Indeed, before our sample package was opened, Joey was sniffing around the plastic wrapping with apparent interest. Although the litter has no discernible scent to me, it certainly was attractive to our test cats. Jaspurr and Joey both started using it immediately, and seemed to prefer it to our other premium litter of choice.
The litter comes in a 20 lb. "cube," and because of its initial weight, I found it easier to bring the cat litter box to the litter. Its substrate is a medium-particled clay, with superior scoopability. Urine formed large clumps, making scooping a breeze. It should be noted that Cat Attract is not flushable, because it is clay. There was little, if any, dust during scooping, which, as an asthma patient, I appreciated. The product information material claims 99% dust free, which was about what I experienced. It also claims "superior odor control," and I found little odor, even in a box that had not been scooped for a day, and any odor vanished once the box had been scooped, thanks to the natural chlorophyll used for odor control. I should note that the very large urine clumps took with them a large amount of the substrate when scooped, which required more refilling than with our other litter brand.
Each cube of litter has an enclosed booklet, "Dr Elsey's Litterbox Solutions." This booklet included several pieces of training advice, both for kittens and for older cats who have developed litter box avoidance habits. Readers can view a replication of the entire booklet on the Precious Cat web site in a PDF file. (If you do not have Acrobat, the free Acrobat Reader can be downloaded here.) Dr. Kelsey emphasizes that cats and kittens are not "small dogs," and that different training methods are needed than those used to "housebreak" dogs. His instructions are quite complete, and are valuable reading for anyone faced with retraining a recalcitrant cat.
Clumping Clay
Many readers know that there is quite a controversy over clumping clay litter. Cat Attract admittedly contains sodium bentonite. Here is what the site says about its "hazards" in response to a question about safety:
Concerns that bentonite clays will "set-up" in a cat's stomach are un-founded. Over half of the litters sold today include bentonite clay and have proven safe for cats since their introduction over fifteen years ago.
In researching this subject in more depth, I have found no authenticated information from any veterinary site on the hazards of clumping clay litters. Indeed, the AVMA has apparently never found documentation confirming such a problem. However, I felt the anecdotal information compelling enough to write an article about the clumping clay/sodium bentonite debate.
Cat Attract is a good litter. My cats have used it regularly during our trial period, and I found its scoopability superior to our "regular" brand. It sounds like an excellent litter for retraining cats that have strayed from their litter box, because its herbal scent and particle size apparently are attractive to cats.
For its functionality, I'd rate this litter as a "five star" product, however, I'll stand by my conservative viewpoint of the potential hazards of clumping clay litters.
