Innovation in litter and housebreaking products sparks consumer interest

Overall unit sales of cat litter and related accessories rose by 21% to $1.5 billion in 2024, while dog housebreaking and cleaning product unit sales grew by 17.8% to $727 million, according to Amazon US data compiled by Similarweb.

US market relatively stable

Within major product categories like cat litter, the popularity of long-dominant brands remains relatively stable, with few shifts emerging in last year’s Amazon sales data. But the numbers also show that some upstart brands have made major moves in the past year, particularly with automated cleaning items and products that include other innovative or aesthetic features.

Bestselling cat litter brands

Cat litter is one of those non-negotiable purchases for households with felines, and the 3 bestselling brands on Amazon US in 2024 were Fresh Step, Arm & Hammer and Dr. Elsey’s. These also dominate the overall cat cleaning and housebreaking category on Amazon, likely due to the need for frequent, repeated purchases.

Together, these 3 brands achieved $295 million in cat litter sales on Amazon last year. Whichever brand the pet owners prefer, they tend to stick with it – none of the 3 dominant brands have seen their market share change by more than 3% in the past year.

Fresh Step represents more than a quarter of all the cat litter sales on Amazon, taking home $143 million, while Arm & Hammer claimed 14% of unit sales at $88 million, and Dr. Elsey’s 12% at $52 million.

New kids on the block

A handful of upstart products did see their sales increase significantly in 2024. Some brands that advertise superior odor control technologies, including Sprinkle & Sweep and All-Absorb, saw their total sales increase astronomically last year, reaching revenues of $2.9 million and $1.3 million respectively.

The environmentally focused Sustainably Yours cat litter, meanwhile, tripled its sales, reaching $3.5 million in 2024.

Top 3 cat litter boxes

Whereas consumers show a clear preference for a handful of dominant litter brands, sales of litter boxes and related accessories reveal different patterns.

Innovative brands offering new designs and automation have eroded sales from more established back-to-basics brands over the past year.

Van Ness Pets, which offers a line of basic cat litter pans and boxes, claims just under 14.5% of all litter boxes sold on Amazon – with a sales value of $12.2 million. Its share of unit sales did, however, drop by more than 8% in 2024.

Category runner-up Iris, which offers a wider variety of litter box shapes and sizes – including enclosed top-entry litter boxes intended to reduce spillage – saw its market share in units grow by nearly 9%.

It actually outearned Van Ness, with a total 2024 revenue of $16.3 million, and claimed more than 11% of all litter box sales on Amazon.

Petmate’s line of simpler litter boxes offered in a wide assortment of sizes and styles, rounds out the category top 3, at 7.7% of units sold, bringing in $8.7 million. Its share of the market dropped very slightly in 2024, both in units and revenue.

Stainless steel and self-cleaning

Outside the top 3, stainless steel litter boxes appear to be having a moment, with unit sales of Suzzipaws’ stainless steel boxes up nearly 900% to claim 2.14% of total litter box sales and $12.6 million in revenue.

WoofiGo’s stainless steel litter boxes were up by more than 1,000% in units sold, reaching $7.5 million in revenue, and PWTAA climbed 1,400% in unit sales to $2.2 million.

Manufacturers of self-cleaning litter boxes also experienced increased sales. Ducksky saw its unit sales grow by more than 5,000%, reaching $326,000 in revenue and making it the fastest growing litter box brand of 2024.

PetSafe, the top-selling automatic litter box brand, and the 6th largest litter box brand overall, sold nearly 19% more units in 2024, at a total revenue of $29 million. It currently makes 2.6% of all litter boxes sold on Amazon.

Box liners and enclosures

Self-cleaning litter box manufacturers have seen gains in the sale of litter box accessories as well. Jonny Cat’s line of standard litter box liners dominates liner sales, with the brand representing $4.6 million in revenue and 26% of all liner unit sales on Amazon.

Some of the fastest growing liner brands – Teleglo, Amogogopet, Anwa and Bcharya – focus only on liners for self-cleaning litter systems. All 4 manufacturers saw sales skyrocket in the past year, bringing in $2.2 million in sales revenue between them.

Consumers also show growing interest in more aesthetically pleasing litter boxes, with unit sales of Lifewit’s litter box enclosures – which incorporate cat litter boxes into specialized shelving units or artificial plant containers – up by more than 12,000% to a revenue of $1.3 million in 2024.

Homhedy, which makes similarly concealing furniture, dominates the litter box enclosures category, claiming a 6.5% share of litter box enclosure unit sales on Amazon. The company’s sales in units nearly doubled in 2024 to reach $6.2 million.

Amazon Basics is top dog

Perhaps unsurprisingly, cat litter and related products vastly outsell housebreaking products for dogs. And the more limited range of products on the market has also allowed Amazon’s own brand, Amazon Basics, to dominate the dog housebreaking category.

This is driven by the popularity of its pooper scooper bags and dog training pads, which claimed 18.5% of pooper scooper bag unit sales and 21.5% of all dog training pad unit sales, earning $24 million and $62 million in 2024 respectively.

But while the range of products available for dogs is smaller, consumers have shown an interest in other brands and innovation within this category as well.

Unit sales of HoneyCare dog diapers rose by 41.98% to bring in $37 million in 2024, compared to a 13% decline in dog diaper units sold by Amazon Basics, which saw revenue fall to $8.4 million.

Dog litter boxes are also a thing, with unit sales of Skywin’s dog pad trays and splash guard enclosures up more than 1,600% to $311,000 in 2024. However, consumers remain seemingly skeptical of most litter box-like arrangements for dogs.

Sales of Loobani’s category-leading indoor dog turf potty system dropped 7% year-over-year in units to a revenue of $1.4 million, and PickForLife’s artificial grass dog pee pad unit sales dropped by 50% to $1.6 million. Loobani and PickForLife sell 15% and 12% respectively of the dog litter boxes bought on Amazon.

Addressing accidents and odors

For the occasional accident, Vansky makes the leading blacklight pet urine detector, which represents 44% of all urine detectors sold on Amazon, and posted 9% growth in unit sales in 2024, bringing in about $4 million.

But competitor Consciot now claims 14% of the urine detector market, after nearly doubling sales of its product year-over-year to earn $873,000. Odor control remains a perennially popular category for cat owners.

Arm & Hammer, Rocco & Roxie Supply Co. and Nature’s Miracle make Amazon’s top-selling odor and stain removers for cats, earning $4.9 million, $16 million and $12 million respectively.

Meanwhile, Nature’s Miracle, Arm & Hammer and Resolve produce the top 3 odor and stain removers marketed to dog owners, with respective revenues of $11 million, $2.6 million and $1.8 million.