I was looking through an old article today titled “The Most Toxic Places in Your Home” and number seven was “Your Cat’s Litter Box”. The author of the article was preparing for the arrival of her new baby girl in a few months and was going through her home looking for toxic areas to de-toxify. We all know about the danger of changing cat litter while pregnant (Cat feces can carry a parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, an infection that can cause miscarriage, congenital defects, or other problems to developing babies – personally I think it was made up just so the husband would have to change the cat litter) but there is a danger in the cat litter as well that effects all of us.
Cat litter can contain crystalline silica a known carcinogen, basically if your cat litter says go to the ER if swallowed – you probably should not have it in your house. I personally don’t go around eating cat litter but the dust from cat litter is just as toxic.
There are plenty of more natural cat litters available including cat litter made from corn, wheat, alfalfa, cedar, newspaper and my personal favorite pine. Actually we’ve only tried a few alternative cat litters, but once we tried Feline Pine we’ve pretty much stuck with it since it has been the best cat litter we’ve used. We tried Yesterday’s News cat litter, a newspaper based cat litter but it just didn’t handle the smell as well as the Feline Pine.
Why Feline Pine is the best cat litter:
1) Pleasant pine smell really hides the smell of cat urine.
2) Turns from pellets to sawdust (time to change the box).
3) Easy to scoop, but it helps to have a scoop with large enough holes for the pellets
4) Safe for kitties and cats of all ages, no more allergies or asthma, dust free and chemical free (so it is safe for you too)
5) Biodegradable, all natural and environmentally friendly (the pellets are even flushable)
6) More affordable than many cat litters we’ve tried, plus it lasts a long time before it needs to be changed.
Cons:
1) Some cats take awhile to adjust to it. Our two older cats took to it right away, but other cat owners have said that their cats wouldn’t use it. According to a review by a litter box rehabilitation specialist you should go slow and hang on to your old litter box until the cat has fully transitioned to the new Feline Pine cat litter. She also recommends using the Feline Pine litter box or any sifting litter box
2) Some complain about the sawdust or pellets tracking, although we haven’t had a big problem with that – a few pellets make their way out of the box but an occasional hand vac or sweep takes care of that.
What natural cat litter have you tried? Please share your opinion below. we’d love to hear from you.
10 Comments Received
I use a combination of World’s Best Cat Litter and Nature’s Miracle. I think it may be a little dustier than regular cat litter, but it’s corn and pine dust, so less toxic. My cats took to it immediately.
Brenda Pike´s last blog ..Festival of Frugality #215
Please be careful with pine cat litter !!! “Natural” does not always mean safe. Pine litter made out of pine and cedar can damage the respiratory tract, causing chronic respiratory disease, and asthma, and some studies have found an association between exposure to some wood dusts and oral cancers.
According to http://www.felineasthma.org/triggers/index.htm “What may look like the “natural” alternative may actually make your cats asthma worse. For instance, there is litter out there that is made of Pine. You can also buy litter that is made from cedar. The plicatic acid that’s found naturally in cedar, and abietic acid found in pine, can damage the respiratory tract, causing chronic respiratory disease, and asthma.”
For more info see “Respiratory toxicity of cedar and pine wood”
http://www.trifl.org/cedar.shtml
Thank you Mia, those were interesting articles. I wonder if anyone has noticed their cats getting asthma from Feline Pine. The article did say Abietic acid (found in pine) itself elicits relatively weak allergic responses it is mostly cedar that they are referring too. Plus the study involved people working in saw mills who would have excessive exposure to the cedar dust. There really isn’t any dust since the pellets are compressed so I wonder if that reduces the risk. I would hope so.
Wow, never really put too much thought into the toxic elements in certain cat litter products. My cat tends to sneeze a lot when she uses the litter box, and it could possible be the type of litter that I’m using. It’s very similar to the Feline Pine that you recommend, but not the same. I may have to give it a try.
Kim @ cat litter box´s last blog ..How do I keep cat litter from getting all over my apartment?
Choosing cat litter is definitely a big issue for most cat owners. Of course there are pros and cons to each kind. One of the pros that a lot of people may like is that it is greener than most. And the piney smell is great too
trishool@why do cats knead´s last blog ..Why Do Cats Knead? – Bullet Point Information
I never thought of a cat having asthma – but I suppose they could of course. I would imagine that some types of litter would be especially bad for a cat who suffers from this condition. Thanks for the information.
Thanks for visiting Jane, Yes generally the clay type cat litters are especially bad since they have such fine dust particles. Nice looking Squidoo lens – I gave ‘er a thumbs up.
Feline Pine clumping liter was the only thing that made my cat’s asthma go away. When the steroid shots and pills stopped working.
That’s good to hear Jen – I’m glad your cat is breathing much easier these days. We still use feline pine and haven’t found anything that works as well.
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