If I wax poetic about how my cat litter smells like Christmas, would you think I was nuts? I have a very sensitive nose, and with two feline beasties I am forever battling that Two Cat House Smell. I can’t stand the heavy perfumes in most litters, and my cats have let me know in their own catty ways that they hate it too. And I don’t like the idea of using strip-mined clay litter [1] from China that goes right into the landfill. So I am always trying something new – wheat litter [2], orange peel litter [3], newspaper litter [4]. I am usually left sadly disappointed; scoop in hand, sticky, stinky mess in litter box.

Frustrated and embarrassed as a 1950’s housewife, I turned to the internet, googled “best cat litter odor control” and found something I hadn’t seen before. Odor Lockers [5] cat litter – The Ultimate In Odor Control, Flushable and Earth Friendly too. I wrote to the company to find out where it is sold, and found it in the local megasupermarket. Hopeful, but prepared for disappointment, I poured the litter into my cats’ freshly scrubbed box and was immediately impressed. Where other litters send up plumes of dust, Odor Lockers was almost dust-free. I never believe any litter’s claims of no-tracking, and Odor Lockers doesn’t make this promise. In fact, on the curiously witty website [6] it states that “Honestly, there is no litter in the world that doesn't track. It's just a fact of cat-owning life. The reason that Odor Lockers® is better than other litters when it comes to tracking is that our EcoGranules™ are bigger so they don't spread around as easily or as far, and they're far easier to vacuum up. Other litter, especially those new silica gels, crystals and pearls, track like crazy.” You said it, witty website writer!

Now let’s talk about EcoGranules [7]. That’s what sets Odor Lockers apart from other litters. The small, rounded pellet is made from wood waste. Industrial wood pallets and wood dust from the furniture industry are usually deposited into landfills, taking up millions of tons of space [8]. Using this waste wood at its core, EcoGranules are coated with deodorizers, antimicrobials and a “natural mineral coating” (read “clay”) to create a litter that absorbs cat urine and really locks in odors. The website assures that Odor Lockers is manufactured through environmentally responsible methods. The clay is white bentonite, quarry mined in Wyoming. The clay component isn’t ideal, but weighing the cost of clay mining against dwindling landfill space, the advantages of recycling wood waste and creating jobs in the US, and the superior effectiveness, I feel like it’s a decent alternative to imported clay or ineffective recycled corn cobs.

Odor Lockers is flushable, keeping the product completely out of the garbage cycle. The manufacturer recommends flushing just two clumps at a time, but I’m a rebel. Plus, with two cats that would take me a considerable amount of time and water. You should experiment, and know your plumbing before you go clogging up your pipes with too many clumps. My powerful pipes allow me to divide one day’s waste into two flushes, waiting a few minutes for each batch to break down before flushing.

So, the real test – how does it work for Pee Wee and El Gato Secreto, International Spy? These six-year-old boy cats are tough on litter. They dig, bury, scratch, reorganize, redecorate and, when their business is finally done, shoot out of the litter box like a cat out of H-E-double toothpicks [9], trailing litter all over the house. But the truth is, Odor Lockers does track less, and though some dust is kicked up when scooping I don’t feel like I should be grabbing for the dust mask. I also don’t have to hold my nose. Odor Lockers really does absorb the cat pee smell. My cats turn their tails at heavily perfumed litters, but had no problem with this. The light scent smells a little like pine, from the recycled wood, and a little bit like Avon Bayberry Christmas candle [10] scent of my youth. Evocativeness is not a requirement of my cat litter, but it’s kind of nice to reflect on holidays past when doing a decidedly dirty job.

Odor Lockers

Cost: 10 lb box or Easy-Carry bag $10.99 (you’ll need two bags for a large litter box, but it will last a long time)

Where to Buy: Supermarkets