Does anyone know how to make an inexpensive cat litter or am I doomed to having to haul it home from the store? Thanks much!

-- Karen (hhm@stratos.net), December 12, 2000

Answers

I've never actually made this, but I buy a cat litter that it 100% ground up corn cob. It works great - absorbs, clumps, and there is no nasty oder coming from the litter box. And, a little bit lasts a long time. I'm guessing you can just ground up corn yourself and get the same product. Haven't tried it yet, but plan to this Spring when my corn comes in.

-- Julia in Tally (tofubiscuit@excite.com), December 12, 2000.

Shredded newspaper (doesn't control odor to well), sand (orginal stuff used. Inexpensive by the load - hint, keep covered or cat will use it outside too), wood shavings (can get load from sawmill usually free) None of these work as well controling odors, that was why they developed the expensive stuff you have to buy in stores.

By the way, there is a new litter made from sylicon (sp) beads. It last as they advertise, one cat - one month. It does do a good job.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), December 12, 2000.

My barn cats seem to love the sawdust under my tablesaw. Just spread it around shurbs when replaced.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 13, 2000.

Why not topsoil and compost. Our cat has a box with Tidy Cat and he still prefers doing it in our potted plants. Guess it makes him feel like an outdoor cat. You could proballly control odor with a little bit of a chlorophyl plant mixed into it (something like parsley or such).

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 13, 2000.

About 15 years ago we lived in a real sandy area and we used a lot of sand in our little box but it had to be changed almost daily to keep the smell down!

Now that we have two inside cats, I buy the more expensive deoderant cat litter but I clean it out every day. Since this kind doesn't clump I take a plastic bag, like from a grocery story, put it over my hand like a glove, pick up the offending stuff and place it in another plastic bag and immediately take it out to the big garbage can. Needless to say, make sure the plastic bags don't have holes in them!

Sand, dirt and whatever would likely work just as good if were changed every day! We've had two inside cats since August and that has proved to be a bigger challenge than just one!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), December 13, 2000.

Sorry, no homemade ideas but since you'll probably have to haul from the store anyway-go to your vet's office and ask for the litter made from recycled newspapers. We got it once and have been sold since! I also like the crystals-use it for the pet bunny + woodshavings also. Also use a little baking soda for all of them. Good luck!

-- queen (queenbuffness@hotmail.com), December 14, 2000.

Okay, now I'm going to the next question....

What does everyone do with the litter once the cat's finished making their 'contributions'... now you've got a couple of pounds of ammonia-soaked dirt/clay/etc that have to be delt with:

- into the garbage ? - out to the 'back 40 ? - some special something...

j (who is kept by multiple cats)

-- j (jw_hsv@yahoo.com), December 14, 2000.

Our cats work outside all day and use any convenient mole hill for their deposits. Doesn't seem to deter the moles in the least (grrrr), but it's tidy for the cats.

We used to bury the cat waste but we now take it to the dump. I would like an alternative....something along the lines of burning it! I look forward to anyone else's ideas. Do they have "kitty-dooly"s?

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), December 14, 2000.

We dump it in the same hole that we use for dog droppings from our pen and treat it with lime. We keep the pit at the back property line. The lime helps break it all down, returning it to natural state.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 14, 2000.

Sheepish, the doggie doolies can be used for cat droppings too. I have seen a worm composting bin recently (in Real Goods) intended for cat droppings. My cats might use it as a litter box, but I sure wouldn't want to leave the lid off the box -- I don't want worm escapes (rotten little aliens). But you could set up a worm box to be used solely for cat droppings, and use the resultant worm castings/compost on non-food crops.

I have experimented with MANY different kinds of litter. My cats are good -- they seem to recognize that the cat box is the place to go, no matter what I've put in there for litter. BUT they PREFER the scoopable, clumping clay litter. The clumping, scoopable litter was a great improvement, IMO (and the cats) for cleanliness and ease of use. However, they can get silicosis from breathing the dust, they can get impactions from it if they lick it off their feet too much, and there is all that heavy litter to dispose of. It doesn't compost well because of the clumping factor.

I have tried various other products in recent years. The first was Swheat Scoop -- made of ground up wheat, clumps up and can be scooped, can be flushed or composted -- great idea (the clumps start to break up in 2-4 days -- gotta scoop daily, but this is good for composting). HOWEVER, I had it in my basement litterboxes, and I saw an explosion of the mouse population there after, which I think was AT LEAST partially due to this food source. There are other wheat- based brands, but this one is sold a lot around here.

Recently, I have been trying other things. Litter Pearls (other brands too) are silicon/silicate beads that absorb the urine and odors. Scoop out droppings daily, stir litter. Lasts about a month with ONE cat, then you just bag it for the trash. Unfortunately, many cats won't accept it (mine have been pretty good about it). I have put some outside to observe it's biodegradability -- it will biodegrade, but it takes longer than most of us would like. I am not sure about it's desirability in compost either. Although you'd think silicates wouldn't be a problem.

A couple of companies have come out with recycled paper that is very fine, like sand (but MUCH lighter), and it clumps up. It is supposed to be flushable, and I am sure that it would compost pretty well. I didn't like the Pa-Pur brand because they perfume it heavily -- I thought it stunk, and so did the cats. Cat's Pride Scoop n* Flush is much better (grocery stores in this area). Another recycled newspaper that I have used and liked is Eco-Fresh, it's shredded rather than a fine grained type. But I can't remember WHERE I bought the stuff!

I also have used a pelleted grass, brand name Cat Country, that I like and the cats seem to find acceptable. Liquids cause the pellets to swell, and you can pretty well scoop out the soiled part (if you get to it each day). The odor is nice, like hay, and it biodegrades very well.

If I got to choose which litter to use (rather than the cats) -- I would use the Cat Country, pelleted grass fiber, because it smells good, and is easily biodegradeable. The Eco-Fresh shredded newspaper is my second choice. I loved the scoopables when they came out, but I have since figured out how to minimize the maintenance (and become more resigned to it I guess), and I really like that the grass and/or newspaper are recyclable. I'd like the wheat too, except that I believe it attracted mice, who don't seem to care about the grass pellet or the shredded newspaper.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 14, 2000.

J, just spread your used cat litter thinly in your pasture, or, if you don't have pasture, thinly in an unused area of your yard, away from traveled areas. It is an abundant source of nitrogen, a highly desired fertilizer, remember to spread thinly, so the rain and snow can break the solids down, and decompose them. All manure, even cat, dog and human, is still fertilizer, so use it as such. Spread thinly, the sun and weather kill any harmful bacteria in short order, so use this source of nitrogen appropriately. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), December 15, 2000.

I spread some under fence line..eventually just disappears.DW

-- DW (djwallace@ctos.com), December 16, 2000.