About Dr. Elsey's
Dr. Elsey's traces back to 1978, when Dr. Bruce Elsey, a feline-only veterinarian running one of the first cat-exclusive practices in the Denver metro area, began mixing his own clumping clay litter next to his clinic to solve the litter-box problems he saw in exam rooms every day. The company formalized in 1987 around that first all-natural clumping litter, and the product line has since grown into a full range of solution-based litters built around specific feline health and behavior needs, plus a cat food line, all still guided by the premise that a litter should be engineered for the cat, not the cat owner's nose.
In 2025, Dr. Elsey's discontinued its entire scented litter line after reviewing veterinary research linking artificial fragrance in litter to elevated feline stress, disrupted scent-based instincts, and a higher incidence of feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) — a decision MedNewsPedia recognized with its 2025 'Most Responsible Corporate Citizen (Veterinary)' award. Manufacturing now runs out of a dedicated production facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming, built in 2020 to scale up from the company's original Colorado operation.
Brand website: drelseys.com
What Dr. Elsey's makes
Dr. Elsey's's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Ultra
premium unscented clumping clay, 99% dust-free, one of our top picks — featured on House of Mittens
Cat Attract
clumping litter with a natural herb attractant for litter-box training
Kitten Attract
attractant litter formulated for kittens under 6 months
Respiratory Relief
formulated for cats with asthma or respiratory sensitivity
Crystal
silica crystal litter for odor and moisture control
cleanprotein
high-protein dry and canned cat food line
Why we recognized Dr. Elsey's
The House of Mittens Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our vet-reviewed category guides. Dr. Elsey's earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: assessed against feline-health criteria, used with real cats, and judged on merit.
Dr. Elsey's products we rated highly
Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat Ultra Unscented Clumping Clay Cat Litter
Our default clinical recommendation: hard, fast-binding clumps that lift cleanly for thorough daily scooping, a 99% dust-free formula that protects cats with feline asthma or chronic bronchitis, and a completely unscented formula that respects how much more sensitive feline scent receptors are than ours. Backed by over 95,000 ratings, making it the most time-tested clumping clay litter in our roundup.
Read the 7 Best Cat Litters of 2026 guide →What earned Dr. Elsey's the recognition
- One of the products we rated highest in our cat litter reviews: the litter we name most often for its clumping performance, dust control, and unscented formulation.
- 99% dust-free clumping clay, the feature we weight most heavily for cats with feline asthma or chronic bronchitis.
- Unscented by design, avoiding the fragrance load that's a documented contributor to litter-box avoidance in cats.
- The most clinically time-tested litter in our lineup, backed by over 95,000 Amazon ratings across years of multi-cat household use.
- Founded by a feline-only veterinarian and still built around solution-based formulas for specific health and behavior needs, not human-facing scent marketing — underscored by discontinuing its entire scented litter line in 2025 over feline-health research, a decision independently recognized by MedNewsPedia's 2025 Most Responsible Corporate Citizen (Veterinary) award.