Let’s face it: As a lot as we love our cats, coping with cat litter is just not anybody’s thought of a superb time! Not solely do we’d like our cats to be proud of the litter, but it surely additionally must be comparatively trouble free for us to scrub.
When you’ve determined that you simply need to begin utilizing an eco-friendly cat litter, however you’re undecided what sort is greatest and even the best way to go about switching over to a brand new litter, we’ve acquired you lined.
On this article, we focus on the totally different sorts of eco-friendly cat litter accessible and the best way to swap to a brand new one efficiently.
What Precisely Is Eco-friendly Cat Litter?
When you’re involved concerning the atmosphere and need to maintain your carbon footprint as small as attainable, eco-friendly cat litter can assist. Such a litter is mostly made utilizing biodegradable supplies which can be recycled and renewable. It can be byproducts from different industries, which suggests it has gone by way of minimal processing and is sustainably sourced.
Disposing of eco-friendly cat litter can be practically guilt free, on condition that it’s biodegradable and compostable.
Easy methods to Change to Eco-Pleasant Cat Litter
A lot of this relies on your cat and what you’re on the lookout for in a litter. Nonetheless, right here’s a common information:
1. Do It Regularly
Cats should not followers of change, notably with regards to their meals and litter. The easiest way to introduce new litter is to do it slowly and step by step.
Combine a small quantity of the brand new litter with their common litter. Within the first week, intention for about 20% new litter to 80% previous. Within the second week, do 40% new litter to 60% previous, and so forth till your cat is barely utilizing the brand new litter.
Whereas making this transition, place the brand new litter on the underside with the previous litter on high.
2. Keep away from Too A lot Change at As soon as
Don’t introduce your cat to new litter if there are different issues already happening within the family. For instance, in case you’re switching litter since you’re getting a second cat, it’s not a good suggestion to modify your previous cat’s litter. They are going to be coping with the stress of the brand new cat already.
Don’t contemplate making a change if the rest is occurring, such as you’re transferring, having a brand new child, or doing renovations.
3. Set Up Extra Than One Litter Field
In case your cat appears reluctant to make use of the brand new litter, contemplate establishing a second litter field with one more new litter. You are able to do this with greater than two if desired.
For instance, you’ll be able to put down one litter field with walnut, one other with pine, and a 3rd with bamboo litter. This provides your cat a number of new litters to select from and can assist you pinpoint the litter that they like essentially the most.
4. Make It Acquainted
Cats can have preferences on the kind of litter field as nicely, for instance they will not be used to a lined or self cleansing field. Maintain the kind of litter field constant, and the situation related, when switching to new cat litter. Generally cats favor to make use of litter containers which can be clear, simple to entry and really feel ‘protected’. Keep away from putting containers in noisy areas and put them away from their meals and water bowls.
5. Reward Your Cat
In case your cat continues to be reluctant, give them a deal with or reward every time they use the brand new litter. Like practically all animals, cats are meals motivated, so giving them a high-value deal with after they use the litter would possibly encourage them to maintain utilizing it.
6. Maintain Making an attempt
So many issues about cat litter can delay your cat, the feel and the scent being the largest elements. When you’re making an attempt out a litter and your cat would somewhat pee on the ground than go within the litter field, you need to get a brand new one.
Making an attempt out a number of litter containers can turn out to be useful, but it surely does imply spending fairly a bit of cash for all of the totally different litters. Go for the smallest or most cost-effective containers/luggage attainable. In case your cat is recurrently going toileting outdoors of their litter field, or there are another modifications of their habits, get them checked out by your vet to ensure there are not any underlying medical points that want addressing.
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What Are Eco-Pleasant Cat Litters Made From?
There are many eco-friendly cat litter accessible, from fairly quite a lot of supplies! When selecting, make sure to think about any allergy symptoms you or your cat might have. The next are all accessible as cat litter, and every has its benefits and drawbacks:
- Bamboo: Bamboo is just not the most typical of pure cat litter, but it surely’s absorbent and respectable at odor management. Nevertheless, the clumps are likely to disintegrate.
- Coconut: Coconut husk makes an excellent cat litter. It may be clumping or non-clumping, and it’s light-weight and fully biodegradable. However it may be messy and exhausting to seek out for buy.
- Corn: Corn cat litter has been round for some time. It might clump and is light-weight, virtually dust-free, and sometimes flushable. Nevertheless, it isn’t all the time one of the best at odor management.
- Grass seed: Grass seed litter clumps, is almost dust-free, and is comfortable on the paws however tends to trace.
- Paper: Recycled paper could be clumping or non-clumping, absorbent, and dust-free. However odor management could be a difficulty.
- Pine: Pine litter is a biodegradable cat litter that’s been round for some time. It may be clumping or non-clumping and doesn’t observe too badly, but it surely isn’t all the time good with odor management.
- Tofu: ‘Tofu litter’, produced from soybean byproducts, is dust-free, clumps, doesn’t observe, and reduces unhealthy odors. Nevertheless, the clumps don’t all the time keep collectively and might get a bit mushy.
- Walnut: Walnut cat litter is produced from the fibrous materials discovered inside walnut shells. It reduces unhealthy odors and is absorbent and dust-free. It tends to trace a good bit, although, and doesn’t all the time clump nicely.
- Wheat: Wheat cat usually litter is flushable and good at clumping, however it may be fairly dusty.
- Wooden: Wooden cat litter is produced from totally different sorts of wooden, so there are various choices.
Even one of the best cat litter can shortly begin smelling unhealthy. To keep away from the expense and inconvenience of continually changing your litter, you’ll be able to strive an excellent litter additive like Hepper’s Superior Bio-Enzyme Cat Litter Deodorizer, a pure product that makes use of bio-enzymes to neutralize odors.
Hepper Superior Bio-Enzyme Cat Litter Deodorizer Powder
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This deodorizer works on all kinds of litter and will not disrupt your cat’s litter field habits.
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What to Look For in an Eco-friendly Cat Litter
Home cats are descended from wildcats that reside in a desert atmosphere, so they have an inclination to favor a sand-like texture of their litter.
When purchasing for an eco-friendly litter, it’s good to contemplate the feel and scent of it on your cat. However you’ll additionally want one thing that you could work with, as some are extra difficult to take care of than others. Many of those sorts of cat litter is not going to clump in addition to clay or silica, so that you’ll have to weigh what’s extra necessary to you.
Learn critiques (three-star critiques make a pleasant stability between unfavorable and optimistic), and search for the important thing features that may make or break a litter: mud, monitoring, clumping, and odor management.
What’s Unsuitable With Conventional Cat Litter?
Conventional Clay
Clay is the most well-liked cat litter and has been across the longest. It’s identified for its potential to soak up and maintain liquid and supplies good odor management.
However conventional clay doesn’t clump, so it wants frequent altering; sometimes, your entire litter field ought to be dumped, cleaned, and replenished as soon as every week.
Bentonite Clay
Sodium bentonite is what causes conventional litter to clump. In truth, it may possibly improve to fifteen instances its dimension. Clumping litter is sort of well-liked, notably as a result of it’s simple to scrub. Nevertheless, there have been considerations concerning the mud from the sodium bentonite being inhaled and inflicting respiratory points. If ingested the clay could cause severe gastrointestinal points when it swells up. Additionally, the clay generally used is obtained from strip mining which is damaging to the atmosphere.
It’s as much as every cat proprietor to weigh what’s greatest for his or her cat and discuss to their veterinarian relating to their considerations.
Silica
Silica gel makes up the crystallized cat litter that can be fairly well-liked. It’s absorbent and supplies good odor management, and is long-lasting. There haven’t been any main research on the potential dangers, however up to now it’s thought of protected until ingested.
It’s made with silicone dioxide, which is a pure materials that types into tiny pearls. Whereas it’s typically thought of protected, some silica litter is tough in texture, and lots of cats dislike the way it feels on their paws. It’s additionally not biodegradable, and since silica is derived from quartz, mining operations are crucial to acquire it.
Conclusion
Altering your cat’s litter would possibly go extremely nicely, or it’d find yourself taking an excessive amount of your time and endurance earlier than your cat adjusts.
Since litter is such an integral a part of cat possession, your cat should be okay with their litter. When you decide on a brand new litter, make sure to learn the directions on one of the simplest ways to make use of it.
There’s no query that you simply’ll have to undergo a little bit of trial and error when switching to an eco-friendly cat litter, but when achieved proper, you’ll have a barely smaller carbon footprint and hopefully, a happier cat.
Featured Picture Credit score: Lightspruch, Shutterstock