When we adopted Belita, the Humane Society sent us home with a kitty care package. It had samples of cat chow, cat treats, a couple of toys and a sample sized bag of Feline Pine cat litter.
Feline Pine isn't dusty like other cat litters are. It's made of sawdust compressed into small, thin cylindrical pellets that absorb liquid. After two weeks of being peed on, the pellets turn to sawdust and can be composted or used for mulch.
Solid waste clumps loosely enough to get scooped and flushed down the toilet. Flushing is far preferable to scooping, bagging and hauling kitty waste to the backyard trash cans.
I had visions of Feline Pine revolutionizing the Robertson-Stevens household. However, this otherwise fine product doesn't live up to all its billing.
Where does it fail, you ask? It handles the ammonia smell well, but it doesn't do as well with malodorous stool. Put plainly, the shit still stinks whether it's buried in pine sawdust or not. And if you don't scoop/flush right away, forget about odor control in an enclosed space.
I really wanted Feline Pine to work. I love being able to compost kitty litter and reduce waste. But, BUT I don't want a house that smells like a sawdusty poopateria. Especially since our feline population has doubled.
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We used the Feline Pine for our dog litter - BUT it was in the garage, not in the house. We also used it for the cat litter - but it was in a remote utility room, so it didn't get stinky in the living areas.
That said, there's no way we would use it in our apartment. No, we use special odor-controlling litter, but it's not the little grey clay stuff either. Not sure what it is.
We also used another environmental product that looked like little pellets, made from recycled newspapers - also for the dog and cat litter. Back in the large house days, again.
Hey look - aside from being cranky, I can also ramble on about cat and dog litter and have absolutely nothing relevant to add to the conversation.
we use the shredded paper from our paper shredder for our rats. Its free.
Di - are you using the white stuff from Migros? I found something that is a cross between that and the feline pine (so not smelly, environmentaly friendly, and low-tracking) at Champion. I will check the brand name. And it's cheaper than the Migros stuff.
That being said, what I want to know is why there aren't trainers out there who can teach the damn cats to use the toilet. Seriously. I HATE cat litter. HATE HATE HATE it. I can smell cat shite from miles away. I know the instant they've laid a log. GRRR. I would happily pay several hundred if somebody would come and teach my cats - especially the one who goes BESIDE the box instead of IN it - to use the damned loo.
Don't get me started on cats and their toiletry habits. Let's just say that it's the bane of my existence. Dr. Lala, there are way to train cats to use the toilet. Check this out: http://www.citikitty.com/
As much as I hate scooping and prefer flushing kitty poo, there is NO WAY I want to share the toilet with the cats. That's MY seat.
The main litterbox is in the laundry room where it's out of nose range as long as we remember to keep the door closed. But the bedroom where we've been keeping Belita is going to need a serious Febreezing.
I looked at the compressed newspaper litter, but I'm not sure it would control odor any better than the Feline Pine.
Compressed newspaper litter: No, no odor control whatsoever, and it breaks down into smaller bits of dust than the Pine does. It's not very good, just environmentally friendly (I guess).
Our litter: Don't know if it's from Migros (we buy it nearly everywhere), but it is white - I think it's called Catsan, comes in a blue bag with a white handle. I believe it's Scott's preferred brand now.
To all: My apologies for my random mormon hostility yesterday. I often get swiss and mormons mixed up in my head (they do have things in common mind you), and I'm mad at the swissies and their poor pain management at the moment. I don't mean to be all religion-bashing. Ahem, speaking of manners, *I* should get some.
It's hard to remember I'm not 14 anymore.
Swizzies: This isn't my blog, but you were bashing Mormons yesterday and confusing them with the Swiss?!? Did I miss something?
Read the comments on the last few entries here, J. You'll see what Swizzies was talking about/apologizing unnecessarily for. :)
I think I'll take another swing through the PetsMart kitty litter aisle and see if there's anything else worth trying.
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