Best litter for texture-fussy cats

A texture-fussy cat who outright refuses coarse litter is actually telling you something useful — they have a strong preference for fine-grain, and ignoring that leads straight to box avoidance. Litter preference genuinely matters: cats are far more likely to use the box consistently when the texture and scent feel right to them, and most cats — especially particular ones like yours — prefer unscented, fine-grained clumping litter over anything pellet-style or coarse. Before I point you toward a specific product, can you tell me: is it just the one American Curl, have there been any actual avoidance incidents, and are there any other requirements like dust-free or low-tracking?

Wood pellets are about as far from fine-grain as you can get, so that tracks completely. What's her current litter situation — are you back on whatever worked before, or are you still experimenting?

Perfect — the fact she went straight back to the clumping litter confirms exactly what she needs: fine, sand-like texture. The supermarket stuff is doing the job, but there's a meaningful step up available. I'd recommend Dr. Elsey's Ultra Clumping Cat Litter. It's an extremely fine-grained, unscented, hard-clumping litter with very low dust and minimal tracking — it's specifically designed with texture-sensitive cats in mind. The particles are closer to natural sand than almost anything else on the market, which is exactly what an American Curl with strong texture preferences responds well to. It's available in larger bags on Amazon UK and works out cost-effective given how tightly it clumps, so you're not replacing it as frequently. Given that your cat is already tolerating a basic clumping litter, switching to this should feel like an upgrade she barely notices — which is what you want.

With a cat who's already sensitive to texture, a gradual transition is the safer move — mix roughly 25% of the new litter into her current one for a few days, then go 50/50, then make the full switch over about a week. Since both litters are fine-grain and unscented, there's a good chance she accepts it immediately, but the gradual approach means you'll catch any hesitation before it becomes a habit. You're in a good position — she's already told you what she likes, and Dr. Elsey's Ultra sits squarely in that lane.