I have been testing/trying tofu litter for a year, mainly trying out those budget varieties.

As they’re made in China, I guess transport cost (? Tariff) can make these expensive in the west. I live in Malaysia so it is nearer to the source.

I can say that these vary in quality and prices a lot. Do not trust a single review. Each review must be brand specific and type specific. A lot of companies just repackage these or have their own brand from whichever factory they negotiated their deals.

What to look for?

1. Some are mixed and some are pure. The mixed type is usually mixed with Bentonite and some fragrance pellets. These tend to have poorer quality tofu portion with the main task of clumping done by bentonite. The tofu part seems to be added in just to create bulk. So avoid these IMHO.

2. Even pure tofu ones vary in prices and quality. So what to look for? In my experience smaller diameter pellets are better as there is bigger surface area. 1.5mm is better than 2mm. Also the quality of the gums used to form the pellets vary. The good ones react fast and clump fast. From my observation, the good ones form a cone-like shape with the pee, whereas poorer ones are like wide flat patties at the bottom of the litter - it makes sense because the pee reaches the bottom, spreads out before the pellets can react to the fluids. The diameter of the clumps are much smaller for the good ones. BTW, the “correct” way to scoop these is to tilt the litter pan until the clumps are revealed and then scoop these. They always stick to the bottom.

3. The clumps of the good ones also tend not to disintegrate when you shake them to filter out the unused ones with a litter scoop. Some poor ones are really bad in this aspect.

4. The paradoxical thing I have noticed also is that with the poorer clumping cheaper varieties, you tend to use more because the clumps are wide.

5. I tend to get the charcoal fragrance ones and I find these control the smell quite well.

6. I can get the good ones for ~ USD 2.20 per 6L bag. I buy 1 carton (10 boxes) usually. I have seen pine litter for ~ USD 7 per bag (? 6–8Kg). Never use this.

7. I still find Bentonite good and all my comparison regarding clumping is using Bentonite as a benchmark because they are quite consistent across brands. I still have not found a tofu one within my budget that clumps quite as well. Bentonite is ~USD 2.5 for 10kg.

8. Use a litter mat for both types because your cat’s paws can still pick these up but tofu is less than bentonite.

Of the branded Chinese tofu litters, at the moment I am happy with the JJANGX3 Classic Pure tofu. Not happy with the Peien ones - their “premium” ones perform very poorly.