Product Review: Feline Pine Original and Scoop

Feline Pine is a biodegradable litter made from all-natural Southern Yellow Pine. Most other litters are made from clay, which is a non-renewable resource that is not biodegradable. According to the website, the pine neutralizes the ammonia in urine, so the litter doesn't contain perfumes or other chemicals to mask the odor. If you're looking to be environmentally friendly, Feline Pine is a good choice. It comes in two types: original pellet form, and clumping form. Both have some downsides, however.

Feline Pine Original: This version comes in large pine pellets. I found 20-lbs bags for $10-$15 and 40-lbs bags for $18-$20. The pellets dissolve when wet and become sawdust. The benefit of this is that you only have to scoop the solid waste each day, and it's flushable. It's also easy to tell when the box needs a full change. And since you only need one inch of litter in the box, each bag lasts a long time. The pine scent is refreshing and controls the odor of urine very well. Finally, the original version is generally dust-free and there's less of a problem with tracking sawdust than with the Scoop version.

The size of the pellets, however, is a major disadvantage to this litter. First, it is necessary to use a scooper with larger holes than most (I got one for free through their Pine Perks program). Another problem was my cat refused to cover her poop, so I had to scoop it right away if I wanted to avoid the smell. She didn't like the feel of the pellets under her feet and eventually started to go outside of her box. Time for a change!

Feline Pine Scoop: The scooping version is made of clumping sawdust, more like traditional litters. A 4-lb box was from $4-$6. They also offer a 10-lbs box, but I couldn't find that size in my local grocery or pet stores. Again, the pine smell is great at covering up odors, especially since my cat was willing to bury her poop with this version. The litter is fine grained, so it's soft and easy to scoop with a normal scooper. There's generally little dust.

The biggest disadvantage was that the litter didn't clump very well. The clumps often fell apart and I had to sift multiple times to make sure I had everything. Another problem was the litter ended up in a ring all around the box from my cat's scratching and was tracked all over the house. Finally, since they recommend the litter be 3 inches deep in the litter box, it doesn't last very long. I went through two boxes in a month before deciding that wasn't a good value.

Conclusion: If being environmentally friendly is important to you, or if you like the smell of pine, give Feline Pine a try. But my cat didn't like the original and I didn't like the clumping version, so Feline Pine was not the choice for us.