As wellness trends become increasingly popular for humans it’s no surprise the same is happening for pets. In recent years, many companies have dedicated more time and resources to making their products as sustainable and healthy as possible.
Even as these values become more present in the pet industry, it seems most of the innovative products are targeted towards dogs and their humans.
But what about the cat people? While we also adore dogs, it’s heartwarming to see companies solely devoted to our feline friends.
When we met our friends at PrettyLitter, we felt good about them right away. PrettyLitter is dedicated to improving and monitoring the health and wellness of cats, no matter their breed or age.
As a pet insurance company with similar goals, we were ecstatic to review PrettyLitter’s revolutionary litter and ultra premium cat food.
The Test Subjects: Meet the Cats
Although I am writing this blog, I’m merely the middleman for the true test subjects: my two cats Abigail and Monty.
Abigail is a six-year-old domestic shorthair with a beautiful mackerel tabby pattern. She had kittens in her younger days and currently weighs in at about 12 pounds. While I would never classify her as a picky eater, she’s much more particular than the other animals (and humans) in my house.
Abigail is in relatively good health but has had some dental issues appear in the last year or so. Because of this, our vet recommended she stick with eating hard food, which is her only dietary requirement.
Monty is a three-year-old domestic shorthair who sports a solid gray coat with lighter gray tabby markings. He’s the chunk of the bunch and currently weighs a little over 18 pounds (current goal weight: 15 pounds!).
While Abigail has been in our lives for a while, we recently adopted Monty at the beginning of September 2019. Even though we rescued him from the amazing people at PAWS Chicago, we still don’t know if Monty has any medical issues, minor or major.
Since Monty hasn’t shown signs of any allergies yet, his only dietary requirement is eating a mixture of wet and dry food to help him lose weight.
PrettyLitter Subscription Cat Litter Review
Honestly, I was nervous to try a new brand of litter. We’ve been faithful to heavy duty extreme clump litter for years because Abigail is particular about it (she pees on our things when the litter box isn’t satisfactory… we learned that the hard way).
But for the sake of an honest review, I emptied and cleaned the litter box and poured in a bag of PrettyLitter!
Odor Control
I live in a Chicago condo with limited space. Between the two cats, a dog, my boyfriend, and myself there’s not a lot of room left for multiple litter boxes. Needless to say, making sure our house doesn’t reek is highly important.
The litter box I used as my test is in my front coat closet, in an area open to our entryway and living room. I was surprised that I only needed to fill the box about two inches high with PrettyLitter, as I normally pack them pretty full.
But the most surprising part was I didn’t smell anything. PrettyLitter itself isn’t thick and dusty like most brands. I couldn’t even smell it while standing at the door of closet after my cats had used it a few times.
If one bag can handle both cats for an entire month, I might end up saving some money in the long run on cat litter.
Lightweight
One downside to living in a city is having to carry heavy groceries home — especially in the winter. I take advantage of every delivery service I possibly can. While having the ability to order litter online is not revolutionary, the fact that PrettyLitter isn’t exclusive to certain stores and can be purchased online is highly convenient.
Even if I had to physically purchase this litter, it wouldn’t mind because it is so light weight. Living in limited space means my supplies get stored on high shelves in closets. I’ve been the victim of heavy cat litter buckets crushing my toes too many times.
Health Monitoring
PrettyLitter is convenient, but my absolute favorite part about this product is the ability to easily monitor my cats’ health.
The name doesn’t lie: PrettyLitter is a pretty sparkling white when you first pour it into your cat’s box. As the litter is used, the spots where your cat urinates change color. This is how PrettyLitter monitors feline health.
Cats often put on a poker face when sick which makes it hard for their humans to know if they’re suffering. PrettyLitter provides insight into your cat’s health to help you potentially catch serious health problems early on.
The litter’s color is an indicator that something may be wrong:
Red: Detection of blood which could indicate Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disorder (FLUTD), bladder stones or crystals, kidney stones, bladder inflammation, and potential kidney disease or clotting disorders.
Blue or Dark Green: Signals alkalinity outside of the average range may be present with potential of certain types of urinary tract infections. Highly alkaline urine can also increase the risk of crystal and stone formation.
Orange: Means there is acidity outside the average range and could be a sign of metabolic acidosis or kidney tubular acidosis. Calcium oxalate crystals can be more likely to form in acidic urine.
If you see one of the above colors in your PrettyLitter, it’s important to contact your veterinarian to schedule a check-up. Luckily, cat insurance can cover these regular check-ups to make sure your cat is healthy and happy.
PrettyPlease Subscription Cat Food Review
PrettyLitter isn’t just dedicated to helping humans detect illnesses in cats. The company also has their own premium cat food, PrettyPlease, to help keep felines healthy in the first place.
Honest pet parent moment: I’ve never been super faithful to one brand of food for my cats. I buy food based on value and my pet’s current needs; however, I stay away from food with added fillers or unnatural ingredients.
No Additives
PrettyPlease says their premium ingredients are specially selected to optimize nutrition for your cat. I was impressed with how transparent they are about their used ingredients, listing each one out on their site with an explanation of each benefit. I especially like that PrettyPlease cat food has no artificial preservatives, colors, or fillers.
In addition to a “plethora” of vegetables, the ingredients are designed by a feline nutritionist and include:
- 24 vitamins and nutrients
- Pro and prebiotics
- Biotin
- Chicken
- Kelp
- Rosemary
Convenience
Monty and Abigail are in different life stages, despite only being a few years apart in age. Monty is in the midst of cat adulthood while Abigail is in the very beginning stages of becoming a senior. Luckily, both are in good health so they don’t require any unique diet (some older animals need to be on special food specifically made for seniors).
With PrettyPlease — similar to other zero additive health foods — I don’t have to worry about unknown ingredients that could potentially harm sensitive cats. PrettyPlease even boasts that their food is engineered for lifelong whole-body health, and supports cats of all sizes, ages, and breeds.
PrettyPlease claims their food is beneficial for:
- Brain and vision development in kittens
- Muscle maintenance in adults
- Bone and teeth strength for seniors
And just like its litter counterpart, PrettyPlease can be delivered to your door for ultimate convenience.
The Final Results
While I like PrettyPlease’s ingredients and PrettyLitter’s health monitoring benefits, the true test is whether or not the cats liked it.
PrettyLitter Review
So far, PrettyLitter has truly been life changing in my house. The litter does not smell and I haven’t felt the need to change it (I’ve been scooping regularly and that’s it!).
PrettyLitter’s price point is on par with other big brand litter you can order through delivery services like Amazon. A PrettyLitter subscription costs $40 per month for two cats, which is a good value. Regardless, the ability to monitor your cat’s health and cut back on litter box cleaning is invaluable.
PrettyPlease Review
As for PrettyPlease, I’m definitely satisfied with the quality ingredients (and my cats gobble it up, so clearly they approve). A monthly subscription of PrettyPlease for two cats is $49 per month with free shipping. While this is slightly more expensive than other major brands, I think most pet parents will find the small extra cost worth it for good ingredients.
My one qualm with PrettyPlease is that it only comes as dry food. Since Monty needs to lose weight his vet recommends I feed him a mix of wet and dry food, so unfortunately I would still need to purchase a separate canned food for him.
Overall, we give PrettyLitter and PrettyPlease 4.3 out of 5 paws. The company’s dedication to feline health is admirable and their products are definitely worth a try for cat parents.