Cat Litter - Pt 2

The shelves at local pet supply emporia also hold an array of litters made from eco-friendly materials, including recycled newspaper, corn cobs, peanut shell meal, processed orange peel, wheat, pine sawdust and shavings, and hardwood and cedar chips. All promise to be superior odor controllers, long lasting and earth-friendly. What to choose, what to choose…? In 1990, Dr. Peter Borchelt, an applied animal behaviorist, ran three 10-day tests to determine feline litter preference using a comparison of 14 types of commercial litter as well as topsoil mixed with clay litter and playbox sand. Each cat had 6 boxes to choose from; midway through the testing, the boxes were moved to prevent placement preference from overriding litter type preference. In test after test, fine-grained clumping litter was used more than twice as often as its nearest competitor, with boxes of wood chips, grain litter and recycled paper litter going completely unused. Borchelt concludes, “These data support the clinical observation that an important factor in cats’ preference for litter material is its texture, granularity or coarseness. Everclean, a finely textured clay, was preferred to clay with larger particle sizes. But playbox sand, which is also finely textured, was not preferred much more than coarse clay, perhaps because of the weight of the particles.” What to choose? You control the purse strings, but the ultimate choice is up to your feline friend. For if he does not like the smell and feel of the litter, he will take his business elsewhere. Did You Know? Many scoopable cat litters are processed in such a way to remove as much of the fine dust as possible. If you find that you or your cat is particularly sensitive to airborne dust particles, you may wish to consider using an alternate form of litter. Lapsed Users One in every 10 cats will have a litterbox lapse in his or her lifetime. The 20 most common reasons are: The cat is suffering from a medical problem involving the urinary tract. The cat experiences a bout of geriatric constipation. The caretaker does not keep the box as clean as the cat wants it to be. The owner changes the brand or type of litter. The owner changes the location of the litterbox. The owner switches to deodorized or perfumed litter. The owner buys a new box and throws out the old one. The owner cleans the litterbox with too harsh a cleaning product. The location of the litterbox is too busy or not private enough for the cat. The home is too large for just one litterbox. The cat inadvertently gets locked out of reach of the litterbox. The cat is kept from using the litterbox by another animal in the house. There are too many cats and not enough litterboxes. There are too many cats and not enough territory. Stray cats can be seen/smelled near the cat’s territory. The unneutered male cat has come of age and is marking his territory. The unspayed female is in heat and advertising for suitors. Over time, the cat has developed an aversion to the texture of the litter. The cat was never properly trained to use the litterbox in the first place. The cat is stressed by a change in routine or environment, including a new baby, new furniture, work schedule changes, vacations, overnight guests or a move.