Conference misery::feline_v1

    I can't believe I was just going to ask about the same exact
    thing today and there it is staring me in the face. My wife just told
    me about it over the weekend, so we went out to a pet supply store in
    Chelmsford to check it out. It looks good.
    
    WARNING: If you have private septic, DO NOT FLUSH litter balls down the
    toilet. The company literature states that the litter is not to be
    flushed in homes with privates septic systems. 
    
    It must cause a DESTRUCTIVE chemical reaction to the good bacteria in 
    the septic, or something. I have private septic in Westford, so I'll 
    toss it in the trash, as before. 
    
    I guess they have tried this already with cats and they claim, nothing 
    will harm the cat. The only other caveat is they say to limit the useage 
    to 2 cats per litter box. I have only one cat, so I'm not concerned too 
    much. The problem crops up when the cat(s) tramp(s) over the urine balls 
    and breaks them up. This keeps you from picking up the liquid waste with 
    a litter rake or spoon, adding early replacement of the litter and
    boosting the cost. 
    
    So for those who are in multi-kitty-city, you might not benefit as much. 
    It would not be cost effective for these folks unless each cat had and 
    used his own litter box.
    
    Unless I hear anything to the contrary, I'm going to buy this litter in
    a few weeks. I guess the cats like to play in the stuff at first.
    There's no chemical or waste smell and, supposedly, little in the way of 
    litter dust.
    
    				Russ		
    

    
    	This was discussed in notes 567.20-> and 2503.9->.  I called
    	them once and asked for a pamphlet, etc, but never heard from	
    	them so I didn't pursue it...Anybody else have try it and have
    	any comments???
    
    	Sherry
    

    I like this stuff a lot, as I've said before.  One thing I wish is
    that it came in biodegradable containers, though.   Yuk to
    plastic.
    

    Look for major sand tracking all over your house.  The stuff sticks
    to their paws and then comes out everywhere else but the litter
    box.  And, just like beach sand, it is fine and grainy and makes
    a mess.  Other than that, and the multi kitty problem, the stuff
    is okay.
    
    Jo

    Re: .4
    
    Well,  there is sand for about a two foot area around S&H's boxes.
    No where else in the house.  I keep a Dust Buster nearby for
    quick cleanups.
    

    Recently switched to Ever Clean for my cat and she likes it very
    much - since I am a bit of a "nut" I kept two litter boxes out for
    her to try out and after a few days she selected Ever Clean
    exclusively.
    
    I don't find it any messier that the old litter that I was using...
    and I believe in the long run cost wise it will probably break even
    no more liners and or throwing out the whole thing.

    I have been using this stuff for about 4 months.  Is's ok.  I do
    have major sand, but the dustbuster mentioned previously does fine.
    
    I have found however, that I do occasionally have to change the
    litter.  Once every three weeks or so I throw it all out because
    of the urine odor.
    
    I have three cats and am extremely picky about the box so
    it might be me.
    
    Cyndi

    re: .7 urine odor.  I wonder if you could mix some baking soda
    with it and still have it work correctly.  I've found that baking
    soda works wonders to extend the life of regular cat litter.  That
    ever clean is much more expensive than regular cat litter if you
    have to keep filling a whole box every few weeks.
      Nancy DC

    The removal of the "pee balls" reduces the level of the litter over
    time.  When it gets fairly low, like after 5 or 6 weeks, I dump
    it all and scrub the box and refill it with fresh litter.  I
    believe I'm actually saving money with this type of litter
    compared to the other kind.
    

    Sorry if I missed an earlier discussion on this...
    
    but, the the 'pee balls' stand up to a cat burying them?   Nippa
    has to cover everything, whe she uses the box that is....
    

    Well, what happens is this:
    
    1.  the cat pees in the bx
    2.  the cat covers it up
    3.  the sand coaslesces (sp?) around the pee into a ball anywhere
        from a couple of inches to several inches in diameter.
    
    It is okay if the box is used a few times before you scoop the balls
    out, as they tend to be buried and are localized.
    

    An Aunt of mine was visiting from upstate, NY this past weekend.  She
    asked me if I had heard on TV and in the newspapers about the sand type
    litters causing death in cats.  Seems it gets into their systems over
    time and kills them.
    
    I haven't heard a thing about this here in New England and am wondering
    if others have.  If there is truth to this, it certainly sounds
    plausible to me as I stopped buying it due to almost dying myself while
    scooping litter.  The dust is horrible and the sand so fine and easily
    inhaled.  Figured if it was wreaking havoc with me, imagine what it is
    doing to my cats.
    
    Anyway, this news sure was new to me!  Does anyone else have info to
    share?
    

    I haven't heard this.  I stopped using it because it aggravated
    Sweetie's respiratory condition.  Someone else  posted a note about it
    causing a severe eye problem with their cat that they caught
    just before it caused blindness.
    

    Do you know any name brands that we might watch out for?  I know Kitty
    Kleen is the brand used at cat shows and the kind I always buy for my 3
    boxes.  Haven't had any problems with that.

    The sand type litters are quite distinctive and really do look like
    fine sand.  This is opposed to the clay stuff that cat litters have
    traditionally looked like.  Some clays are Safeway generic brand,
    Johnny (Jonny?) Cat.  One brand of sand litter is called something like
    Everclean.
    
    I really would like to know the details of what might be happening
    with the sand litters, if anything.  Given sweetie's breathing trouble
    and the other cat's eye trouble, I can believe that the very fine sand
    might be harming the lungs, but it would be good to knwo for sure.
    

    I'm terribly new to this "owned by a cat" role.  If someone could post
    some brand names of the sand type, it would help amatures like me
    immeasurably.  I'd hate to buy a brand, then find out I did the wrong
    thing.  So much to learn...I've only been doing this for a few weeks!
    Sarah
    

    Everclean is the only one I can think of off the top of my head.
    
    You can't miss these sand type litters.  They look like beach sand and
    are of a very fine consistency.  They come in plastic jugs versus bags
    so are very easily distinguished from the clay type litters.
    
    Just steer clear of jugs of litter and you'll be all set!  The brands I
    have found to be the safest and most effective are Kitty Kleen in the
    red bag or Tidy Cat III.  Stop & Shop also makes their own brand of
    dust-free litter which the cats and I like a lot.  I have been buying
    this stuff exclusively for the last several months.  A 10 lb. bag is
    only $1.29; $2.29 for a 25 lb. bag.  I have found that no litter is
    truely 100% dust free but still prefer the less dusty types over their
    dustier counterparts.
    

    Up until recently steering clear of jugs could keep you away from sand
    litters.  That is, until Jonny Cat came out with their own brand of
    sand litter.  It comes in a bag that looks just like their regular
    litter, only the bag says it's the sand type.  It is actually very good
    litter as far as sand goes.  I was given a free bag at the Pet Fair and
    I used it for Mush.  Worked great.  I like using sand litters for my
    males because they work so well to control odor.
    
    Jo