since you’re reading this) then you would know that’s a huge time saver

What is Clumping Cat Litter?

The second most widely-used type of litter you can get is clumping cat litter. Based on its name, you can most definitely assume what makes it popular: its clumping particularities.  This litter is usually made out of bentonite clay, which is a natural material that, when in contact with liquid, it forms solid clumps that you can later just scoop out.

Unlike crystal cat litter which absorbs moisture without clumping and which must be changed altogether once 30 days pass (or depending on the number of cats you own, once the silica beads cannot work anymore), with clumping cat litter you can simply scoop out your furry friend’s droppings at the end of each day and this keeps your litter relatively clean without having to change the entire contents.

Key Features of clumping cat litter:

1. It forms a solid clump around urine and faeces
2. It is easy to scoop and remove daily
3. It often comes scented for odour control
Can come in various options depending on what you’re looking for (scented/unscented)

Silica Gel or Bentonite Clay: Which One Wins the Battle?

In order to help you determine which option might be the best for you, your cat and your household, we are going to compare the two options from 4 different points of view and at the end of today’s article, you should be able to find it easier to choose between the two:

1. Odour control: while clumping clay is cleaned daily, its properties cannot match the odour control properties of the silica gel. If what you want the most is for your house to smell clean, then you should go for silica gel litter.

2. Ease of cleaning: as stated earlier, the silica gen gets cleaned only once a month and, while that might be convenient, you will need to stir the crystals daily in order to distribute moisture and remove solid waste. Bentonite clay, on the other hand, clumps around moisture, which means all you have to do is do some scooping at the end of the day and your litter is as good as new. While the battle might be tighter in this regard, bentonite clay takes this win for how easy it makes daily maintenance.

3. Dust and tracking: people say stepping on Lego bricks hurts – they must have never stepped on litter bits spread around the bathroom. Silica gel beads are less dusty by default and bentonite clay is more dusty by nature and, although there are many brands that now offer “dust-free” clumping options, silica gel wins this one for how they just manage to keep the air and the space around them clean.

4. Cost comparison: while money might not be the defining factor, it is definitely an important one to take into account, assuming that you don’t want to spend a fortune on your cat’s droppings. Silica gel litter might be more expensive but, considering you need to buy a bag every 30 days, it might not put a financial strain on your budget. However, if you have more than one cat, then it might be more expensive. Bentonite clay, on the other hand, comes in bigger bags and is generally a lot cheaper but, since you’re basically throwing away bits of it every day, it might end up costing a lot in the long run. However, for the sake of picking a winner, bentonite clay gets the win because, at the end of the day, it will be cheaper to get that, than silica gel beads.

Conclusion

Both clumping cat litter and crystal cat litter are great options for your cat’s litter. It’s no wonder they are the two top choices. If you can’t choose between the two, you can use silica beads during the more humid months of the year and clumping clay during the drier ones. Or, you can try both and see which ones your cat likes better, that should help clear things out.