Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with litter

Alternatives to Alternative Cat Litter

PhoBWanKenobi — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:09:38 -0800

Are there any decent alternatives to Feline Pine that my kitty will actually use? Sammy Katz and I have been happy users of Feline Pine for almost three years now. I made the switch because he's a notorious litter-tracker and I was looking for something that was environmentally friendly. He had no problems with the initial switch and, though he mostly goes outside (he's indoor-outdoor; we've had trouble completely transitioning him to the inside because we live in a small studio, but we've gotten him down to only going out for about thirty minutes in the morning), he used it happily when he had to.

Until a few weeks ago, when he abruptly started spraying around the house if we wouldn't get up early enough to let him out. We had a vet check him out (everything is fine), and got a Feliway diffuser, which has put an end to the spraying. But he still won't use his box. It's been raining for the past two days, and he just held everything in--for over thirty hours! I had Mr. WanKenobi pick up some different litter from the supermarket, to see if that helped. He got some Tidy Cat and as soon as we filled it, Sammy ran to the box and immediately peed.

So I guess he's not happy with the Feline Pine.

But I hate normal cat litter--I hate the smell, the environmental unsoundness, and the way he kicks it all over the place. I know there are a lot of natural cat litters: have any feline-pine resistant-kitty owners had success with other brands like World's Best or Swheat Scoop (and, possibly stupid question, but Mr. WanKenobi has celiac's disease--would having a pan of Swheat Schoop in our tiny apartment be a bad idea in light of that?), and how are they in terms of tracking and odor control?

I can has halp with kitteh peepee?

4ster — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:06:21 -0800

The new kitten keeps peeing on our bed. Four weeks ago, we adopted a (then) five-month-old spayed female kitten from the SPCA. It really is a sweet, fun affectionate cat who has twice now peed all over our bed.

Kitteh has also peed all over my laundry and the carpet.

I switched to Cat Attract Litter and the absolutely amazing Omega Paw Rolling Litter Box, and make a point to keep the litter box clean, to the point of getting all the clumps out three to four times a day.

We steam cleaned the carpet, and then kept the cat in the room with the litter box for about four days. We still played with her, loved on her, etc., but kept her in the room where the box was. We had read in several places that this is a good method for helping a cat start using the litter box exclusively.

Things could not be more perfect. She is using the box, the house is clean, the cat is purring and playful and all the things you would expect a happy, healthy cat to do. She is eating and drinking fine.

Then last night, she pees on the bed again, and probably some other places as well.

Here is the thing: my wife never smells cat pee like I can. She usually accuses me of blowing things out of proportion when it comes to cat odor, but she told me this morning that "it is really bad." I'm out of town, so I'm sure that if it is "really bad" to her, when I get home, it's going to be like being waterboarded with cat pee for me.

The only other detail I can think to mention is that the litter box is downstairs, and we haven't tried bringing it upstairs, because we have an 11 month old child, and we are afraid of catching the infant partaking of crunchy-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside cat leavings.

What are we missing here? The litter box is kept very clean, it is in a safe, quiet, private place, the cat is happy and affectionate, and the cat did great for about a week, and then regressed.

Halp?

My cat's pee is missing.

miagaille — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:56:11 -0800

My cat hasn't used her litter box in over two weeks. The house smells great. She has no way to get outside. Where is the pee going? Two weeks ago she stopped using her litter box and started pooping in the basement crawlspace. The whole house smelled awful. We naturally assumed she was peeing in the same place.

Yesterday I crawled in on my belly in a hazmat suit and picked up all the poop. I searched around for damp or stinky spots that would indicate urine, but found nothing. Today I went back in with a fairly high-powered UV flashlight, and again found nothing to indicate urine. I went all over the house with it and similarly found nothing. The smell also completely went away when I cleaned up the poop, and now the house smells fine.

The cat is a 2-year-old spayed female, indoor only. She's been eating and drinking normally and shows no sign of pain or distress that would suggest a urinary blockage.

So, WFT cat pee?? I'm pretty sure the cat's fine, I'm just completely mystified and weirded out.

How do I convince my cat her litter box is not a good hang-out?

scrute — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:11:25 -0800

My cat loves her litter box.... too much. How do I get her to stop playing in it? It's not that she is playing with the messes in her litter box (although she will if she can't find any of her toys), it's that she insists on taking her balls into her litter box to play. I'm a little grossed out by it and wonder if it's spreading germs all over my apartment when she takes the balls out and rolls them around the rest of the place.

I don't know if it's relevant, but she didn't use a litter box until she was almost a year old (2 months ago). For the previous 10 months she was living in a country with 'wet' bathrooms and would go either in the drain or directly beside it (litter was unavailable and/or prohibitively expensive). She took to the litter box immediately, but now seems to think it's an okay place to hang out.

Any suggestions for at least getting her to stop taking her toys in? I've tried covering it and it doesn't really work.

Otterwa?

Jairus — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:41:31 -0800

Are there any animals in the Ottawa (Canada) area likely to be harmed by flushable cat litter?

Corn cat litter question

Barmecide — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:22:29 -0800

Last month I switched over to a corn cat litter. (This one) And aside from the kitten occasionally deciding the scattered bits of litter are food, it's going quite well. But how 'flushable' is this litter? After using the clay litter for so long, I hadn't even considered just flushing the new litter (either the clumps or the poops.) Then this morning I noticed the giant 'Flushable!'graphic and have been wondering exactly how well this works. Have you tried it? Has it worked for you for a long time now? Do the clumps actually flush, or just the solid poops with little litter attached?

If this works out, I'd be happy to save the extra trash bags, not send untreated litter into a landfill, not have the week's waste buildup in a nearby scooping bag, and so on and so on... But not at the expense of a plumber's visit.

Need advice on cat urination issue

MeetMegan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:53:58 -0800

Cat behavior question: urinating outside (directly outside) the litterbox. Vet has ruled out any blood issues or urinary blockages. I have darling, dear, adorable Coal. He will be 2 at the end of this month. Over the last six weeks, he has taken to urinating directly outside of his litterbox. All. The. Time.

I took him to the vet four weeks ago, when I realized this was a problem that wasn't going to go away. She tested him for everything generally imaginable in a young cat, and he's come out with a clean bill of health. She has suggested a high-resolution ultrasound (an ultrasound she generally gives to elderly cats or those with known urinary issues, in addition to the ultrasound she took at her office) and I am considering that, as he may have very small crystals/blockages invisible on her ultrasound. Barring that, it seems as though this is a behavior problem.

He no longer urinates in his litterbox at all. He still defecates in his litterbox, as normal. He stands with his two front paws inside the litterbox, his two back paws outside, and urinating like that - directly outside the box. I have always fastidiously cleaned his litterbox, when I wake up, before I go to work, when I get home from work, and before I go to bed. "Stale box" should not be a problem. He has, luckily and thank my stars, not ever urinated anywhere aside from the master bathroom floor.

I have four litterboxes in my house. Three are in the master bath, which is where his original one litterbox always was. There are now two litterboxes near where he often urinates, and those boxes have his old litter (World's Best). There is also a third litter box, about three feet away, with a new litter (Arm & Hammer Naturals - it was the texture that seemed most different from World's Best). There is a fourth litterbox in a guest bathroom with the old litter brand in it - that remains untouched in the last four weeks (by urine or feces). The other three boxes in the master bath have all been blessed by his feces, but not by his urine (in the last four weeks, at least). Is there another litter I should try? Does Cat Attract really work?

About three weeks ago, I had the genius streak and got some of those puppy training pads, and placed them all around the bathroom. He now urinates on those, which has been handy in showing me exactly where he goes when I am gone at work. They are still a bear to clean up though (they drip and aren't always watertight!).

I have cleaned up any urine outside a box by first wiping up any excess with a paper towel, then using Lysol or Clorox to sanitize the area, and then spraying with Nature's Miracle Advanced for Cats and allowing that to dry. Is there another technique I should be using to clean up his little mistakes?

I have tried using aluminum foil where I don't want him to urinate - that doesn't work since he sees it as a game and tears off large pieces of foil to chase around my house. I've tried picking him up and putting him inside his litterbox when I see him urinating outside, and that doesn't work; he just stops mid-stream and walks away, only to come back later and finish the job - outside the box.

One might think that I am somehow torturing him and he's acting out to get back at me. Alas, no. He lives an amazing life - he does not like other cats (he is very violent with them), so he does not have a kitty compatriot at home, and that is not plausible (the vet has recommended strongly against it). He gets plenty of cuddle time, and at least 45 minutes of one-on-one play time with me a day, either with a laser pointer, feather toy, ball chase, or other technique. He is indoor-only, and has been since he was rescued off the streets at six weeks of age by the Anti-Cruelty Society. I adopted him at twelve weeks. He's only ever known me as a companion. On the off chance I do have to travel out of town, my mom comes to my house and stays with him – the entire time I am gone. He’s never been left alone more than 12-14 hours at a time.

Other circumstances: We moved into this condo over a year ago. At the time, I was prepared for the worst, but he had no issues adapting and instead embraced his new, active life inside a bigger home and with terrific views outside. He spends much of his "alone" time looking out my windows and chasing after errant flowers, birds, and insects he sees outside. He has never had issues adapting to new people in my life, and I have had no new people in my life recently. He is the life of the party when I have them, but again, I haven't had one in the last three months.

I am sorry for the long post – I’m trying to provide as much information as possible! I love him more than anything, and if I have to keep cleaning up puppy training pads for the rest of my life, I will do so. I just think there has to be a better way. So, I turn to you for advice. Please help!

Kittys no longer using litter boxes

bmoster — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:28:10 -0800

Help, Our cats are ruining our new house We have three cats one 16yrs old, One 10 yrs.and one 2 yrs.old.After moving into our new condo last year one, two,or all three have been peeing and pooping everywhere.we have had some small problems in our last house but nothing like this.We have three litter boxes in one room and one in another room.Does anyone know how we can tell which one is doing this? and what we can do about it.

Help me contain my cat's huge pees!

oblique red — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:04:53 -0800

What is the best kitty litter for my big, large-volume-output, refuses-to-cover cat? There are tons of cat-litter questions but none seem to address the volume issue. I have a 17-pound (not fat but tall and big, stands almost knee-height), adult-shelter-rescue, front-declawed, indoor-only cat named Charlie. Charlie is a delightful cat and has very good and easygoing litter manners. The problem is not one of his behavior (well, mostly); it's one of logistics.

Charlie, being a big cat, has a correspondingly big bladder, and I have despaired of finding a cat litter solution that will help me deal with the sheer quantity of his output. (Note: this is not abnormal, he-might-be-diabetic pee, just big-cat-thus-more-volume pee.) Charlie seems to be willing to use whatever kind of litter I buy, and I feel like I've tried just about everything.

(Charlie's one issue is that he digs but doesn't bury anything. If anyone has suggestions for that, I'd love to hear them, btw.)

So here is what I've tried and what happened:
Grain-based litter - WBCL and Swheat Scoop - I like these because of their lower weight and better environmental footprint, but they resulted in giant wet sawdust clumps that had to be scraped off the bottom of the box like stucco.

Regular clay clumping (Fresh Step et al) - same thing.

Crystal or pellet - pee runs in between the pellets and puddles on the bottom of the pan, apparently in too much quantity to be absorbed in time to not make the pan bottom nasty. A sludge of pee-sodden crystals must be cleared, like the world's most revolting snow-salt on your steps.

My only former cat was a five-pound lady who made, and buried, dainty little pee-clumps the size of maybe a ping-pong or golf ball. I am at a loss how to deal with Charlie's softballs! I feel like it must be a combination of technique and type that I have not hit on yet. I'm hoping someone out there will have dealt with this before...

Alternatives to Kitty Litter

electroboy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:28:31 -0800

Alternatives to regular kitty litter? Standard bentonite kitty litter seems sort of dumb. You buy a heavy, relatively expensive bucket of clay for your cats to crap in and then throw it away. Lather, rinse, repeat. Has anyone tried the alternatives? What were they like? The ideal would be renewable, light and cheap, but I'm willing to settle for 2 of 3 (preferably 1 and 3).

I'm aware of the Charles Mingus toilet training method, but our cats are fat and dumb, so this seems unlikely.

We considered trying pine shavings, since we have those already for the chickens, but I'd prefer to have some independent confirmation prior to engaging in any poopsperimentation.

how to clean cat piss and litter off tile floor?

Anonymous — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:33:26 -0800

Need to clean dried cat piss and litter off of a tile floor We use the second bathroom for the cats' litterboxes (2) and they track litter around the floor and then piss on it. I have let this go for too long and it's disgusting (why this is anon). I have tried Lysol and paper towels which gets a lot of it, but there is stuff that sticks like cement to the tile, especially in the grout areas. What can I use to scrape it up and clean it.

From zero to crazy cat lady in 13 short weeks.

cgg — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:59:09 -0800

3 cats, one small apartment. I'm looking for as much advice, strategies and product recommendations that I can get. The goal is happy healthy kitties, with my sanity intact. Long story short (background here, here and here if you're really bored) -- I fostered an abandoned pregnant mommy kitty. 13 weeks later, after considerable doses of both heartbreak and happiness, mommy cat and her surviving kittens are doing well. One's been adopted out to a great home, and the two remaining kittens are still with me. One is the runt who has already had her share of problems, but right now is doing well. The other is pretty much a clone of her mommy. I've made the decision to keep all three -- now the trick is making this work.

(Yes, I realize I'm now the crazy cat lady. Somewhere, somehow, I've made all the rookie fostering mistakes, have gotten too attached to my babies, and can't give them up. 3 cats is a lot, especially given the small space -- I will concede that. But I can't choose just one or two -- they all have awesome yet unique personalities, they get along great, they make me happy, and this fostering experience has made me realize that I can provide them a good home. I feel good about saving these otherwise abandoned cats. Plus, all three are all black, so at least they only shed one color.)

So, with all that out of the way -- what do I need to know?

Any suggestions on handling the multi cat litter box situation? So far they're all sharing well, but who knows how long that will last. I barely have a good place for one litter box, so multiple boxes are going to be a challenge. Recommendations for a good covered litter box? I've read those fancy auto-cleaning boxes don't work in multi-cat households, because they tend to freak out / interupt the cat second in line at the loo. Anyone have experience with that?

How can I best keep my apartment from smelling like "cat"? I'm not talking cat urine, specifically -- i just want to keep the place from smelling like a vet's office. Difficulty: kitten proof solutions. Right now everything is a potential toy.

Do cat trees really work? With limited horizontal space, I know I need to go vertical, and have been looking at those giant 6 feet+ cat trees. But I don't want to spend all that money on ugly furniture if it's not going to be used.

Any other random bits of information you wish you'd known earlier?

Thanks in advance!

Litter box odours

page123 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:04:08 -0800

The best digestive enzyme to eliminate litter box odours?

Do Iranians litter?

atchafalaya — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:04:08 -0800

Is Iran cleaner than Iraq? I've been to a couple of Arabic-speaking countries, and one thing I noticed was the piles of trash everywhere. Pervasive litter.

I recently saw a slide show about Iran, and the lack of litter in public spaces surprised me.

Is Iran different in that respect?

Yes, I know Iran is not Arabic.

CatFilter: Help! One of my male cats has FLUTD/FUS and I'm at my wits end try to deal with it.

pghjezebel — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:33:19 -0800

CatFilter: Help! One of my male cats has FLUTD/FUS and I'm at my wits end try to deal with it. Both of my male cats suffer from FLUTD/FUS. One has been in good health for several years now. The other has been through several episodes in regards to FLUTD.

This most recent episode has lasted more than two weeks now. He's been to our normal vet several times. Since they know his history, they keep telling me to just "wait it out". They've put him on a light pain killer and Phenoxybenzamine (to relax the bladder). He's also been there three additional times so they could re-hydrate him as his interest in food/water is minimal at the moment.

I also took him an kitty ER one night because I was getting worried about him. They found he had an infection (put him on antibiotics), and has Struvite crystals in his urine. Bladder was clear and in good shape other than being inflamed. He was also backed up, so they did an enema on him as well. Then they recommended putting him on a prescription diet for cats that suffer from FLUTD.

That in itself poses a problem because both of my boys have food allergies. It took me a long time to get them on a diet (Duck and Pea dry food) that didn't make them throw up. I've heard dry diets are bad for cats with FLUTD so I gave the wet prescription a try anyway. Neither cat was horribly interested in it. And my regular vet recommended keeping them on the Duck and Pea since it did take a long time to find a good that didnt make them sick.

At home, I've been trying to deal with by confining him to a room with multiple litter boxes/ food/water (since he is straining to urinate all over the house). We've had to move him several times already because every room we put him in, he literally uses the whole room as his litter box. He's very slowly ruining our house.

Have any other owners out there dealt with this before? Or anything similar? Any tips, suggestions? I feel like I've tried everything and I'm not sure how much longer I'm supposed to "wait it out". The vet bills have cost a small fortune so far, the house is turning into a litter box, and the stress of dealing with this is getting to me as well as the cat.

Cat-Pee To Meet You

spamguy — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:56:44 -0800

How do I manage litter box odour in my apartment? I've had my kitteh Wernher von Braun for six months, and only now am I admitting to myself that I have no idea how to maintain a litter box. The epiphany came when I was looking at litter at the grocery store and my girlfriend said, 'Can I make a suggestion? Choose scented.'

The litter box is enclosed and looks like a pet carrier. Even though the kitteh has normal bathroom habits, my apartment's kitchen reeks of cat poo and old urine. I do what I can to scoop the poo, even though the kitteh's a crap factory and I worry he may be a little diarrhetic. His fresh poo reeks. The pee-soaked litter I haven't been able to control either because it's hard to isolate. Thus, the blackened litter sits and sits and sits until I purge the whole damn litter box.

Teach me from the ground up your kitteh odour control skills!

handicapped-accessible litter box ideas!

thinkingwoman — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:27:05 -0800

my 19-year-old 3-legged cat is finally getting too stiff to use a regular litter box. what can i use instead? our miraculous, elderly kitty is finally feeling her age and the loss of a hind leg (that happened 10 years ago), and is having some difficulty accessing a normal-height litter box. we've made a little platform stair for her out of two side-by-side phone books to give her a little boost, but she's still having trouble. she's otherwise healthy, amazingly--this is clearly just an accessibility issue.

i'm thinking the best thing for her would be to find some kind of large jellyroll pan and use that. the sides of a jellyroll pan are only about an inch high, though, and may not actually be able to contain the litter (we would probably have to use less and scoop more regardless).

short of building something out of wood, can anyone think of an existing pan or containment device that is about two feet long, a foot and a half wide, and about 3 inches deep that we could repurpose as a litter pan? disposable/flimsy is okay--she is 19; she is unlikely to outlive the practicality of whatever solution we come up with.

thanks!

The Downside to Litter

mccarty.tim — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:40:57 -0800

My friend and I are having a bit of a debate: Is litter harmful for the environment, society, or other aspects, as I've been led to believe? Legality is not the issue. While eating out at a sandwich place with no indoor seating one night, my friend spilled sauce on his new coat, took a napkin to clean his coat, and angrily tossed the napkin out the car's window. I told him that he shouldn't litter, especially when there's a trash can 10 feet away. He then demanded that I explain why it matters if he, or society at large, littered. I was taken aback as I had never really thought out reasons for it, accepting it to just be a bad thing to do. Thinking hastily, I mentioned broken window theory, animals getting sick from the litter, and it generally making the community look worse. He said I was overstating the impact and/or the chances of each of those things happening, and said that life was too short to worry about litter and that none of his friends in his hometown cared either. To be fair, this was in a suburb of Trenton, NJ, and there aren't really any woods or too many animals nearby. Still, it just felt like he was doing something really wrong, and I was taken aback because he's a very strong democrat and usually is in favor of environmentalist policies. It struck me as at least a bit hypocritical.

Anyway, I decided to google if there were problems with littering, but I mostly found websites listing the legal penalties behind littering, or websites on kitty litter. What are the real, tangible downsides and consequences to littering? I'm not looking for an excuse to litter, as I find it no big deal to find a trash can and act accordingly. Nor am I expecting to find many personal consequences outside of shunning from strangers and tickets from police officers. Rather, I'd like evidence that litter is a serious problem for the environment. Information on urban and suburban littering would be most relevant, although I've seen it's particularly rampant out in the country.

Gee Your Cat Smells Terrific

26.2 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:46:09 -0800

Most scoopable cat litter has a fragrance added. Normally we hunt for unscented litter, since the scents linger on my cat and he smells like air freshener. We accidentally bought a 40 pound tub of super scented litter. Is there any way to make it less aromatic or remove the smell from the cat?

The tinest kitten puddle.

cgg — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:39:12 -0800

Follow up to last week's question: My rescue foster cat just had her litter of kittens. I have questions, obviously. 6 hours or so ago, my sweetheart foster cat gave birth. I think there's 6 of them -- they're all black, so when they're in a pile, it's hard to tell exactly. I had 6 counted, but it looked like she might have one more and I needed to get some sleep. If she had it and it's in the pile, I have no idea. It wasn't the easiest delivery, but in the end it looks like all are curled up with mom, eating and jostling for position. Momma's napping intermittently.

First question: How soon can I move momma cat and the litter? I have a bigger, better box for them in a better location, one that isn't layered with the icky bloody towel they're currently on. Momma cat trusts me, so getting her kittens from her isn't a problem. I just don't want to handle the newborns more than I already have, and I don't want to stress anybody out.

Two: In the bottom of the pile somewhere is a kitten with a really long umbilical cord. (Mom cut it, there's just several inches attached to the kitten) It cant be good -- it's either going to dry to the towel and get the kitten stuck, or get wrapped around something bad. Can I cut it?

Three: How do I know if the kittens are getting enough food? There's intermittent crying, but it's impossible to tell which kitten is the culprit. Also -- any idea how I can identify 6 seemingly identical kittens? I thought of nail polish, but I don't want momma cat licking that...

And finally: If any don't make it, what am I supposed to with the the bodies? I don't want to just throw them in the dumpster...

Sorry for all the questions. Basically, I'm just looking for new-litter advice from anybody who has been there or know about these things!

Looking for the best litter-tracking solutions

phoenixy — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:27:44 -0800

Looking for the best kitty litter-tracking solutions. My cat is a prodigious spreader of kitty litter. I tried to solve the problem by switching to a covered litter box and then getting a little plastic litter mat but it doesn't really do anything; I think the problem is that she tends to jump out of the box, which just sends litter everywhere--I guess my problem is really more litter flinging than litter tracking. I know that there are more-enclosed types of litterboxes I could try, but she's a bit of a fat cat so I'm worried that she wouldn't be able to use them. I saw this Paw-Path litter mat thing that seems like it might work, but I can't find any unbiased reviews (all the reviews are positive ones cherry-picked from their email) so I'm a bit skeptical--has anyone tried it? How do MeFites tackle litter tracking?

Any suggestions on how to make a Littler Locker?

pghjezebel — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:47:32 -0800

DIY Litter Locker? I'd love to use a litter locker when cleaning my cats litter boxes, but I can't justify spending that much on the refills, especially when I have two cats.

I can get small scented garbage bags x 100 for about a dollar a piece at our local dollar store. I'm looking for a air tight container, that would make a good diy litter locker. Just curious if anyone has done something similar to this before?

Don Draper is a litter-bug

snwod — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:06:09 -0800

Just watched an episode of Mad Men, and one of the actions of the characters caused a bit of a double-take. How common was blatant littering in the early 60s? The episode in question is from the 2nd Season and is called "The Golden Violin," and the scene I'm talking about isn't really very important to the episode, but it struck me as wrong, wrong, wrong (me being a product of early 80s schooling where littering will land you in, or around, the lowest depths of the netherworld). Don, Betty, and the kids have just finished a family pic-nic in the park. As they get ready to return home, Don downs the last of his beer and chucks the empty can into the grass. Betty cleans off the pic-nic blanket by shaking all of the trash onto the ground. They all return to the car and drive away.

I know that Mad Men prides itself on being a faithful representation of the early 60s (font choices notwithstanding), so I'm curious if blatant littering, like it appears in this episode, was common practice back then?

Highly absorbent; highly nutritious?

Dr. Wu — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:23:04 -0800

Could I eat cat litter? Let me be clear here: I have no intention of actually eating cat litter.

But! We recently switched to the laboriously named Swheat Scoop-brand cat litter (which works quite well), which appears to be made of nothing but dried, cracked wheat.

Could I, say, cook this stuff up in some hot milk or water, add a little butter and brown sugar, and enjoy a piping hot kitty-litter breakfast? If not, why not?

My kitties make stinkies

GeneticFreek — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:29:45 -0800

Do any of the automatic cat litter boxes work well? We got a Littermaid Automatic cat litter box a couple years ago when our friends' cats died and ran away. It worked okay, but would often get stuck, and was still a messy business with cat litter strewn everywhere. But the thing has finally kicked the bucket and we were wanting to get another. Looking at the reviews for the new versions of the littermaid litter box on Amazon, however, they seemed to have come down in quality. The other litter boxes don't seem to have great reviews either. The Litter Robot seems to get okay reviews, but is awfully expensive.

What are people experience with the current selection of automatic litter boxes? Is any particular one recommended, or should we just go back to manual scooping?