Cat Poop & Being Green

Yesterday I talked about the idea of using canine DNA to identify who’s not keeping their noses (and yards) clean. We’re all about keeping our environment and world “green” so how does that translate in terms of the cat’s toilet? Cat box filler may be from nature, but once used, it’s certainly no longer eco-friendly. Because of the risk of transmitting parasites or other organisms, used litter is not recommended for composting or otherwise returning to the ground. Clay doesn’t go away—and is the most popular type of filler. Paper, corn and wheat litter products may be biodegradable but also have drawbacks with disposal. So cat owners interested in reducing the amount of debris are looking for alternatives. The Litter Robot The Litter-Robot claims to be designed to answer some of these questions, with a new “ECO” model to make it even more green. It uses less litter than some other automatic or standard boxes, can use a variety of clumping type products, sifts rather than rakes to remove waste, and dumps the nasties in a standard kitchen-type garbage bag for removal each week. The ECO Litter-Robot will be introduced October 3-5 at the Backer's 42nd Annual Pet Industry Christmas Trade Show and Educational Conference. I’ve not used the Litter-Robot product, but Seren happily used her Littermaid automatic box for many years. I did have some problems with cleaning the rake, and with dumping the receptacle, and ultimately returned to low-tech scooping each day. Even when using an automatic box, I examined Seren’s output each day--it’s way too easy to neglect that with one of these boxes. Automatic boxes make potty duty almost too easy. When you don’t have to pay attention on a daily basis, a health issue indicated by your cat’s litter-ary creativity may be overlooked until the health or behavior issue becomes dangerous. So by all means, make the task simple for you and your cat, but not at the expense of kitty well being.