Nothing but trouble

In the past, it was almost impossible to find anything other than normal clay litter. While this was fine for many people, for those like myself with allergies, it was a huge nightmare. From pouring the dusty litter into the box to the horrible dust and scent each time the cat would use the litter box, it was impossible for me to breath easily when I was in the same room as a litter box. Clumping clay litter was even worse, due to even smaller particles of litter that made their way into the air. Combined with the horrible strong scents many litter makers used to “cover up” the smell of the nuggets our cats so lovingly left behind, I was entertaining thoughts of becoming a no-cat house even if my significant other took care of the scooping and changes.

When pearl litter first came on the market, I was thrilled. While it was expensive, managed to end up all over the floor throughout the house (due to its shape and size, the cats would often have it stuck in their paws), and didn’t keep odors down very well, I didn’t feel like I would die every time I stepped foot inside the laundry room. I knew that there had to be something better, but until I saw Shweat Scoop at our local pet store, I never knew just how much better it could be.

Shweat Scoop, made by Pet Care Systems, Inc, looked like a miracle. Available in 8lb bags (slightly over $8) or 25lb bags (slightly over $13), this “natural” non-edible wheat based litter was far cheaper than the pearls. Although our pet store did not carry other sizes, I found out later that Swheat Scoop was also available in 13.5lb boxes, as well as 14lb and 40lb bags. It was not scented, promised to have low dust, and clumped for easy scooping. While not an issue for us, it also claimed to be flush-able, although I’d be hesitant to test that feature out.

A miracle?

That night, I eagerly tried out the new litter. Pouring it into the litter box was not a dust free endeavor, although unlike clay litters, I didn’t get the normal asthma attack after. The little balls of wheat were small and while they didn’t feel especially delicate, given that most of the dust was at the bottom of the bag indicating pulverized wheat balls, I figured I’d be slightly more careful tossing the bag around or laying other items on top of it. The fresh wheat scent was enjoyable - so enjoyable that I caught myself leaning closer to the box for a larger sniff.

The true test, however, was not pre-use. While we tried to scoop the box out daily, occasionally we’d forget a day in between scoops. This rarely happened when using the pearl litter because of the smell, but despite being in and out of the laundry room all day, I didn’t even think to scoop the litter out. The scent control was far better than what I’d experienced before with other litters. When I remembered to take care of the litter box the next day, while being thrilled with the odor control, I knew this would not be the best litter in the universe.

We normally used a regular plastic scoop for litter. While far from flimsy, I managed to crack the scoop trying to remove the clumps of Shweat Scoop. The clumps in the center of the litter box weren’t an issue, but the litter stuck to the sides of the box like glue. I managed to finish the job with some difficulty, and promptly went out to buy a metal scoop. The metal scoop worked much better in subsequent scoopings.

To be fair to Pet Care Systems, a little instruction booklet inside the bag of litter indicated that to decrease the chance of litter sticking to the pan, a non-stick cooking spray could be sprayed in the litter pan before the litter was poured in. It also urged keeping at least 3 inches of litter in the box at all times. I just couldn’t imagine bothering with cooking spray and while there were more than 3 inches of litter in the box, I often couldn’t remember to check the box many times a day to scoop the litter back evenly from the previous use.

Ultimately, I ended up getting 99.8% of the stuck-on litter with the metal scoop, which was good enough for us. During the complete litter changes every two weeks, it was easy to let warm water sit in the litter pan for a few minutes, which loosened up any still-stuck litter, making the changes totally painless. Because the litter was safe to go down the drain, I also didn’t worry about scooping out the little bits of litter that ended up in the bathtub.

Not all roses...

Litter tracking is likely the most annoying issue of cat owners with no allergy problems. While the small size of the wheat balls in Shweat Scoop meant that none was caught in paws to be dropped at various spots throughout the house, it was light enough that our cats would often kick the litter out of the box hood, reaching beyond the mat directly in front of the box. If I wasn’t able to sweep or vacuum up the litter each day, it would get kicked around and then stuck on our feet or socks, to be spread across the house.

The most annoying “problem” I experienced with Shweat Scoop dealt with the dust issue - because the wheat balls were somewhat delicate, while I could deal with tossing out the dust at the bottom of the bag, I found that quite a bit of litter ended up be wasted because the litter would also turn to dust the more it was used in the litter pan. Because the dust didn’t bother my allergies like other litters, I thought that a bit of the litter turning to dust in the box wouldn’t be an issue.

Dust, however, became a very loud issue one evening. I had just finished scooping the litter and went back into the den to enjoy the rest of the evening. Less than a minute later, the smoke alarm in the laundry room began to go off. Shweat Scoop had became so dusty that the particles in the air were enough to set off the smoke alarm. After some cursing and frantic searching for the broom handle too reset the alarm, I assumed the excitement was over with. How wrong I was.

A few minutes after the alarm was reset, it was set off again. This time, we opened up the windows and swung the broom around the alarm in the hopes that the particles would magically stay away from the alarm. The third time, we gave up and took the batteries out of the alarm. Needless to say, I ended up throwing away the whole pan of perfect, non-smelly litter.

Unfortunately, in order to keep the “recommended” 3 inches of litter in the pan, and yet not allow the good litter to be used enough to break down into dust, we found that quite a bit of litter was being thrown away. Thankfully the price of Shweat Scoop was low enough that I didn’t have a heart attack each time we wasted quite a bit of litter.

Happy kitties

While it wasn’t a total love-fest with the Shweat Scoop litter, the positives outweighed the negatives. The kitties had no problem with the new litter and best of all, my allergies and asthma had no problems. Eventually I’ll begin a new search for something better, but for now, Pet Care Systems’ Shweat Scoop is good enough.

Recommended:
Yes