Clumping Kitty Litter.. Deadly??

[zombiebex]

Thanks to you guys, I was immediately skeptical when I cam across this article: http://www.thelighthouseonline.com/articles/clump.html

It lists health problems in kitties supposedly connected to clumping litter. When I saw the author listed holistic kitty litter as alternatives,
a red flag went up. A quick Google of "clumping cat litter dangers" turned up more information from other "green" sources. Hmmm.

Wikipedia claims there is no danger in the clumping litter, and there appears to be no scientific studies on the possible dangers, just speculation.

What do you all think? I love my clumping litter...but if it's dangerous, I'll have to let it go. I love my Darla more.

[tkingdoll]

Quote:

1. Clumping litter is designed to form a hard, insoluble mass when it gets wet. It also produces a fine dust when stirred (as when a cat scratches around to bury a recent deposit). And these clumping litters absorb many times their weight in fluids.

2. When cats or kittens use the litter box, they lick themselves clean; anything their tongues encounter gets ingested. Kittens especially tend to ingest a lot of litter when they are first learning to use the box.

3. Once the litter is inside a kitten or cat, it expands, forming a mass and coating the interior-thus, both causing dehydration by drawing fluids out of the cat or kitten, and compounding the problem by preventing any absorption of nutrients or fluids.

Bolding mine. Why is the litter only expanding once inside the cat and not, say, on the tongue or in the throat? And it does what? Coats the interior? Of what? The stomach? And that draws fluids out of the cat? How?

The whole of point three sounds like nonsense. In fact, the more I read it, the stupider it sounds. Will wait for one of our residents vets to come and confirm but I'm pretty sure point 3 is pure rubbish.

[PopeTom]

The only house pet I had ever heard about being in danger from clumping litter was ferrets.

This was because ferrets apparently have some weird pooping ritual that involves dragging their butts through the litter. So it's possible, though I'm unsure how likely, that clumping litter could get up inside the ferret and form a blockage.

[The_Animus]

I'm assuming this is bunk simply because with the millions of people who own cats you think if it was a serious issue it would have been dealt with already. I highly doubt people would keep buying a product that kills their cat.

[zombiebex]

True, they didn't waste much time in that massive pet food recall.

[Amapola]

I would say it is BS. Check out this site: Cats in Urban Legends and if you check under "TOXIC WASTES (AND THE PEED-ON PUSSY)" you'll find a little bit about this clumping litter.

I find it hard to believe that a cat, which is by nature such a finicky eater, would eat enough clumping litter to do it any harm. Cats are very careful to sniff and chew their food; they don't gulp it down in mouthfuls like dogs do. (Different digestion systems, not that one is "good" or "bad"). This makes cats very hard to poison (although it does happen occasionally) while dogs are fairly easy to poison.

[Magic 9-Ball]

I don't believe it. Cats don't roll around in it, then lick themselves. They don't stick their butts in it either. "The stuff" drops out while they are standing up onto the litter.

I would think licking "the stuff" off their rear would be hazardous enough after all these years to worry about a little dust. Hell, they drink out of the toilet. No complaints from them.

[streamlet]

I've heard that this is only a danger for very young kittens with messy toilet habits. They're most likely to get litter stuck on their bums or their paws and end up licking it off. The danger is litter clumping in the tummy and causing blockages. Adult cats, and kittens old enough to not step in poo should be fine.

I've never heard the dehydration thing. My guess is that's bunk, but tiny baby kitties are pretty fragile so I suppose it could be possible. Maybe.

Sources of "I've heard": "Kittens for Dummies", various websites, my fellow foster-carers, vet-tech friend. I haven't heard any firsthand accounts of kittens dying from clumping litter-- but then I haven't asked, either.

[quixotecoyote]

According to my last vet and personal observation, clumping litter causes respiratory problems in ferrets because they tend to mess with the litter fairly frequently can can break the clumps into inhalable portions that make them all sneezy.

[zombiebex]

The doctor mentioned in the article, Stephanie Chalmers, seems to have a homeopathic practice for pets. Lovely.

[UnrepentantSinner]

I don't use clumping litter because Scarlett has very hairy paws and she likes to lick and clean them frequently. My only concern is that because the clumping is finer, it's more likely to get stuck in her hairs and she'll then ingest them. She seems just fine with regular old Tidy Cats. No need to buy woo woo for her doo doo.

[Rolfe]

I remember a previous discussion about this, I don't know if it was here or not. I've done post mortem examinations on more mysteriously dead cats than I care to recall. I have never once encountered any problem that was due to any sort of cat litterl

Rolfe.

[zombiebex]

Rolfe: Was there one? Apologies, I did a half-ar$ed forum search and didn't turn up any topics.

Thanks!

[JoeTheJuggler]

I quit using clumping litter but not for any perceived danger (except to my bank account). Also, I realized since I'm so lazy about actually scooping out the clumps, I usually ended up dumping the entire litterbox to replenish it. Since the non-clumping clay litter is waaaaay cheaper (and I'm a pauper), and I wasn't scooping anyway, it was an easy decision.

Now I don't want to mention the time I threw kitty litter on a motor oil spill in the garage before realizing that it was clumping kitty litter. Ugh! What a mess!

[Learning Phase]

The only complaint I've heard of that may be valid stems from the fact that small droplets of urine dropping away from the main stream will make small clumps. Scooping won't get these very small clumps, and if you don't change the litter occasionally, they'll build up. Just scooping and adding more won't help. What looks like a clean box will still smell bad to a cat, and they'll eventually avoid it.

End result: You'll save some by using scoopable, but you'll still have to do full changeouts.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Originally Posted by JoeTheJuggler

Also, I realized since I'm so lazy about actually scooping out the clumps, I usually ended up dumping the entire litterbox to replenish it.

When I took Scarlett up to live with my mom I brought two bags of litter and a new box up with me. After Scars first tinkle my mom tried scooping it to no avail and she was befuddled as to why it wasn't clumping.

I bit my tongue and explained to her why that was so.

[Dogdoctor]

I am not aware of any problems with clumping litter. As far as I can tell there is no likelihood that litter will expand or do the things claimed in the article.

I recommend changing the entire literbox once a week besides daily scooping of the clumps.

[Hamish]

Originally Posted by PopeTom

The only house pet I had ever heard about being in danger from clumping litter was ferrets.

This was because ferrets apparently have some weird pooping ritual that involves dragging their butts through the litter. So it's possible, though I'm unsure how likely, that clumping litter could get up inside the ferret and form a blockage.

Actually, they tend to drag their butts along the carpet just outside their litter tray, just after going. At least in my experience.

[Kaylee]

Originally Posted by JoeTheJuggler

I quit using clumping litter but not for any perceived danger (except to my bank account).

I was concerned about endangering my bank account also!

I volunteered at a pet shelter before I adopted my two cats and I noticed the shelter used pine pellets, so I decided to use the same.

It doesn’t clump – but I scoop out their stuff every day anyway and their pee turns the pellets into sawdust with no smell. I use the Feline Pine litter box which is designed to let the sawdust drop into the outer box from the inner box – very easy to use. And its easy on the wallet also. Since I’m lazy and cheap these were all important considerations


When winter comes I'll try to find pine pellets that’s sold for the fire place instead of the litter boxes. Probably the same stuff, but it should be even less expensive.


ETA: Seriously, another reason I went for the pine pellets was to avoid any silica dust from the clay litters. When I first got my cats I came across many web sites (didn’t bookmark, sorry) that said silica dust was a carcinogen, so I decided to go for a non-clay option. I’ve of course since learned that there is a lot of unsubstantiated statements made in just about any area concerning pets, so I don’t know if it’s a legitimate concern – but by now my cats are use to the pine pellets and I have no reason to change types.

[Rolfe]

I'm a total fan of this stuff. No smell, no mess, greatest thing since sliced bread.

Rolfe.

[fagin]

I'm a great fan of the neighbour's garden. No smell, no mess, greatest thing since sliced bread.

[Rolfe]

Ah well, maybe that's why our new neighbours don't seem to be talking to us?

Corollary to the "Litter Pearls" recommendation is that when used for a cat who usually goes out, the only-occasional-use box never smells and the granules last pretty much forever. I've only bought three bags in several years.

Rolfe.

[zombiebex]

The best clumping litter in my experience is Fresh Step. I've even considered writing the company a letter to express how happy I am with their litter. Other brands clump, but crumble as soon as you try to scoop. Fresh Step holds together beautifully.

Now, something else from the article caught my attention:

Quote:

"Sodium bentonite, a naturally swelling clay, is often added as an extremely effective clumping agent. When liquid is added, bentonite swells to approximately 15 times its original volume. But because sodium bentonite acts as an expandable cement would, litters containing sodium bentonite should never be flushed; when they expand they can block plumbing."

Wiki says:

Quote:

Sodium bentonite expands when wet, possibly absorbing several times its dry mass in water. It is mostly used in drilling mud for oil and gas wells and for geotechnical and environmental investigations.
The property of swelling also makes sodium bentonite useful as a sealant, especially for the sealing of subsurface disposal systems for spent nuclear fuel [1] [2] and for quarantining metal pollutants of groundwater. Similar uses include making slurry walls, waterproofing of below-grade walls and forming other impermeable barriers (e.g. to plug old wells or as a liner in the base of landfills to prevent migration of leachate into the soil).

One of the symptoms listed was diarrhea, which causes dehydration. It's not a symptom of it.

What concerned me is the description of the other symptoms. My own cat has them, but my vet didn't seem too concerned, suggesting crushing up a Gas-x once a week.

[Rolfe]

You need to ask Soapy Sam. He's a "mud engineer". No, really!

Rolfe.

[patrick767]

Originally Posted by Rolfe

I remember a previous discussion about this, I don't know if it was here or not. I've done post mortem examinations on more mysteriously dead cats than I care to recall. I have never once encountered any problem that was due to any sort of cat litterl

Rolfe.

And there we have it. If it happened, this problem is the sort of thing that would show up in the post mortem examination.

It reminds me of that ridiculous infomercial where some guy claims that humans routinely get 10 lbs or more of waste stuck in their intestines and his product will clean it out. That sort of thing would show up in autopsies and the medical community would have been well aware of it for many decades now.

[Dogdoctor]

I just want to add that sodium bentonite is a clay that is used orally in cases of poisoning to absorb poisons from the digestive tract. The idea that it forms some solid mass in the digestive tract is scientifically unfounded.

[PrincessIneffabelle]

I have had cats for about 16 years, now. One lived to the age of 11, one lived to be 12 (recently deceased), one lived to be 14 (recently deceased), and our two remaining cats are 2 and 12. For the last 14 years, they've used clumping litters exclusively. Very small amounts of litter sometimes cling to their paws and they do ingest it when cleaning themselves. One of our cats loved to "dig" in the water dish and frequently had wet paws going into the litter box. She ingested quite a bit more clumping litter than the other cats in her 12 years of using the box. She died last month and her digestive tract showed no sign of any abnormalities. I've never seen any evidence that these granules build up in their system or otherwise cause any problems. Our vets have never seen any evidence of this, either.

Anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but from talking to the our vets (and reading the posts here by vets), it appears that the dangers of ingested clumping litter are one of the below:

1) newly discovered

2) uncommon

3) fabricated/grossly exaggerated in order to sell an alternative