I’ve used various different types of cat litter over the past few years including wood pellets which disintegrate and make a mess, in addition to the various clay offerings. By chance, I was given a packet of Tofu Cat Litter from the breeder that sold me my Ragdolls and I have to say, it is the best thing since sliced bread. It is 100% natural and eco friendly because it is mainly made from soybean curd residue. In addition, it is compostable/biodegradable and can be flushed down the toilet. It comes in a vacuum sealed bag and has a lovely sweet vanilla scent. One 2.68kg packet retails for £13.99 but should last for around three weeks (average sized cat), which works out around £4 per week. There is no dust and it is super absorbant:
A charcoal variety is also available but from my experience, should you be in the same room whilst your cat is doing their business, you will inevitably smell the pungent aroma (especially if their diet is not from dry food).
There are various brands on the market but be forewarned that some cheaper brands bulk up their litter with clay. Head over to hideandseeklondon for further details
Catsan is good, but in my opinion, the Tofu litter is even better. Also, it’s eco-friendly as opposed to the crushed lime and quartz that ultimately goes to landfill
A slight deviation…….we have a house bunny who diligently uses a cat litter tray. During covid there was a shortage of any cat litter in any shop in our area. In desperation wife called into B&M bargains which had nothing either except a 100% natural cat litter based on corn. Went down great……poo and eat at the same time🥺 Cats are obviously not corn lovers.
I could write a list that goes on and on, but I’ll start with just a few reason Catsan is best for me.
The health of my cat is number one priority. Being pure white, catsan easy shows any subtle changes in the cat’s urine.
It’s hygienically pure to start with and also the pores lock in the urine bacteria. It also locks in the odour, which not only is good for me, it’s good for my cat if the tray is left for a few hours. Cats can hold their wee in for a long time if they don’t like the tray, until they go outside. This can cause urine infection issues.
Flushable animal litters are not a good idea and only used as another means to sell another type of product. You should not flush animal waste down the loo. Apart from the obvious clogging reasons (no it’s not like loo paper) waterways are not catered for the removal of animal parasites and these can be dangerous to humans.
I recently spent £8k on three cats and like yourself, I also consider the health of my cats to be a number one priority. I cook/prepare most of their meals with the same quality ingredients that I consume myself and I frequently use seasonal ingredients ie pheasant.
You make some really good points and I am in agreement that it is perhaps best to only flush their urine and dispose of their faeces in the trash (unless one knows how to turn it into compost). I wonder if @Camphuw has any expertise with regards to this matter?
I change their litter three times a day, breakfast lunch and supper because they insist on being clean and looking their best (unhappy otherwise) not much different to us
This may come across as gross to some people but I inspect their stools and adjust their diet accordingly. In addition, I also pay attention to how much they urinate.
Eventhough they can be fussy eaters ie they insist on a varied diet and the funny thing is they know how to show their displeasure/dissatisfaction! I wish it were possible for me to take them down to the butcher’s/fishmonger’s because their sense of smell is impeccable and it is has been known for them to refuse a meal based on the smell itself. I suppose in the wild they would eat the freshest caught prey. Nevertheless, I very much regard them to be an extension of the family, often demanding but very much loved
I’m not a cat owner, but I use a Bokashi system to deal with kitchen waste, including any left over meat, dairy etc. that the dog won’t eat.
There have been reports that cat litter can be treated the same way, here are some links:
I don’t trust myself with preparing food for my cat. The best vet I’ve known said the ideal diet for a cat is a whole mouse, crushed up. That includes the hair, bones, tail, teeth…the lot. This gives the correct balance of protein, moisture, fat, fibre, calcium, iron, etc. I do read people boiling & cooking things like chicken breast/thighs or fish fillets. Whilst this sounds nice, it doesn’t contain a full balanced diet and if given as an occasional treat, can give the upset stomachs as they’re not used to it. The cat won’t tell you it’s upset as they hide most discomforts and this is where pure white catsan comes in, not only for the colour shift, but the amount of wee is easily seen.
I rely on the best (hopefully) manufactures like Orijen, Lily’s Kitchen and a couple of others to supply me with a balanced diet using the best ingredients free from any parasites, bacteria, etc. I supplement this dried food with a tin or 2 a day of Applaws tuna. I think this is as good as I can do in 2022.
We work from home, so our cat tray is cleared after every wee/poo within minutes. We have 3 trays, but only one is used at a time. He goes for a wee, tray taken out and wee’d catsan removed. The remaining catsan put into a clean dry tray which has already had a very light spray of Virkon-S. A little bit of new catsan is added.
P.S. all the usual pet shop tray sprays are nearly useless.
When I used to let my cats outside, they would often catch several different species of rodent (grain fed from the surrounding fields) and at first they would take the occasional nibble but thereafter they would just kill them for fun and leave the bodies strewn all over the garden. This led me to believe that the food that I was feeding them was much tastier.
For example, I’ll buy a whole chicken, chop it into pieces with a cleaver and then braise it will a dash of soy sauce. Remove the meat and then simmer the bones/skin for three hours to extract the gelatin, calcium and all the other goodness contained within the bones. After leaving it to cool, I scrape away most of the excess fat on top and what remains is a very nutrious jelly.
An alternative meal is to buy a large salmon, if it is sashimi grade and very fresh I will serve it to them raw, otherwise I will boil it gently and then simmer the bones and head to make jelly.
There are quite a few local fishermen and they supply me with fresh fish which I freeze at -18°C for three days to kill off any parasites (if I decide to feed it to them raw).
I would suggest that you stick with what you are comfortable with, but in my opinion, my cats look particularly healthy: they all have glowing eyes and beautiful fur. I’m actually quite excited to enter them in the TICA/GCCF shows and I’m pretty confident they will be decorated with several rosettes
I’ve just bought three new litter bins (one for each room). I don’t know whether you’ve tried them but they are cleverly designed to retain odours:
On this occasion I strongly disagree with what you’ve just said. Having glowing eyes and shiny fur is not an indication that your cat is healthy, it’s what’s going on inside the organs that counts and the outcome of what your cat is eating for it’s life will be revealed once it reaches 13 and beyond. It’s a subject very close to my heart and I have 45 years experience to look back on. Thanks for the chat, but I’ll leave this one here.
No worries, but in case you didn’t know, my wife and I are both health care professionals and we use various methods to assess what is going on internally
