Berkeley Parents Recommendations for What to Buy & Where to Buy It
good kitty litter
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Cats are rolling "pearls" around for baby to eat
August 2001
I know that this is an awfully strange request, but I am at my wits
end. We are currently using "pearls" in our cat box. They work very
well at absorbing the urine and the smell and lasts a long time. The
only problem is that we find the pearls all over the house. The cats
play with them and chase them as they roll around our home!
Our baby is crawling and I don't want her to eat them, as she manages to
do with everything else she finds... I know that they make some that
aren't supposed to roll, but my friends who use them say that even they
make it all over the house.
I would love any suggestions you might have for aww.4d type of kitty
litter.
Thanks!
Michelle
I had the same problem with the pearls and my newly crawling
baby. I actually found the pearls in his mouth several times,
and once, a shattered pearl! The container says "Non Toxic,"
but that wasn't reassuring enough.
I went back to regular, cheap clay litter, and now use cat
box liners and just toss the whole thing twice a week or
so. It doesn't seem to get tracked around nearly as much,
and I'd bet I'm spending less in the process. I loved the
idea of the pearls, but the reality didn't work out as
well.
Jennie
We had the same problem with the 'pearls' kitty littler rolling all over
the house. We tried the alternative shaped 'pearls' which did not roll
as much but still found litter all over the house (it got stuck between
the cat's toes). With a baby in the house we decided that we could not
deal with having litter on the floor for him to munch on. So, we
switched to Yesterday's News (recycled newspaper) or Cat Country. Both
are pellets and both need to be changed very frequently - they are not
nearly as remarkable in urine and odor absorption as the pearls. But,
they do not get all over the house and are environmentally friendly.
For us it was a trade off. We clean the litter very often and can
sometimes smell the cat box (nothing too offensive), but our baby is not
eating cat litter. Good luck in your search for the perfect cat
litter!
Siana
The kind carried by Trader Joe's is the best we've found, and it's quite
inexpensive. It is made of compressed sawdust, so it's ecologically
sound, and it's flushable. And the cats don't find it as fun to play
with as the pearls, so it doesn't get spread around the house as much
Nomi
My personal preference after trying numerous brands is "Ever
Fresh" which unfortunately used to be at Target, but now is ONLY at Petco
at South Shore shopping center in Alameda. (I even called the company to
see if I could get it closer or delivered.) It comes in 30lb plastic
containers. I go out of my way for it because the granulation is just
right: not too fine which sticks to the cat's feet and is dusty, and not
too coarse. Also, it really is orderless and easily clumping. I have a
21 year old cat (yes!) with kidney disease which necessitates cleaning
the litter box at least once daily; so I really am well acquainted with
litter!
victoria
We use cedar chips for our cats and we love 'em. The smell is nice, there isn't lots of dust, and they don't track around the house *too* much. Our cats like them fine but some cats may not like the smell. It's not the fancy "scoopable/flushable" stuff but it's pretty darn cheap -- less than $3 for a bag that can fill the cat box 2 or 3 times. We never flush the stuff anyway -- just change the whole box often. I think most people use this stuff for rabbit or bird cages, but after trying loads of different, very expensive, cat litter, we decided this stuff filled all our needs at the right price.
--Colleen
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