The argument of which pet is better, a dog or cat, usually comes down to how much time the owner has to dote on their housemate. There are benefits to both pets and the most important thing is which one best compliments your personality or your household’s.
Indoor cats are very self sufficient and appeal to people working outside of their homes much of the time. With this comes the litter question.
Clay is very dusty and can cause allergic reactions in cats and humans. Plus is not biodegradable and requires disruptive excavation processes.
Recently a plethora of other options has emerged such as corn, paper and nutshell products.
After stopping at the Natural Dog near the rotary in Newburyport (yes they have cat products) we found the staff to be very helpful and knowledgeable about all of their health conscious products. They have both low dust clay, corn and paper options.
We asked Jake the Vet what he thought of clay and he responded.
If you own a feline take a look at Jake and see his helpful response below.
Jake’s take on Clay shown here on NECN
From Grist
…If you’re using clay-based kitty litter, you could be making a mess of the environment — and your health.
Most conventional cat litter is made from natural clay, or sodium bentonite, which is formed into pellets and dried. The clay is strip mined from the earth in a destructive process that seems quite silly when you think about what happens to it once it hits the litter box: It is shat upon and then tossed in the landfill, where it will remain for a long, long time. In fact, over the average lifespan of a cat (15 years), you could be dumping almost 2,000 pounds of the stuff.
But what’s potentially more distressing is that the dust generated when the sodium bentonite is disturbed — by a digging cat or a poop-scooping human — contains silicon particles that are a known carcinogen.