Kitty Litter - odor and tracking

Question
Hello! We use Tidy Cat scoop with Crystals and found there was NO ODOR in the room we keep the litter boxes in. Unforutnately, my declawed in the front cats are tracking the litter all over the house. In fact, one of my cats actually tries to wash his paws in his water bowl. They also "claw" at the nearest piece of furniture after they use the litterbox. I tried Tidy Cat Scoop without Crystals as well. I put an indoor/outdoor run in front of the litter box, but that did not help either. We could switch to a non-clumping if those are better for tracking as long as they are good on odor too. Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Andrea,

The litter Welcome Matt works well to reduce tracking:

http://www.litterwelcomemat.com

I don't like the crystal cat litters because they can be toxic if ingested and create a coating on the cat's paws they don't like. I myself prefer World's Best Cat Litter for odor control, soft on the cat's paws, natural and flushable and low tracking:

http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com

As for the clawing, scratching is a natural behavior for cats, it stretches muscles and tendons, removes dead claw material, and distributes scent from the glands on the cats' paws. Since you cats are de-clawed they can't really scratch but they will still want to try. You can provide them with a corrogated cardboard scratching box and they will use and enjoy this.

For the future, if you end up getting another cat, please consider NOT declawing your cat. Here are some facts about declawing you may not be aware of:

http://www.declawing.com
http://www.cfa.org/health/declawing.html
http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/antideclaw.pdf

Instead, provide a sturdy sisal scratching post and if there is a problem with furniture destruction, use Soft Paws nail caps.