Natural Cat Litter, Part 2. The Scoop.

In out first installment, I talked about the environmental and health costs of clay and clumping litters.  Bad stuff.  Now let’s talk about some alternatives.  They’ll turn just about anything into cat litter these days and most of them are biodegradable.  When you shop for natural cat litter, you will find litters made of corn, wheat, walnuts, recycled newspaper, pine nuggets, cedar.  Here are some pros and cons of some that we've tried here at Green Earth Pet Food.  Prices are averaged out over several sources.

1.  Feline Pine.  $0.65/pound.

PROS:  Made of highly absorbent, non-clumping pine fibers in pellet or sawdust form.  
Light pine scent and good odor control.
Low dust.  
Biodegradable.
Compostable*.

CONS:  Packaged in plastic.
Cats can track the fine particles throughout the house.

My cats didn't "do" Feline Pine personally, but I think that's because I didn't give them enough transition time.  The pellets are unusual and not at all like other litters, so give your cat plenty of time to make the switch, mixing in a little at a time with their usual litter.

2.  Swheat Scoop.  $0.96/pound

PROS:  Made of renewable, naturally clumping wheat.
Fairly good odor control--the natural enzymes in the wheat work fairly well to control odors.
Minimal tracking.
Fairly low in dust.
Easy to transition.
Recyclable packaging.
Compostable*.
Mild, pleasant bready scent.

CONS:  Mild, pleasant bready scent may be attractive to dogs.  Kristi's dogs thought the litter was an extra treat in the box and had to go on a low carb diet.
Not appropriate for a gluten free household.

3.  World's Best Cat Litter.  $1.18/pound.

PROS:  Made of renewable, naturally clumping whole kernel corn.
Good odor control.
Low dust.
Low tracking.
Compostable*.
Mild "farmy" scent.
Long lasting.

CONS:  Plastic package.
Expensive!

In spite of the price, this litter lives up to its name.  AVOID the scented multi-cat formula, though.  In fact, AVOID all scented cat litters.  In general, scents are added chemicals (VOCs) that will just irritate your cat and possibly make her want to avoid her litter box.

4.  Yesterday's News.  $ 0.67/pound.

PROS:  Made from 100% recycled newspaper, including the packaging.
99.7% dust free (lowest of all the litters)
Excellent absorption of moisture.
Low tracking.
Biodegradable.

CONS:  Does not clump.
I think it smells a little funky (but that's just me).

5.  Cedarific Cat Litter.  $0.87/pound

PROS:  Made of hardwood and cedar chips.
Pleasant odor (doesn't smell like hamsters, I swear!)
Low in dust.
Biodegradable.
Compostable*. 
Recyclable package.

CONS:  Non clumping.
A little on the light side, so cats track it out of the box more easily.


These are just a few of the brands that we have first-hand experience with.  There doesn't seem to be a "perfect" natural cat litter, but hopefully this non-scientific review will help you choose what works for you according to your priorities.  

REGARDING FLUSHING AND COMPOSTING:  Almost all of the litters advertise that they are "flushable," but in my research I found that the most environmentally friendly thing to do is to NOT flush cat waste down the toilet, where it will enter the waterways and even the ocean.  Cats have a parasite--toxoplasma gondii, if you were wondering.  It has been found in dolphins, humpback whales, sea otters, monk seals.  It doesn't belong there, so bag your cat poop and throw it away.  As for composting, your compost pile will not heat up enough to kill this parasite, so don't put your litter in compost intended for food plants.

BONUS FOR THE FRUGAL:  I loves me some World's Best Cat Litter.  It's my top pick, but it's expensive.  What else is made of corn, absorbs moisture, controls odor and is otherwise identical in every way but costs a quarter the price?   Chicken Feed.  That's right.  You can get a 50 pound bag of chicken "crumbles" for about $15.  It doesn't clump as tightly as WBCL, but it really is super economical.  Buy a small bag first to see if this is a good option for you and keep extra in the freezer to minimize bugs.  Get only unmedicated feed and, again, make sure it is in crumble form.

Natural Cat Litter, Part 1

I read a heartbreaking story recently from Marina Michaels at Catmom.  She raises Japanese Bobtails and lost almost every kitten from three litters just when they reached litter box age.  She put two and two together and realized that the clumping cat litter that is so convenient and so popular was likely the cause of what must have been painful, yet preventable, deaths.  So I looked into it myself, and I’d like to share what I learned in my two part post--the bad, the good and, for Kristi, the frugal!

FIRST, THE BAD NEWS.

The most popular and readily available and cheapest litters are made of clay, which is naughty for two main reasons.

HEALTH REASONS

Clay litters contain silica, which is a known carcinogen and can cause silicosis, a respiratory disease characterized by lesions in the lungs and throat and caused by breathing the silica-laden dust found in clay litter.  No thank you!

Clumping litters contain sodium bentonite, which is basically expandable cement.  They tell you not to flush the clumps because they can clog your pipes.  Sodium bentonite expands 15-18 times its original size.  If it’s hard on your home’s plumbing, imagine what it did to those little Japanese Bobtails’ plumbing when they licked it off their paws after using the litter box, as cats do.  Clumping cat litter plus cats who groom themselves is a recipe for disaster.  Please get rid of this stuff immediately.

ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS

Getting rid of clay litter or clumping litter is easier said than done.  You can’t compost them.  They NEVER biodegrade, so they just sit in the landfills.  Forever.  And just as disposing of clay litter is hard on the environment, producing it is equally destructive. Clay litter is strip mined without regard to the land, the water or the miners.

THEN, THE GOOD NEWS

Fortunately, there are lots of alternatives to traditional clay litter.  Some of the environmentally friendly litters even offer clumping ability, if you must.  You can find natural litters made from a variety of renewable resources including wheat, pine, walnuts, corn cobs, and recycled newspapers.  Next week I am going to review some of the brands and materials, plus the pros and cons according to my relatively unscientific research.

See you then.