Health concerns with Worlds Best Cat Litter?

[mrsmeowgi]

If anything ever happened to my kitties I would be devastated. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid here.

So that recalled dog food was contaminated by a bacteria in the corn. (Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring substance produced by fungi that grow on grains, including corn. Aflatoxin is toxic and can cause severe liver damage in animals.) Since WBCL is corn based, do you think I should stop using it???? I know my cats aren't eating their litter but they do step in it several times a day then clean themselves so a small bit *could* be ingested. Do you think there's a concern for cross contamination?

Sorry if this has already been addressed on here.

 

[semiferal]

That's a good question. I don't personally think there is anything to be worried about. Aflatoxin is a fairly common toxin, often found in many grains, peanuts, and other nuts. It takes a lot of it to cause a real problem. I would not be worried about corn-based cat litter at all, for a couple of reasons - first, cats ingest very little of the litter, and second, the fungus breaks down to an extent when exposed to moisture. Given the risk of aflatoxin vs. the risk from ingesting clay, I think corn or wheat based litter is somewhat safer. But it's all relative. I use clay litter most of the time and I don't consider it "unsafe". I just don't think clay counts as health food.

Overall, the risk is minimal (the Diamond recall is the first I have heard of significant illness resulting from aflatoxin in pet food). The far greater health risk with aflatoxin would result from the grain in dry cat food. As I mentioned earlier, most grains are susceptible to aflatoxin growth, so wheat, rice, etc. are no less "risky" (I use quotes because the risk is really very, very low).

The other thing is to "listen" to what your pets are telling you. Apparently many dogs refused to eat the contaminated Diamond food but they were tempted to eat it when their people added gravies or other flavor enhancements to the food. Of course the people did not know that they were enticing their dogs to eat poison - they simply thought the dogs were being picky. If all of your cats suddenly flatly refuse to eat something they previously were perfecly happy eating (especially if you just opened a new bag of dry food), it may be a sign that something is not right.

 

[mrsboz99]

Hmmm.....I've been using WBCL for 4 or 5 years now and have never had a problem with it. A whole heck of a lot of pet foods contain corn products in them too and I've not heard too many occurrences of Aflatoxin poisoning. I'm thinking maybe the fungus only grows in certain conditions i.e. maybe if the corn is improperly stored? , and so most reputable farms or processing plants don't have issues with it? Actually...I just looked it up in another browser window and this is what I found. Corn and peanuts aren't looking too yummy to me right now hehe...
(http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/...html#Factors):

In Raw Agricultural Products :
Aflatoxins often occur in crops in the field prior to harvest . Postharvest contamination can occur if crop drying is delayed and during storage of the crop if water is allowed to exceed critical values for the mold growth . Insect or rodent infestations facilitate mold invasion of some stored commodities...the commodities with the highest risk of aflatoxin contamination are corn, peanuts, and cottonseed.

In Processed Foods :
Corn is probably the commodity of greatest worldwide concern , because it is grown in climates that are likely to have perennial contamination with aflatoxins and corn is the staple food of many countries . However, procedures used in the processing of corn help to reduce contamination of the resulting food product

Regulatory Control :
Aflatoxins are considered unavoidable contaminants of food and feed, even where good manufacturing practices have been followed. The FDA has established specific guidelines on acceptable levels of aflatoxins in human food and animal feed by establishing action levels that allow for the removal of violative lots from commerce. The action level for human food is 20 ppb total aflatoxins, with the exception of milk which has an action level of 0.5 ppb for aflatoxin M1. The action level for most feeds is also 20 ppb. However, it is very difficult to accurately estimate aflatoxins concentration in a large quantity of material because of the variability associated with testing procedures; hence, the true aflatoxin concentration in a lot cannot be determined with 100% certainty.

I'm not feeling too worried about the litter, since it is pretty processed before it gets to me, and the cats don't eat it. It does reinforce my desire to avoid pet food that contains to much carbs, especially corn-based.