You love your cat, and you don’t care who knows it, right?
But the last thing you want is “cat-smell” permeating your house or tiny dust-prints trailing across your newly polished wood floor.
And I know this may sound a litter ridiculous, but choosing the right litter can be overwhelming.
You stand at the wall of brightly colored bags and boxes, wondering if you should pick the lightweight one, the recycled paper one, the clumping, the low odor, the most absorbent, the cheapest!
But you have done some research and narrowed it down…
Congratulations! Like many cat-owners, you want to go with a low-dust or dust-free variety.
If you want to know our favorite, we won’t keep you in suspense.
Our review process is unbiased and based on extensive research. If you buy through the links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Our favorite dust-free cat litter is PrettyLitter! It’s lightweight, affordable, controls odor, is dust-free, AND it’s an early-warning detector for your cat’s health!
Editor’s Choice
PrettyLitter Health Monitoring Cat Litter
- Super-low dust
- Excellent absorbancy
- Health detection system
Best Value
Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Ultra Clumping Cat Litter
- All-natural formula
- Hypoallergenic
- Cost-effective
Best For Multiple Cats
Arm & Hammer Litter Clump & Seal Multi-Cat Scented Clumping Clay Cat Litter
- 7 day odor control for multi-cat households
- Fresh-scent activated on contact
- Budget-friendly
Why Use A Dust-Free Cat Litter?
Dust particles from cat litter can trigger asthma and allergies for both you and your kitty. If you have a cat (or a human in your home) with respiratory issues, this is especially important.
We’ve done our research on the best dust-free cat litters out there. So, you don’t have to stand in the pet store for twenty minutes staring at bags.
Just like you would, we’ve considered price, odor control, dust control, and of course, health effects (if any). Based on these criteria, we’ve reviewed silica crystal, pellet-style, and clumping clay litter to bring you our top choices.
Best Dust-Free Cat Litters
Without further a-mew (sorry, couldn’t resist), here are our reviews and ratings for dust-free cat litter.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
PrettyLitter Health Monitoring Cat Litter
Pros:
- Super-low dust
- Excellent absorbency
- Odor control without artificial fragrance
- Good for cat health
- Super light weight
- BONUS: health detection system
Cons:
- Can be a bit more costly if you have a large box or multiple cats
ökocat is a dust-free paper pellet cat litter that absorbs 200% of its own weight. While we love PrettyLitter, this is also a good option.
- It’s dust-free. It’s made of small pellets, so no dust. At all, really. This makes it great for cats with respiratory issues and/or people with allergies and asthma.
- It’s eco-friendly. These paper pellets are made from naturally fallen timber or lumber scraps, making it biodegradable. Some people even flush it when they scoop. BUT, I’m not sure I’d recommend that for all plumbing.
- It is unscented. The odor control on this one is not as good as PrettyLitter, but it’s not bad either. It controls odor by holding in the urine. This odor control lasts for up to seven days, so you must be a little more diligent about scooping.
The biggest thing to be wary of is that most cats tend to prefer a finer-grain litter under their feet, so the larger pellets may turn off the more sensitive kitties.
Overall, this litter works well, with the bonus of saving the planet one poop-scoop at a time!
>> Tap Here To Read More Reviews and Get The Best Price On Chewy.com <<
BEST VALUE
Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Ultra Clumping
Pros:
- Almost no dust
- Clumping makes cleanup easy
- All-natural and hypoallergenic
- Decent odor control
- Cost-effective
Cons:
- Bentonite clay can cause obstruction when digested
Let’s be honest. Cats love clumps.
Well okay, not all cats. But if your cat is used to a clumping clay litter, they may not transition easily to a pellet or silica crystal.
Believe it or not, cats can be finicky.
The clumping is designed to keep the litter clean and for easier scooping. But most clumping litter is clay, which means dust. And that means footprints and allergies and clay stuck in the paws…
Oh, wait! Dr. Elsey’s clay clumping litter is 99.9% dust-free!
That’s why this litter is currently one of the best-selling cat litters in the world.
- It’s dust free. That’s the point, right? This medium-grain clay clumps into hard clumps and you won’t get dust in the air (or dusty footprints on your countertops).
- It clumps. I must admit, clumping makes cleaning the box easier. The downfall to that is you tend to throw away more litter because you’re ditching the urine spots. But it does make litter duty a snap.
- It does a decent job containing odors. Your house won’t smell like a flower shop, but this litter does a pretty good job preventing it from smelling like cat-box.
- It’s all-natural and hypoallergenic. This makes it a front-runner for kitties and their human families who tend to allergies or are susceptible to respiratory issues.
The biggest downfall to the clay litter is that it’s not actually great for all cats. There has been some recent discussion about the Bentonite Clay causing respiratory and digestive issues for some cats.
And while it is virtually “dust-free,” there are tiny particles of clay dust with every clay litter that will get into the air around the litter box, which can cause respiratory issues.
Also, kittens tend to eat litter! So if you have a kitten, you may want to go with one of the other litter types.
The sodium bentonite clay clumps because it absorbs liquids. When your cat or kitten eats the clay, it swells in their digestive tract.
Why? Because the clay tends to stick to the paws. Then, when the cat cleans herself, she licks the clay, and it goes into her digestive system.
Kittens and cats who consume too much bentonite clay for them to digest could end up with a deadly intestinal obstruction.
>> Tap Here To Read More Reviews and Get The Best Price On Chewy.com <<
BEST FOR MULTIPLE CATS
Arm & Hammer Litter Clump & Seal Multi-Cat Scented Clumping Clay
Pros:
- Almost no dust
- Excellent clumping
- Good odor control with fresh scent activation
- Cost-effective for mult-cat homes
Cons:
- Bentonite clay can cause obstruction when digested
- Recent packaging removed spout making it a little trickier to pour.
It makes sense that a company known for baking soda would make a cat litter that is good at odor control.
But beyond odor control, this is also a very good overall cat litter.
- It’s low dust. It is formulated to clump and seal on contact for a 7-day odor protection. This is no small task as those of you with multiple cats can attest.
- It’s scented. A fresh scent gets activated each time your cat uses the litter box.
- It’s affordable. Having a single cat is one thing, but when you have multiple cats, the cost of cat food and cat litter can eat up a budget quickly. This is a great budget option that provides a quality product at a terrific price.
This is another formula that has Bentonite. And as we mentioned in our review of Dr. Elsey’s cat litter, there are some potential issues if your cat or kitten ingests the product.
If your cat tends to ingest things it shouldn’t you might want to look elsewhere.
>> Tap Here To Read More Reviews and Get The Best Price On Chewy.com <<
How To Transition To New Litter
So, now that you’ve chosen the type of litter you want for your kitty, you need to test it out!
If you want to avoid your cat peeing outside the litter box, try keeping two boxes for a short time – one with their old litter and one with the new. That might mean buying a disposable litter box to use for a short time and starting off with a smaller-sized bag of the new litter.
If you’re transitioning from one type to another, like from clay to silica, you’ll want to keep out two litter boxes for at least a week. That way you can see if your cat approves without sacrificing your living room rug.
Happy scooping!
