Cat Litter, part 2

Image by xeni via Flickr

Well, here is the other half of the cat litter issue, non-clay litters. There are several good reasons to use the non-clay litters, one of the main ones being that it is a great way to reduce your cats carbon paw print to use recycled materials or organic products rather than clay.

If you want to look at recycled materials, you can use a couple of different products made out of recycled paper. One company that sells a recycled paper litter is ExquisiCat? Recycled Paper Fragrance-Free Cat Litter - 25 lbs. Another company that uses recycled paper Purina which offers Yesterday's News Cat Litter which is a little more expensive than the Exquisicat brand. These companies state that their product is three times more absorbent than conventional clay litter, that it is virtually dust free, and is low tracking. If you prefer clumping litter, this is probably not a product for you.

Organic materials are also being used by many different cat litter producers. You can find cat litters that are made out of pine wood, usually made from scrap material after processing of different wood products, litter made out of corn and wheat. Some are scoopable, others are not. One of the leading brands of pine based litter is Feline Pine Cat Litter by Nature's Earth Products also Feline Pine Clumping Cat Litter. In the reviews that I have seen, users of this product like the smell of this product, and the odor control. They also like the fact that you need less of the non clumping version than the non clumping clay litter.

For corn based litter, the leading brand is World's Best Cat Litter - Original Formula. The leading product for wheat based litter is Multi-Cat Swheat Scoop Litter. The reviewers say that these types of litters are safe for kittens and infection prone cats, that it clumps quickly, controls odor well, and works very will with self cleaning litter boxes. Another fact about the corn and wheat based products is that they will not harm a pet that ingests the litter. These litters are also low dust and low tracking products. They are also flushable, which are not the most environmentally friendly solution, or can be composted, which is much more eco-friendly.

The last item is the silica based crystalline litter, such as ExquisiCat? Crystals Cat Litter. This is also a litter that is biodegradable and can be composted like the wheat and corn products. This product absorbs the liquid of the urine and also helps to remove moisture from the solid wastes, helping to control odors. However, from reviews that I have read, it does tend to get tracked out of the litter box more readily. Also, it reaches a saturation point where the crystals can no longer absorb liquid and the contents of the litter box must be completely changed. You can also get products like Tidy Cats Scoop Crystals Blend for Multiple Cats - 20 lb, which is a combination of scoopable clay litter combined with the crystals to improve absorbency and reduce odor and bacterial growth.

Next time, we will look at litter boxes, to put all these litters in.