cat litter
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i'm reposting this from an earlier date because i'm just so damn happy with this stuff and i thought some of you might be interested.
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i have never liked clumping cat litter ... of course, i’ve never really done any research on it, not really having a cat of my own in the past few years, but it’s just never felt natural or remotely right ... not to mention that it’s always made my own allergies go squirrely. just the simple scooping of a box in another room could get me going, and that was with the supposed “low dust” variety.
so, with mirren meatguts onboard, i decided i wanted to take a different approach. a new raw-feeding group i’m on - dealing more with cats - was discussing litters, which led me to try a pine-based one. most experienced cat people are using wood pellets, even alfalfa pellets, but when i went to my local Global Pet Store and spoke with my friend the owner, he says his #1 non-clay seller was this Feline Fresh, and since it was more inline with the texture of the clumping stuff vs. the pellets, i thought i’d try it first.
absolutely NO problem switching over, and it clumps wonderfully (as you can see)! supposedly you can flush even the clumps but i don’t. apparently out west sea otters are dying from the toxicity from cat urine in the sewage systems ... not that we have sea otters here in ontario, but hey, i’m sure something’s suffering. i’d rather chuck these little nuggets over my fence and perhaps dissuade other neighborhood cats from my property. the minimal poop i get from feeding raw, though, i’ll flush.
in the meantime, for all of you with cats - and DOGS with cats!!! - who are using the clumping litters ... please consider the many MANY health risks - inhaled and ingested - to your cats AND your dogs when using these clumping litters, all relying on the dangerous sodium bentonite as the clumping agent. the silica dust is also dangerous, not just to pets but to us.
vets have seen a correlation between clumping litter and immune system deficiency, respiratory ailments, and digestive problems. quoted from a vet in an article in Healthy Pets - Naturally, april 1994:
“There has been a rise in depressed immune systems, respiratory distress, irritable bowel syndrome, and vomiting (other than hair balls) among cats that i have seen in the past two years. All had one thing in common... a clumping product in their litterbox. In several cases, simply removing the litter improved the condition of the cat.”
it doesn’t take a lot of research to find this stuff ...
ezinearticles.com/?The-Secret-Of-Clumping-Cat-Litter&...
ezinearticles.com/?Comparing-the-Benefits-and-Dangers-of-...
...just a couple of links.
and it doesn’t take much at all to find a dozen or more alternatives.
this bag of Feline Fresh cost me $13.50 and from this early testing stage should
easily last me as long as the same amount/dollar value of the more popular clumping variety.
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here it is, almost 4 months later, and we're still using the same $13.50 bag of pine litter!!! i figure that at the end of this month i'll dump the box which now has the last of the bag in it, and start fresh. STILL no odor, still clumping perfectly, still the most amazing stuff around.
and woody - old crotchety cat - has also converted to the pine stuff. but get this!! in the same three months that mirren barely went through 3/4 of this $13 of pine litter, woody went through FOUR $9 pails of clumping cat litter!!!!
this is the absolute best stuff around. yes, it does track a little, but no more than the clumping stuff. no dust, no smell, very low cost, and best of all - NO TOXINS!!!!
Comments
Mirren Meatguts does NOT look pleased at
showing off her private place.
Posted 7 months ago.
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yeah, mirren meatguts is like "okay,
look here lady. i REALLY appreciate the warm
house, the love, the new name. and i LOVE my
raw food. but this whole following me into
the can to take my photo thing? it's got to
stop."
Posted 7 months ago.
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great
Posted 7 months ago.
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I tried clumping cat litter once and never
finished using the bag. I found it dreadful
stuff and if the cat's paws were the least
bit damp, the litter stuck to them (and
naturally, a cat likes to lick its paws
clean). I just use the cheapy loose clay
variety and dump the whole lot into the woods
behind my berm of prunings and cuttings. A
good heavy rain and it's gone.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Mirren doesn't look very excited about you
showing her "nugget" to the whole
world. ;o)
Posted 7 months ago.
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I use The Worlds Best Cat Litter - a clumping
litter made from corn. It's wonderful,
flushable and doesn't track all over the apt.
I used to find my old litter tracked all over
the place.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Those of us on decades-old septic tanks
couldn't flush cat litter no matter what its
composition!
Posted 7 months ago.
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The cat litter/sea otter problem has been
documented. The problem is toxoplasmosis.
Sewage treatment systems don't filter the
water sufficiently to get rid of the disease
vector and it is reaching the ocean. Do a
bit of searching online and you'll find
credible research backing that up, along with
recommendations to either compost cat litter
or throw it in the trash (apparently, ground
water filtering does do a better job than the
sewage system).
Posted 7 months ago.
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lol @ ekp's comment. ;P Her face there is
priceless.
Posted 7 months ago.
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thanks for touching in, everyone. i think
i'll have j convinced to switch old woody
over to this stuff. i really don't think
it'll end up costing more, and if cost is a
factor, there is cheaper stuff out there ...
i just haven't found it yet.barb , woody's always got litter butt ... and
leaves little white footprints here and
there. yucko. fortunately he's restricted
to j's office. he's our IBD cat ... and with
IBD being one of the possible side-effects
from the sodium bentonite, well ... puck and darcyjayne , i'd tend to think, too, that ground water
filtering would be far more effecient than
anything thing the man-made systems could do,
especially with more natural toxins ... but
that's just my naive belief that a natural
simply has to work better.
Posted 7 months ago.
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That stuff looks good. I'm cat-sitting for
the folks upstairs and they use Feline Pine,
which I see no use for. The pee clods up but
it's impossible to get the poops out. Makes
me even happier I have a dog.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Hmm, makes sense now why our Humane Society
sign is always asking for non-clumping cat
litter!
Posted 7 months ago.
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I use Swheat litter, I tried Feline Pine
(same thing as this stuff) but I seemed to go
through it like water. I stopped clay litter
a while ago--partly because of the nauseating
perfumes and the fact that it's bad for the
environment. Seen on your photo stream. (? )
Posted 7 months ago.
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I have been using pine pellets for some time
now and love it. It disintegrates into
sawdust when it gets wet so it's easy to
differentiate the used bits from the yet to
be used bits.
Posted 7 months ago.
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I've tried all kinds of the clay ones over
the years.....well my cats have. i do like
the pine pellets. I just recently switched to
the clumping kind after years of resisting
and though it is convenient i have had these
worries you talk about....... back to pine or
other natural litter such as swheat or corn.
thanks for the input and helping me to go
with my gut feelings about the clumping
stuff.
Posted 7 months ago.
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I use Fresh Step. It works great but I guess
I'll try pine like you suggested. Does it
control the smell?
Posted 5 months ago.
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U P D A T E ! ! ! =============================================
==================
Posted 3 months ago.
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Thanks for this update, illona - it couldn't
be more timely! With our new addition, I
struggled Friday with what kind of litter to
get - I didn't want to use clumping litter,
so it was between this pine litter you're
using and the kind Puck mentioned above, made
from corn ("The World's Best Cat
Litter"). I got the corn litter, but
now that I know how well this is working for
you, I think I'll try it - there seems to be
more odor with the corn litter than I'm used
to..
Posted 3 months ago.
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No cats here, but I read about the cat litter
any way. I have several friends with cats
and I'm going to share this information with
them. This is an easy way to help keep them
healhy. I appreciate how you fully
investigate all products and medicine that
come in contact with your pets.
Posted 3 months ago.
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Well after your initial post I switched to
Cedarific. Not the best for odor control and
you lose alot trying to scoop out the wet
stuff. I just ordered Swheat from the co-op
last week. i hope it's good cuz it wasn't
cheap and I haven't seen Feline fresh in our
stores. Maybe I'll have to get it in New
Brunswick next time we do some cross border
shopping.
Posted 3 months ago.
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re. odor ... all i can say is mirren's poop
stinks, but then i think ALL cat crap stinks
... she doesn't cover it, i scoop it
immediately. done. but the urine doesn't
smell at all. nada. i'm not sure about
woody, him being a boy cat. i don't spend
much time in his room ... my allergies are
horrendous these days and i'm especially
allergic to him. but mirren's box is in the
main bathroom, no lid, no cover, nothing ...
wide open, balls of pee are picked up once a
day and put in a plastic container with a lid
(not air tight by any means!) where is stays
for at least 2-3 weeks collecting, before i
dump it behind the fence. NO odor. and
trust me, i am SUPER sensitive to odors.karla, yes PLEASE spread the word. this stuff is
SO much healthier than that clay stuff. i
can't believe all the health issues i read
about related to the regular clumping stuff.
when i first started using this pine litter i
thought for sure it wouldn't clump well or it
would stink or it would cost too much. i
can't believe that it's WAY cheaper than the
regular, toxic crap, and works even better.
Posted 3 months ago.
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Only Illona could have a picture of cat
litter with hundreds of views and dozens of
comments...
Posted 3 months ago.
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yes, sara , but sadly, faves. ;)
Posted 3 months ago.
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This is an issue I have been wrestling with
Posted 3 months ago.
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bear in mind, coalandice , this is based on a one-cat box. with a
high-traffic box, i'm not sure how well the
clumps would stand up. they seem well
formed, and they don't break up at all when i
scoop them ... they're still in clumps on the
other side of the fence, even ... but with
multiple cats, i can't vouch for it. still,
i think it would be worth a try.
Posted 3 months ago.
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Was off doing other thingswww.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09_10_cat
coat.html?_r... www.cityfarmer.org/petwaste.html www.mail-archive.com/sustainabletompkins@list
s.mutualaid.... www.thegardenforums.org/viewtopic.php?p=53840
Posted 3 months ago.
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Well i looked at the Atlantic
Superstore......... nada. did you get this at
Sobeys? They just opened a new one in ST
Stephen but I haven't ventured in yet.
Posted 3 months ago.
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no, i get it at Global/Ryan's pet stores ...
"the health food store for your
pets".www.planetwiseproducts.com/howToBuy.htm
Posted 3 months ago.
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I may share this on shelterrific.com --
thanks so much! I can't believe I'm excited
about cat litter. : )
Posted 3 months ago.
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feel free, halfmad . it takes a lot to get me excited about a
product ... i'm VERY critical ... so trust
me, this is a good one. but again, this is a
one-cat litter box. i can't speak for
multi-cat boxes.
Posted 3 months ago.
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I use Feline Pine but my friend told me the
other day that all feline pine is , is wood
stove pellets. She told me that you can buy a
20 pound bag of wood stove pellets for 5
dollars at home depot so I'm going out to get
some after I replace the litter (which every
other saturday) It smells like pine and it
controls to odor for weeks. without cleaning.
Posted 3 months ago.
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yes, for sure if you're using pellets the
wood stove pellets are definitely cheaper.
i didn't want to jump from clumping clay to
pellets though ... wanted to stay with
something of similar texture. even our 17 yr
old cat switched over wonderfully. in fact,
my partner mixed the clay litter with the
Feline Fresh for a short time, which i
thought was disgusting, but it worked. i
doubt the cat would have had a problem if
he'd been switched cold turkey though.
Posted 3 months ago.
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you inspired me to try this out after I saw
the link from shelterrific...I didn't realize
that clay was so harmful to the cat and the
environment. I couldn't find that brand but
my local Von's grocery store had another pine
litter that comes in "clumping"
form-can't remember the brand. Just switched
out yesterday.
Posted 3 months ago.
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cool, gragegrl !! let us know how it goes. i've been told
by the owner of the Global Pets where i
bought this Feline Pine that it's his best
selling brand, and he must carry at least a
dozen different pine litters. so there must
be differences between them. i hope the one
you have clumps as well as this stuff. it's
been awesome.
Posted 3 months ago.
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I’m sorry to say but we tried it and it does
not work in our house. It clumps well, but it
does not control odor well enough for us. We
usually use clumping litter (unscented). I
think if we had the litter box in a larger,
more ventilated area that we didn’t use, like
a garage, it would be fine. As it stands, the
only place for the litter box is in our small
kitchen so I think we’ll have to switch back.
Posted 2 months ago.
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