cat litter conundrum

there is an on going battle in my house

the litter box is in my office, since they are my babies.  I like to walk around my house with no shoes and i cannot stand to walk on the litter that has been tracked from the box.  Fred has to dig like she is going to china and feels as though she hasn't done a proper job of covering her "business" unless she has flung litter across the room. 

since i work at a pet store, i quiz people on their choice of cat litter.  I was told by a very reliable source that the litter labeled as the best wasn't in fact the best.  I am not great at scooping my litter box so i looked into the automated options and decided on the one with the least amount of consumables to buy.  I have spoke to a customer who absolutely loved theirs.  It is suppose to last a month with one cat so i figured i should only have to change it twice a month, the cartridges are around $20.00, but i figured that was a small price to pay so that my babies would have a clean place to do their business.  I purchased a separate litter box with high sides and bought pine pellet cat litter.  I really do like the litter, but it isn't for scoopers, it doesn't really hide the smell either.  I went to a recycled pellet and really liked the price, the green quality of the product, and best yet, no tracking.  You just dump the entire thing into a trash bag, throw away and fill with more.  You can get about 3-4 fillings out of a big bag which is under $20.  There is still the issue of smell.  So, i bought the big bouda cat box (about $60), which is covered and has a ramp that leads to the inside of the cat box.  This is helpful to get the cat litter off their little paws so i don't walk on it and it has a cover so when Fred feels the need to dig to china it stays in the box.  It also has a carbon filter on top, which the first time you put it together, it is a bit confusing to figure out.  My only issue is that the top doesnt fit snuggly enough that when my cats are lazy and use the back of the box to pee, it leaks onto the floor.  I know if i scooped more they would fully enter the box.

So the winner is clay scoopable cat litter in a covered box.  I still have some tracking but the smell issue is much better. 

I did try the ground up corn litter and i think this is only for people who are scoopers and it is very light so it tracks horribly.  Also it didn't seem to be very absorbent because i had to clean the bottom of the box which i never had to do with the pellets.  Maybe i will try the pellets in the covered box and see how that works.  I am really not happy having to vacuum so much.