ARM & HAMMER Clump & Seal Platinum Cat Litter
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2017', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "TL;DR\nPros:\n- little to no dust (no dust so far, actually)\n- no bad smells\n- (personal opinion) subtle, light fresh scent\n\nCons:\n- I'll update if I find any.\n\nI didn't know cat litter could be this easy and effective. I got a cat recently (first cat ever) and after a ridiculous amount of research, I passed this stuff up and went with Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat Ultra Cat Litter. That stuff is great, too, don't get me wrong. But this is better imo. I noticed the Dr. Elsey's tracked a decent amount, even with a litter mat, but I didn't know any better. There was also that special litter box smell (faint because Dr. Elsey's does a decent job, but still noticeable). Since I keep mine in my bedroom, that wasn't ideal. When my kitty would use the box and cover her stuff, I could smell and feel the dust in the air, though it was supposed to be low to no dust. I thought I had to live with all that.\n\nNOPE. On a whim I tried this because so many people were raving about how little it smells. It has a faint, fresh scent to it that I can only smell when I'm pouring or scooping it. Those of you highly sensitive to smells may not like this, but I'd still encourage you to at least try it. It's a pretty faint/light smell. When I poured it for the first time, I expected there to be a cloud of dust, but there was none. Literally none. I don't have asthma so there's that, but I am usually pretty sensitive to dust and particles in the air and this didn't bother me at all. When kitty uses the box and digs, nothing permeates the room--dust or smell.\n\nSide note: it's also more of a sand consistency, which surprised me for some reason. The litter I used before had larger granules and was 'chunkier.' I like this better because it's easier/less messy to scoop. The other stuff wasn't messy or hard to scoop per se, but just more so than this is."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': "Arm & Hammer Clump and Seal used to be the only cat litter worth recommending without reservation. It did everything one could want from cat litter and eliminated odors, rather than covering them up.\n\nWhen the price went up a few months ago, the product was changed. Changed for the worse too.\n\nWhat used to have a light refreshing and effective aroma that I only smelled right near the box now has a strong, vile, chemical stench that permeates every corner of the home.\n\nThis stuff is terrible! No redeeming qualities. Manufacturers should learn that when you already have something that does the job well, making changes is more likely to ruin it than make it better.\n\nRemember 'New Coke' and the ghastly failure that was? History repeats itself, except its kitty litter this time"}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This cat litter is extremely efficient at covering up temporary smells, especially urine. You will definitely want to clean your cat’s business daily because damp litter sticking to the cat’s feet should not be ingested when your cat cleans her paws. Now if your cat’s poo stinks it’s probably because of the food she is eating. Cat’s are strictly carnivores and their bodies are not designed to handle vegetables, grains or anything else that isn’t similar to their natural prey. A cat’s intestine is very short and designed to quickly digest meat. But if you are feeding dry or canned cat food full of things other than meat then your cat is going to poo a lot more and it will smell bad because your cat isn’t digesting what it’s body doesn’t need. If you feed your cat just the meat and nutrients it needs then your cat’s body will use most of what it’s eating and your cat will poo only tiny amounts and it won’t stink. CatNutrition.org has resipies for making your own real cat food. Otherwise, you can buy packaged raw cat food or high quality cooked canned cat food at specialty pet stores. Besides the litter box benefits, feeding your cat healthy food will definitely lower the risk of health issues and costly veterinary bills. Some cat’s transition to new healthy food right away while other cats are so addicted to their junk food it may take several months. For finicky cat’s, try putting a little of the new food on the side of your cat’s plate so she will become accustom to this smell with her meals. Overtime, mix more and more of new food with her old food and eventually she will be eating and loving the new healthy food. You will see the difference in her energy level and her coat will be shinny and healthy looking too.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2017', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "This stuff is awesome! I couldn't be happier with a cat litter, and I've tried most of them. If only I had tried this when it first came out. I have been suffering through one lousy cat litter after another, putting up with extreme dustiness, lousy odor control and high tracking. While this new litter still gets tracked, it is a very fine litter and the tracking isn't as bad as some others. The way the formula is, it is easier to sweep up anything that is tracked than any of the other litters I've used. I don't think there is a litter in existence that wouldn't get tracked though, as there is no way to keep it from getting stuck in the cats' paws and falling off after they leave the box. The Clump & Seal cat litter seems to be dust free, reducing my need to dust the house constantly. It is a very soft, fine formula that is super easy to scoop. It's easy for the cats to use. It has superb odor control without excessive perfumes. Once it has been poured into the box, the litter itself is lightweight, sifts extremely easily and little is left behind, if any, when scooping. Urine is completely sealed in balls that are super easy to scoop and not at all messy. It doesn't run down and stick to the bottom of the pan like many other litters do. I'm very impressed with this. Since I have 4 cats, they go through a lot of litter. I usually have to buy 80 lbs at a time. My biggest complaint about this otherwise awesome litter, is how extremely expensive it is. I bought the 40 lb box. I think the Clump & Seal was somewhere between $21.99 and $24 -- something. That makes it hard to afford. I bought another kind of litter, Dr Elsey's, to test simultaneously in a different litter box in another part of the house. It was only about $10.49 for 40 lb. While the cats seem to love Dr. Elsey's, and use it more heavily even than the Clump & Seal, it is heavy, tracks a lot, the grains are large and coarse. It is hard to scoop, and doesn't seal when it clumps, like Clump & Seal. As a result, it sticks to the bottom of the pan, and it is a struggle to scoop it out, as you have to scrape it off the bottom and it sticks really hard. The benefits of Dr. Elsey's that compare to Clump & Seal, are its lack of dust and pretty effective odor control without a lot of perfume. However, even considering the price of the Clump & Seal, the benefits outweigh the expense. Because it is so effective, it wastes very little litter, and it tends to go farther, and last longer. So, I think that it may end up being just as, if not more economical than some of the cheaper brands that get used up so quickly, or have to be thrown out more often due to their ineffectiveness and poor odor control. I will definitely buy this again."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': "They officially ruined this litter. A year ago it smelled good, clumped well - visually it was a silver color so it was easy to see when everything changed... let's discuss said changes bc they are all for the worse.\n\n1) Scent. This has been gradual but officially it is terrible. The silver colored version had a fresh scent and you could have the litter box anywhere and no one could smell it. In transition it would have an ok scent, not as good and the color of the litter got darker, but it still covered the smell. NOW, even darker color and it is NOT MASKING THE SMELLS! This is so so upsetting. I am livid. This is such a terrible change. I don't know if this is bc it's through amazon or a general change but it is TERRIBLE.\n2) clumping: used to clump well, now it sticks everywhere and has a goopyness to it. unfortunate\n\nI cannot stress enough how much of a departure this new litter is from what it used to be. I am now researching other litters bc this is terrible. The litter used to be amazing, I would rave about it. Now it is garbage. Save yourself, don't buy it.\n\nUPDATE: confirmed that if you buy this in a physical store it is like the old version which leads me to believe that amazon is selling garbage product or, even worse, counterfeits. Please just go to a store, save yourselves."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I had been using Dr. Elsey litter for a couple of years but it\'s dusty, comes in a hard to handle 40 pound plastic bag that my cats love to rip open when I\'m not looking and you can NEVER get a deal on it anymore. It\'s 17.49 everywhere - almost like it was price-fixed at the end of 2017 across the board on Amazon, Chewy and Pet Smart.\n\nThis a review for the Arm and Hammer Clump and Seal so I\'ll get on with that but you needed to know what changed my mind to use this product and not Dr. Elsey\n\nPro\n-Very fine consistency, almost like coarse golf course bunker sand. That means it sifts effortlessly which reduces dust because you don\'t have to shake the litter sifter.\n-Comes in a cardboard box with a strap handle, NOT a plastic bag like Dr. Elsey. That makes Clump and Seal easier to transport, store, pour and the packaging is cat proof. I have to leave the Dr. Elsey litter in the Amazon shipping boxes to cat-proof them in my house. If you take the Dr. Elsey litter out of the box, it looks like you\'re storing sand bags and the 40 pound bags are really hard for my wife to handle\n-Clumps well and doesn\'t "epoxy" itself to the bottom of the litter box like Dr. Elsey litter.\n-The "tracking" of the litter by my cats outside the litter box has dropped 75% since I changed from Dr. Elsey litter. The Dr. Elsey litter turns to glue when it gets remotely damp and it sticks to the cats feet, the Arm and Hammer does not hence the great reduction in litter outside the box\n-Cleans up far easier than Dr. Elsey. When it\'s time to change and was wash the litter box, the finer granules of the Arm and Hammer product are easier to remove from the litter box and they don\'t glue to the box when damp like the Dr. Elesy product\n-I can go three weeks between litter box washing. I clean daily (2 cats) and add new litter as needed but the Arm and Hammer product does not smell at all after 2 weeks. That fact makes the Arm and Hammer product cheaper than Dr. Elsey.\n\nCon (not really "cons", more like observations about other customers "cons")\n-Many of the 1 star reviews are about the odor of this litter. It has an odor but it\'s not bad. It\'s better than the smell of cat crap. But if you are odor intolerant, you might not like this product but it doesn\'t bother me\n-Clump and Seal appears pricey. I only buy it when I can get a coupon deal because $24.99 IS pricey. Knock off $2 and add in the fact that you can use less of this product than Dr. Elsey due to the smaller granule size and it\'s about the same price as the now "price-fixed" Dr. Elsey litter.\n\nIn summary, I\'ll continue to use Clump and Seal based on my feature/benefit summary above. Your experience may vary. Happy litter box cleaning.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I've had lots of cats and cat litter brands come through my door in the past. This product makes cleaning the litter box downright bearable and is hands down the best litter I've ever used. Odor control is top notch, it clumps well, and is easy to clean.\n\nI would highly recommend getting a metal scooper if you don't already have one; the plastic ones don't quite cut it."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I have tried just about every brand of litter out there. Some were cheaper and others were more expensive. But none of them did the job. I have an older cat with arthritis and kidney issues. She tries to cover the urine but really never does. She also uses the box about six times a day. This litter covers the odor even when she doesn't cover it with the litter. That is amazing, trust me it's never happened with any other litter..\nIt's not dusty but it does track some. I haven't found a litter that didn't. It is more of a sandy type of litter which seems to track easier, but it clumps better. I use a litter mat and that contains most of it. Also, this doesn't stick like glue to the box, Tidy Cats is the worst for that. The clumps lift out easily.\nNote FYI: This is the Platinum Multi Cat not the regular Multi Cat. And yes I notice a difference. This clumps better and doesn't stick to the box like the regular does. The Platinum is almost impossible to find in stores and the price at Amazon is good, especially the 40 pound size.\nI am an extremely happy cat mommy. It took a few years, literally, but I finally found a litter that I will keep buying."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Let me start this off by saying I only have 1 cat. I have an almost 4 month old kitten and we’ve been using Dr. Elsey’s Ultra Clumping litter since we got her. That litter clumped well but it did not seal in odor. I also noticed that she was not covering her poop so I had to cover it for her. Well I decided to switch litter and just like that she covers her poop! The odor is non existent. With the Dr. Elsey’s we all knew when she does #2 but with this one we NEVER know until we go to scoop her box. It truly seals it all in. It clumps great and all is well in my home. I recommend this for people that have a single cat and can’t find litter that truly seals the smell in!!!!\n\nedit: it is low dust... definitely NOT zero dust'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I've had cats my entire life (I'm in my 50s) and have tried multiple brands of cat litter. As my cat is aging and using the litter to urinate more frequently, the tracking and mess had become too much for comfort. I love my baby but she was tracking cat litter throughout my entire home and I had enough. This brand of cat litter has the least amount of tracking I've ever seen, which it is VERY little. On top of that it has great odor control, clumps and stays hard, and has no dust to speak of. This litter has changed my relationship with my cat's litter pan for the better!!!!!!"}]