Kate Barrington / Cats.com
Whether you’re concerned about environmental impact or just want a higher-performing product, you may be interested in PetSafe’s new natural cat litter. While natural litters are fairly common these days, this PetSafe product is made with a unique ingredient.
What sets PetSafe ScoopFree Premium Natural Cat Litter apart and how well does it perform? Find out here. I tested it to bring you this in-depth review.
Ratings
Variety of Products – 3/5
Price Per Pound – 3/5
Multi-Cat Formulas – 4/5
Clumping Ability – 3/5
Natural/Alternative Options – 5/5
Overall Score: 3.6/5
Why Trust Cats.com
Over the last decade and a half, I’ve spent countless hours scooping and cleaning litter boxes. With three cats, it’s a never-ending task. Not only do I have extensive personal experience with dozens of types of cat litter, but I’m very familiar with the PetSafe brand. From silica crystal cat litter to the ScoopFree automatic litter box, I’ve tested many PetSafe products.
To write this review, I ordered an 8-pound bag of PetSafe’s ScoopFree Premium Natural Cat Litter and tested it at home with my three cats over a period of two weeks. Throughout testing, I made observations about the litter’s dustiness, odor control, ease of scooping, and tracking. My cats provided their opinions on how the product stacked up against other cat litters.
PetSafe Brand Overview
Kate Barrington / Cats.com
PetSafe launched in 1998 as a manufacturer of electronic pet training products, like invisible fences and dog training collars. While initially focused on pet training products, PetSafe has expanded into other categories of pet tech.
In 2013, PetSafe introduced its Simply Clean self-cleaning litter box, which featured a continuously rotating bowl that removes waste using a conveyor system. PetSafe launched the ScoopFree self-cleaning litter box in 2016, switching to a raking model with built-in sensors.
The launch of the ScoopFree automatic litter box coincided with the release of PetSafe’s crystal cat litter. It wasn’t until early 2024 that PetSafe expanded beyond silica litter with the release of PetSafe ScoopFree Premium Natural Litter.
ScoopFree Premium Natural Cat Litter Features
Kate Barrington / Cats.com
At first glance, PetSafe’s new ScoopFree natural cat litter looks like your average clay litter. It comes in small gray granules and can be poured directly into your litter box and used like any other type of cat litter. The difference is in the ingredients.
Though traditional clay cat litter is technically natural, it’s not the most eco-friendly option. The sodium bentonite clay from which it’s derived is created through an environmentally damaging process called strip mining. PetSafe’s ScoopFree natural litter is made from a natural mineral that comes from fossilized algae, also known as diatomaceous earth.
Deposits of this material are found throughout the United States. Because they’re above-ground, no mining is required to harvest the material. PetSafe takes the raw material and refines it into patent-pending pebbles. These pebbles vary in size, like clay cat litter, but are very lightweight by comparison.
In addition to being a natural alternative to clay litter, PetSafe markets ScoopFree Premium Natural Cat Litter as a highly absorbent, low-tracking litter solution. A single 8-pound bag of litter is advertised to last up to 2 months in a single-cat household—comparable to a 40-pound bag of the typical clumping cat litter.
PetSafe ScoopFree Premium Natural Cat Litter is only available in a single non-clumping variety. It is fragrance-free and doesn’t contain any chemical additives or dyes.
What We Like:
Natural alternative to clumping clay cat litter
Made in the USA from naturally-occurring minerals
Highly absorbent formula
Lightweight by comparison to clay litter
What We Dislike:
Not a clumping formula
Fairly expensive, over $3 per pound
Very dusty at first
What Did Our Test Cats Think?
Kate Barrington / Cats.com
To test PetSafe ScoopFree Premium Natural Cat Litter, I ordered an 8-pound bag of litter from the PetSafe website. My order arrived quickly. The bag was undamaged but the zippered seal was slightly open, so some litter had spilled into the box.
My first impression of this litter is that it is surprisingly lightweight. It’s not quite as light as something like Tidy Cats Lightweight Free & Clean, but it’s noticeably lighter than clay litter. Since I have litter boxes on three floors of my house, I appreciate not having to lug heavy bags around.
The litter is lighter in color than typical clay litter. It looked chalky inside the bag, so I was not surprised when it produced a large plume of dust as I poured it. The dust settled fairly quickly and wasn’t a big issue during scooping. But this is worth considering if your pets suffer from asthma or other respiratory issues.
Kate Barrington / Cats.com
Because this is a non-clumping formula, scooping the litter box was a little different than my usual method. Solid waste was easy to remove and I just stirred the litter to redistribute the saturated pebbles—much like with crystal cat litter.
Overall, this natural cat litter did a great job absorbing liquid and it didn’t stick to the litter box. I like that it’s fragrance-free and lightweight, but it does tend to track. My cats disliked the texture of the granules and preferred their regular clay litter. Because they didn’t use it frequently during the trial period, I wasn’t able to get a strong sense of its odor-control ability.
What Do Customers Think of PetSafe ScoopFree Natural Cat Litter?
This natural litter from PetSafe was only launched in early 2024, so customer reviews are limited. On PetSafe’s website, there were just over 100 ratings as of March 2024. The product’s average rating was 4.3 out of 5 stars, with roughly 50% of those ratings being 5-star reviews. It’s worth noting, however, that many of the reviews seem to have been given in exchange for a free sample of the product.
PetSafe’s ScoopFree natural litter is also sold on Chewy, but there were only 25 ratings for it at the time I reviewed it. The average rating on Chewy was 4.6 out of 5 stars. Again, numerous customers mention receiving free products in their reviews.
Positive Reviews
Customers who were satisfied with PetSafe’s ScoopFree natural litter liked the lightweight formula, its high absorbency, and strong odor control. Many positive reviews also mention that natural ingredients are a selling point.
“I liked that it has contained the smell for the 2 weeks that I have been using it but I am not really sure about leaving the urine-soaked pebbles in the container rather than scooping it out. It doesn’t stick to poop so very minimal is lost in scooping.”—Kim on Chewy, February 28th, 2024
“The bag is large enough for two months. My cat does not seem to mind this new litter It covers the scent up well. My only complaint is I do see paw prints on the floor from my cat’s paws around the box.”—Maureen on Chewy, February 28th, 2024
Negative Reviews
Given the number of reviewers who mentioned receiving free samples, I wasn’t surprised to see that negative reviews were very limited. Even when customers gave the product a high overall rating, however, comments about the litter’s dustiness and tracking were common.
“While I love the idea of a natural kitty litter, I’m not convinced this worked as well as other litters we’ve used in the past. It’s quite dusty and not sure I like the “non clumping” formula. I also found it didn’t eliminate odors nearly as well.”—Katie on Chewy, March 1st, 2024
“This litter gets all over my floors, from my cat tracking it everywhere. Now through out my house, you can see and feel tiny rocks.”—Ericah121 on PetSafe.com, February 2024
Similar Brands
Looking for other cat litter brands similar to PetSafe? Check out some of our other brand reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PetSafe ScoopFree Premium Natural Cat Litter made from?
This cat litter is made from diatomaceous earth—the fossilized remains of algae. It’s a naturally occurring mineral collected from above-ground deposits in the USA.
Does this litter clump?
No, PetSafe ScoopFree Premium Natural Cat Litter is a non-clumping formula. To clean the litter box, it’s best to scoop out solid waste with a little scoop and then stir the litter to redistribute the saturated pellets to prevent odor from accumulating.
Can this cat litter be used with automatic litter boxes?
It depends. Sifting, gravity-style automatic litter boxes like the Litter-Robot tend to work best with clumping cat litter. Rake-style models like the PetSafe ScoopFree, however, can generally accommodate non-clumping litter.
