First of all, I'd like to say that clay litter sucks... for me at least...
I'm on a tight budget so I end up buying fresh4life/grreat choice brands and the amount of dust when I pour the litter is insane. It leaves a thin layer of dust on my apartment floors and since the kitchen is open to the living room I'm worried about clay particles ending up on cooking surfaces - I'm an avid cook and am not enthralled about having my food covered in soiled litter dust! Also my kitten of 8mo is probably capable of digging to the core of the earth with the amount of energy he puts into pawing that litter (we got him a very large litter box recently - digging habits remain the same unfortunately). That brings in respiratory problems from the dust he throws around and I'd rather avoid putting him through that. AND clay sucks for the environment, so it'd be a bonus if I could switch. So for these reasons I want to switch to wood pellets but I have some questions first:
1. I read that pine is toxic to cats. Why is it that most cat companies use pine then? Is it "safe enough"? Currently looking into Exquisicat since Feline Pine is waaay out of my lowly student budget.
2. My cat has rather loose stool (taking him to the vet soon), since the pellets dissolve with urine is it a bad idea for diarrhea inflicted cats? I'm worried that the extra liquid from the poop will make it harder to clean.
3. I saw that you can just use wood stove pellets that are untreated. The ones at my hardwood store ($5/40lb!!!!!!) are spruce pellets. Is this safe for kitty litter use? If not, what kinds of wood pellets should I be looking for?
4. Will I still have to worry about his manic digging with wood pellets, would it be less of a worry in terms of dusting up the house and his poor lungs?
Cheers, and thanks in advance! Here's to hoping that I can use spruce pellets - would save a ton of trouble...
I'm on a tight budget so I end up buying fresh4life/grreat choice brands and the amount of dust when I pour the litter is insane. It leaves a thin layer of dust on my apartment floors and since the kitchen is open to the living room I'm worried about clay particles ending up on cooking surfaces - I'm an avid cook and am not enthralled about having my food covered in soiled litter dust! Also my kitten of 8mo is probably capable of digging to the core of the earth with the amount of energy he puts into pawing that litter (we got him a very large litter box recently - digging habits remain the same unfortunately). That brings in respiratory problems from the dust he throws around and I'd rather avoid putting him through that. AND clay sucks for the environment, so it'd be a bonus if I could switch. So for these reasons I want to switch to wood pellets but I have some questions first:
1. I read that pine is toxic to cats. Why is it that most cat companies use pine then? Is it "safe enough"? Currently looking into Exquisicat since Feline Pine is waaay out of my lowly student budget.
2. My cat has rather loose stool (taking him to the vet soon), since the pellets dissolve with urine is it a bad idea for diarrhea inflicted cats? I'm worried that the extra liquid from the poop will make it harder to clean.
3. I saw that you can just use wood stove pellets that are untreated. The ones at my hardwood store ($5/40lb!!!!!!) are spruce pellets. Is this safe for kitty litter use? If not, what kinds of wood pellets should I be looking for?
4. Will I still have to worry about his manic digging with wood pellets, would it be less of a worry in terms of dusting up the house and his poor lungs?
Cheers, and thanks in advance! Here's to hoping that I can use spruce pellets - would save a ton of trouble...
