The Geohellas Cat Leader Outdoor Living Classic Cat Litter is the absorbent litter in the Cat Leader range rather than a clumping one - heat-treated clay built to hold up in a covered outdoor or utility tray, where a clumping litter turns to paste.

Key Features

• 5kg bag
• Classic absorbent litter - the bag says Classic Cat Litter, not Clumping, and that is the distinction that matters here
• Specially heat treated, which is what hardens the granule against damp air
• Geohellas rate it as lasting twice as long as a standard litter, even outdoors
• Pinewood aroma with the extreme odour control formula
• Attapulgite clay - naturally absorbent, lightweight for its volume, and the mineral Geohellas are best known for

Absorbent Versus Clumping

• An absorbent litter soaks urine into the granule and lets it evaporate. There is no clump to lift out, so you scoop the solids, stir, and change the whole tray on a schedule
• That is a drawback indoors and an advantage in a damp or exposed tray, where a clumping litter sets into a solid block the first time it rains or the humidity spikes
• If you want to lift wet clumps out daily, this is not the bag. Take the Ultra Compact, the 2X Odour Attack or the Black & White
• Change the whole tray roughly weekly for one cat, sooner if it stops drying out between uses

Where This One Earns Its Place

• A covered tray on a balcony, in a garage, in a utility room or in a cattery run
• Any tray that gets damp air, which in this climate is most of them for half the year
• Households with an indoor-outdoor cat who uses a tray near the door
• Heat treatment is the reason it copes - it drives moisture out of the clay and hardens the granule, so it does not slump the moment the air gets humid

Getting The Litter Box Right

• One box per cat plus one spare is the standard advice, and it genuinely reduces the odds of a cat going elsewhere
• Put boxes somewhere quiet with an escape route, away from food and water bowls and away from the washing machine
• A box should be about one and a half times the length of the cat. Most shop-bought boxes are too small for an adult cat
• Scoop at least once a day. More litter does not substitute for scooping, and a cat that finds the box unpleasant will find somewhere else

Changing A Cat Over To A New Litter

• Do not swap the whole box in one go. Cats form strong preferences about what they stand on, and the usual result of a sudden change is a puddle on the rug
• Mix about a quarter of the new litter into the old, then increase it over a week or two
• If you have more than one box, convert one at a time and let the cat choose
• Going outside the box after a litter change is information, not defiance. Go back a step

Which Cat Leader Litter To Buy

• Ultra Compact - the standard clumping litter, unscented or baby powder, in 5kg and 10kg. The default and the cheapest
• 2X Odour Attack - the same clumping base plus the double odour control formula and a fresh scent. The one for a multi-cat house
• Black & White - the premium clumping bag, with an extra strong clump and lotus flower scent
• Outdoor Living Classic - absorbent rather than clumping, heat treated, for covered outdoor and utility trays
• Crystal - silica gel, non-clumping, lightest to carry and longest lasting per bag
• Tofu - plant fibre, clumping, flushable and the lightest of the lot

Who Makes It

• Geohellas S.A. is a Greek technical clays company based in Athens, sitting on one of the largest attapulgite and bentonite deposits in Europe and processing over a hundred million kilos of clay a year
• Cat Leader launched in 2008 and is their own retail brand, sold through pet shops and veterinary clinics in more than fifteen countries
• Because they mine and process their own clay, the mineral in the bag is the same material they sell to industry - which is unusual in a category where most brands buy in

Good To Know

• This item is currently out of stock
• Scented with pinewood. Some cats dislike pine - if yours avoids the tray after switching, that is why
• Do not flush it. Bin it
• A cat straining, going more often, passing blood, or suddenly avoiding the tray needs a vet, not a different litter. Urinary blockage in male cats is an emergency
• Cat faeces can carry toxoplasmosis. Anyone pregnant or immunosuppressed should avoid handling the tray where possible, and everyone should wash their hands properly afterwards
• Bag used litter and bin it. Keep the tray away from food preparation areas
• Store unopened bags somewhere dry. Any absorbent litter starts working on humidity the moment it is exposed to it