Cats. Carbon. Contentment. ♥
Written: Jul 22 '06 (Updated Jul 22 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clumps quite well, great odor-controlling ability, box is recyclable.
Cons: Non-flushable, strongly perfumed, billowing dust!
The Bottom Line: Great odor control & clumping ability makes me highly recommend this. However, those with allergies or respiratory issues should consider the dust and strong scent before purchasing.
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| pinkants's Full Review: Fresh Step Scoopable Litter with Odor Eliminating ... |
Speckles, my cutie cat who adopted me several months ago, is my very first cat. As such, I had no clue about litters and started out with the all-natural paper stuff. I liked the idea of using recycled newspapers that were flushable and biodegradable. What I didn't like, however, was the overwhelming smell of ammonia, as well as the mess! I finally decided that I had to try something different--I chose Fresh Step Scoopable Litter with Odor-Eliminating Carbon.
What is This Stuff?
Fresh Step Scoopable Litter with Odor-Eliminating Carbon is a scoopable, clumping cat litter that is 99.9% dust-free. What makes it different is that it contains activated carbon to control odors.
Activated carbon already has several household uses, such as air filtration and water purification (e.g., for water filters and aquarium filters). I found it quite clever to extend activated carbon's uses to the litter box as well.
Activated carbon is produced primarily by treating carbon-based (i.e., organic) materials such as charcoal, wood, peat, etc., with a steam activation (although in some instances, a chemical activation may be used). The result is a very porous material with an extremely large surface area. These microscopic pores are where adsorption takes place; adsorption is the process in which contaminants accumulate on the surface of an adsorbent (in this case, the activated carbon) due to attractive forces exerted by molecules. With its high surface area, activated carbon provides many sites for adsorption to occur.
Not surprisingly, with so many places for contaminants (adsorbates) to be collected, Fresh Step Scoopable Litter should provide great odor-controlling properties. Please note, though, activated carbon would only control odors that are organic-based (and since we're talking about cats, we're okay). Activated carbon is not very effective in adsorbing inorganic materials, such as sodium, iodine, etc.
Packaging
Fresh Step Scoopable Litter with Odor-Eliminating Carbon comes in a rectangular paperboard box with a sturdy plastic handle on top. The box is only made up of a minimum of 35% post-consumer recycled material; I feel that they should be able to do better than that. Fortunately, the box is recyclable.
There are four sizes available: 7 pounds, 14 pounds, 21 pounds, and 28 pounds.
Usage
I have both the 14-pound and the 28-pound box. You use it by punching in a tab on the side of the box and then pouring it into the the litter box. Well, let me tell you, 28-pounds is HEAVY! It was quite unwieldy, too, and I had a difficult time controlling the flow of litter into the box (I admit, a lot of it ended up on the floor). If you're going to buy the 28-pound box (which a better deal price-wise), be prepared to flex your muscles! The 14-pound box is much more manageable.
This litter is to be poured into a clean litter box, without mixing this litter with other litters. Clumps and solids should be removed daily, and a level of litter of three to four inches should be maintained. The entire contents of the litter box should be discarded once a month and refilled with fresh litter.
Scent and Dust
Once I was able to steadily pour the litter into the box (and not onto the floor), I noticed a huge plume of dust rising. And I mean huge! I immediately had to put the box down and leave the room as the dust was choking me. When the dust settled, I cautiously tried filling the litter box again. This time, I tried to pour it as close to the box as possible (previously, it was from a height of about three feet). That helped, but there was still dust. In fact, even if I just use my scoop to smooth the litter, dust billows up! I am hoping this is dust and not toxic chemicals as this stuff is purportedly 99.9% dust-free!
In addition, the cloying scent was quite overpowering and tenacious! You can't miss the smell--once you pick up the box, you can smell it. Furthermore, once you touch one little granule of litter, the scent stays on your hand all day! Even after I washed my hands, I could still smell the litter on my hands!
Those with allergies or respiratory issues should take notice and probably have someone else change the litter box.
Clumping and Odor Control
Okay, so the scent and dust are two negative properties of the litter. However, I do have to say that this stuff is great at clumping and controlling odors!
With my former litter, I would have to hold my breath when changing the litter box. The smell of ammonia used to bowl me over every time I even approached the litter box. Moreoever, I would also have to change the entire box as all of the litter would be soiled.
Now, with Fresh Step Scoopable Litter with Odor-Eliminating Carbon, I can actually breathe! This stuff really controls odors, both solid and liquid! I don't even care that the obnoxious "fresh" scent is there. I don't have to breathe in ammonia or the smell of fecal matter! Yay!
I also really like the clumps--nice, hard clumps that can be scooped up and thrown away. The rest of the litter stays fresh, so there is no need to change the entire litter box every time. This makes it very easy to maintain a fresh litter box. Unfortunately, the litter is NOT flushable, so the clumps have to stay in my rubbish bin.
I noticed that the clumps form when any liquid touches it. For example, I wanted to wash my scoop which had some fresh litter on it. Once water touched the litter, it immediately clumped and even sort of bonded to the scoop! In my opinion, this clumping ability in the presence of moisture makes it easier to scoop up solid waste as well.
Tracking
Not much to say here. It tracks more than my old paper litter, but it's minimal. No complaints.
In Summary...
Okay, so here's what I don't like:
° Non-flushable
° Lots of dust!
° Strong scent
° Box is only a minimum of 35% recycled material
° Some tracking (but it really is quite minimal)
Here's what I do like:
° Excellent odor control
° Great clumping ability
° Recyclable box
At first glance, it appears that the cons outweigh the pros. However, after assigning importance (i.e., weight) to each feature, I have to say that the pros most certainly outweigh the cons, as the odor-control and clumping abilities are far more important to me. It makes it so much easier and more pleasant to clean and maintain a fresh litter box. I certainly recommend this!
Speckles are I are quite happy with Fresh Step Scoopable Litter with Odor-Eliminating Carbon. Ahh...so this is contentment with cat litter...
Note: I received the 14-lb box gratis from Fleishman-Hillard in exchange for my unbiased opinion; I purchased the 28-lb box on sale from Tar-jay.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
pinkants
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Member: Pink Ants
Location: ANTarctica
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 40 members
About Me:
i'm a homeowner--yay! boston property taxes--boo!
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