Cat Litter
Probably one of the more unsustainable things that I do is own pets. From cat food to cat litter, our cats are almost as bad for the environment as a kid! So I try to ameliorate that effect when I can. One of the ways is to keep them indoors; free roaming domestic cats have a devastating effect on the songbird population. Another way is to avoid clay cat litter. The sodium bentonite (clay) isn’t a by-product of some other process; it’s strip mined specifically for the purpose of clumping when cats pee on it. What an incredible waste! Unfortunately, this is what most cat litter is made of.
Even Ollie likes it.
We tried a couple different kinds of “natural” cat litters and weren’t completely satisfied with any of them. Then I read this post on the Apartment Therapy blog. And they were right: World’s Best Cat Litter clumps but smells a little like a barn, while Nature’s Miracle smells like pine but doesn’t clump. Together, they’re perfect. (Maybe the companies should merge…) They’re both made of corn, which is a factory-farmed crop worrisome in its own right, but it’s definitely a step up from clay. And I think it’s the best option for us—at least until I teach my cats to use to use the toilet.
Posted: September 1st, 2009 under Pets.
Tags: cat litter, cats, kitty litter, non-clay cat litter, Pets, sodium bentonite
Comments
Pingback from Looking Back at 2009 « Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time January 4, 2010 at 9:06 pm
[…] Cat litter – We’re really happy with our corn/pine mix. […]
Comment from Natural Health Goodies
Time February 5, 2010 at 11:06 am
I haven’t liked the natural clumping cat litters either, nor the newspaper cat litter for the same reason – who likes the smell of wet newspaper. 🙂
I haven’t tried Nature’s Miracle does that one break down into “sawdust”? What I like about Feline Pine is that it is in a pellet form yet breaks down which helps absorb the urine and clumps with the feces.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my Feline Pine Cat Litter post.
Comment from Brenda Pike
Time February 7, 2010 at 10:14 pm
I like the combo of World’s Best and Nature’s Miracle because World’s Best clumps and Nature’s miracle smells good. They’re both about the consistency of regular litter, so they don’t need to break down.
Pingback from Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time July 31, 2010 at 12:03 pm
[…] Ask Umbra on sustainable choices for cat litter – Grist. You know my choice… […]
Pingback from Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time September 3, 2010 at 7:47 pm
[…] One year ago: Cat Litter. […]
Comment from shelena
Time September 27, 2010 at 10:21 am
I have a cat and kitten and I needed to know can I use barn lime mixed within their cat litter?
Comment from Brenda Pike
Time September 27, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I’ve never heard of that before, and I can’t find anything about it online. It sounds like it would be harsh, though.
Comment from abdo
Time September 17, 2009 at 10:59 pm
I use pet moss mixed with some lime for oder, you can flash down the toilet or use to fertlize non edible plants.