cat litter

[LittleRoosterCroft]

Hello all,

I know that somewhere there is some information on this but darned if I can find it now.

I am looking to figure out cheaper cat litter. Right now I use arm and hammer - the biodegradable cedar type, I used to use Cedarific before it got so expensive. I want a litter that is biodegradable, that I can toss into the tall grass outside the area my featherheads roam and it biodegrades...the two products I just listed are great for that. However, they are expensive and I find I spend more money on that than I do the rest of my groceries now that most of my food is local, canned myself, etc.

So, anyone have any ideas and any success with something more available in bulk?

- Kitty (and her cats thank you!)

Oh and Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[dragonlaurel]

I've heard about people using pine bark- the kind with the little pieces. You can get big amounts of it for cheap. Or huge amounts (think truckload) for even better deals. Totally biodegradable and it's good mulch too.

 

[Marianne]

Buying cat litter has irritated me for some time. I have 5 cats indoors, but I don't want my house to smell like I have 5 cats indoors. I have the same criteria as you.

I used to buy Equine pine pellets at Tractor supply for about $6 a 50 lb bag. Loved it - biodegradable, no odor. It was identical to Feline Pine which was about $25 for a 20 lb. bag. Now that the pine pellet bedding is no longer available, I'm trying everything. I can find wood pellets, but they have an odd and not pleasant odor after kitty does her thing. I'm trying pellets for pellet stoves now. The pellets are larger, the weirdo smell isn't as bad, but it's still there although the pellets are cheap enough.

My daughter bought alfalfa/grass/whatever rabbit food for cat litter and said it was naaaaasty. Other people have posted that they use that, though. When I questioned my daughter if it was truly alfalfa, she didn't know, saying she pitched it all.

The pine shavings that you buy in the bales worked okay-ish. It just tracked all over the place, and hung on the fur of my long haired cats.

Someone suggested using soil with straw bits from the garden. I tried that, too. As long as you had enough dirt so cat could cover his business, it was okay-ish. But I needed to change it more often than I wanted to with the herd that I have.

Someone suggested leaves from the leaf vac. That didn't work too well for me. If you decide to try that, you can put dry leaves into a trash bag and then crush them w/ your feet, too.

I did the homemade stuff for several months - it's just newspaper pulp and baking soda. It worked better than I thought it would, was light to carry, controlled odors better than I thought it would. The downside to that is that it takes 2 - 3 days for the stuff to dry completely. If I had just one cat, maybe even two, I'd probably have a designated area to dry the stuff and just make it. But with all the litter boxes I have to change, it got to be a real hassle.
I also read that you can use just shredded newspaper with a sprinkling of baking soda. Now I wish I hadn't donated my shredder. But once again, I bet it'd hang on the fur and I'd be dumping litter boxes daily. JMO and YMMV.

 

[Marianne]

I've heard about people using pine bark- the kind with the little pieces. You can get big amounts of it for cheap. Or huge amounts (think truckload) for even better deals. Totally biodegradable and it's good mulch too.

Where do you find something like that? I have no sawmill or anything like that around here. :/ that sure would be the way to go. Oh, I also tried sawdust from our own shop for a while.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Hey Kitty! Hope you're doing well! How are the bunnies? Looks like I may be getting a NZ doe on our trip to NC in the next couple of days!

A few ideas for litter...what about sand? You can buy bags of play sand or construction grade sand at Lowes for pretty cheap. May get tracked around a little. Or how about shredded paper? Our office has tons of the stuff. May not be the best at absorbing though. Or what about Woody Pet? They make bedding for horse stalls, but they also sell a pet litter type. The horse stall stuff comes in bales, and it would probably last you for a long time! A lady I know uses it for her horses, and she wets it so it expands (but isn't very wet at all) and then she spreads it all around in the stall. It's very absorbent and lasts a long time. http://www.woodypet.com/index.html

Talk to you soon hopefully!

 

[dragonlaurel]

I've heard about people using pine bark- the kind with the little pieces. You can get big amounts of it for cheap. Or huge amounts (think truckload) for even better deals. Totally biodegradable and it's good mulch too.

Where do you find something like that? I have no sawmill or anything like that around here. :/ that sure would be the way to go. Oh, I also tried sawdust from our own shop for a while.

I haven't tried it yet, but they used the kind that is normally sold for mulch. If you want a truckload, contact a landscape supply place.

Or ask the power company or tree service people what they do with the chipped up stuff after trimming trees. May get a better deal.

 

[~gd]

Playsand? the neighbors's cat is always walking 300 yards just to come and leave scat in the kids sandbox. one drawback it is heavy!

 

[LittleRoosterCroft]

Hey all,

Thanks for the info...I am going to try a few things and I'll let you know how it goes. Unfortunately, I did try the sand thing and that was just too bloody heavy!!!!

I might try sand mixed with something so it isn't as heavy. Hey Katie, thanks, I'll be checking that link out! I hope you are well and had great holidays...need to get caught up on my blogs too!

 

[Marianne]

Holy cow! I just looked closer at your pic and that is one huge rabbit!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Flemish Giant? Pretty! Maybe powdered clay and lime...that is basically what kitty litter is~clay that clumps once it has gotten wet. I'd mix clay powder, lime and sand so it won't be so powdery when they dig into it.

I like the idea of the soil and just use a composting trench in your garden....bury it in the trench and let nature and the worms return it to the soil. All real and imagined fecal contaminants would be well composted by spring.

Potting soil is very absorbent and light weight...could that be an alternative? A big bag would last a long time and could just be added to your flower beds and such.