Safe litter for kittens who might eat it

With kittens this young — 10 and 12 weeks — accidental ingestion of litter is a real concern, not just a theoretical one. Kittens at that age explore everything with their mouths, and clumping litters in particular can be genuinely dangerous if swallowed because they expand when wet. Litter preference matters a lot for long-term box habits, but right now safety has to come first. Are both kittens using the box already, any signs of eating the litter, and are you working with any other constraints like dust sensitivity?

Good that they're using the box — that's a great start. What litter are you using right now, and is it a clumping clay type?

Okay, I'd swap that out soon. Clumping clay litters — especially sodium bentonite based ones — can form a solid mass in the gut if a kitten swallows enough. It's not common but the risk is real in kittens under 12 weeks. I'd switch to Yesterday's News Unscented Cat Litter. It's made from recycled paper pellets, completely non-toxic, non-clumping, and if a kitten chews a pellet it just softens and passes safely. It's also very low dust which is a bonus for young kittens whose respiratory systems are still developing. It's widely available on Amazon UK and reasonably priced for a large bag.

Kittens this young are actually the easiest to transition — they haven't formed strong preferences yet, so switching now is much simpler than it would be with an adult cat. If you want to be cautious, mix a small amount of the old litter into the new box for the first few days so the scent is familiar, then phase it out. Since they're already box-trained and you're catching this early, the transition should be straightforward. Once they're past around 16 weeks and you're confident they're not eating litter anymore, you can reassess whether to stay with paper or move to a fine-grained clumping option — most cats do prefer the texture. But for now, Yesterday's News is the right call.

Good move. One extra tip: keep the litter box very clean while they're this young — kittens are more likely to dig and sniff around in dirty litter, which increases the chance of ingestion. Scoop at least once a day. They'll be well past the danger zone soon enough.