Years ago I bought Litter Green and really liked how those alfalfa pellets worked as litter and eliminated the cat box odor (all that chlorophyll in the alfalfa was the deodorizer, I think).

Then they stopped making that, and I tried other litters for a while, but wasn't happy with any of those. Finally decided to try using rabbit food pellets, which are little cylinders of alfalfa like the old Litter Green.

It eliminates the odor. It clumps enough that you can tilt the box and remove the clumped litter, which is completely flushable (at least if broken up a bit), and then add some fresh litter. Since it's flushable, I can flush solid waste immediately. It isn't terribly dusty, unless you've just poured a lot of it into a litter pan, when you'll notice some dust. And it's cheap -- less than $15 for a 50-lb bag of the brand I buy, Manna Pro. (Their Gro formula - "feed for the milking doe and her litter." It's 18% protein, higher alfalfa content than some types of rabbit food.) I've occasionally tried other brands, too, but I like Manna Pro best.

I was told by a clerk at the farm supply store where I bought this that they sell a lot of it for cat litter. But I've never met anyone else who used it, so I was wondering if anyone here did.

Cindy / SinbadsMom

I've tried the Litter Green before - not all my cats would use it. I just use the Arm&Hammer Multi-Cat now (scoopable).

I have never used alfalfa rabbit pellets for litter but in my quest to find a decent, inexpensive, natural litter I have had many people suggest it to me. Thank you so much for posting your findings...I guess I'll have to hit the feed store & check out some Manna Pro!

I use the egg layer mash chicken feed, it works great as well. And even cheaper, $8 for 50 pounds at Walmart. It does have some dust, but clumps GREAT!

The closest pellets for my cats is the feline pine which does wonder on odor but not great at covering their #2.

I got mine some stove pellets the other day that look just like rabbit food. Unfortunately Nigel has taken a liking to eating the pellets :nausea: so unless that nasty little habit stops soon we'll have to change (I really don't think it's good for him to be eating wood pellets....) If we try rabbit food is it *okay* for him to eat, should he choose to continue the habit?

If we try rabbit food is it *okay* for him to eat, should he choose to continue the habit?

Depends if he can handle alfalfa, it can make some kitties sick. I'm surprised no one has mentioned that alfalfa pellets mold easily. :confused:

(Before people knew better there were lots of problems with keeping land turtles and tortoises on them, mold being a big problem)

I've never had a cat eat the pellets, so I don't know how it would affect them. A vet could probably tell you if it would be toxic.

As for mold -- in more than 20 years of using alfalfa pellets for cat litter, first Litter Green and now the rabbit food, I've never run across any that looked or smelled moldy. I suppose it could mold if it was soaked with water and kept wet. (Having it soaked with urine doesn't seem to produce any mold.) I would recommend always buying the pellets in sealed bags, not from open bins.

I've never had a cat eat the pellets, so I don't know how it would affect them. A vet could probably tell you if it would be toxic.

Alfalfa isn't toxic. I meant if someone's kitty had an allergy to alfalfa, like some do to corn or wheat, and munched on some pellets.

Thanks for explaining! My Sinbad apparently developed an allergy to grain, like the ones you mentioned, when she was several years old, and she could no longer eat dry food after that.

Re the mold problem -- I probably should add that I've never had more than 3 cats using two large litter boxes with the litter about 5 inches deep. I remove the clumps every couple of days and refill with dry litter so it never gets very wet. I tilt the box, carefully since it's so full. The clumps stick to the bottom. If your cats prefer to use one side or the other of the box, as mine do, they've built up little "peaks," lol, that will then show up. I use the scoop to remove those, often breaking them up if they're completely dry by then -- the pellets do dry out again after clumping -- and then I flush the used litter a bit at a time. Then I use wet tissues or paper towels to wipe the bottom of the litter box -- I don't use liners -- and then I dry the plastic, before adding more litter. When I do a complete replacement of the litter (I'll often go weeks between replacing all of it, since the solid waste is removed right away and the clumps every couple of days, and there is no litter box smell), I'll usually soak the box in water with bleach for a while first, just as a precaution, as well as scrubbing it with bathroom cleanser. The litter boxes I'm using now were bought more than ten years ago.

Maybe mold would build up if the boxes weren't cleaned as often. I did some Googling and discovered that can happen with some non-clay and non-sand litters. And apparently the risk for mold is greater if a cat is diabetic (one page I looked at gave the impression you can end up with moldy litter even with clay litters then). But again, I've never had it happen, even if for any reason I couldn't clean the litter boxes quite as soon as I'd like. And this stuff really does eliminate odor, and it's inexpensive.

The odor can stay inside the clumps, though, if the boxes aren't cleaned regularly; the outside of the clumps will dry, but it won't dry as fast inside. Again, I've never noticed mold, but the odor when you finally clean the box and break the clumps up is worse then. Cleaning catboxes is never a fun chore, though, and I'm willing to put up with that smell for a few minutes (and leave the ventilation fan in the bathroom on a bit longer) so I can use this instead of clay or other litters. And in 20 years of of flushing this stuff down toilets, I've never had it clog a toilet.