I was told by a pal, who works at a local discount store, that the product "Feline Pine Kitty Litter" is the best product to use if you have pets such as ferrets or cats. It cuts down on the odor more so than most like products.
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Dear Terri,
I have worked for a Veterinarian for MANY years and our Doctors DO NOT recommend using pine near your cats at all. The reason for this is because it can cause upper respitory infections. We can recommend a product by thr name of Care Fresh, it is made from recycled paper. I have 3 cats and I use a clumping litter and I sprinkle in some Kitty baking soda.
Good luck
The trick with getting cats used to Feline Pine is that you start out by mixing it in with the litter presently being used and then eventually switch it to 100% Feline Pine. My cats have never had a problem w/ it and we like it a lot, too.
The only pine I heard you shouldn't use around cats (or probably any animal for that matter) is PineSol.
I love Feline Pine (regular, non-clumping) litter! I switched to that about 7-8 years ago and never looked back. If your cats will use it, it definitely does cut down the odors and it is easier to clean the litter box afterward. I change the box once a week, and wash it with a non-toxic cleaner like Simple Green, then refill.
The cats do kick the pellets out sometimes, but I use two scoops together (like tongs) and pick them up & throw them back in the box. As it breaks down into sawdust, they track a little around, but I take a minute to sweep it everyday with a dustpan and broom. The pan is in the bathroom, so the mess is pretty limited.
Feline Pine is much better than clay, because clay is heavier when it's wet - it gets wet and stays wet, whereas Feline Pine tends to dry out through evaporation. When it's time to change the litter, the bag of used litter is lighter - believe me, as I get older, I have problems carrying heavy items, so this is much easier for me to dump into doubled plastic grocery bags & take to the trash can.
Another plus, is that you don't have clay dust drifting all over everything - it goes everywhere - really everywhere - as I had to clean it from things in other rooms. I don't think there's enough pine oil in it to be harmful, and this litter doesn't stick in the cats paws like clay, so I think it's pretty safe, but I do monitor the pros and cons.
What I don't recommend is the new litter that's made of ground pine, cedar and corn. Ugh! I had 2 bags on free trial from a survey website I belong to, and it was horrible! It stunk to high heaven - the odor was too strong and seemed chemical-ly. I kept it in my front hall and it stunk out the hall for 2 weeks. I had the smell of it in my nose, and even the taste of it in my mouth, even when I left the house for a few hours.
Ugh! It was also a clumping litter. Well, it clumps into large sticky masses, that stick to the pan and are hard to remove. I was leery of putting it down the toilet. I hated it - but I dutifully tried the first bag for a week, then the second bag for a week.
My cats didn't like it much either, although they did use it. I couldn't wait for the trial to be over; I gave the litter very poor marks for everything - yet, here it is, on the market! So they obviously didn't pay any attention to the bad reviews. I threw all the left over unused litter in a corner of the backyard to break down into the soil - I couldn't wait to get it out of the house! I definitely wouldn't recommend that one to anybody - even if it's for free!
I tried it once and my cat would not go anywhere near it.
I have five cats and tried Feline Pine - The first day or so was so-so - after that the smell was the same as with the regular clay litter. I'm trying Fresh Step next that has a different type of odor eliminator. Good luck!
I use MUlti-Cat, and I also put about a 1/4 of a box of baking soda into the bottom of the tray. That seems to help cut down the odor.
my cat hated it too. she just peed on the floor instead
I tried mixing it with my usual litter, but even with just a tiny bit, my cat refused to use the litter box. I think he hated the texture of it. I tried two different ones made of newspapers, but didn't think they absorbed too well. I'm now using one that's made of corn; it's pretty expensive, but works really well.
Pine Wood chips are taboo for smaller animals like bunnies and cats because the pine oiils in it destroy either the liver or kidneys after a while. God bless you. : )
Confused? I have a hard time believing that there is a product(thats been around for years) hurting animals and still being sold. It is only dangerous when inhaled on constant basis. Cats get in and go. Softwood(pine, cedar) shavings are dangerous for critters mostly. www.ratfanclub.org/
I LOVE FELINE PINE. It's all I buy. Its completly natural and doesn't add to the landfill! Have you seen those plastic pellets? What a wasteful thing! Plastic does not compost or break down in anyway.
I like Feline Pine, but my cat kicks the pellets all over the place. I've been making my own -- alliesanswers.com/
And it works really well.
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