Searching for the best cat litter is one of the biggest challenges for cat parents. You’re probably here because your cat has chronic respiratory issues. It could be asthma, a persistent allergy, or other chronic conditions that remain even after disease recovery.
Don’t worry, you’re not an over-thinking Cat Momma or Papa. It’s great that you’re looking into safe cat litter for your special needs cat!
For cats with respiratory problems, you’ll need the safest, dust-free cat litter you can find. That’s what this blog post is all about: the best types of cat litter for cats with sensitive respiratory systems.
Best Cat Litter for Cats with Chronic Respiratory Issues
How do I choose a suitable cat litter?
From top to bottom, the pet shop’s aisle is packed with bags of cat litter from different brands, made of different materials, different textures …
Where should you start? For cats and kittens with respiratory issues, you should choose cat litter that is:
- Unscented. Don’t be swayed by fancy marketing like “Natural Lavender Scent” or get tempted by deodorizing beads and pods.
- In pellet form, rather than sand or fine granules. Pellet cat litter has fewer smaller particles and dust.
- Made of gentle, natural materials. Nopity nope to traditional clay and silica crystal litter.
Best Cat Litter Recommendations (Only the safest, I promise.)
Personal Pick: Green Kat Cat Litter (6L/14L/24L)
- Made from recycled newspaper.
- Non-toxic even if ingested by cats.
- Relatively dust free. 99% is actual litter. Only the bottom 1% has some flaky bits and paper dust.
- Smells like newspaper. Does not irritate your cat when he/she sniffs the litter.
The one disadvantage of Green Kat: it doesn’t clump. To make the bag last, you need to manually separate the soiled litter from clean ones.
Remove the litter once a day, so your cat’s whisk-like paws won’t end up mixing the used and unused bits thoroughly together.
A Green Kat 24L bag lasts around 3 weeks for my 3 cats. We get the cheapest deal from Perromart.
My special needs cat, Quacky, has used Green Kat litter since he was a kitten. It’s more than a year now. Although his breathing condition can’t be permanently cured, he’s grown so much stronger and is now the most handsome tom. He’s been doing great with Green Kat!
If Green Kat isn’t available in your local area, check out a similar paper cat litter below.
Similar: Purina Yesterday’s News Paper Cat Litter
- Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (based on 5000+ reviews, at time of writing)
- Chewy Rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars (based on 700+ reviews, at time of writing)
While I have not used Purina’s paper cat litter, there is no shortage of feedback from committed cat parents.
The few negative reviews for Yesterday’s News cat litter tend to center around “poor odor control”. Yet many positive reviewers are happy with how “the odor is absorbed and doesn’t linger”. This conflicting experience is the same for Green Kat cat litter users.
A word from personal experience: odor control is very subjective. The smell of your cat’s urine and poop greatly depends on your cat’s diet, and how often you clean the litter box.
You’d be surprised how a slightly pricier, but healthier, cat kibble can greatly reduce urine odor. Cleaning out your cat’s litter box once a day is good practice, too!
Choosing the Best Cat Litter for Your Cat
The right cat litter ensures your cat’s comfort and in the long term, saves you hundreds of dollars in vet bills. This is especially important for cats with asthma, sensitive respiratory systems or cats prone to allergies. Double that importance if your cat’s litter box is in his/her cage day and night.
I hope this blog post gave you a more complete idea of the best and safest cat litter for your special needs cat! Tried paper cat litter? Tell me how it went in the comments.
If you have personal recommendations on the best cat litter, I’d love to hear your take too!
Behind the Blog Post: Quacky’s Background
Quacky is my special needs cat. He was terribly sick when we rescued him. Pale and weak, he couldn’t really eat. He couldn’t even sleep. In his cage, we would place rolled-up towels and clothes to support his chest, to help with his breathing.
Quacky used Green Kat cat litter over his many months of recovery. Having safe cat litter in his cage at least prevented yet another worry. (P.S: Quack, at the rate I’m going, you can be Green Kat’s ambassador already. 😂)
He can now take good ol’ cat naps whenever he wants. He loves exploring the outdoors (we supervise) and enjoys mutual grooming sessions with his companions. Behold, he’s ten times fluffier!
