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Eco-Friendly Kitty Litter

posted by Annie B. Bond Feb 17, 1999 2:56 am
filed under: Pets, Everyday Pet Care
Eco-Friendly Kitty Litter
61 comments

by Hilary Stamper

Some kitty litters can be burdens on landfills and the traditional clay variety, which is often strip-mined, often contains silica dust, a carcinogen. Below are some tips for using a more eco-friendly litter that is environmentally sound both inside and outside your home. A number of eco-friendly kitty litters are available online.

• Try litter made from recycled newspapers. The paper absorbs just as well as conventional clumping litter, but this approach helps the environment by reusing resources. Two great brands are Yesterdays News and Good Mews.

• Another great option is litter made from reclaimed wood. Sawdust that would normally end up in landfills is concentrated without the use of dangerous chemicals to produce environmentally safe litter. Two brands are Nature’s Earth and Catfresh.

More on Everyday Pet Care (96 articles available)
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61 comments

61 comments

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61 Comments       add a comment »
Nancy M.

World's Best Cat Litter" has become my favorite. It lasts a very long time, so it really ends up being quite cost-effective, and the cats like it just fine. Odor control is excellent, and I can flush it or toss it into the bamboo woods in my backyard when it's finished. With daily scooping, a bag will last about a month in my two-cat household!

Deana H.

I agree with Swheat Scoop. I have a picky cat that will follow me around and meow until I clean the litter. She refuses to use paper and clay based litter. Her sister doesn't care as much. We live in a small place, and we don't get smells from the wheat grass litter. I just throw the used litter into the compost with our composting toilet waste. It has to thoroughly compost for over 2 years, but hey...good for the flowers

Hannah L.

Several months ago I found a wonderful clumping, flushable corncob litter called "Fresh Results." The kitties love it and so do I, but suddenly I'm unable to find it anywhere. Arm & Hammer is also good, so I'm using it now; but I really would like to find Fresh Results again! Does anybody know what happened to it?

Christy V.

We have 7 cats and tried pine and to a cat they would use anywhere but the litter box. That was when it was mixed in with clumped and corn. So I use Arm & Hammer essentials corn based.

Carolelorraine S.

Try Feline Fresh!!! Look online....I have four cats ranging in age from 4 to 18. Three neutered boys and one spayed female. All are rescue babies (two were sadly declawed and have sensitive front paws). I have tried everything and finally found Feline Fresh in the new clumping scoopable form. It is made from pine and smells great. It is easy to clean, weighs very little and doesn't cover their feet in dust like the Feline Pine scoopable (which is too finely milled). I only need two huge boxes which I clean every morning and every night. Some tracking but mostly from my big eighteen pound boy!

Caralien S.

I started my (then) kittens on Feline Pine, and now that I only have one (lost one to an ex), he hates everything else. I've tried the wheat, newspaper, corn cob versions, sawdust--none are as good. He's turning 11 in April 2009, and is rather persnickety when it comes to smells, and this is the only one he likes.

Heather K.

Feline Pine is made from the waste of pine mills and is a wonderful cat litter. There's no clay, and it's completely biodegradable. It also smells nice. They have regular pellets that break down into a sawdust look when used, and then a clumping version, which looks already broken down; the clumping litter doesn't do a hard clump like clay cat litters, but it did work well enough for my 16 year old cat who wouldn't convert to the pellet style.

Sue C.
  • Sue C. says
  • Oct 30, 2008 12:53 PM

For my two cats I use wood stove pellets, which are made from sawdust compressed into small, well, pellets (how else can I describe them?) It smells nice, and even with two cats it takes quite a while before it has all broken back down into sawdust and then can be thrown in your compost for non-edible garden use. It's very cheap and can be picked up from feed stores or wood stove suppliers. In B.C., Canada I pay about $12 for a huge bag that lasts me a very long time. Love that it is non-smelly and environmentally friendly. They do kick the material out on the floor a bit, but they would do that with any litter. I hope this is useful info for someone out there.

Sharon K.

"World's Best Cat Litter" is truth in advertising! It is the one made from corn. I have 3 cats, ablsoutely no litter odor issues,and it's flushable! Also, no dust. One cat has asthma and all other litters made her cough and sneeze.

misha d.

White vinegar is an excellent, effective and INEXPENSIVE household cleaner.
The smell dissipates as it dries and will be gone in a matter of an hour max.

With five cats, I can't afford to spend a lot of money on "foo foo" litter either. However, I found that spending more money on high quality cat food (like Innova or similar) results in less waste. After the pet food scare last year, I've had it and started making my own cat food.
Its MUCH cheaper, my cats love it.
You can find a lot of info at catnutrition.org
Point and case:
I just spent $11 on ingredients to make 6 pounds of fresh cat food, which will last me about 3 weeks (for FIVE cats!). In addition to that I buy $10 bag of Halo dry food. That's $21 bucks for 5 cats for 3 weeks.
Not bad, eh :)
Now if I could find an affordable, environmentally friendly litter....


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