Is Your Cat Litter Killing Your Cat

From LoveToKnow Cats

Our resident cat expert, Wendy Nan Rees, offers advice on choosing cat litter that will keep your house smelling fresh, but also protect the health of your feline companions.

Long haired cats can pick up litter on their paws and fur, and then lick it off during grooming, ingesting tiny granules.

Is Your Cat Litter Killing Your Cat?

That scoopable litter that you think is so wonderful may be killing your cat.

Not all scoopable litters are made the same. In fact, some of them can be toxic to your cat and may be banned in the city you live in. I talk with my assistant Ruthie every day, and she mentioned a person we both know was using a dangerous litter for her cat. Since I don’t have cats of my own, I couldn’t understand how a scoopable cat litter could be dangerous to any cat. After all, aren’t they supposed to be safe?

The Scoopable Litter Trend

I see many trends come and go in the pet industry, some are good, some bad. This is one trend that started in the 1980s and is here to stay. However, not all things about scoopable litter are good for our cats or the environment. The company that first brought this litter to the market was A & M with the introduction of Ever Clean® cat litter in 1987.

Scoopable Litter Basics

The premise behind scoopable litter is that you don’t get liquid feces or urine pooling in the bottom of the litter box. The litter material bonds with the feces or urine and “clumps” around it encapsulating the material before it gets to the bottom of the litter box. This way you can remove either the feces or urine as a litter clump and never have to deal with it again. Most scoopable litters are made with bentonite which is a variety of clay that has cement-like qualities when liquid is added. And I do mean cement. Clumping litters are made to absorb up tp 15 times their weight in liquid, otherwise they would not work.

Where the Problem Comes In

The problem happens when cats lick their paws during grooming and ingest some of the clinging litter particles. Curious kittens may even eat the litter. Since this litter is made to absorb many times its weight in liquid, the liquid in the cat’s intestinal tract or lungs is what gets absorbed. This can cause urinary tract issues, bowel obsturctions, dehydration and other health problems over time.

Even breathing the dust from some brands can cause health problems. The dust in bentonite is silica, a material that has been shown to create lung issues for both humans and felines. This becomes an issue because silica (an ingredient of glass) causes silocosis in humans, and can also cause the same lung condition in cats. At the present time there is no cure for silocosis.

On the environmental front, bentonite litters are so good at clumping that many cities now ban them because they are clogging sewers and water treatment systems.

It should be noted that many cat breeders are now rethinking which litter to use in their litter boxes these days.

Alternative Litters

The upside is there are safe alternatives to clay clumping litters. Swheat Scoop® (a litter Ruthie uses), is a wheat-based litter that is safe for cats and can be flushed down a toilet since it helps the environment while not hurting it. Although I have no personal experience with it, “The World’s Best Cat Litter”, is supposed to be safe for cats also.

Be sure to do your homework when shopping for a litter for your cat or new kitten. After all, you accepted the feline into your family; wouldn’t you want him or her to live as long as possible?

“Remember the animals in your life are not just your pets; they’re your friends.”~ WNR