Vanguard Awards: Litter

Rooted in a desire to better utilize natural ingredients to effectively manage feline waste in households, manufacturers like Dr. Elsey’s, World’s Best Cat Litter and Pioneer Pet Products have continued to lead the natural litter category with thoughtful innovations that improve the quality of life for cats and their human parents. True leaders also demonstrate a willingness to change course and evolve their thinking when science indicates a better, healthier way to support feline health and well-being.

Since its founding in 1987, Dr. Elsey’s’ line of products has grown to include a variety of premium litters and protein-rich foods that address the health and behavioral needs of cats in every stage of life; and they can change as new discoveries are made. “As a veterinarian-owned brand, we understand the everyday challenges faced by both cats and their owners,” said Mat Brost, Director of Marketing. “One of our proudest decisions this year has been to discontinue production of our scented litter. While it was a popular product, learning about its potential risks to feline health made it clear that we couldn’t, in good conscience, continue offering it. A significant and values-driven shift for our company and a true testament to our commitment to feline health.”

Brost cited a study in Feline Practitioner published during the summer of 2024 that drove this change: “Scented litters can be unpleasant and even painful to cats, since their sense of smell is significantly more acute than that of a human.” 

“At Dr. Elsey’s, we’re committed to providing natural, unscented litters that effectively block odor—without relying on fragrances. We believe that doing what’s right for cats, even when it means walking away from a successful product, is something worth standing behind. We’re proud to lead with transparency, science and compassion—and we hope others in the industry will follow suit,” Brost said.

Compassion is also what continues to drive Pioneer Pet Products’ product development. “Pioneer Pet is always working towards innovative products that create health and harmony in the home between pet and their owner,” said Director of Marketing Shannon Supanich. “We saw a need in the market for a natural cat litter that actually worked. Fast forward to SmartCat 100% Grass Lightweight Litter. This is a lightweight, truly all natural litter that clumps.”

At its core, “We are a family company that truly cares about animals,” said Supanich. “We are able to offer products that are quality items, used and loved by employees, at a fair price. We offer many options of litter and other pet products for various individual needs.”

World’s Best Cat Litter came to the category with a resource that was plentiful as well as novel—to pet, anyway. “More than 25 years ago, our leadership saw there was significant growth taking place in the category, but there was a void of natural offerings to cat owners,” said Jean Broders, Director of Marketing for parent company Kent Pet Group. “Our company is a significant player in the human food and beverage industry, as well as numerous other industries, and we understand the endless benefits that come from kernels of corn. It made sense to utilize this knowledge and our resources to develop a cat litter made from corn, knowing its powerful absorption capabilities would be a great offering to consumers who were settling for their current litter, which were lacking in odor control and other odor eliminating and absorption benefits.”

Developing an effective product was much more than just drying out corn and putting it into a bag. “In order to offer unique products to cat owners, you really need to understand their needs and behaviors when it comes to owning a cat,” said Broders. “We invest in understanding their pain points and struggles—having conversations in their homes, watching them scoop and maintain their litter boxes and listening to learn. Once our teams gain these insights, they begin to innovate products to address these needs. There continues to be gaps in the category and finding these gaps are what drives our teams every day. There are millions of cats surrendered to shelters each year. Many of the reasons this happens is cats are eliminating outside of the box. Offering products that help cats have forever homes will always be our top goal. Litter box maintenance can sometimes be the biggest pain point to owning a cat.”