According to Marina Michaels in the article Clumping Clay Kitty Litters: A Deadly Convenience? (www.catmom.com/marina/articles/clum.html) the cat gets it on its fur, grooms itself and ingests it eventually causing a variety of health problems. Also, the baking soda used to elimate odors causes more problems? We've been using "Litter Purrfect" from Costco because it's fairly dust-free, totally odor free and clumps well. Since our picky cat insists it be cleaned after every use before he uses it again, we appreciate its convenience.
We were thinking of getting one of those electronic cleaning cat litter boxes (Target has them on sale for about $85 this week) but know so little about this whole cat maintenance thing, we're not sure about it. We don't mind scooping three or four times of times a day (he drinks quite a bit of water) but will the cat sitter when we go on vacation? Lynn
Does clumping clay kitty litter cause feline health problems
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kate & kobi
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2003 2:50 pm
- Location: California
Re: Does clumping clay kitty litter cause feline health prob
Here's what I know about your litter questions (not much, so I hope others will post more):
The clumping clay litter is only really a problem with small kittens, who have very small digestive tracts and therefore the clumping litter can be more dangerous. For older cats (not sure what the cut-off age is), it should be fine.
As far as the electronic boxes - many cats may be frightened of the noise they make, and end up refusing to use them. So if you do get one, I'd recommend keeping your old box in the same place, at least until you know that your cat will accept the electronic one. In my experience, cat sitters won't do as good a job cleaning out boxes as you will.
-Kate
The clumping clay litter is only really a problem with small kittens, who have very small digestive tracts and therefore the clumping litter can be more dangerous. For older cats (not sure what the cut-off age is), it should be fine.
As far as the electronic boxes - many cats may be frightened of the noise they make, and end up refusing to use them. So if you do get one, I'd recommend keeping your old box in the same place, at least until you know that your cat will accept the electronic one. In my experience, cat sitters won't do as good a job cleaning out boxes as you will.
-Kate
Re: Does clumping clay kitty litter cause feline health prob
Hi Lynn,
I've been using clumping litter with my 2 boys for years and they have not experienced any health problems related to this as far as I know. I'm far from the expert in this area, but I just wanted to share my experience with you.
My one furguy, Smokey has urinary health problems and I changed his food to one which causes him to urinate more. I travel frequently and experienced some concerns about having the person who watches my cats clean the litter box. So I also thought about buying an Automatic Kitty litter and posted here for input. In the end, I decided against it. I can't figure out how to link my message to this post but please go to around page 6 and look for the post by me and the last date someone posted was July 7...
Lots of luck to you.
I've been using clumping litter with my 2 boys for years and they have not experienced any health problems related to this as far as I know. I'm far from the expert in this area, but I just wanted to share my experience with you.
My one furguy, Smokey has urinary health problems and I changed his food to one which causes him to urinate more. I travel frequently and experienced some concerns about having the person who watches my cats clean the litter box. So I also thought about buying an Automatic Kitty litter and posted here for input. In the end, I decided against it. I can't figure out how to link my message to this post but please go to around page 6 and look for the post by me and the last date someone posted was July 7...
Lots of luck to you.
Lisa, Angel Smokey and little Caz