Fresh Step Extreme Lightweight Scented Cat Litter Review
15.4, 20.8, 23.4, and 25.8-pound boxes
Clay composition
Premium-price
Pros:
Relatively lightweight
Cons:
Extremely weak clumps that fall apart
Powerful artificial perfume scent
Struggles to retain cat odors
Extremely messy
Very expensive
Fresh Step Extreme Lightweight Scented Cat Litter Review
Last Updated by Brandon F. on May 18, 2020
Advertised Product Description
Fresh Step Extreme Lightweight Scented cat litter is Fresh’s steps attempt at a lightweight litter for odor elimination. It is 30% lighter than the average clay litter while being advertised as having stronger odor control vs. its competition. It contains activated carbon traps that help to eliminate cat waste odors as well as antimicrobial agents that help to inhibit the growth of bacterial odors. It is available in 15.4, 20.8, 23.4, and 25.8-pound boxes.
Who This Cat Litter is Intended For
This cat litter is targeted towards people and cats who enjoy the unique benefits of traditional clay cat litters such as clumping ability but want to avoid the extremely heavy and bulky attributes of them. It is typically meant for a single-cat household or households having multiple litter boxes so that the traffic isn’t as high. It is also directed towards people who are willing to spend a high price tag if they find a product that works for them as the asking price of this product can be quite high.
What Makes This Cat Litter Unique
This product is unique because it tries to combine two things that normally don’t go together: clay and lightweight. In doing so, Fresh Step is confident that they don’t stray too far away from the expected benefits of most heavy clay litters such as adequate clumping, good odor control, etc. However, this unique approach does come at a pretty high asking price.
Clumping Ability –
This product does not do a good job of clumping. The clumps that do form are extremely weak and fall apart with even the slightest movement, and oftentimes without any movement at all. The aftermath is a thick paste that sticks to the litter box and to your cat’s paws and even hair.
It is apparent that in trying to make this product as lightweight as possible it gave up a lot of the traditional clumping ability that is present in clay litters. We highly recommend avoiding using this product in a high-traffic litter box as the higher amount of cat waste simply overwhelms the clay granules quite quickly.
Scent –
There is a thick perfume scent that seems to linger everywhere this litter comes close to. The worst part is that when this stuff sticks to your cat (which it will) it then makes your cat smell of overpowered cheap perfume! Also, it only does an average, at best, job of locking in the feces and urine odor and when the clumps fall apart that pro goes out the window as well.
Messiness –
Cleanup with this litter is very frustrating. The clumps don’t stay hard so when you try to clean them they will simply fall apart and make it that much more difficult. The litter turns into a thick paste that sticks like concrete and you will find yourself scraping it off the sides of your litter box. Your cat will also track a lot of this gunk out with it when it leaves the box because it is so lightweight.
Finally, the dust for this product is pretty significant. Any time you add litter or try to clean it expect dust clouds to form and get everywhere and these dust clouds are as pungent as the actual litter.
Value –
Buy on Amazon $14.99 and save 14%
This litter will run typically in the premium-price area online. This makes it among the most expensive clay litters you will find which is definitely not a good thing.
Overall Rating –
An expensive option that fails in just about every area. Your cat, your patience, and your pocketbook will thank you if you go with one of the many better options that can be had for the price. We do appreciate the attempt at making a lightweight clay litter that still clumps but unfortunately there are too many marks that were missed here.