Scoop Away Cat Litter
by Hamlet
Scoop Away cat liter is a premium brand scoopable (clumping) litter produced by the Clorox Corporation. Scoop Away comes in 3 flavours: Clean Fresh Scent, Clean Unscented and Clean Multi-Cat Formula. We have used the Fresh Scent and Multi-Cat Formulas and the review is geared to them.
Our human friend says that the litter instructions claim that the litter only needs to be replaced every 3 or 4 weeks. We do not agree. We find that after 2 weeks the box needs to be cleaned and the litter fully replaced. It is nearly impossible to remove every single breakaway piece in the litter and after 2 weeks the litter usually smells a bit rancid. There seems to be little difference between the Fresh Scent and Multi-Cat formulas except in the strength of the scent in the litter. Both seem to lose their odor killing abilities after the 8-14 day mark. Our human friend finds that if he adds Arm and Hammer Cat Litter Deodorizer to the pan when first filling it and then mixes in a little every time he adds more litter that the odor control is greatly enhanced. A few times he added too much and we really did not care for the strong scent the box had, but we told him to lower the litter deodorizer level and we found the perfect mixture. If you have feline friends who have acidic smelling urine (Itchy does because of the Hill's Prescription C/D food he eats) will find that Scoop Away requires the help of a deodorizer to cope with the smell. It seems to handle general odors well, but there are a few that it just lacks the ability to deal with well.
Scoop Away does clump well generally. There have been a few times our human friend tried to scoop up large clumps and they break into a lot of small pieces or they stick to the pan bottom and must be scrapped out. Over all it handles well, and in the Litter Maid it seemed to handle the best of all the Scoopable brands we tried.
As far as how dusty the litter is, virtually every clay or clay based litter will have dust. That is just the nature of clay. Depending on how the manufacturer makes it and how large the chunks are factor into how much dust they will produce. On a trip to the store for food last week, our human friend saw that the 14lb boxes of Scoop Away had a sticker on them that claimed "New and Improved, now VIRTUALLY dust free". So of course he bought a box to see how they changed the litter. I watched him open the box and poor a good amount into the litter box that Leo and I use, and found it quite amusing as he was over taken by a good sized cloud of dust that lifted skyward. I think it is best if he tells the story of the "virtually dust free" litter, so here he is:
Hi all. When the dust cloud hit me and caused a coughing fit I decided to call the manufacturer and question the use of the new claim. I was told on the phone that they made the clay pieces larger which cuts the dust down greatly. I told them it was not "virtually dust free" but "virtually dusty". The humor of this claim escaped the service representative. She then told me that once the boxes leave the factory in the trucks that often the litter breaks and causes dust. I pointed out that the end result is what the consumers sees, not the preeshipped item. If transporting it makes the product dusty then no dust-free claims should be made. I likened it to Coke producing it's product chilled and then claiming "Virtually Cold" on each can, even the ones in the warm market aisles. She took note of my complaint saying it is a marketing decision and she would pass the info on. Then she sent me a coupon good for a free box of Scoop Away vurtually Dust Free.
Over all we like Scoop Away. We do not mind the scent it has or the feel/size of the clay chunks. Our human friend says that the cost is acceptable IF you purchase the 40lb tubs ($10.99 at our local pet store vs. $8.99 for the 20lb box at the grocery store).