Of all the clumping litters, this multi-cat household strongly prefers Everclean Unscented.  I've tried at least 6 other similar litters and always return to Everclean, it's much less dusty and clumps better.  And no nasty over-perfumed stink.   

Of non-clay clumping litters my favorite is World's Best Cat Litter, however it doesn't clump as well as Everclean and holds more urine odor.  I'm just finishing a trial of Nature's Miracle, which I believe is pine, however the pine odor is overwhelming.  I won't be purchasing that one again.

I tried two types of crystals, they just ended up all over the house, plus they don't seem comfortable for kitty feet.

I also keep one box with Carefresh Pet Bedding (non-bleached).  It works very well as a litter.  One of my cats won't use it though.   

We have 2 Maine Coons and we have been using Swheat Scoop with absolutely no problems.  It clumps nicely and I flush the stool down the toilet so that saves all the smell in the garbage bags.  I don't have a problem with it sticking to their long fur either.  I also like the fact is has no added chemicals.

I've tried the wheat based litters and they worked fine.

5CatMom

The Nature's Logic clumps in seconds and it's not food-based, so there are no moths or bugs in it. I am very pleased with the results, and the stuff doesn't clog the plumbing either.

World's Best Extra Strength is wonderful.  Clumps and flushes if you like to do that.  Made of corn.  No perfume at all, but good on odor control.  Does not track as much as clay!  Absolutely NO dust.  My husband has asthma, and he can tell the difference with this one.   It is not cheap, but a 5# bag will last a month or a little more if you have one cat.  Not quite as long with two -- but I scoop 2-4 times a day so go through it a little faster than some folks would. I have seen this in pet stores as well as grocery stores.

I liked World's Best Cat Litter, but two separate times I found brown bugs feasting in it. 

BW:

I have the same fears as you do.  I use clumping litter now and again usually during the holidays when we expect a lot of visitors.  The clumping litter I use is "P-Pod" made from pea husks and works much the same way as the wheat clumpers.  Most of the time, I use ordinary non-clumping litter.  I realize that this works OK for me and my cats becuase I take my cats out in the yard for a supervised romp and that's usually when they dig holes in my garden.  The litter boxes in the house are for night-time when cats are indoors.  

We use an entirely different approach to clumping litter. We learned of it at a cat show where the manufacturer was demonstrating the product. It is called Litter Mate and has a website by the same name. They are located in Minnesota and are a husband and wife operation. Litter Mate is a clumping agent, a dust control agent, and urine neutralizing agent with some light fragrance. It is made of primarily of wheat gluten and the fragrance is mixed in ground corn cobs both from the U.S.A. This additive is mixed in the cheapest clay based no fragrance litter than you can find, perhaps at the dollar store, definitely somewhere between $0.75/10 pounds and $2.65/10 pounds at the big stores. That's a lot less than the $7 to $12 and up for the clumping stuff. By using this, we avoid the clumping litter's bentonite issue some cat sites suggest isn't good for our kitties. The maker travels to the cat shows and brings the product with them to the shows all over, including deliveries for customers who happen to be at the show. They also ship the product. They say many cat breeders use their product. The cost of their litter additive added to the cheapest clay litter over a period of time is less than the clumping litter and much less than the natural litter.

This stuff is neat because it neutralizes the urine as soon as it hits the pan. Since the urine is broken down, it doesn't smell and doesn't cause the litter to ferment like some of the natural litters do, which smells. The stuff also dries out the fecal matter greatly reducing that smell. I've not seen our cat track this litter at all.

The Litter Mate is mixed into the clay litter one part additive to two parts of litter. A large scoop or metal glass works fine. Typically, the company sells one year's worth of LitterMate in a box with a heavy plastic bag inside. The 50 pound one year supply box is about a one foot cube and costs $63 including shipping. We use really a large litter pan and keep it 3 inches deep to keep the litter clumps in the litter and not on the bottom of the pan. They do offer smaller sizes than the one year supply.

When the additive is mixed in the clay litter, the dust generated off the litter is greatly reduced. The fragrance doesn't have a strong odor either which can offend some cats. And when the litter gets wet, it clumps HARD. The cat doesn't break these clumps up.

The people even made a special box just for me because I am allergic to corn, so they left out the corn cob grounds with the fragrance. Instead I add a bit of our own fragrance to it, but very little.

The maker claimed he doesn't have to ever have to completely change his litter box because the litter so completely is scooped as to leave no residue.

Now the downsides we see. Our cat likes to urinate right at the corner of the pan and the hard clumps form in the corner so we have to use the edge of the metal scoop to scrape downward to break them free from the plastic pan. Not a problem, but it does initially stick to the side of the pan but breaks free. Initially, the litter mix is dust free. Gradually over time, the dust tends to return as it is sifted, but nothing near as bad as the bentonite clumping litter of various brands that we've tried. The bentonite clumping litter dust floats in the air clear into other rooms and we can taste it when we used to add some to the old pans. The natural clumping litters for us smelled and needed to be completely dumped, not just scooped. There is a cost to dumping the entire pan and refilling it. The cat initially didn't know what to think of going from nice, soft, easy-to-paw-litter to a coarse clay with the Litter Mate powder in it. We had to initially coax her into it putting a tiny amount of her old pan on top of the new (not used stuff, just been pawed). I think it was the clean pan and different smell. But the one time addition of a bit of her old litter on top did it. She didn't mind then. And the last issue we see is the plastic pan eventually gets dusty on the sides and really should be temporarily emptied and cleaned after some extended period of time and the same litter put back into it. Our kitty is pretty active at her pawing so she may be exceptional at getting the litter pan sides dirty. Or someone could just wipe the pan sides infrequently. This cannot be flushed due to the clay litter, but the amount of clump waste is easily kept in a trash sack and placed inside the normal trash sack once a week.

Their website is easily found by searching "litter mate" or by putting it all together in a typical web URL. I've not seen Litter Mate retail so I'd presume we're limited to purchases either at the cat shows or by phone or email or website orders.