If you are reading this blog, you likely have some knowledge about Next Gen Pet’s wood based cat litters. There are many benefits of our cat litter, but one negative of being a lightweight, light colored cat litter is tracking. Curious about what you can do to keep your cat litter in your cat’s litter box? Here’s some tips we’ve gathered over the years.

Next Gen Pet cat litters are lightweight and super absorbent, but have you ever wondered why or how? 

Let’s talk about weight first. We’ve done some math for a previous post (19lbs of Clay Litter in a 5-6lbs Bag) and based on self advertised guarantees from clay litter brands, we’ve calculated that a box of clay litter is equivalent to a 6 pound bag of our Fresh cat litters making us ~90% lighter than the clay equivalent.

Absorbency-wise, wood is more porous than clay but our proprietary manufacturing process has developed our product to maximize surface area, making our litters super absorbent. While this increased surface area is awesome for absorbency, it can make our litter cling to your cat’s paws when they try to leave the litter box. 

What can you do? One of the easiest ways to cut tracking down significantly is to put a shag style throw mat in front of your litter box. You’ll want one that is large enough so your cat can’t jump over it, but the longer pile of a shag carpet helps to trap the extra litter on your cat’s paws before they get to your carpet or couch. The best part is it’s easy enough to shake the trapped litter back into the box once in a while.

Another relatively easy way to prevent tracking is to carefully trim the fur on your cat’s paws. We had two fluffy, long haired kitties with very long and impressive toe fur. Fortunately our kitties weren’t opposed to a little trim now and then while they were relaxing and that helps keep the litter in the box.

There are other products developed to try to keep litter in your litter box including top entry boxes, trimming your cat’s nails, etc. but these are the easiest options we’ve personally had the most success with the least amount of stress. Tracking can be an annoying, ongoing issue but with a couple of small changes it can be something relatively manageable.