So April and I are slowly (very slowly) working on toilet training the cats. Part of that is putting a litter box by our toilet, so that we can slowly wean them off of their normal litter box. In hopes of enticing them further, I clean this litter box at least once a day (our other litter box that holds about 75 lbs of clay litter gets cleaned once a week). Im lazy and wanted a litter that I could just throw into the toilet, since its right there.
I started with Yesterday's News. Its made of recycled newspaper compacted up into little pellets. It worked, but not well. It failed at hiding any smell and after I did some investigating, I found that it isn't flushable (although I think thats only if you have a septic system). Time for something else!!!
I went to the store to pickup a bag of Feline Pine (sawdust compacted into pellets, flushable) and I saw this Swheat Scoop. Its an all natural wheat product. It's renewable. It's flushable. And most amazingly, it clumps! Oh, and a 40 lb bag was like $25, which works out to be about the same as I pay for the Fresh Step clay litter I was using. Sold!
I took it home, mixed it with what was left of the Yesterday's News (to acclimate them to the new litter), and waited. One of our cats, Steve, is very finicky and I had yet to see him use this newfangled litter box. He was the first one that I showed it to and he INSTANTLY pissed in it! Great Success!
So the end result? The cats LOVE it (I've even put some in their normally clay litter box). Its flushable. It clumps pretty well. Its the same price or cheaper than the clay. And finally its good for the environment!
Slightly Educational: For those that don't know, clay cat litter is harvested via strip mining the earth and is quite nasty for our Green Mother. Additionally, its clay and doesn't break down into anything else and therefore just sits in landfills. Finally, there some debate about what can happen to cats when they ingest clay litter. So, why not try some of this stuff?
I started with Yesterday's News. Its made of recycled newspaper compacted up into little pellets. It worked, but not well. It failed at hiding any smell and after I did some investigating, I found that it isn't flushable (although I think thats only if you have a septic system). Time for something else!!!
I went to the store to pickup a bag of Feline Pine (sawdust compacted into pellets, flushable) and I saw this Swheat Scoop. Its an all natural wheat product. It's renewable. It's flushable. And most amazingly, it clumps! Oh, and a 40 lb bag was like $25, which works out to be about the same as I pay for the Fresh Step clay litter I was using. Sold!
I took it home, mixed it with what was left of the Yesterday's News (to acclimate them to the new litter), and waited. One of our cats, Steve, is very finicky and I had yet to see him use this newfangled litter box. He was the first one that I showed it to and he INSTANTLY pissed in it! Great Success!
So the end result? The cats LOVE it (I've even put some in their normally clay litter box). Its flushable. It clumps pretty well. Its the same price or cheaper than the clay. And finally its good for the environment!
Slightly Educational: For those that don't know, clay cat litter is harvested via strip mining the earth and is quite nasty for our Green Mother. Additionally, its clay and doesn't break down into anything else and therefore just sits in landfills. Finally, there some debate about what can happen to cats when they ingest clay litter. So, why not try some of this stuff?