Most of us look
at the sandy little grains of cat litter as just a necessity of kitty
ownership that we really don’t need to
or want to think about any further than ‘Did I scoop it today?’. Well let me
tell you, there are some serious and scary things hiding in that litter – and I
don’t mean the clumps! In my quest to
find the healthiest ways to care and provide for my felines’ needs I came
across some interesting facts about the clay litter I was using. What I found
made just as concerned for my health as I was for their health.
Let’s start with
clay cat litter, shall we? Clay cat litter contains sodium bentonite which is a
clumping agent that causes the litter to expand to 15-18 times its dry size
when it gets wet. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Well, have you ever seen
your cat grooming (licking) itself after using the potty box? Can you imagine
what that expanding cat litter and its remnant dust is doing in your kitty’s
body? Yeah, not so pretty! You especially have to be cautious when using this
litter around kittens that have a tendency to eat things out of curiosity –
litter not excluded. The ingestion of this litter can potentially cause an
intestinal blockage and have deadly consequences (not to mention what it must
being doing in the lungs of anything that inhales a whiff of the dust it
creates!).
The potential hazards
do not just apply to cats – does your dog ever venture over to the litter box
for a ‘snack’? Now, I know my canines are not the only ones on the planet that
do this. What do you think that litter is doing inside their gut? Holistic animal
care specialist and PhD. Lisa S. Newman reported on a fatal case of canine bloat,
“When his stomach was opened, it was full of clumping cat litter! Some dogs
have been known to root around in the litter daily, creating respiratory
conditions (from gel coating of the lung tissue), eye irritation, colon
distress and even mal absorption of nutrients.”
Lucky for us, there
are many widely available alternatives to clay cat litters like
World’s Best Cat Litter, Feline Pine, Yesterday’s News and Blue Buffalo Naturally
Fresh Litter, just to name a few. This of course is a matter of personal choice
and preference – just know that what your precious feline is pooping in may be
more sinister than what meets the nose.
I must tell you that
there are no official scientific studies concerning bentonite toxicosis, only
many anecdotal reports from former clay litter consumers. I don’t know about
you but I certainly do not want to take that chance and I can tell you that I personally
feel a lot better now that I am not breathing in a clay dust cloud during
litter duty.
Michelle
Brockman for
Jonah’s Place
References:
PetsgoNatural.com; Lisa Newman, Carefreepet.com
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