Cat Litter, part 1

Image via Wikipedia

There are some things that your cat needs every day. Food, sleep (lots of sleep!), water, and of course, someplace to eliminate their wastes. Most people will use a litter box of one sort or another, and one of several types of litter. First, we will focus on the different types of cat litter. After that, I’ll look at the different types of litter boxes.

Basically, there are four types of litter commonly available for cat owners today. These are conventional, non-clumping clay litter, clumping clay litter, plant based litters and silica gel litters. Lets look at some of the pros and cons of the different types of litters.
Conventional, non-clumping clay litter was first sold in 1948 by Ed Lowe, who worked with his father selling commercial, industrial absorbents. He gave this to a neighbor to use instead of the ash that she had been using. She loved it so much that he started marketing it under the name “Kitty Litter” which became a generic term for all cat litters. Actually, conventional clay litter is no different than commercial absorbent used for spilled oil, etc. in garages. The oil absorbent is often less expensive than product labeled as kitty litter, and is often substituted for the brand product. Standard clay litter was used almost exclusively until 1980s, when scoop able litter was developed. A couple of the main problems with clay litter is that while it is absorbent, it does not particularly eliminate odors. It also needs to be completely changed with far greater frequency than any of the other litters. While it is the cheapest per pound, because you need to use so much more, it is actually one of the more expensive options, and the least sanitary.

Clumping, or scoopable litter, was first marketed in the 1980s. It is made up of sodium bentonite. According to one source, about 69 percent of all cat owners use clumping clay litters. One of the big selling points is that it controls odors very well, and is very economical to use because you only need to remove the litter that has clumped up when the cat urinates on it, so you use far less scoopable litter than standard litter. The down sides that have been reported have not been verified in any studies that I have been able to find in the literature that I have researched. However, the problems that have been reported would appear to make sense. It is felt that as the dust or litter is ingested, often because of the cat cleaning its paws after using the litter box stays in the cats digestive system, causing blockages in the intestinal and urinary tracts, or contributing to bacterial or viral infections. Inhaled dust can also cause clumps to form in the lungs as moisture is absorbed from the tissue. Because of the lack of tangible evidence, this is not something that I feel you should be concerned about.

I will research and post information about the other two types of litters in my next posting.

*The photo on this post is of Ed Lowe, the first person to sell kitty litter.