Saturday, September 14, 2013

A Mr. Cheddar Review: Arm & Hammer Ultra Last Clumping Litter



Mr. Cheddar here!
 
Yes, I'm finally back to blogging.
 
It's been a long, hot summer here in BC and I just didn't have the time or energy to post any reviews.

Spent most of my time wowing the gals (feline and human) at the lakefront with my purrfect feline physique.

Those bikini-clad vixens were "putty in my paws" I'll tell you!
 
I really must get Meowmie to post a photo of me in my furry "au naturale" swim trunks!
 
Now that's a treat you won't want to miss! ;<)
 
 
 I'll be discussing a rather indelicate topic today but I promise to make it entertaining from start to finish. And as you can see from the caption in the photo above, I certainly have NOT lost my talent for turning a humorous phrase, during my long blog hiatus.
 
 If anything, I think I'm even more scintillating and witty now, if that's possible? Snort!



 
 
Anyhoo....on to the topic at paw.
 
Getting down to the basics, the nitty-gritty, the down and dirty...
 
We've all "got to go" and when I do, I want my litter to be the real deal.
 
Plain and simple: NO... perfumes, additives, weird shiny pellets, chips from the forest or corn from the fields.
 
In a word, I want CLAY litter, straight up, or flat down...depending on how you look at it.
 
***
 
To backtrack a bit, Meowmie and Pawmie were in a conundrum a while back, on a trip to the mall. That happens a lot with those two, but I won't go into further details right now. I do have a rather extensive shopping list prepared for them, still awaiting approval; so no time like the present to stay in their "good books".
 
So staying on topic and back to that particular conundrum.
 
Lo and behold, litter was on the shopping list that day and the situation here at home was:
 
CODE BROWN!!!
 
 No litter at all.
 
Danger, danger!!!
 
Bells ringing, lights flashing, fire department on the way...you get the picture.
 
The humans were in deep "do-do" for not keeping the litter supply up to acceptable levels and they knew it!!!
 
 
But after trying to purchase my usual fav choice for toilette duties, none of the "plain jane" brands/types of litter I prefer, could be found. Not a one!
 
We live in a rather small city and running out of even the basics at several stores is not that uncommon.
 
What to do, what to do!
 
Without my expert input close at paw, the humans were all but lost. :<(
 
They commiserated on the problem at hand (probably for hours!)  and finally picked up a box of: Arm & Hammer Ultra Last Clumping Cat Litter as the best of the choice they did have that day.
 
On the plus side:
 
It wasn't highly scented, which is a big pet peeve in my books.
 
Cats don't like perfumes and strong chemical scents.
 
When people buy scented, chemically-laden cat litter and expect their felines to be happy about their rather misguided choices in that respect...well it's just another example of why we felines DO rule the world when it comes to be intellectually superior!!! I mean this one is definitely a "no brainer".
 
Next plus, the litter did stay fresher longer than some of the other brands I've tried.
 
It also had an OK texture, not too fine or dusty but with no heavy, gravelly bits either.
 
Now for the negatives:
 
There was no ingredient list on the box and this is a big no-no in my books. We felines want to know what we are using, when it comes to all the products we require, including cat litter.
 
Next, when I had a longer than usual PEE!!! There, I've said it, the P word, snort...
 
...the litter did clump up but also gave off a rather weird, unpleasant smell. Kind of like a watermelon that's been left out in a damp basement for a month or two. Not pleasant, for felines or humans either. With other plain ol' basic types of cat litter, this doesn't happen.
 
Soooo, bottom line (no pun intended. OK yes pun intended).
 
Will we be buying this brand of cat litter again?
 
Not likely. It was better than nothing, in a crunch but definitely not my first or second or third...choice.
 
My paw is half-way down on this one.
 
and Meowmie says:
 
Overall rating for this product: Fair: 2 out of 5.
 
 
 
 

20 comments:

  1. Gosh he's gorgeous ah !!! I buy Purina Maxx Scoop clumping cat box filler multi-cat formula it does say it's granular with OdourBock saying it neutralize odour but that's not the reason I bought, I bought because it's 99% DUST FREE and since then Sam Sam has been better, no longer swallows constantly and had stopped pushing air out of her nose for long periods of time, which worried me, she's much better the ingredients: natural clay blend with deodorizing system oh well can't heave everything...lol but thanks very much handsome

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    1. Mr. Cheddar has used the Purina Maxx too, again when nothing else was available here that he did prefer. It's like living at the Arctic Circle sometimes, not Interior BC. :<( Natural is the only way to go. It's so sad when people try to force their own scent preferences on their cats, as is the case with heavily scented cat litter. If a litter box is kept fresh and tidied up, it won't smell. The scent is just a mask for being lazy!!!

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  2. nice...our cat goes outside so i guess he is au natural....haha...so we have not had to buy litter in forever...but i bet this would be good as we use arm & hammer baking soda

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    1. You missed a bit at the end Brian, Mr. Cheddar is not actually recommending this brand. He's recommending the natural clay kind with NO additives or questionable ingredients. But if your kitty goes outside, he already is au natural in the toilette dept. ! ;<) What's your kitty's name? Perhaps an appearance on your blog in the future? Mr. Cheddar says.. Please Mr. Brian!!!

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  3. Mr. Cheddar, another purrfect review...I'm not sure whether I should be blushing, or laughing at some of your indelicate faux - paws...lol.

    Great to hear another review on litter, Bootsie is rather particular, and we have only been in the litterbox market for the length of time that we have lived up here. He was a indoor/outdoor kitty before, and refused to use the litterbox. We were using a very expensive litter, and it was wonderful, but it was getting hard to find up here, and it was pricey...

    So A%H is off of my list, thanks for letting us know to avoid it. Any other recommendations? We dislike any added ingredients, or perfumes too.

    And Muddy Boot Dreams has moved to a new place, if you could update your links to www.muddybootdreams.com that would be great.

    Jen

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    Replies
    1. Oh Jen, the faux paws indeed. Mr. Cheddar is definitely a straight shooter when it comes to telling it like it is! We are both glad you enjoyed this latest review and DO share with Boo when you can.

      As far as recommendations, as said above, the plainer the better. Clay- regular or clumping litter with NO additives.

      I'm starting to note some concerns about the clumping kind too so we'll be checking into this but as far as anything added to the clay, it's a big NO, and no brainer, as far as the Chedster and I are concerned.

      Thanks for the heads up about your blog. Glad that got sorted out! :<)

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  4. I've been using Purina's Yesterdays News for years. No perfumes, no clumping but made from recycled newspaper, Super absorbent and cleans up beautifully! No poo stuck to the box, no pools of pee at the bottom. I'd never use clay litter again. It's a bit expensive at 14 dollars for a 26 pound bag but it lasts me 5 weeks. That's with 2 cats using it and there never seems to be any odor. I love it and highly recommend it and so do my ladies!

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  5. Ms. Maggie, Thank you for the suggestion re: Yesterday's News. I've never seen it locally but I'm not surprised by that. (see shopping ref. above about availability in our small city)

    Will see about getting a bag to sample soon (I'll get the bag and Mr. Cheddar will try it LOL) ;<)

    How are the girls doing? Hope you're still all enjoying your new digs.

    Happy Weekend, from me and the Chedster!

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  6. Excellent review Mr. Cheddar. You sure know your cat litter. And yes, we were in a conundrum that day, without your expert input. Hopefully another litter crisis won't happen any time soon, again.

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    1. He certainly does. Cheddie shoots from the hip, that's for sure. He's the real deal. :>)

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  7. You know I was so impressed with the litter and the fact that it's a green product so I wrote them a nice email telling them so. They were so happy to get feed back they sent me 8 dollars in coupons! You don't see that every day. Walmart carries it. I don't know if you have a wally world near you but they do have it. I'd ship you a bag but goodness it would cost the earth to send that weight by Canada post! lol

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    Replies
    1. Hi Maggie, We do have a Walmart here but limited inventory. I have written to the company so probably won't be a problem getting a sample for Ched to "try out". Nice they sent you some coupons, that's good customer service and as it should be, for faithful customers like you! :<)

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  8. Also one cat smell and three cat smells is a horse of a different colour entirely, personally I don't like perfume, all I care about is that it's dust free..so share what should I use that's natural that's 99% dust free and has no perfume if you are aware of such a thing please do let me know

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  9. I had 4 cats for many, many years and an very clean and odour free house. One of the first comments I would get when people visited for the first time was "you have 4 cats, there's no smell in here" . It came down to keep all the cat boxes tidy and up to date at all times and changing the litter completely, including washing out the pans thoroughly, once a week.

    Ched likes simple, clay, clumping or regular cat litter. The brand is not something he seems to care about, mainly get just the generic store brands from Safeway, Save On or Shoppers.

    Adding a strong, perfumey scent to the mix as so many people unfortunately do, is not necessary and is so unnatural in terms of what cats are attracted to. When they are outdoor cats, they scratch out a spot in the dirt or sand. The least we can try to do for indoor cats is to try to make the experience as close to natural as possible.

    I am going to check out Maggie's suggestion for the newspaper pellets though. This might be a viable alternative IF the Chedster likes it!

    Hope this helps L!

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  10. It does, thank you, unfortunately Sammi with her virus has diarrhea so I basically change it every day or so an clean it constantly I'll talk to my Vet see what she can suggest

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  11. I remember those days. It sounds like life has improved for cat owners since I was there.

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  12. Actually I've changed it to my previous Saulnier which didn't really have any kind of perfume except something very light (apparently baby powder whatever it still smells bad) and found out 3 things, one they are now 99% dust free, are sponsors of a Cat Care Centre, and they are great. They were always my favourites. Plus I've had some luck ok you are going to think it's ridiculous but it's not because it's a start first finding my favourite cat litter with 99% dust free, and two (that's the hilarious part) I had bought a lottery ticket I never do, but when mine went through it sang so he said you won something, ok this is ridiculous, but I won, 20 cents. 20 cents...how can that possibly be? I mean 2.00 or 20.00 but since, well I really that i had to first learn to be patient... so a great lesson in luck, but 20 cents is that even legal lol

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  13. oh and for your info I'm only keeping one blog:
    http://photosandstuffl.blogspot.ca/ it doesn't limit me to just one of a kind photo

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  14. oops I called her Sammi I mean Sam Sam plus they lied the smell of perfume is heavy and it is not 99% free of dust, so I'll keep on looking...

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  15. oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! they completely lied it's smell too perfumey and it's dusty when I pour it in, liars , liars, pants on fire

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